Increasing hp on a 96 Trans Am
At the fly wheel? Bolt ons and a small cam. 350RWHP+ NA through the auto would need what's mentioned before and a set of ported stock heads. Easily achievable. The six speed 10 bolt cars can make 350rwhp cam only with full bolt ons.
A good set of ported heads (bunch of good head porters out there), cc503 cam or similar, long tube headers, 3" exhaust, cold air intake, 30-36lb injectors, 1.6 roller rockers, and a good tune. 350rwhp is not all that hard to attain. Cost will vary depending on what brand parts you go with and whether you buy new or used. Example...new kooks headers with ORY pipe runs about $1k, new pacesetters with ORY is about half that. You could probably do it all for under $3k if you get some used parts but it would be close. It's better you expect to spend much more because surprise costs happen all the time.
I wanted to also add that when you increase HP like you're talking about you will need to consider the chances of breaking stock parts. Typically the bottom end will not be an issue at that power level and RPM but even stock motor poop out. The rear ends are certainly not the F body strong point. When using bigger cams as well drivability will change. In an auto it is recommended to put a higher stall torque converter in the car...that will add extra heat and you will need a good transmission cooler. Leading to my next point, the stock trans will not survive forever with over 350rwhp. F bods are meant to handle a little more than what they come with stock...some will take a beating while others aren't so lucky. Coin flip there if you ask me. Anyways here is a rundown of some costs and part choices.
Heads-Lloyd Elliott is a good choice if you're on a budget. His LE1 heads are $900 using your cores plus shipping and can easily help you get to your 350rwhp mark. If you are not concerned about budget Advanced Induction is an excellent choice. Their work is top notch and consistently put out strong cars. Their 190cc package is $1450 with your cores plus shipping.
Cam-A good shelf cam will get you there but for a few extra bucks you can get a cam custom suited for your setup. Lloyd charges $300 last time I bought a cam from him. AI sells theirs for $395 but I think you get some sort of deal when you have them do heads too but I'm not sure. The cam will affect the drivability of the car more than anything else so bigger is not always better. Something like a CC503, maybe slightly bigger is a good street cam.
Headers-My dad has Kooks headers on both his cars and if they made them for Thirdgens I would have some too. They are beautiful but are not cheap. Pacesetter is a good alternative but not stainless...unless you drive on salt everyday you should be fine for years. Kooks are about $1k, Pacesetters are about $500 and there are many choices in between.
Injectors-Used 30's or 36's are readily available all over used in good shape for anywhere from about $80 to $200.
3" exhaust-You can buy an I pipe and over the axle pipe from summit for like $130 and stick a muffler on their somewhere and have a system for a little more than $200. New systems are anywhere from $300 to $1000 or so for a higher end system like a Corsa.
Cold air-Can be found used all over as well. New will run you over $200. Used as little as $50 if you find the right deal.
Roller Rockers-Since SBC roller rockers are the same they are all over used for $100 and up. New can run you from about $200-$400 for the higher end stuff.
Tune-Since Ion who is Madz28 does not do LT1's anymore PCMforless is going to be your main option for a mail order tune until you can hopefully get the car dyno tuned to dial it in. Mail order is about $200 now I believe and a dyno tune is typically $400-$600.
You will need to factor in other things like gaskets, probably would buy ARP or COMP rocker studs, guideplates if you're using non self aligning rockers, Pushrods custom to your car whatever length you end up needing. I would definitely buy a new timing set, that's about $100. Plugs, wires, and I'm sure I've missing some stuff too.
If you want to throw junk together it can be done relatively cheap...but cheap is not usually the best idea. You're better off saving up and doing it right the first time, even if it costs you. If it were me and I wanted to do it right, I would at least budget for $5k and if you come in lower then great.
I hope this helps you at least some. We all here have seen too many guys buying the wrong parts and end up with a turd. Do your research and when you think you have a good plan, do a little more research. There have been so many bad setups put together here so if we can help steer you right most of us will try.
Good luck man.
Oh one last thing. It would help us to help you if you told us every detail about the car, what parts you already have if you do, what kind of driving it will see, and a budget will really help.
Heads-Lloyd Elliott is a good choice if you're on a budget. His LE1 heads are $900 using your cores plus shipping and can easily help you get to your 350rwhp mark. If you are not concerned about budget Advanced Induction is an excellent choice. Their work is top notch and consistently put out strong cars. Their 190cc package is $1450 with your cores plus shipping.
