84Mercedesguy

So a couple of friends and i recently got a 1987 firebird 5.0 planning on building a low budget drag race car for under 4 grand(i know that's vary low) my question is what are some of the cheapest mods available

Nick V.

iTrader: (1)

weight reduction. cut/remove as much as you can. This = Free.99

then a 275 tire in the back slicks or drag radials, exhaust, intake, gears or stall. that should meet or com in under your budget.

If you have a computer you can try to get the OBD1 tuned but probably easier to just do a carb...

JDEP162

Nitrous man, all the way. 1K for 150 horses safely. And its fun

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

You'll do better over here.

Dutch7

Lots of Stickers. The more stickers the bigger the gains

Guitar

iTrader: (9)

Junkyard sloppy mechanic/diesel turbo with used sourced parts.

93camaro_zzz

iTrader: (13)

Yeah I would vote nitrous, and that can be had for way less than $1000.

murphinator

iTrader: (2)

sticky tires , weight reduction, and spray after those you need to spend real money for significant gains lol

JDEP162

For sure, I said "safely" lol, as in I included window/wot switch, bottle heater, lingenfelter lnc2000 to mine. Came around d a grand and safe enough for me.

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

Shocks and struts will be your best money spent on suspension, but there are a few other items that will really help your matter. Give us a call and we will be glad to help you out!

theskitztikwon

iTrader: (18)

The best thing you have going for that car is lbs 3rd gens are the the heaviest so you have a good start with that. Power train well thats a whole different story! A 160ish hp 240ish tq is not a lot to work with as well as the rear posibly being a one legger.
How long do you want it to last?
Be patient find a good running vortec headed 350 ( could even spray the **** out off the 305 first if you wanted to I wouldnt mindlol) 150 shot, stall, and 4th gen rear 3.23/3.42 should keep you in the ball park of that buget as well as start with the rear move on to the sprey and stall on the 305 (good time to do any learning befor a motor swap) intake, carb and fuel as well as misc.
All be told 4g is a start not a "ok we are done" type budget. But fun can still be had. I also have a 92 bird and all this crap has crossed my mind already but having a bolt on ls1 car I just can't justify it.
Oh yea tires and shocks

murphinator

iTrader: (2)

is the car 4 barrel, tbi or tpi ? I remember late 80's a guy at my local track was running 12's on his full weight 5 litre tpi iroc with a turbo kit on it

Forcefed86

iTrader: (4)

Remove as much weight as possible.
Weld the dif.
$400 235/60 drag radial
$700 Power glide
$450 10" PTC converter $450.
$225 shipped gt45 turbo.
$300Comp. Head studs, MLS gasket, valve springs
$400 Use factory manifolds and cheap mild steel 2" exh pipe. Turbo flanges/couplers/intercooler/piping.
$100 Rising rate fuel pressure regulator

$700 Micro squirt and 80lb injectors if it's TPI ($180 2 255HP walbro fuel pumps)
$300DIY Blow Thru Holley 650 if carb'd. ($90 1 255HP walbro pump)

Launch it easy off the foot brake (that rear end won't take much) Should stay together for a while. If you do it right, you'll get kicked for not having a roll bar the first time out!

sweetbmxrider

iTrader: (13)

That is wayyy too much tire for this thing.

Nick V.

iTrader: (1)

But he will never spin

TTur1996

The only thing you can have done to a OBD1 computer is have a chip made. And all they can do is move the timing up to 2 degrees up or down. Then its just a bullcrap guessing game. And any changes, and you have to send the chip back. Scrap the OBD1. Your cheapest option, with best tuning capabilities would be, carbureted with the MSD box.

HISS

iTrader: (52)

I'd take a different approach. Remove as much weight as possible, ie unnessessay stuff seats, a/c, front sway bar, heat, radio, speakers, guy the front and rear bumper, remove carpet and jute. Then I'd get a good billet converter, good rear suspension, k member coil overs etc, maybe if there was enough left in the budget get a decent set of long tubes, and some strait pipe. This way if your budget opens up for upgrades in the future you already have a capable car with all the suspension upgrades and converter to handle it. No to mention it's fun to spank people at the track with rowdy big crammed cars that weigh a ton with a stock sounding car.