giddy up '85!
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Sudbury Ontario
giddy up '85!
hey everyone!...new to the forum...i recently aquired a 1985 bright red Corvette auto with about 50000 miles on her....now my question ,which you probably heard countless times before....sorry i couldn't find what i was looking for
....is what is the best bang for buck mods should i do first?.....thanx guys,this forum is da best!
....is what is the best bang for buck mods should i do first?.....thanx guys,this forum is da best!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 5,107
Likes: 171
From: Dublin CA
Welcome to the Forum. You will enjoy the 85.
The L98 has two bottlenecks. The intake and the exhaust. Any thing you do to improve those two areas will help. Do a search on Vader's web site, he has a wealt of information on engine and performance modifications. Performance costs $$$ and you get what you pay for. How much are you willing to spend or can you spend. Sometimes you can find a SuperRam setup on the Forum or Ebay ar a reasonable price. Then go for exhaust with a high flow cat. If your state allows it, go for the long tube headers. Heads and cam after the above will then round out performance.
I have intake, exhaust, heads with stock cam and pistons and the old 85 cranks... I have a new cam 74211 waiting for a new setup in the future.
Learn how to use the search function above and do a lot of reading before jumping. Good Luck!
The L98 has two bottlenecks. The intake and the exhaust. Any thing you do to improve those two areas will help. Do a search on Vader's web site, he has a wealt of information on engine and performance modifications. Performance costs $$$ and you get what you pay for. How much are you willing to spend or can you spend. Sometimes you can find a SuperRam setup on the Forum or Ebay ar a reasonable price. Then go for exhaust with a high flow cat. If your state allows it, go for the long tube headers. Heads and cam after the above will then round out performance.
I have intake, exhaust, heads with stock cam and pistons and the old 85 cranks... I have a new cam 74211 waiting for a new setup in the future.
Learn how to use the search function above and do a lot of reading before jumping. Good Luck!
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Headers (1-5/8") and 2.5" catback with hi flo cats is a great starting point. Magnaflow/carsound make some real affordable cats that flow well.
All the little bolt/clamp on stuff youll see in catalogs..avoid it. Even your paper filter is fine but opening up your airbox for it wont hurt.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 16,837
Likes: 338
From: Database Error Indiana
These guys are right. Intake and exhaust are expensive, but they will get the horsepower. If you have smog inspection it will need to be considered. The most painless mod is a loose torque convertor and drag radials. Instant gains and no tuning or smog issues. I would drive the car for a while and put some real thought into before buying parts. L98 cars are a lot o fun right out of the box and at 50k miles yours has lot of fun miles left in it. 
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Sudbury Ontario
thanx guys so far....yes i know mods can get $$$...so i plan to do a little at a time,so the wife won't give me sh*t lol....and a divorce!....i'm in Northern Ontario,Canada...so smog issues are not an issue...all good!...thanx
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 127
Likes: 0
I have a 1985 4+3. So far I have installed 3.54 gears and long tube headers. The 3.54 gears make it much more fun to drive but bring down the fuel economy a bit. The long tube headers add a little snap and it seems to run smoother. I also removed the AIR when I installed the headers but this adds nothing to horsepower. It does clean up the engine compartment though. I have built up a 383 using a modified LT1intake. I expect this to improve the performance somewhat whenever I remove it from the engine stand and install it.