Cam-A good shelf cam will get you there but for a few extra bucks you can get a cam custom suited for your setup. Lloyd charges $300 last time I bought a cam from him. AI sells theirs for $395 but I think you get some sort of deal when you have them do heads too but I'm not sure. The cam will affect the drivability of the car more than anything else so bigger is not always better. Something like a CC503, maybe slightly bigger is a good street cam.
Headers-My dad has Kooks headers on both his cars and if they made them for Thirdgens I would have some too. They are beautiful but are not cheap. Pacesetter is a good alternative but not stainless...unless you drive on salt everyday you should be fine for years. Kooks are about $1k, Pacesetters are about $500 and there are many choices in between.
Injectors-Used 30's or 36's are readily available all over used in good shape for anywhere from about $80 to $200.
3" exhaust-You can buy an I pipe and over the axle pipe from summit for like $130 and stick a muffler on their somewhere and have a system for a little more than $200. New systems are anywhere from $300 to $1000 or so for a higher end system like a Corsa.
Cold air-Can be found used all over as well. New will run you over $200. Used as little as $50 if you find the right deal.
Roller Rockers-Since SBC roller rockers are the same they are all over used for $100 and up. New can run you from about $200-$400 for the higher end stuff.
Tune-Since Ion who is Madz28 does not do LT1's anymore PCMforless is going to be your main option for a mail order tune until you can hopefully get the car dyno tuned to dial it in. Mail order is about $200 now I believe and a dyno tune is typically $400-$600.
You will need to factor in other things like gaskets, probably would buy ARP or COMP rocker studs, guideplates if you're using non self aligning rockers, Pushrods custom to your car whatever length you end up needing. I would definitely buy a new timing set, that's about $100. Plugs, wires, and I'm sure I've missing some stuff too.
If you want to throw junk together it can be done relatively cheap...but cheap is not usually the best idea. You're better off saving up and doing it right the first time, even if it costs you. If it were me and I wanted to do it right, I would at least budget for $5k and if you come in lower then great.
I hope this helps you at least some. We all here have seen too many guys buying the wrong parts and end up with a turd. Do your research and when you think you have a good plan, do a little more research. There have been so many bad setups put together here so if we can help steer you right most of us will try.
Good luck man.
Oh one last thing. It would help us to help you if you told us every detail about the car, what parts you already have if you do, what kind of driving it will see, and a budget will really help.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2014
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From: Las Vegas, Nevada
I wanted to also add that when you increase HP like you're talking about you will need to consider the chances of breaking stock parts. Typically the bottom end will not be an issue at that power level and RPM but even stock motor poop out. The rear ends are certainly not the F body strong point. When using bigger cams as well drivability will change. In an auto it is recommended to put a higher stall torque converter in the car...that will add extra heat and you will need a good transmission cooler. Leading to my next point, the stock trans will not survive forever with over 350rwhp. F bods are meant to handle a little more than what they come with stock...some will take a beating while others aren't so lucky. Coin flip there if you ask me. Anyways here is a rundown of some costs and part choices.
Heads-Lloyd Elliott is a good choice if you're on a budget. His LE1 heads are $900 using your cores plus shipping and can easily help you get to your 350rwhp mark. If you are not concerned about budget Advanced Induction is an excellent choice. Their work is top notch and consistently put out strong cars. Their 190cc package is $1450 with your cores plus shipping.
Cam-A good shelf cam will get you there but for a few extra bucks you can get a cam custom suited for your setup. Lloyd charges $300 last time I bought a cam from him. AI sells theirs for $395 but I think you get some sort of deal when you have them do heads too but I'm not sure. The cam will affect the drivability of the car more than anything else so bigger is not always better. Something like a CC503, maybe slightly bigger is a good street cam.
Headers-My dad has Kooks headers on both his cars and if they made them for Thirdgens I would have some too. They are beautiful but are not cheap. Pacesetter is a good alternative but not stainless...unless you drive on salt everyday you should be fine for years. Kooks are about $1k, Pacesetters are about $500 and there are many choices in between.
Injectors-Used 30's or 36's are readily available all over used in good shape for anywhere from about $80 to $200.
3" exhaust-You can buy an I pipe and over the axle pipe from summit for like $130 and stick a muffler on their somewhere and have a system for a little more than $200. New systems are anywhere from $300 to $1000 or so for a higher end system like a Corsa.
