hey everybody, I have a 1970 225 ragtop with 48k original miles.....the engine runs great, and it's a dream to cruise in, but i want it to have a lil' somethin' extra for everybody who laughs at the beached whale.....i figure eventually i'm gonna rebuild the whole engine,maybe something along the lines of the bb build up hot rod magazine did, but for now i'd like to see if i could get away with a couple other things first........like a cam, an sp1 intake, and a new/reworked carb......does anybody have any suggestions or helpful hints? i'm still trying to decide whether or not to keep the engine somewhat quit and stealthy looking or not.....any feedback would be appreciated......... josh
If I were you, Id optimize my exhaust system, 2 1/2" dual exhaust with an X pipe if you want. Then get the carb worked over. And recurve the distributor to bring your advance in earlier, and convert over to a good electronic ignition. You won't recognize the engine response then. It will wake right up.
Forget the cam-- the smooth street power is in the heads. Get a TA al.set. Just a big cam may slow you down stoplight to stoplight which is where you need to show your stuff. I agree with Larry on the exhaust mods and get the dist. recurved which is also cheap peformance.
yeah, i really wish they had some headers available for the 70 electra, but as far as i know they don't......which also limits my head choices to a stage 1 pretty much.....there is a guy around the corner here who i've heard nothin' but great things about for exhaust, so i'll pry go talk to him......how hard is it to change the ignition and recurve the distributer? i'll have to do some research.....forgive me for being ignorant, i'm guessing that's going to increase and change the spark for ultimate explosion?
I have a '69 deuce and just the addition of a 2 1/2" exhaust woke the car up. I would stay with a dual plane intake(B4B or performer) for the stock combo, Exhaust mods, Recurved dist, & carb fine tuning. I knew a guy that had a bone stock '70 4door(with single 2 1/4" exhaust) that ran mid 15's. I love the 69'-72' Electra's. there wasn't a big car in stock trim that could run with them.
If you must do a cam swap now, stay small for torque. Like the RV12 or TA12. You'll need grunt to move the land barge. I'd run some GM Top Engine cleaner thru it to clean up the valves, ports and piston tops. Remember, '70 is the worst year for oiling so you don't want to rev high at all. Something you may want to consider is instead of duals, stay with single exhaust for the quiet factory sound, but see about a 3.5" or 4" pipe to give you more flow and be sneaky at the same time. Just a thought.
sneaky! i like that....something more subdued at idle but that let's you know what's going on at wot! yeah, when i do the cam, i'm gonna keep it smaller for sure........the ignition something i had no idea about, but now looking into it there are a lot of choices to go with for the hei........someone today suggested that i keep the stock distrubuter and convert to electronic ignition.......shorty headers? from where? i haven't found anything that says it will work for a 70' electra......i've found stuff for 69 and older and 70 and newer, but no 70 gm c-body......thanks for all the help, keep it coming! josh
When you do a cam, definately do a good timing chain set. The stock cam gear is nylon and probably has a few teeth missing already.
Larry, as usual, is correct. All the other stuff won't pay off unless you also do the exhaust - and doing the exhaust first will pay off by itself. Start there....plus slap a good tune on the carb / Distrib. and you may not want to go any further I thought SHorty Headers would fit ?? o No:
have you seen a 1970 electra with headers? i'm pretty new to all this so i'm just going off of the mostly internet research that i've done......who would make them? not TAperformance(from their site) :"Please note, Shorty headers DO NOT fit `64-`67 Skylark/GS, `67-`70 Electra, LeSabre or Wildcat." i figure to go the header route i'll have to get them custom so i may wait on that part of the exhaust......although they have stage one headers down as a "future project".....i should pry call them.....
Give them a call..... Do a search ....board owner and master mechanic Jim Weiss built a motor using the new Alum. Stage1 heads and used the stock exhaust manifolds......sure HP and tork was down a bit from headers but the head flow was sooo good it wasn't THAT big of a deal....expecially for a street only car. Those heads with a little bit of cleanup are the ticket to big power.....of course the rest of the "package" has to work with them .....and then plan on breaking whatever link in the chain is the weakest ....U-Joints ....Drive shaft ....Tranny rebuild ....Rear end <~~ Been there, broke those Actually....if you avoid hole shots you *should* fare well. >450HP + HEAVY car + hole shots = broken 35 year old parts Gotta LOVE them Big BOATS
that's alright, my z28 definetely isn't a boat and it's got the same weak links, only 28 years newer........the camaro is cool, but one of the reasons i'm gonna put the money into the electra right now is for shock factor.......it's gonna be a lot, um, "funner" to smoke someone with moby dick than with a car everyone sees all the time and is supposed to be fast.......i'll be checking out jim's car, thanks......
NorthEast engine builder supreme and Buick Guru Scotty of PeeGee Performance used to have a 225 that ran low 11's I believe ?? in street trim !! Im sure he paid alot of weeks' groceries waisting the unsuspecting :bglasses:
YEAH!....that's actually part of my inspiration, i found that article on the internet the other day "Das Boat".......i wanna have my boat keep up with my camaro:eek2: we'll see........the camaro currently runs 13.1 at 107 in desparate need of a tune........but who doesn't have a 13 second camaro? the electra's interior is in great shape, and everyone who sees the car tells me the body is actually in good shape too, but there are some rust spots and bad paint and ect......it doesn't matter though, everyone who sees the car either has a memory come back or just loves it because of what it is...i can't go anywhere without somebody asking me if i'd sell it........i just wanna smoke all the punks who laugh at the boat.....ha!.....then down the road i'll restore the body to it's former glory.............
Use a 12 bolt from a Impala or Caprice. The 9 3/8" is standard on the Electra, but good luck finding a good street/strip ratio. The 3.42 gears for that car are rare.
shoot....i just tried reading that rear end thread.......guess i'll have to go look at my car tonight to confirm what i suspect......i'd definetely like a higher gear ratio.......i'll have to check out the trans too......i think i need to just pick a spot and start before i get overwhelmed!!!! the caprices and impalas will bolt up fairly straight foward or no? from what years?
AS far as headers , Call up Greg Kessler(hope the name is right). He does porting on iron to run in the f.a.s.t. drag racing. I bet he has some stock exhaust manifolds,heads and a intake. I will back up what Larry said 2.5 exhaust with big mufflers, X-pipe, Carb tuning, and a electonic ingnition FIRST.
i'll do that......i've heard his name brought up before and that was an option i was considering.........with the exhaust, i'm trying to figure out how to get the best flow and not draw too much attention to the beast! i'm also looking into the best way to do the electronic conversion while keeping the engine bay "stealthy" ...is something like the ignitor II what i want to convert with? what can i do to recurve the distributer? sorry for all the questions, this is the first real major project i've tackled, let alone a car that's 8 years older than me! i may be heading to the bookstore tonight, although everything i know is from the net and magazines--- i need to go get my hands dirty i know i want to gather as much info as i can before i go nuts, but now it's time for action!
