Hell yeah. I had a 1987 Cutlass Supreme coupe as my first car. Damn that thing was sweet! Sometimes I wish I still had it to cruise around in.

 

I found it interesting that people would swap the 305 HO for a same year 350. Because it had more inches. The stock 305 had more power than any of the carborated stock 350's. The chips in the Monte Carlo SS would "learn" your driving habits. If you drive it like grandma then it hadn't learned to be fast, but would be efficient. If you drive it like a racecar then the thing was fast. In a matter of 2 years of owning my first '85 SS I sandblasted the edges of the spoiler round by going extremely fast. I'd average about 120 on the back roads of Georgia and that's with stopping at three stop signs.

They all came with two mufflers. Unfortunately the exhaust wasn't a true dual. They combined just before the catalytic converter and separated just after it.

 

I had a friend who dropped a 383 Stroker in his 85 SS, that thing would MOVE!!!

 

That's the first time I ever heard the stock 305 had more cajones than a same year 350... Must've been 1985 only, because the IROC in 1990 had the then-potent 5.7L (350) that pumped out 250 HP, and was "so powerful" it could not be mated to the factory 5-speed manual, it was auto-only. The 305 had 205 HP in the IROC-Z, and 170 in the Camaro RS... That Carried over into 1991 when IROC was dropped, and the Z-28 came back, with 205 HP in the 305 and 250 in the 350, until 1993 with the redesign and the 275 HP 5.7L... The 305 was dropped for that bodystyle... I never liked that bodystyle...

In 1990 - 1991, the 302 in the Mustang w/225 HP (Then downgraded to 215) would trounce a 305 Cu. in Camaro, but, get it's **** handed to it by the 350. Back then, the 'Stang was soundly whipping the Camaro in the Pony Wars, unless the 350 was involved. I still remember license plate frames saying "Have You Smoked and IROC Lately?" But, after 1993, the Camaro never looked back, until it died...

 

Hersh,

You know a lot about cars. Is this knowledge from personal research, or did you take some kind of mechanics class? OR, is it because you retain knowledge well?

I dunno, but you know a lot more about cars then I do.

 

Reminds me of a story. Buddy of mine had an old (I think 1981) Oldsmobile Toronado diesel. He ripped out the diesel engine and replaced it with a 496 big block. That was friggin sweet. He left all the stock badges on it and everything, and did his best to quiet it down. This was in around 1992-1993 when I was in high school. That car was the talk of the hallways... ahhh good times!

 

What's up JW?
NAh, I don't know a lot about cars from a mechanical standpoint, but, I wish I did... I can do the basics, change tires, oil, air filters, bulbs, change the battery, check the battery, all the fluids, pack bearings and simple stuff like that. But, I'm no mechanic by any stretch of the imagination.

I do a lot of reading, and retain a number of facts. I know a lot about the 1990 - 1992 Camaro's because they used to give me wood like no other car could... Back then, you could have offered to give me any car short of a Testarossa or a Diablo, and I would have chosen the 1991 Camaro RS V-8 in Teal Green, over it, even though the Z-28 would be sitting right next to it, with up to 80 more horses... I couldn't stand that big **** rear wing, so the Z-28, though more potent, would not have been my choice...

I came this close to buying a 1990 IROC-Z for $14,900 in Oct. 1990, but could not bear the thought of going to the war, and leaving my car parked in the motorpool from Nov. 1990 - what they told us would be up to two years. So, I didn't buy it... Considering what happened in 1991 that foiled my plans for the 1991 RS; I probably wouldn't have gotten financed anyway...

No credit history and no co-signer is worse than bad credit... I had to start off in the first time buyers program and only got a Cavalier.... I was pissed!

 

lots of engine grades for gm in the 80's

the monte never got the tpi (tunned port injection) that the camaros had. the camaros and firbirds of the 80's first had carborators then the cr@p crossfire then the tpi and the tbi injection. the monte should have been offered with the tpi 350 or even the tpi 305 but never was. the tpi were rated anywere from 205 hp to the 91 that got 245 hp, the camaros made more hp than the firbirds because of the intake and there was also an option for dual cats that upped the power also. imo a 350 would do the car justice, finding someone to make the computer carb work good with it is another story. the 305 in the monte was basically a carry over of the ho305 190 hp, first offered in the 83 or 84 z28

now how do i no this. my brother got a brand new 1989 firebird formula 350 with the dual cats and the 3.27 rear end. in the summer of 1993 after someone worked on it and messed it up (this after i got it to running 13.9 with bolt ons) I did alot of research, pulled the motor (first time i ever had done this) and had a 383 built, airflow research heads, lingenfelter cam, 10.5 to ones and edlbrock headers. in 1993 it ran 12.8, then we added a compucar 150 shot of no2. At the time there was alot of street racing in houston on the far end of westimer, many of night this was the car to beat and on motor we smoked a new zr-1 corvette that at the time was the chit.
we lost interest and the car sat in a garage for 8 years, we got it out last year, rebuilt the motro and added an accel superram intake, so far it has gone a 12.6 with nitto tires, thru the catalytic convertor and without the no2
I can honestly say i know the tpi gm cars inside and out.
in typical hot rod fashion, we blew up the trans 3 weeks ago and business is booming so we dont have time to mess with it...again

some pictures

taken in 87, a friends very clean 84 ss


taken today 1989 firbird formula 350 engine:

 

it is dirty and still has shoe polish on the windows from the dragstrip, i cant stand people that have fast cars and no time slips. the car should really go 12.2, but 12.6 is were it is at now.