Cold air-Can be found used all over as well. New will run you over $200. Used as little as $50 if you find the right deal.
Roller Rockers-Since SBC roller rockers are the same they are all over used for $100 and up. New can run you from about $200-$400 for the higher end stuff.
Tune-Since Ion who is Madz28 does not do LT1's anymore PCMforless is going to be your main option for a mail order tune until you can hopefully get the car dyno tuned to dial it in. Mail order is about $200 now I believe and a dyno tune is typically $400-$600.
You will need to factor in other things like gaskets, probably would buy ARP or COMP rocker studs, guideplates if you're using non self aligning rockers, Pushrods custom to your car whatever length you end up needing. I would definitely buy a new timing set, that's about $100. Plugs, wires, and I'm sure I've missing some stuff too.
If you want to throw junk together it can be done relatively cheap...but cheap is not usually the best idea. You're better off saving up and doing it right the first time, even if it costs you. If it were me and I wanted to do it right, I would at least budget for $5k and if you come in lower then great.
I hope this helps you at least some. We all here have seen too many guys buying the wrong parts and end up with a turd. Do your research and when you think you have a good plan, do a little more research. There have been so many bad setups put together here so if we can help steer you right most of us will try.
Good luck man.
Oh one last thing. It would help us to help you if you told us every detail about the car, what parts you already have if you do, what kind of driving it will see, and a budget will really help.
Heads-Lloyd Elliott is a good choice if you're on a budget. His LE1 heads are $900 using your cores plus shipping and can easily help you get to your 350rwhp mark. If you are not concerned about budget Advanced Induction is an excellent choice. Their work is top notch and consistently put out strong cars. Their 190cc package is $1450 with your cores plus shipping.
Cam-A good shelf cam will get you there but for a few extra bucks you can get a cam custom suited for your setup. Lloyd charges $300 last time I bought a cam from him. AI sells theirs for $395 but I think you get some sort of deal when you have them do heads too but I'm not sure. The cam will affect the drivability of the car more than anything else so bigger is not always better. Something like a CC503, maybe slightly bigger is a good street cam.
Headers-My dad has Kooks headers on both his cars and if they made them for Thirdgens I would have some too. They are beautiful but are not cheap. Pacesetter is a good alternative but not stainless...unless you drive on salt everyday you should be fine for years. Kooks are about $1k, Pacesetters are about $500 and there are many choices in between.
Injectors-Used 30's or 36's are readily available all over used in good shape for anywhere from about $80 to $200.
3" exhaust-You can buy an I pipe and over the axle pipe from summit for like $130 and stick a muffler on their somewhere and have a system for a little more than $200. New systems are anywhere from $300 to $1000 or so for a higher end system like a Corsa.
Cold air-Can be found used all over as well. New will run you over $200. Used as little as $50 if you find the right deal.
Roller Rockers-Since SBC roller rockers are the same they are all over used for $100 and up. New can run you from about $200-$400 for the higher end stuff.
Tune-Since Ion who is Madz28 does not do LT1's anymore PCMforless is going to be your main option for a mail order tune until you can hopefully get the car dyno tuned to dial it in. Mail order is about $200 now I believe and a dyno tune is typically $400-$600.
You will need to factor in other things like gaskets, probably would buy ARP or COMP rocker studs, guideplates if you're using non self aligning rockers, Pushrods custom to your car whatever length you end up needing. I would definitely buy a new timing set, that's about $100. Plugs, wires, and I'm sure I've missing some stuff too.
If you want to throw junk together it can be done relatively cheap...but cheap is not usually the best idea. You're better off saving up and doing it right the first time, even if it costs you. If it were me and I wanted to do it right, I would at least budget for $5k and if you come in lower then great.
I hope this helps you at least some. We all here have seen too many guys buying the wrong parts and end up with a turd. Do your research and when you think you have a good plan, do a little more research. There have been so many bad setups put together here so if we can help steer you right most of us will try.
Good luck man.
Oh one last thing. It would help us to help you if you told us every detail about the car, what parts you already have if you do, what kind of driving it will see, and a budget will really help.
You're wasting a bunch of time and money if you build a NA setup if you are planning on going turbo (LT1's don't handle decent boost well in stock form)....make up your mind first, do some basic bolt on's in the meantime....and LOTS of research, THEN once you have a plan and plenty of funds to do so start major engine mods. 
