CK5
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1989 Camaro RS

Been seeing a handful of these for sale lately near me. Sure wish I could buy one. Even seen a t-top 5 sp 350 RS in moab for like $3k.

The 350 was not available with the T5 from the factory. Also, the only way to get a 350 in an RS was a B4C (cop car). Easy to put it all together though.

Martin
 
The 350 was not available with the T5 from the factory. Also, the only way to get a 350 in an RS was a B4C (cop car). Easy to put it all together though.

Martin
Very well coulda been a 305. Good info to know if I ever go searching.
 
Ordered a lower temp fan switch from Napa. Hopefully that'll help help out under control in town. The factory switch is set for like 246°F. This one will be in the 230°F range. I don't want it much cooler than that since I'm running a 195 t-stat.

Any suggestions on a better quality t-stat brand than Stant? I haven't gotten good, consistent performance from their Superstats for a while now. I think it's time to move on.
 
I like the high-flow thermostats. I usually get Edelbrock or Stewart.
 
Yeah.


There's a couple things involved in my decision.

1. I'm honestly not upset with how it runs with 2.73s. Again, it's a cruiser. I'm not trying to beat up on Coyotes or LSs between stoplights.

2. The thing gets 28mpg at 75mph with the A/C running as it sits. That's better than my wife can get out of her 2013 2.5L Malibu (driving style).

3. We helped a guy with a WS6 Trans-Am for a bit. Going from his 3.42s to 4.10s cost him almost a second at the track because his 5500rpm LT1 didn't have a wide enough power band to handle that 3.06 first gear and 4.10s. He was doing a 1-2 shift almost immediately and the 4L60/700R4 1-2 shift is pretty broad. The LT1 has almost double my HP and nearly 1000RPM higher redline.

From my experiences and what I'm expecting out of the car, I just feel like the 3.23s are a good compromise for economy, performance and comfort.

I appreciate yalls input on it, and if I was building something to turn laps or primarily race, it would be 3.42 or 3.73 and then engine mods to match. I think a mild converter and 3.23s will provide me the boost in performance I'm looking for without compromising the intended purpose of the car.
Had an 87 r10 with a 305, th350c, and 2.73s.

About got my ass kilt whenever I tried to pass.
In overdrive, a 4.10 drives like a 2.95 figuring a .72 o.d.

The only way I would drive a 2.73 again is in a big block f body.

I have seen a T/A with a 2.56 rear end....
 
Installed a FS110 fan switch last night. Dropped the fan-on temp to around 230 instead of nearly 250. That should help keep the temps more reasonable in traffic.

Kinda looks like my water pump is weeping a little too. Never did see an actual drip but I could see some tracking along the neck.

I think I'm going to warm it back up tonight and check the timing. Maybe bump in a few degrees advance and see if that makes much of a difference.
 
Installed a FS110 fan switch last night. Dropped the fan-on temp to around 230 instead of nearly 250. That should help keep the temps more reasonable in traffic.

Kinda looks like my water pump is weeping a little too. Never did see an actual drip but I could see some tracking along the neck.

I think I'm going to warm it back up tonight and check the timing. Maybe bump in a few degrees advance and see if that makes much of a difference.

Forgive me if I already mentioned it before, but the stock 0° setting is terrible. They really like 10° or thereabouts. A little more works well, but depending on the engine's health, there may be issues with ping on 87 octane.
 
Forgive me if I already mentioned it before, but the stock 0° setting is terrible. They really like 10° or thereabouts. A little more works well, but depending on the engine's health, there may be issues with ping on 87 octane.
I've read numbers from 4-10° but that's one reason I wanted to be able to data log before I did much. I've read about some engines starting to knock and wanted to be able to monitor that.

I run 89 in it either way because that's the most affordable non-ethanol available here in town.
 
Tuning thread here:

 
Base timing is set back to 0° BTDC.

Also scoped out the bolt holes for the air dam. Looks like it's getting some hefty self tappers. All the OE holes are deformed.
 
The air dam arrived today and we got it installed before we left for Roanoke. Wow what a difference in cooling. I couldn't pull good CTS data with my phone but the needle never went over about 170° while we were on the highway. The gauge isn't accurate so I'm gonna pull some data off it later this weekend and see how low it stays.
 
After work today I installed the FS113 fan switch. It's on at 215°F and off around 203°F. Combined with the newly installed air dam under the radiator, my engine stays nice and cool around town now.

During some test driving in the city this afternoon I never had the fan come on with even the slightest amount of motion and after sitting long enough for it to come on, the fan quickly dropped it to 200°F and then no hotter than 208°F for the short and slow drive back to the house.
 
I picked up a TBI GMT400 air cleaner at the scrap yard yesterday to play with.

I'm planning on poking a hole in it for the IAT sensor and frind the alignment tabs off so I can rotate it so that the snorkel points at the driver's side headlights where the factory air scoop is. If I can get all that hooked up and looking ok, the next move will be one of the salad bowl spacers and cut the center out of the air cleaner to give better air flow around the injector pods.

I've also got to figure out how to work with the truck's thermal air temperature control. I'm going to grab a beer in a bit and go investigate.
 
I got to spend some time in the garage this evening and got the truck air filter base installed.

The reason I wanted to do this is two fold.
Firstly, the factory snorkle REALLY necks down and limits potential air flow.

Secondly the ThermAC heat riser port on the car base stays open all the time. The truck base has a two part system. One flap opens the cool air feed to the snorkle and there is another flap that closes off the heat riser port to help maintain and control the inlet temperatures.

Here you can see the original base and intake hose. It has a truck lid installed on the factory base in this picture.

20190614_161236.jpg

The truck base has a built in spacer but it's not as tall as the factory spacer. I used a 1/4" plastic spacer under the base to allow me to clock out without grinding out the ears in the neck of the filter. This allowed me turn the snorkel from the passenger side to the driver's side to clear the AIR box and heater hose fittings.

I hole sawed holes for the IAT sensor and PCV vent breather in the proper locations and then sealed the old PCV breather hole with duct tape for the time being.

Then I was able to install the factory car lid and air filter as well as use some 4" drier vent tubing to hook up the cold air scoop behind the driver's side headlights. I had to put a vacuum cap on the old ThermAC supply port on the throttle body as well.

20220702_194541.jpg

I was even able to use the factory heat riser tube from the manifold to the snorkle to help warm up the engine and maintain inlet temperatures.

Here you can see the factory snorkle and how it necks down at the tube that attaches to the scoop.

20220702_194610.jpg

As it turns out, the truck base doesn't shroud the injector pod as much as the F-body one which should allow for more and better air flow into the throttle body.

A little test drive without any hard data makes me think it helped. IATs were better than I expected. No higher than 120°F idling around town and a cool 95°F on the interstate.
 
Dual snorkel.

Martin
I would love to have one but with my AIR system in place, the dual won't fit in there. The distribution box on the passenger side is exactly where the second snorkle sits. :frown
 
Come straight forward, over the front of the engine, and then curve over like a Firebird TPI air intake?

Martin
 
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