98 firebird formula

I recently purchased a 98 firebird formula. Unfortunately I've been seperated from her pretty much since I bought her. (Iraq and now Korea) I'm thinking about doing some modifications to it when I return. I have limited engine experience. Mainly diesels, which doesn't help much. I've never done more to gas engines than preventative maintenance like oil changes and alternators. I can do pretty much anything with a diesel, but I know that won't help me much with an electronic fuel injected V8. I guess I'm looking for some advice from some experts on where to start tinkering. I'm naturally inquisitive and am interested in starting with intake and exhaust. Any suggestions?

One of the best thigns to do is to get an aftermarket ECU. You will see MAJOR gains from 1 simple little mod like that. Intake and exhausr is always a good place to start.

If it isnt your daily driver there is tonnes of work that you can do but as you know it KILLS economy.

(My kind of thread, he he.)

I would start with a cold air intake setup which will help your V8 breathe; relatively inexpensive if you shop around, plus there are some forums for firebird/camaro's that will tell you how to make one on your own. An exhaust system is a good secondary improvement, if you get nice flowmaster or equiv. mufflers (40 series for the street) it will help with backpressure, and sound nice too; think of this as if a Deisel engine's exhaust pipe has a restriction in it and power is limited in either the turbo or outlet side. After that, there are plenty of places to go.....

Does anyone know of any states that will not allow reduced backpressure mufflers? I'm sure that they will add an additional 3-4 hp, but will it still pass emissions in most states? (not counting CA, I'd sell it if I got stationed there) Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I reduce backpressure through the Cats I will greatly reduce their ability to reduce emissions.

If I change to a cold air intake and high-flow exhaust, will I probably have to adjust (if I can) or change my throttle body? Will the engine controls sense the change in pressure and air density and adjust fuel metering automatically?

What exactly does the ECU do to increase power output? What sort of gains am I looking for?

Let me show you the upgrade chart for my 300zx. Ita diffrent kind of sports car but none the less benifits from the same upgrades mentioed already.



Stock 300ZX - 300 hp
Stage 1: 320 hp @ 10psi - Performance Exhaust system
Stage 2: 340 hp @ 10.5psi - Hi-Flow Intake
Stage 3: 396 hp @ 13.5 psi - Computer Chip
Stage 4: 405 hp @ 13.5 psi - Larger Intercoolers
Stage 5: 418 hp @ 14.5 psi - Electronic Boost Control
Stage 6: 450 hp @ 16.5 psi - Larger Turbos and Injectors
Stage 7: 520 hp @ 16.5 psi - More tuning / dual intake
Stage 8: 620 hp - Larger turbos and injectors
Stage 9: Even more hp - Nitrous Oxide



As you can see the ECU upgrade gets me almost 50hp. No arguing that upgrade eh. lol

My car is basically a stage 5 car and I have passed my local emissions testing with flying colors.

cool* Here it goes in a nutshell.

Josh is right, the computer chip is the best bang for your buck, this is all accomplished the same way however. The computer chips change the long-term fuel trim (adds fuel to the fire) settings, shift points, PWM (on time of the injectors), ETC. and when you do the other things mentioned you are doing this in a way. In my opjnion, it is optimum to install a chip after you have upgraded the exhaust and intake, because you will get more out of it then with JUST the chip.

Okay, part of my job is to SMOG test cars, and no where in the whole process does it require that you check the make/model/design of the muffler. There are however county laws and such that have noise ordinances. If you get a street muffler however, you won't have any problems. If I were getting high-flow cats, I would make sure to get the "50-State" legal ones, just in case you visit Ca., where I am by the way.

You don't have to change the throttle body, but it is a good idea to if you want to do something in addition. Your MAF sensor is attached to you intake inlet somewhere, and has a wire that it heats up to a specific temp., when air flows through it, it tells the computer how much voltage it took to keep the wire at the specific temp. That calulates the what the temp and speed of the air is, so along with some kind of baro. reading the computer decides how much on-time the injectors need.

In order to create more power, you add fuel and the right amount of air, and reduce backpressure with upgraded exhaust so that the engine can breathe easier, etc.

gears........ if u want a good et gears. i have a friend in a 90 gt mustang that owns in the 1/8 mile because of his 410s. its going to kill top speed and gas mileage.