Hi all,

I have an 87 Caprice 5.0 Literthat I have been driving for a few years. It has been great all this time but I would like to show my girlfriend who thinks that it is "too old" that this baby is still a badass. I got it from anelderly ladywho says that she was the only owner before that, so I guess it has had no customisations put in it. I don't know basically anything about suping up cars, but I would like to get into it a lot.

Anyway my question is if anyone has any tips or ideas, littleorbig,on what I could try to door get done that would overall improve its running condition. Not like check ups, but more on customisations to make it run smoother, faster, COOLER :) Please help my with anything like that. I would like to not have to spend a lot of money, ofcourse, but if it will make a better difference I will try to go up to several hundred.

Thank you guys

5.0 are not a waste of time but it would be better to drop in a 5.7 350. you get the power you really need. but if you want some hints for a 305 then... 1. you can convert your clutch style radiator fan to an electric fan. you can beef up the internals but you seem to be looking for bolt ons. if you are using tbi injection get yourself a cold air intake and some a.i.r injection headers to compliment your pump. to summon it up just get a better intake and exhaust.

Is it a 2 door or a 4 door? If it's a 2 door don't modify anything if it's already stock, that's what I'd say. If it's a 4 door anything goes. I've got a '87 Landau and I've been putting in more work into making it stock than anything else. When I got the car it had a 350 (from a Suburban) in it and had been painted. I'm bringing it back to it's stock color and am currently considering swapping the 350 out for a rebuilt 454 and TH400. If it had the stock 305 in it i would just rebuild that and keep it but since that's long gone I might as well go nuts. The '87 2 door is basically the '57 Chevy of the 80's I say. Anybody has some more insite I'm open for arguments. 313hitman's got the right idea about easy upgrades, I've always been a fan of swapping out for police package stuff. Reggie.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o219/ernestmayhand/capricetwinz.jpg

what is a landau? is that like some kinda kit like the callaway corvette. Ive several 2 door caprice's but never heard that name

Landau is "the utmost". I guess you could say it's basically the "Brougham" of the 2 door variety (minus the pillow top seats unfortunately) It's specifically 2 door and has a vinyl top and bright side moldings that stretch from rear quarter window to the front clip. Not sure if this is all Landaus, but my Landau has power seats, windows, a/c, optional guage cluster (85 mph speedo (instead of 120mph rectangular speedo) w/ volt meter, etc., and cassette player.

yo blood elf if you dont allready have a cold air intake I can send you some pics pics of mine and show you how to make it.

the easiest most effective way to make a car cooler is rims. Im not saying you need 20's but some 16's off an IROC camarro with wide 50 or 60 series tires is cool.Any rims you see on a camarro, monte carlo, 2 wheel drive S-10,cutlass, regal, malibu will fit. Any car looks better with a little bigger rims and wider tires.... my wife hates my caprice too but she has a right to its uglier now than whenI got it....I treat it like a truck and beat the hell out of it.i did the electric fan on my caprice and defanitly noticed a difference in the throttle response. I got one out of a lumina at the junkyark and wired it to my battery with a 30amp fuse and a toggle switch.IT dont have to be out of any specific car. Just find one with only two wires and get the biggest one you can find.A K and N air filter also made a nice diffrence. Headers with 2 1/2 dual exhaust is always nice. I say the lower the better too.

I put some pics on the photo gallery of my caprice and intake if you want to see..

87 does it have a TBI? or does it have a carb?
Start with the basic route: headers, highflow CAT and a decent muffler. Also look into a throttle body spacer, they're good for an additional 15-20 horse and improve gas mileage. If you have a TBI your in luck Chevrolet really pumped up the hp/torque numbers of their 305 in the 87 model year so that they could phase out the 350 (good thing that never happened lol).
I have an 87 Silverado with a TBI 305 the cylinder heads are an early "Vortec style" design and are not ideal for upper rpm performance. If your 87 has similar heads, an upgrade to used 305 Vortec heads along with a custom chip could make a huge difference. I however opted out of this since my rear main seal is on its way out...

Good luck with your mods, let us know how it works out!

EDIT:
Wow check this out, anyone with a 305 should seriously read this... http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/tbi/227281-new-tbi-check-out.html

a good upgrade for your 305 is to simply make it high output. look for some heads #14014416 usually you can find them in the 86 camaro. and beef up to a better cam.

Thank you guys for responding. I apologize for never returning but I moved away just after this post. Money and time are tight with me right now, so I'll need to return when I can really put some into this, including the cold air intake possibility,and also, some rims. Until then my gf will still say things like, "There's your crapmobile" lol, but it's stillpretty cool to me. These were cop cars!

Thanks for the help. I am very automobile machanically challenged. To change a 5.0 to 5.7, does that mean change the engine? If something like that is possible, what would you say to putting something like a corvette engine into it?

Thanks again, guys.

you can simply remove the 5.0 block and replace it with a 5.7(350) of the same generation. if you have tbi, then you have to get yourself a 5.7 ecu to compliment the bigger block. the exhaust manifolds have the same bolt pattern but most likely you have to replace them. money is tight for me too thats why I have a tuned up 305 in my caprice right now but been building my 350 in the basement. for now I suggest taking care of the body while you are still shopping for a 350.

do you want to sell the caprice coupe? call me at 216-673-1660

do you want to sell the caprice coupe? call 216-673-1660

wanna sell it? call me 216-673-1660

do you want to sell it? call 216-673-1660 or text me your muber

Seen a few of the post and yes loose that 305 and swap in a 350. If you don't want to, get the car to breath better. Get a 4bbl, K&N filter kit, headers, better exhaust etc... any car that breathes better, runs better.