30 No-Buck And Low-Buck Pontiac Mods

Unless you've been on another planet for the past several months, you already know the economy is in the crapper. Money is tight. Morale is low. What can you do to get through these tough times and still afford the pleasure of improving your Pontiac?

Try some of these no-buck and low-buck performance upgrades. Many of these mods have been around for years and will yield positive results with little or no cash outlay. Longtime hobbyists will recognize some-but not all-of these tips. Those who've gotten into the hobby in the last few years will be seeing most of these mods for the first time.

If you want to keep your project moving forward despite being cash-strapped, this is the article for you. Employing even a few of these ideas can make your Pontiac quicker and/or handle better without lightening your wallet too much.

Time It
Most stock-configuration, iron-head Pontiac engines generally work well with 32-38 degrees total timing. Now that you can read total timing, set your engine to 30 degrees, make two clean passes, and note the e.t. and mph. Bump the timing 2 degrees and make two more passes. If your Pontiac gets quicker, repeat the process. Continue until it slows down or detonates; then back off two degrees. If a hot-start problem develops from dialing in too much initial advance, the distributor will have to be recurved to add more mechanical advance. This is so you can reduce initial advance and keep the optimal total timing to maintain the performance benefit, while allowing for easy hot starts. Or you can just back off the timing again after each track outing.

Dare To Drill
If you need bigger jets but don't want to buy them, you can drill the ones you have to the desired size using numbered bits, available at hobby stores. But remember two things: 1.) If you drill too large, you'll have to solder them closed and start over. 2.) Jet manufacturers say drilling jets damages the entry and exit angles, so they won't have the same flow characteristics as a precision-made jet of the same size. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Dump The Weight
Cutting weight results in lower e.t.'s. For example, the passenger seat on the typical GTO weighs about 50 pounds. Remove it and the rear seat, and you'll drop a few hundredths in e.t. You've already jettisoned the seized A/C compressor, the spare tire, and the jack, right?

Drop The Pipes
Would you like free horsepower at the strip? Drop the head pipes and run with open exhaust at tracks that allow it. You'll probably go quicker, and you can gauge how good or bad your exhaust system is by making back-to-back passes open and corked up.

Valve-Lash Horsepower
Got a solid cam and want to squeeze out a few more ponies? Try experimenting with valve-lash adjustments and testing at the track or on the dyno. Tighten the lash to increase effective duration and top-end power, and loosen it to reduce duration and increase low-end torque. Use 0.004-inch increments and go no further than 0.006 from the cam-card recommendations in either direction. Try the same lash on the intake and exhaust; then more on the intake and less on the exhaust, and vice-versa to dial in the optimal settings.

Get Nailed
This is an old racer trick. In four-link street cars, a cheap way to stiffen rear control-arm bushings to thwart axle hop is to pound nails into them. Remove the control arms, use the nails without heads, and space them evenly around the bushing.