She is a stock 350 in an 83 el camino....the only thing that has been changed is that i dont have the original fan on it with the clutch i guess....she just goes with my RPMs....and a K&N air filter.....otherwise shes a two barrel with no headers and dual flowmaster exhaust. No posi  

First off, I'd study some ways to increase my chances of getting help. Such as, not use new-fangled slang terms in a all-caps title...

Next, get a project that good to start with and one you will stick with. In an El Camino traction is already very limited and you have a one-legger. What are you planning on doing with the thing? Putting around town? Putting on a dual exhaust while leaving the stock manifolds is a slap in the face for a performance engine. You may have improved output slightly but you probably didn't get rid of the bottleneck in the system, depending on how much want to achieve. Also, obviously a 2 barrel carb won't suffice for an engine of that size of any rpm above 4000. Determine what you want, how much you want to spend, and how much effort you will put into this project and then come back.  

The first cheap and easy thing is to swap out the 2 barrel carb and intake for a four barrel carb and aluminum intake.

The next best improvement you can make is a cam swap. Replace the factory cam with something more beefy to go with the four barrel carb and intake.  

Wow...didn't think i had to be gramatical and politically correct on a forum.  Sorry for using all caps, slang, slapping all performance engines in the face, and "putting" around town.  I bought the car this way for $1,500 dollars and i realize that my performance sucks and thats the reason i decided to post my request for help. I appologize for not being concise with my intentions for my "put-put".  I am a full-time college student so the bulk of my money goes to rent, gas, and groceries.  I usually have about 2-400 bucks to spare per month, my primary goal is to have somewhere between 350-450 horsepower with the same amount of torque.  I want to be able to go to the track once in a while, but unfortunately this is my only car, so it has to be able to get some sort of gas mileage.  As far as effort is concerned, i love my car and i want to keep it, its my first V8 and I would like to do it right the first time around.  

Even though you have a problem showing respect, thanks for at least typing something that could be understood...

Effort has nothing to do with how much you love your car. Overhaul costs are determined in thousands of dollars not a couple hundred a month. I understand a college kid's budget but if this is your primary car monetary and time restraints will be tough to get around to overhaul this engine. 400 horsepower is impossible with just bolt-ons and I doubt that if you bought this car for $1,500 that it's a very good platform to start with (meaning the condition of the engine). Obviously you can go buy an intake manifold and carb, which will be a good start, but if you want to do it right it should involve getting a new cylinder(s) to start with, new rings, valve seals, cut-in a new valve job, etc. More than likely in their current state, all of these things are going to contribute to a loss of power and efficiency (fuel economy). I can't tell what kind of shape this engine is in but in a lot of cases these parts are 25 years old and need some attention. I guess you need to determine what you're going to do.  

I guess i didnt know that all caps and slang were disrespectful, but i got emotional with the whole "putting around town" remark.  I appoligize for having such sarcasm in my text but hey, im only human.  Thank you for the advice, and it will be used.  I also have a question about my transmission.  I thought that i had a knock in my motor and i was advised that it was my piston rod hitting the bottom of my oil pan.  It was actually that i had 3 bolts missing from my transmission bellhousing and my trans was slipping away from my engine.  Is there anything else i should be looking or listening for with my transmission.  In addition to my prior problems with the bellhousing, should that be replaced, and would having my transmission rebuilt and upgraded to a turbo 350 help with performance and where should that be on my list of priorities?  

If you plan on upgrading your engine than you probably should think about changing your trans' considering the trans' to use is dictated by the amount of horsepower you plan on generating.  A turbo 350 would do well and far as priority it is 2nd.  Listen for missed shifts, late shifts, and late kickdown.  

someone can correct me if i am wrong but i hear that if you use chevys vortec heads are are just as good as edlebrock aluminum heads if not better and half the price just need to get a different intake because the vortec bolt pattern is different  

This is true, vortec heads are just as good as edlebrock aluminum heads and they are a better bang for the buck.  

bigger bang for the buck are the new bowtie vortecs  

native1:
someone can correct me if i am wrong but i hear that if you use chevys vortec heads are are just as good as edlebrock aluminum heads if not better and half the price just need to get a different intake because the vortec bolt pattern is different

If you are referring to the Edelbrock Performer RPM cylinder heads versus the OE GM vortecs I'd have to say that you're wrong. I would have much more confidence in an aftermarket company such as Edelbrock than a mass-produced casting put out by GM. CHP would agree with me as well, as some of their recent testing showed the Edelbrock out powered a stock vortec head by about 30 horsepower on a warmed-over 383...

The Edelbrock heads also give an advantage in valve size, port volume, and options.  

you may be right but from what i can tell the kid was looking for cheap which edlebrock heads are not and also as far as i can tell he is in a stock 350 not a 383 i still say try vortec heads  

Hey gib how bout you stop bein a *** and help the kid. Everyone else seems to want to give him advice on good parts for what he can afford while you just look like an idiot. Because from what i can read the only word close to a slang term was "ballin" and if you consider that slang you got problems. Also if having his title in all caps doens't get some attention for help i dont know what will. It got you in here didn't it.  

1st things 1st. Look into getting a set of headers. Depending on where you live the car may qualify for antique or classic registration next year and you can be exempt from many smog tests(or laws, depending on how you look at it).

Pick up a used Performer RPM intake or an air gap if you get lucky. Get a 600ish holley vac secondary and don't take any advise from the guy that told you the rods were hitting the oil pan.

The intake and carb will run you about $300 in decent used condition w/ gaskets and a rebuild kit for the carb(super easy). If you must tinker buy things you will be able to use on the final build, like a good electric fan set up(ditch the flex fan).
Look into getting a posi in it, probably $600 w/ gear installed if you can find a good place to go. Even cheaper if you get lucky w/ a wrecked Monte SS, T-Type or similar car  you can rob the entire rear from.  

phatcamaro:
Hey gib how bout you stop bein a *** and help the kid. Everyone else seems to want to give him advice on good parts for what he can afford while you just look like an idiot. Because from what i can read the only word close to a slang term was "ballin" and if you consider that slang you got problems. Also if having his title in all caps doens't get some attention for help i dont know what will. It got you in here didn't it.

If you would please actually read this thread rather than reading a sentence and throwing harsh comments my way you would see that I am giving this kid advice. If you haven't noticed, I'm one of the three or four people that actually care about this board. Most of the others are trolls that post questions and never return to the forum again, or the ones that do come back usually know more about the subject than those answering their questions. It's a wonder why I post here at all, but that's not the point here...

The point here is that I don't appreciate an all caps title with the use of some "flashy words" in attempts to get attention. I look at almost all of the new threads here, they don't need a magazine article title from Rap & Hip-Hop Magazine in them for me to be interested.

The Merriam brothers and Noah Webster are good friends of mine and they don't consider "ballin'" a word. So, what exactly is "ballin'" if it isn't slang and it isn't part of the English language? I guess what I should ask is, do you think that all words that pop up in rap songs should be considered normal English?

But we were long past this, the original poster and myself settled this. Thanks for having to bring it back up though. I enjoy the opportunity to defend myself.

*** What makes your camaro "phat"?