gasket matching means to get the head port to go flush against the gasket (more airflow), take one of the heads and a intake gasket, take a black sharpe (or any dark marker) on run the marker on the inside of the gasket for the ports, then remove the gasket and you should see a little bit of the marker, then you take a dremal tool (or any small hand grinder) and start grinding away the material with the marker on it, then take a smother sandpaper and smooth the port, then put the gasket back on and if the gasket lines up with the port then you did a good job...


gasket matching, is one of the basic steps of porting and polishing a head..you can also do this to the intake too, and flow a little bit more air threw the intake and heads..or if you wanna go farther you can then to to porting and polishing deeper in the ports and the combustion chamber...

 

You're going to need to add a lot more than you think you will to get to where you want. Your engine isn't putting out as much as you're guessing.
300-330 hp at the wheels equates to around 353~388 hp at the crank. Your mildly built engine wouldn't be anywhere near that. You'd be doing good to have between 300~325 at the crank the way it is now. Not trying to burst your bubble, just letting you know you need to make a longer shopping list.

 

Well i'm not sure what you mean by average budget, but swapping out your pistons for bigger domes would increase your c.r. and pull out some more HP and ft./lbs. Something a little simpler like installing a coil and plugs that fire hotter. On the more expensive side a trans swap can free up a nice chunk of the HP you already make. The general rule is that auto trans shave 20-25% of the flywheel horse where stick only eats about 15%.

Also, what do you mean by "the frame is tied"? A 4-link, sub-frame connectors, ladder bars, or something else?

 

I am curious as to the heads on the engine do you know the casting#. Its hard to give advice on the engine when we dont know the key components (ie heads and cam). Its sounds like someone upgraded the car the th400 is a strong trans as is the 12 bolt. Stuff you can try, race slicks (at the track), traction bars, go to an electric water pump play with the carb jetting and engine timing. Not sure if this is comparable but there is a SRT8 Challanger that runs at our local track 1/8th mile it will run in the 8.80s range on a good pass.

 

[QUOTE=bigbear40;324877]What does gasket match mean?
How much do you think it would cost for port and polishing the heads or is it better off to just buy brand new heads?

Gasket match means opening up the ports to the size of the intake manifold gasket on both the intake manifold and the heads. Polishing heads accomplishes little and if you don't know what you are doing, it may result in even less power. Porting heads is usually cheaper than getting new ones, but has to be done properly. Porting is a mixture of science and art, and best left to a proven expert.

 

NO2

 

I think before you go trying to really up the power in your ride it might be a good idea to see what your engine's bottom end is built with. there is alot of unknown's in your explaination. you can also try removing and/or moving weight in your camaro to make it launch better. you could move the battery to the trunk, remove your spare at the track, if you got a big radio system pull it(engines sound better anyways), just get creative. easy suspension tweaks could be adjusting the gap on your traction bars ,if you got 'em, limiting front suspension travel, even pulling the bolts out of your front sway bar(at the track only) can help your car go faster, all w/o spending alot.