100 inexpensive ways to gain 1hp?

[66rivnail]

I have been reviewing the various threads to get ideas to improve the performance of my 425 when I rebuild it in 2012 or 2013. I wanted to gather as much information as I could before I started. This brought me to think about all the various inexpensive ways to increase the horsepower of my nailhead or other V8's. There are alot of good ideas out there like Doc's mods, distributor mods, indexing the spark plugs, etc.

So with that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to start a thread to get everyone's SIMPLE and INEXPENSIVE ways to add horsepower. My idea is to come up with a list of 100 modifications that could add 1hp or more for a very low cost, or maybe labor intensive only.

What do you say Buick lovers, who wants to share their ideas!!!!!!

[staged70]

I could stand to loose 80 pounds thats like adding 10 hp right.

[1drwgn]

Home porting your heads, having the valves back cut, synthetic oil, electric fans, modern power steering pump(less drag on crank) gasket match intake to heads, cut outs in exhaust, cold air ducting, ram air ducting, carb spacers and the most expensive, nitrous

[bammax]

You could always do the "only turn right" form of driving. It's been proven to save gas to the point that delivery companies plan routes using almost entirerly right turns.

Could also do the "nuetral down hills" thing.

[sailbrd]

windage tray
crank scrapper
no power anything

Here is one way of reducing weight. Mark every bolt 2 threads past the end of the nut. Cut the bolt. This is what Mark Steilow does on his pro touring cars.

[bhambulldog]

cold air induction;:puzzled: :laugh:

[staged70]

cold air induction;:puzzled: :laugh:

Thats Turbosonic, Supercharged, SuperSport, NASA approved cold air induction designed for the space shuttle and only one example was ever released to the public

[william.ali.kay]

cold air induction;:puzzled: :laugh:

That set up is only effective once traveling faster than the speed of light.:Smarty:

[SteeveeDee]

I put a cold air induction on my Corolla commuter car, and gained 1% in mileage. Every little bit helps. But I wouldn't give that a real horsepower number, it started out with very few.

[Poppaluv]

Other people use stickers. I think each one is worth 2-5 hp depending which guy you talk to. I would think ,however, that DO NOT belong on any Buick...:)

[doc]

there are several things listed in my list of cheap tricks.. and the ddp sticky....

[DeeVeeEight]

cold air induction;:puzzled: :laugh:


http://www.v8buick.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=196327&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1302730172 (http://www.v8buick.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=196327&d=1302730172)

Yes, keeping your exhaust manifold cool also helps to extend the life of your muffler bearings and improves PCV flow.

[Poppaluv]

Yes, keeping your exhaust manifold cool also helps to extend the life of your muffler bearings and improves PCV flow.

Well duh.......:rolleyes:

[bhambulldog]

http://www.v8buick.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=196327&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1302730172 (http://www.v8buick.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=196327&d=1302730172)

Yes, keeping your exhaust manifold cool also helps to extend the life of your muffler bearings and improves PCV flow.
My dyna flows fine. Right trough the holes in the fender, thank you very much.

[Tricolor72]

A properly curved ignition system, manual brakes, electric water pump, ac delete

[BadBrad]

Dump your mechanical fan.

[sean Buick 76]

1. Make sure you have a good front end allignment and NO brake drag. :Smarty:

2. Make sure you have a clean fuel filter and more importantly a clean fuel tank and lines.

3. Remove extra stuff in the car. :beers2:

[DeeVeeEight]

Throw out the wife/girlfriend..... that is a significant weight reduction.

[Dale]

Throw out the wife/girlfriend..... that is a significant weight reduction.


LOL!
The visual I got in my head when I read that.
:laugh:

[Keith2k455]

a fuel radiator

[Tricolor72]

Ice packs on the intake between runs! Swapping a stock th400 for a built th350 is another way to gain some ponies:beers2:

[BadBrad]

Get more chrome. That always works.

[Airy Cat]

Run a mix of 50% 100LL AvGas and 50% premium fuel.
This will get you way more than 1 HP and 100LL AvGas is only a dollar a gallon more than premium.

[Tricolor72]

Run a mix of 50% 100LL AvGas and 50% premium fuel.
This will get you way more than 1 HP and 100LL AvGas is only a dollar a gallon more than premium.

Not to get off topic here but why would avgas increase power? I thought it was the same energy content as automotive fuel just formulated a different way to keep it in a stable form and prevent freezing. It also has a ton of lead even though it is considered Low Lead. The main benifit I see to running avgas is either a cheaper alternative to race gas or a way to reduce ethanol content per tankful from e10 by diluting with some avgas

[william.ali.kay]

Bump this.

[slolark]

Cooler thermostat + more timing.

[Fox's Den]

X-Pipe for exhaust system. This also quieted down the Flowmaster mufflers too. This took away some of the droning sound.

[doc]

Back in 61/62 Ford T-birds had a H pipe set up,,, it did quiet down the mufflers, and gave 1 or2 hp and some mileage increase.....

[tonytheplumber]

Proper tire pressure, and pull the waddad up floor mat out from under your accelerator pedal :idea2: . Also check accelerator linkage/travel to make sure throrttle blades are fully open when the loud pedal is on the floor.

[Mark Demko]

Braided hose adds 13 hp.

[doc]

Mark,,, you just aint right in the head....:pp :laugh:

[1967GS340]

Throw out the wife/girlfriend..... that is a significant weight reduction.

Dang it! That's what I was thinking!
Only difference is I was going to say a divorce. I lost more dead weight than you could imagine. Much quieter ride in the car too.