So I just got involved with an 1989 camaro iroc with a motor swap. The last owner had bought a crate motor and swapped the motor. I'm going to have to pull the motor and replace all the gaskets and seals that are leaking which is like every sealing point because this car was sitting for a long while. Anyways since I'm pulling the motor to rebuild it. I was wondering who might be familiar with these motors and what can I do to make the motor stronger/add horse power. As of right now the car has a Holley high rise intake, Holley 670 carb, edelbrock heads, 373 rear end gears. I was thinking of maybe adding a bigger cam, with different heads. What's everyone's thoughts?

 

The ZZ4 motor is a great motor to start with, You really need to think about what you are going to use the car for before you start changing the design. Bigger cam and higher flowing heads will add more max HP but can easily make the car un-drive able below 3500 RPMs. One of the biggest mistakes I see is guys build insane HP motor then they hate to drive it because when they try to pull out from a stop with a cop around they stall it or their kids or grand kids hate to rid in it.

By changing the heads and the Cam you are changing the design of the motor, anytime you change a design of anything you need requirement. What am I trying to do? Are you building a drag car? pro touring? Two very difference engines, Do I just want the car to push me into the seat so hard you can see the shape of the seat springs indented in my back the next day?

How much torque can the current trans and rear handle. How much can they put to the pavement. 550 Ft/Lbs of torque on leaf springs is just a waste. What RPM range will I be holding while racing, do I care about other RPM ranges.

Back in the 80's I built circle track engines. They ranged fro 500-700 HP, we had all kinds of spare parts. Heck I could have parts for free but they where useless on a street engine and they where not right for real drag cars.