Just curious what kind of 0-60 and or 1/4 mile numbers your car does. I recently test drove a real nice 87 442 with factory 307 vin "9" roller motor and 70K original miles. It was in tip top shape with a recent tune up and some basic carb work and ran a stop watch 8.5 seconds 0-60 for me pretty consistantly with loads of low end and mid range torque. The puny 7A heads are good for mileage and low end torque but kill top end power so on the highway it was merely ok. This car was totally stock with the original cat and exhaust and the motor looks to have never been opened up. I know a few late 86-87 guys with these same vin "9" roller motors that got these engines in the low 15's 1/4 mile and 7 second 0-60 times and that was with true duals, no cat, tweaked carb and chip but for the little gain those mods didn't seem worth it to me. The 83-85 vin "9" motor used the freer flowing 5A heads and intake so a switch over to that setup will look stock and give your engine a cheap power boost if you want to go to the trouble of converting over to those style heads, cam and intake. If I were you I would just get your car in tip top running condition with no trouble codes, base timing set to around 22 degrees, no vacuum leaks, TPS properly adjusted, carb in tip top rebuilt condition. Omitting the cat will free up some HP but check your local emissions requirements as some stations will check this when inspecting your car.
Performance Upgrades for a 307-9code...
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You could spend the same money on a bunch of fiberglass parts - pro front end, hood, trunk - and light wheels, with a higher stall that your engine/trans could use and end up with a helluva lot better performance for the same price as squeezing 30-60 hp out of that engine. The plus is it's much easier to bolt back on exterior parts when you sell the car. First thing I'd do is take out that brick of a front seat and save close to 100 pounds by swapping for some aluminum ones.
But if you want to keep it original...I just don't see the point in sinking all that cash in the 307.
But if you want to keep it original...I just don't see the point in sinking all that cash in the 307.
I opted to free up the exhaust by eliminating that converter, that helped quite a bit. When I get my other mufflers the 442 will have a much more aggressive sound and maybe 2-3 extra hp, but not enough you will notice. When I built the new exhaust, I designed the tailpipes to exit out the rear of the car under the bumper instead of coming out at a 45 behind the wheel.
One big thing I found it the TV cable was way out of adjustment, so I set that properly and the car woke right up.
Yesterday I orded a Hypertech Thermomaster chip for the 442. I also have a 160* thermostat at home to put in when I get a minute, but it needs to be installed before or at the same time as the new chip because its burned to run low engine temp and low restriction exhaust. More or less, I ordered the most aggressive PROM they offer.
I do want to keep the car stock appearing. If it wasnt as nice I would be in the middle of a 350 SBO swap right about now. I like the car, but if the right GN comes along...
One big thing I found it the TV cable was way out of adjustment, so I set that properly and the car woke right up.
Yesterday I orded a Hypertech Thermomaster chip for the 442. I also have a 160* thermostat at home to put in when I get a minute, but it needs to be installed before or at the same time as the new chip because its burned to run low engine temp and low restriction exhaust. More or less, I ordered the most aggressive PROM they offer.
I do want to keep the car stock appearing. If it wasnt as nice I would be in the middle of a 350 SBO swap right about now. I like the car, but if the right GN comes along...
Blake442 said:
LOL.. no joke.. I haven't read all the posts, i have no patience so I maybe repeating some suggestions.. I've got the 7A headed 86 Vin9 motor .. These heads have "swirl port" heads for the best economy & low end torque.. Low RPM torque is awesome but that's all it's got, power really falls off around 4000 RPM. The 8:1 compression is way low & the intake ports are way small.. I did install a true dual but didn't help but it sounds nice..i needed a new exhaust anyway. If you really want to keep the 307 I'll suggest you find 5A heads ( from 83 - 85 yr 307 cars ) along with intake manifold. Then headers.. Work the heads & perhaps mill them down to achieve a higher 9:1 compression.. These parts should not be to difficult to find.. It's possible to get this motor still on CCC to run high 14's in the 1/4. I almost went & did this but changed my mind.. I decided to keep mine completely stock.. It's about time, money & fact that i already have a modded car - 85' SS with a 383..
I'm
zjchevy1 said:
Well, the chip I ordered from EPC didn't even get installed. What they showed in there catalog and what I got were two different things. They sent me the X3 chip, which you had to hard-wire into the engine harness of the car. I wasn't too pleased with that, so I shipped it back to them. 82355supreme sent me a link to superexhaust.com where I could get the Hypertech chip from them. It was $124 (more than the last thing I got), but it was exactly what I wanted. I'll be installing it at some point this weekend along with my 160* t-stat. Now that I took the taste of spanking riced out Honda's with a stock 307, I can't wait to see the improvements of the chip...because lets face it, it needs all the balls it can grow!
I'll post an update after the test-drive. Thanks for all the help!!
I installed the chip and low-temp thermostat - the 442 is a whole new animal. It runs great, holds the RPM's to better shift points, engine runs nice and cool, no pinging, and can actually pass other traffic without winding the piss out of the engine first.
Of course, now my carb is need of a rebuild :evil: I could smell raw fuel, and when I pulled the air cleaner off you could see the body gaskets were seeping and wet. Guess I'll rebuild it, I mean, it only lasted 22 years? :lol:
Of course, now my carb is need of a rebuild :evil: I could smell raw fuel, and when I pulled the air cleaner off you could see the body gaskets were seeping and wet. Guess I'll rebuild it, I mean, it only lasted 22 years? :lol:
All that the Olds guys were trying to say was that say for example you wanted 300HP to be able move your 442 aggressively on the street. If you rebuilt and built up your 307 to do it it would cost the same as to buy a 350/403 and rebuilt it. Plus with the 350/403 it would be easier to achieve and you would have more torque and the motor would be more docile/better mannered as the motor would not be as cammed relative to the cubic inch. Beating a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder Honda with a 442 would make me feel like bragging that I beat a severely overweight mentally handicapped kid in a foot race. I like fast but also docile and reliable ie no need for race gas a big stall converter or crazy gearing. Not saying you should do what I did as an Olds 350/403 could look very stock as its pretty much physically identical on the outside. In my case I put the numbers matching motor up for safe keeping and shoe horned in a mild Caddy 500. Its not all that but I did achieve 17mpg ran a 12.5 at 110mph and is stone reliable. I am not sure that could be done with a pump gas 307 without spray.
If I was going any bigger, I would definately be doing a motor swap. I like the originality and the history of my 442, plus I feel the resale will be better being an original car.
I'm happy with it the way I have it set up now. Its not out of the streetable realm by any means, but has plenty more low-end power over the stock setup. Oh, and when your driving it on a cool, Wisconsin summer night, thats when she's the most fun off a stop light 😀
Hell, I didn't even have to flip the air cleaner lid upside down :wink:
I'm happy with it the way I have it set up now. Its not out of the streetable realm by any means, but has plenty more low-end power over the stock setup. Oh, and when your driving it on a cool, Wisconsin summer night, thats when she's the most fun off a stop light 😀
Hell, I didn't even have to flip the air cleaner lid upside down :wink:
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