I could use a little help here. Can someone give me some suggestions about what type of setup would be most efficient for my 401? 64,xxx orginal and stock.Just had the Nailhead went thru and all I ended up doing was standard tune up, fluid change, and rebuit the org carb. Then we found a small leek in the muffler so I just went ahead and had from the y pipe back replaced.(single) I am still very much in the process of learning about this motor and dont want to f#*k it up so somebody steer me. I just ordered a Spectre ram air kit Ill be installing in the spring after I remove the aftermarket a/c. Just trying to keep it runnin cool. Im trying to make sure its breathing correctly. Help a nube out here. Thanks in advance. I know theres a bunch of you Nailhead faithfulls out there. Im also open to any other not overly technical tech stuff you may want to share.o No: " Small budget, BIG dreams!"
I'm assuming your refering to the intake since you already replaced the exhaust. If I were you, I'd go with a ported original intake. We tend to refer to this mod as the "doc dual plane". It's cheap and yields fantastic results. Basically, you cut the horizontal dividers, leaving the vertical divider in, and port/smooth everything out. What you end up with is a factory dual plane intake that looks something like this; http://www.v8buick.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151227&d=1255054782 Also, here's a quote from Doc himself on how to do this mod;
Sorry about not being clear. And yes I was referring to the intake. This really sounds/looks like a great idea considering I dont have to buy anything! My understanding is theres alot of power in there. Shes parked for the winter(Im in Wisconsin) so I just might try this mod this weekend. With this mod, will single pipe exhaust be sufficent? I have been looking at headers from TA and just might order some. Any suggestions on an exhaust set up? (X-pipe?, Flowmasters? ,etc...?) I know I want it to sound better but Id like whatever I do to also be efficent. I just dont know what would work best. And Im not against leaving the stock exhaust manifold on there with the new pipe on there. You tell me. And thanks.
Without this mod, I felt a BIG difference going from a single exhaust to duals. I went with a dual 2 1/4in system, no h or x pipe (no room with an x-frame car), and 40 series Flowmasters. Works real good and sounds fantastic. As far as headers, TA's are good. They are better than Sanderson, however they are more expensive. What kind of car do you have? 401 or 425 'Nail?
Its the 401. I think I made a mistake by not going with duals right away. I just wanted proper working exhaust so I could get her tuned in.(and I was being cheap)! Seems everybody likes the 40 series. Are you still runnin points in yours? Premium fuel? Lead additive?
Right now it's all torn apart. I'm hoping to get it back up and running by spring Flowmaster 40 series are good, I'd rather be running something like the Dynomax Ultra Flo or Hooker Max Flow though. They flow a helluva lot better than the baffled Flowmasters. I gotta deal on them though, plus I do like the way they sound. When the motor goes back in the car it will have a Petronix Ignitor III. I run 92 octane, and throw in a splash of race gas every once in a while. The race gas isn't necessary, but it does seem to like it. Plus it has that race gas smell :Brow: .
Good luck with the rebuild. Im also planning on the petronix. Everybody Ive spoke with insists this is necessary. I will have to start checking prices on mufflers. Where did you run the ducts for your ram air set up? Problems? And maybe when you get that thing put back together, you could shoot me a pic or two. Id love to see how that Spectre kit looks installed on a nailhead. Any chance you got a pic of that already?
Again, the ram air kit is still in the works. I decided to change ALOT of things all at once, so my all my sig info is basically in progress. I haven't quite decided where I'm going to run the ducts. My first thought was threw the front core support, however that means I'd have to relocate both the battery and factory generator. I had also considered running the ducts to the windshield cowl area, as this area sees alot of air pressure when running down the road. I think Doc did something similar to this with his home brew ram air setup. I'll let you know when I finally make up my mind :laugh: .
I was told by the guys at ramairbox.com just to stuff the air tubes as far into the corners as possible behind the headlights. More air comes thru there than you might think, and that the cooler air outside of the radiator hot air stream is a majority of the hp increase vs the ram air effect. I ran one tube on the passengers side behind the inner headlight and hole next to it and the drivers side sits on top of the battery for now. 4" inch home depot dryer ducting and a 110 degree air box with 3" K&N. Seems to work for me until I feel like fabricating again. The early 80's iroc camaro plastic air intakes look promising to me. Should fit nicely under the '65 wildcat hood. Also, they said not to run the tubes down below the bumper, reasons being air is hotter nearer to the pavement and more curves for the air to flow. Better to have a straighter ram air shot. Also asked about the cowl induction and was told that there is more of a pressure drop at the front of the car. Obvious I guess.....
thanks for the input 6wildcat5. Im thinkig Ill just try to mount them where the high beams are. Like you said, straight shot, up off the road,etc... Not sure how easy thats going to be. Maybe relocate battery to trunk. Ive been digging around here and have found ALOT of guys talking about ram air kits, but not alot of pictures. Particularly showing how the duct work is ran and or where its mounted. It would be nice to see a few different install options and hear how hard/easy it was. Hey, maybe I could start a thread!?
When the factorys first started doing the ram airs that is where they put them - thru the head light bucket holes... i come off the ww chamber to eliminate hoses going to the carb.... William if I had your email address , I would send you a picture .... I cant seem to get it to work other wise... On your exhaust system there is another way... On my Ford truck , I went with a over size single exhaust system,,, the engine is a 302 but I put pipes about like a diesel would use and a muffler to match... runs as good as duals would...and was some cheaper to do....somebody said that was thinking outside the box, but I didnt know there was a box....:Brow: :Brow: :laugh: :laugh:
A couple of our experts here, notably Larry70GS and TelRiv still use points with excellent results. Breaker points combined with a multi-spark ignition box from MSD or Mallory will perform just fine.... breaker points used this way don't carry much current and will last a long, long time. I'm using several different systems on my cars...Mallory Uni-lite, Petronix, and points w/ elec ign boxes..... all have been trouble-free. These days, I'm leaning towards the points/ign box because they are simpler and easy to fix if something should go wrong on a road trip.
Oh yeah, Look at my avitar...I have a ram-air running to my outside headlight buckets. Openings are covered with mesh so it almost looks like the lights are still there from a distance. :bglasses:
Find a 66 Q-jet intake and run that. Huge performance increase over the AFB. Cost less and less trouble than 2x4.
Pat, which setups have you tested? On my blue 66, I've tried: - the stock AFB (best burnouts!) - pair of 500 cfm's (Best looking) - '66 Q-jet with minor mods. (best et) Since then I've collected a pair of 750 AFM's, an 800 Q-jet, and an Ebrock intake to test out.... Wish I had a dyno!!:laugh:
How about a Q-Jet with an adapter plate on the square bore "Doc dual plane"? Cheaper and Quicker to do with the 66 Q-Jet intake being hard to come by these days. Not to sure how well it would flow compared to the stock 66 spread bore intake? But would be a quick mod if your having trouble finding one. Anybody tried it?
Thanks for the input guys. The boneyards around here are pretty slim pickings. Theres one about 45 min away that still let you walk through and take a look I think. Maybe Ill get lucky. Walt- any chance of seeing that ram air setup from the inside? I would really like to get a look at the routing/bends to the outside bucket. I didnt even consider the outsides. I dont know why. And yours looks great! Also, do you know where can I get a pair of those high/low lamps? I still want to have some high beams. Wisconsin+Deer+Wildcat=Bad day
Uh oh, don't tell me you hit a deer with the 'Cat. I almost hit one with my truck last night, luckily I missed it.