 

I used to have a '92 teal green RS 5-spd... Cool car!

My neighbor has a car I really want, and has decided to sell it. (although, I noticed last night that the sign was out of the window) Its an '89 IROC convertible. Kind of off white with a black top and interior. I think its an auto, fully loaded, in excellent condition, with low mileage... She was asking $7500...

 

Yeah, my best friend (Who didn't even want another Camaro) went to Florida, and came back with a 1991 Camaro RS, with the 3.1L V-6 & 140 HP, in what color? Teal Green. I had been in the Army longer, made more money, had more stripes, but he got it and I couldn't get financed. The difference was, he had credit history with his Visa card, and I paid cash for everything up to that point.

I gotta tell you, that V-6 with the 5-speed was very well suited to that car. I was always the designated driver, and I've pushed that car from Tucson to Fort Huachuca, AZ many a morning after the club closed, at speeds over 100 MPH. Another buddy's girlfriend had a dark grey 1990 RS, with the 305. He had fixed it up, tint, stereo, alarm, radar detector, the works... My best friend ended up tagging my other friends girl friend, so, before long he had access to BOTH Camaro's! Funny how that worked out... There I was, sputtering along in my 2.3L I-4 Cavalier VL Coupe. Actually, it did OK from 60 - 100; 0-60 was dismal though.

Interstate 10 from Alvernon Way in Tucson to mile marker 302 for Highway 90, may as well be Autobahn 10... That's the only place I've known people to set the cruise control at 100 MPH. Me and my boys used to convoy to Tucson, from Huachuca at 100+... Don't do it on 90 though, the troopers and county-mounties patrol that road, and they will tag your **** out there with a very nice ticket...

 

Shhhhhh....

That is a part of automotive history that should never be spoken of, it is better left to distant memory.

I remember my buddy had an 83(?) vette with the CF. First year anyone had it. When it ran it would sort of pull it's self down the road. We've all tried to forget that disappointment for a car too.

My mother and step father inlaw also have a blue 86 IROC w/ t-tops in thier collection. Shes mint, shes a beaut, but never gets ran out. He putts around like a grandma in it.
I've tired to get him to road race me in my 81 TA, but he wouldn't do it. He has a couple more Cubes than me and rated at a few more ponies, but I think the short stroke would get my off the line faster, and the factory 3/4" sway bars with factory RTS suspension helps it hug the corners a slight bit better plus helps it hook up off the line too. The ****ional brake vents in the 1st and 2nd gen TA's let them slam in to the corners waiting a little longer before hitting the brakes and not worry about them getting hot and glazing.

Dont get me wrong I like the IROC's, I prefer the style of the early 80's Z's over the Iroc, but have a fetish for second gen TA's, have had since I was 6 years old. It was my dream car, I've shared the story on here before on how I got mine when I was 18. It's never getting another owner again. Family and I will sleep in it's back seat before we'd sell it to make a house payment. That's no exatuaration, I love it that much. I can't wait to have the time and money to restore it and get it on the road again.

 

Well in 1989 the Formula I had came in 2 tpi flavors 225 hp 350 and a 225 hp 305 but you could only get the 5 speed with the 305 tpi. A winning combination imho.

the MonteCarlo SS was all show and no go much like the Hurst Olds and 442 of the 80s. At least buick had the grand national and for had the supercoupe.

 

89 was the (i think) one and only year that they had dual and single convetro engines

305 was 215 hp single, 225 double.
350 was 225 single and 235 double

most of the gta got the single cats and 2.77 gears, most of the formula 350 got the dual cats and 3.27 gear

they also offered a 305 tbi cat that made around 170

if i could go back in time, I would have told my parents to pay a little more and get the turbo v-6 trans am.

PSS , my sister got a brand new white 1980 t/a, awsome looking car but the 301 was and is a lost cause. in high school i had a friend thats dad had an 79 with the 403 olds, he had work done it, i really had no comprehension a the time but it seems that changed the heads to raise the compression and added 4.11 gears and a stronger cam. when my friend turned 16 in 83 he got the car and that thing would fly, at trip to the track and it ran a 14.4 which in 83 was basically untouchable for a street car.

 

That's what mine is, white with tri blue Phoenix and small little 4.9l (301).
80-81 Pontiac 301's actually were hitting about 148hp. A 13 hp gain over previous years thanks to an experimental mid rise intake. In 1980 a pace car edition came with a 301 turbo only and I think that bumped it up to 160 +/- or so. I can't remember the toque numbers but if memory serves me the 301 N/A wasn't far from the 6.6L (400) N/A big block. The short stroke gave it unbelievably quick reaction time. It would out wrap a 400, but it just couldn't out power it.

The 301's biggest problem was the lack of internal balancing. It was all externally balanced. The short stroke and performance valves made it want to run high RPM's for max power, but when it is up there it is literally throwing it's self apart. Because of it's small displacement, few people will spend the time or money to have one blue printed and balanced. It just makes more sense to build one that starts out bigger. Simply because there is no replacement for displacement.