Heres the deal.....
I got an 86 stock coupe....just turned 20 k miles....and sadly this stock thing is not working for me anymore...i have a friend who just got an srt charger and i cant even keep up with reason...my goal is to get down to a 13.4 1/4 mile....maybe more if possible with what i want....i want to do basic bolt ons and and if needed a tune....basically i want the option of being able to return it to stock again(probably wont but want the option) any ideas on what to do????¿¿¿¿

 

If funds were/are available,I would build another stouter 350 or 383 for it and drop that in and save the current motor for stock.Thats the easiest way to go to return to stock when needed if it matters that much to ya.

Unless you swap/or mega port the heads,change the cam,change the intake manifold set up to a much better design,like a Super Ram or Miniram,add headers,etc,there isnt much bolt ons are going to do for a stock engine rated around 235 HP.

Some bolt ons and good launching skills may help your 1/4 times some...some of the guys here have had good results.65Z01 is a great source for this info.

However,In the real world,on the street,its not going to make your car suddenly boost past newer cars that have more HP but dont do all thet well themselves on the track anyways.

One case in point,like yours,when I worked at a Caddy dealer,the C4 would smoke any caddy off the line..possibly best them in the 1/4 from a start to finish....

But on the highway,say 55 mph or so,side by side,
if a 320 HP northstar engine caddy punched it the same time I did,or a bit earlier,that car would leave me way behind and keep pulling top end.Some new cars today are insanely fast on the highways when they have over 300+ HP to play with.

 

If you want to keep the car, then do as suggested and pull the stock engine (and trans) and put them aside for posterity. Build a larger cube, high RPM motor and you will have what you want.

If you don't have an attachment to that car, you may want to think about selling it to someone who wants a Mint 86' and get an LT4 (1996 vette) or a C5.

Just a thought

 

It's hard to keep the car stock if you want to modify it, especially if you want to have the choice to return to stock on demand. First of all, you need the cash. Are you willing to spend $3000+ on new parts?

If you are, I'd suggest dropping the whole exhaust and start fresh with LT headers, a front y-pipe with no pre-cats, a high-flo cat, and a cat-back system of your choice. That will release all of the resistance from your exhaust system. Keep the old exhaust intact if you want to bolt it back on in the occurance that you change your mind.

Next is the intake - there are several you can choose from, ranging from Superram for lower-mid power, Stealthram for about the same or higher, and Miniram for high RPM power. There are also ported intakes and runners you can buy from summitracing.com or other outlets. Or if you want, but I suggest staying with EFI, you can switch to a carb to reduce the amount of ECU interfering with performance. Any of these choices will drastically increase airflow and maximum HP over stock, but some work best in certain situations.

After all of this is done, depending on which intake, you should be pushing an estimated 270-300 hp on any given powerband RPM, maybe more if tuned correctly. By this time you've also used up that $3k, but if you want overkill it will be time for gears. You can go to 3.45s or 3.73s, or even up to 4.10s and 4.54s if you want this car just to drag.

Basically, you can't just "bolt-on" power to these cars. You have to work with their exhaust and intake to make more power. Don't fall for advertisements claiming to "gain 30hp in a half hour with a chip" or a modified throttle switch for "superman-quick throttle response". It's all a waste of money and time.

 

Take a look at Vader's web site. http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/vader86/

He can show you a number of bolt-on modifications and the incremental benefit of doing each.

 

throw 100hp nitrous on it.

 

Steve, My iron headed 86 TPI went from 14.0 down to 12.99 in about 20 months - a little of this little of that.

I am planning on going to Etown for the CHallenge on the 31'st of May.

Also not far from Edison is forum member RLane - he can help you with suggestions as well.

The best thing you can do right now, is get drag radials , what gear ratio is your car? 2.59 or 3.07 if its a z51 it should have the 307's

 

I agree with SQUARE
If you want to beat the Charger sell yours since it has low miles - get what you can out of it.
By a 93-96 C4 (preferably 94-96) STICK , under 70K miles you will be shocked how fast these cars are- if you get a "good" one
Steve

 

The charger will still spank it. Stock is like 13.3 at 106-108, with a few minor mods it's into the 12s no problem.


-- Joe

 

I say mod the engine you have in the car. Once it's modded you will never want to go back to stock.

 

wow an 86 with 20K. 22 years less than 1K per year, are you the original owner or which owner are you?

Start with headers etc, there are hundreds of threads about this matter. Get ecklers, midamerica, corvette central catalog, get your credit card and max it up. VB&P sells upgraded suspensions.

STL94 LT1 is correct, once you start modding your Vette, you'll keep going.

Good Luck

 

My auto 2.59 geared 93 went 13.30s stock, 12.70s with 3.73s and a 2800 stall. It is addicting though, I just finished up my 383 swap last winter and now I am planning on spraying it. You get used to the new power in a hurry is the only problem.