Ok let me precursor this with the fact that I just walked away from imports and started working on domestics again. I would put my mechanical level at "novice". I just was medically discharged following a pretty nasty broken back and now I'm headed home to fix this thing up to be a nice street crusier for my wife.

My 84 is going through oil like it's cheap, prob 1/4-1/2 quart with each tank of gas. It is completely stock on the engine side of the house and it's running a custom exhaust. I purchased the car from my wife's uncle who went through the transmission, he's got his ASE cert and lot of experience for me to draw on.

I want to maintain the digi-dash and all of those features with no CEL's or insanity in this car since it's for my wife. We have talked about it extensively and if we can put down 200-230 whp we'll be happy.

Now question for the boards is, will swapping in this engineCrate 350 link and finding a new intake, since the xram has been discontinued be enough to get me there?

Thanks

 

So I'd like to do the cam and rockers. Any suggestions on part numbers or manufactures?

 

You might can be by cheaper than you think. If you want the easiest way to go with no codes and you want everything to work like it should inside, keeping the stock intake / computer is the way to go. There are aftermarket intakes that work with the stock electronics but they are few and far between. What you can do is do some pretty easy porting on your factory intake and see some very nice gains.

With any luck somebody will post the picture of the intake port vs the head port so you can see just how bad it is. There really is a lot left in the crossfire.

As for a cam, if you get too wild, then you're into messing up the tune and you would either need somebody to tune it for you or buy the stuff to tune it yourself. I'm not sure how difficult it is to tune the 84 computer, I've never looked into it, but I know it can be done. FWIW, the cam in that crate motor is likely different from what you have now so the tune might be slightly off to start with.

One thing you might want to look for is a crate motor with a hydraulic roller camshaft. This is a newer technology that wears less and can make more power while giving you the same fuel economy. (You can run more aggressive cam lobes for the same duration.) It shouldn't cost terribly much more to go this route and you will absolutely never have to worry about cam / lifter wear.

Rockers, that's an easy question. I would highly recommend Scorpion. Other people are gonna tell you to get Comp Cams, or Crane, or Harland Sharp. These are all good brands without a doubt, but Scorpion has some really competitive prices on a top notch product. You owe it to yourself to take a look.

 

The possibilities are almost endless, after all, your '84 Crossfire is, after all is said and done still a small block Chevy and there are lots of possibilities.

Mine has a ported/gasket matched intake. That was my first mod after changing the fuel pump out for a '85 pump and it made it feel like an entirely new engine. It is now in the process of being bored .030" over and changing to 1.6 rockers. I have also replaced the stock DANA 34; 3.07:1 rear with a Dana 44; 3.45:1 rear.

 

Port on the left is ported, the right is the stock size. Big differance.
Since your not looking for huge gains I would stick with your intake and just port it. You will get an additional 30-40hp at the wheels. Thats all and x-ram is going to give you as well. (And I have documented the x ram gain).
If your insisting on a cam then do the heads with it since your there. 2040 cam is common, dart ss heads can be purchased for $625
Do the free cold air intake mod as well.
You can find a ton of information on CFI's here http://www.crossfire.homeip.net/

 

Exactly how do I do this? I'm willing to pick up a dremel tool and give it a shot.

 

Or could I just pick up one of these and rebuild my existing block then put my money towards heads?

Summit Racing 350 Rebuild Kit