Rockers help hold the valves open longer, which needs more air, so I would do an intake before the rockers

Intake and Exhaust are the usual starting points.

 

for your budget of $250 or less....

1) Air Intake. Make your own even for a very complex FWI setup you will be less then 50 in parts

2) Headers. I got mine for under $200 shipped. this link has them for 216 shipped but the vary in price. 97-03 GRAND PRIX -04 REGAL 04-05 IMPALA MONTE CARLO STAINLESS EXHAUST HEADER | eBay the only catch is that its not simple to install and if you have to pay someone to install them it will blow your budget. but the benefit of headers is that it removes the Ubend and gives you more flow. also if you later decide to go topswap and install a blower you will already have the headers.

3) find someone local to you and have them do a custom PCM tune for the car to make use of untapped power

 

You can more than likely do headers yourself. I had a friend help who has also done them but it's not too bad of a job. Just make sure you can store the car for a day or two incase install takes a while.

If I were you I'd start with an intake. Plenty of cheap ways to make your own

 

Turbo? I've seen used kits under $2k- and probably the best bang for the buck when it comes to money, labor, etc.

I guess another good option would be a top swap if you've got a 3800- less HP than a turbo, but could potentially be much cheaper, granted it is a pretty labor intensive mod.

Honestly- with the weight of 4 subs, 2 boxes, amps, and all the associated wiring- with only $250 in engine mods, you'd be lucky to even get the car back to stock acceleration.

You're not going to get a stainless catback for that kind of money- you'd be lucky to get a full crush bent, mild steel system with a muffler and a tip for $250- and that won't last near as long as your stock exhaust did. Either way- its not going to be worth the couple horsepower you pick up.

Milled heads with a full P&P- never gonna happen on $250. You're going to eat up half of that in gaskets and fluids alone. No decent shop would port those heads for $250 either; he could do it himself for the cost of the bits and tools- but it is something that is far too easy to screw up and make it worse than stock.

 

cai and "u"bend delete to start off, then cat back and headers, then top swap or turbo. dont try making major power (cam, heads etc) without a turbo or sc because you will have way more money into the N/A engine to make almost the same hp as a almost stock sc 3800 which costs less. turbo is for the best hp but costs the most to do.

 

also trans gearing will help with acceleration but you will loose a little top speed.

 

if you plan on headers dont waste money doing a Ubend delete as this will be addressed when doing headers