I would think it only made a real 400hp or so at the crank to go that fast in a 3400 pd car unless the sixty foot was wayyyyyyyy off or somethingo No:
Thought I'd give an update where we are... I am buying a 72 engine off a member. its a low compression engine but has some go fast goodies (roller rockers, headers). I have some TRW .030 over 10:1 cast pistons on their way. I'm looking for a set of 73' and up cap screw rods. I have a member hogging out some heads for me which, I intend to have larger valves and full head rebuild done at the local machine shop when I get them back. they will also have the aformentioned roller rockers. He is also doing the intake and I will have him work on the exhaust manifolds too. Bottom end will be assembled by the same machine shop with all new bearings, balance, etc. Cam is a Poston GS 118. I think with real good head porting (I have faith in this member) and the internal combo I described above I should be close to my goal. I am doing a triple swap. Another member will be getting the engine that is in my car right now. The engine in his car will be the platform for the bottom end of the above build. The engine I am buying will go in the car until the the other engine and heads are ready to go. The members involved can post if they want to be revealed :TU:
Take a look at this cam.. I'm in the process of a very similar build.. Crower 50259.. http://www.crower.com/buick-350-compu-pro-hydraulic-cam-284-hdp.html
I admit I have not read all the post here, BUT in an old man's opinion, you have a couple of choices and either will out run these Mopar guys. The small block will run 12.50s as I have one in an 83 Regal that just ran 12.50 and 12.53 first time out and the convertor is big wrong. BUT, to me the first thing you need to do is lighten that car up. I mean get serious, to run with these guys with a small block Buick, you got to get some weight out. That is cheaper than building HP. I see no problem doing what you want to do if you can get the weight out of the car. Weight out, move all the weight you have to keep that you can to the rear and spends days under that thing getting the chassis set up to HOOK. Buy the very best tires you can run in FAST and put the right gear and limited-slip set up tight in it. Now build a light weight-low drag trans and the best convertor money can buy. You get this done and you can start thinking about an engine. With everything else maxied-out the engine will be easy. Good luck. Jim N.
Jim, I totally agree with you. However; I am not revolving my life around beating them, I just want to be competitive and have fun with the car. That being said- the 4 speed stays. I love to DRIVE a car, not just STEER it. Yes, an Auto would make the car more competitive- agreed, but I am going to drive this on the street much more than 1/4 blasts and 3 pedals are just much more fun (till your in traffic). As for weight savings, I am all for it. I am in the process of shaving a 1/10 by the race season just from the driver (40 lbs so far-100 to go:grin I will do my damnest to lighten the car in any way without sacrificing safety/structural integrity. The car must remain stock appearing. I won't have this done over night it will be a process. The car is already equipped with a 3.73 12 bolt and a detroit locker. 4.10's would probably help, but like I said I want to drive this car on nice days and enjoy it. The money saved for the small gains I would get from changing the gear ratio would be better spent on heads. My buddy just re-cammed his GTX. He had one that had his power coming in way too early. He was blowing his tires off the rim through 2nd gear. He should drop at least .3-5 if he drives it right. His cam bearings were all wiped (he's very lucky he went in the engine) his 1968 balancer appeared to be the culprit- the rubber was compromised, and the outter ring did not align with the mark made on the inner ring. He is swapping it with a modern SFI balancer (not sure the brand). Unknown if it caused any rod or main damage. Guess we'll find out when he hits 6K:laugh: I guess the best way to say this is ... The set-up I have IS the set-up. I will tune and tweek around what I have. Any tricks of the trade you can suggest on suspension and weight reduction will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your input- it is greatly appreciated and respected.:TU: ---------- Post added at 08:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 AM ---------- That looks good. The LSA @112 is a little close and it will idle a little rough. If I find the GS118 is not doing the job I will definitely consider this one. :TU:
Tony, What is the target static compression ratio for this build? I think the Crower is a much better choice, especially with ported heads. The 118 has a ton of exhaust duration with the same advertised intake duration as the Crower Jay linked. It closes the intake valve later, and gives you a lower DCR.
No problem. I believe I have a nice one put aside for the car, you can have the one that's on the car if I do. . . ---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:58 PM ---------- Larry, I hope to get 9.5 or so out of these pistons. The higher, of course, the better. But realistically I'd say 9-9.5 on an advertised 10.0 piston is about what it will get. If the block needs to get decked I will go up a point or two. Anyways the Poston cam is coming with Stacy's engine. I might leave it in that engine since It will become my spare after all the swapping is done.
He is running the 10:1 TRW pistons, the same as yours... I do not remembe the dish off hand but should be easy to get 10.5:1 with a bit of milling.
Today Jason & I picked up the 350 from Stacy. We got the engine back to Jason's, put it on a stand and removed the intake and one of the heads. I discovered there were some nice pistons in there which I took a picture of. Come to find out they are Poston Hyperuertic 10.2:1 compression pistons. . . BONUS!! The bores still had cross hatching in the bores. The heads look mildly ported. I will work on the intake some before we put everything back together. I have to look at what valves are in the head. I also will replace the oil pump and have Jason degree the cam before we put this engine in the car. I was very pleased to see the go fast goodies already in place.
I didn't want you to get the idea I was putting down your 4 speed idea. Yes I love a 4 speed and raced them for years, but as traction increases and horsepower goes up any factory 4 speed will go bye-bye. Trust me I have tried. Not saying you can't run it on the street and have a little fun at the track, but gather extra parts. In the 60s we didn't have the tires we do now and the tracks were not prepared like today. So have all the fun you can with it and you may be lucky, but a heavy car and sticky track and tires and a little hp and several nice power-shifts, I know what will happen. I'm building another 67GS 400 right now for the street and it will be a 4 speed, BUT I will never put any sticky tires on it because this 4 speed stuff is too hard and expensive to get today. Now I would like nothing better than to have a $6,000 after market trans and a $2,000 clutch setup to run in my car, but I see guys do it all the time in my class and they spend 10s of thousands of dollars and yes run good sometimes and win a little, but most of the time they are having problems. I just feel with the torque of a Buick and the limited rpm that we are better off with a torque convertor. Now when I was running a small block Chevy stocker (350hp 327 66 ChevyII) the engine didn't have gobs of low end torque and would run high RPM. A stock 4 speed would live awhile but I just have trouble believing with today's track and tires and a Buick with big low in torque (even a small block) and the weight of the car they will last long. Hope you can do it and have fun with it. Jim N.
