Got 2 runs in before rain got close. 1972 GS 350. What do you guys think? Good, so-so. 3:42 gears, Auto, TA 298 cam, .030 over flat top piston. Stage one intake with Quadjet.
This is cool. What's your: -Stall speed -race weight -tire size -how was traction? -transbrake or footbrake? -What rpm do you remember going through the 1/4 at? How did the run go from your perspective? EDIT: I can't find the TA 298 cam for the 350, and 298 means HEMIKILLER for the 400-430-455
No stall. Factory converter. I would guess approx. weight 3600lbs. Tires are 28x15 Hoosier Drag slicks. Launched hard. Foot brake No tach. I thought run went good. Seemed slow out of the gate but hit a powerband and took off.
Did you manually shift it or let it shift itself? I might remember reading Larry's text about the automatic shift point of the TH/ST 400s and it was about 5000 for our Buicks. There may still be more power in yours at higher rpms. I would highly recommend getting a tach. It's a tuning aid I can't believe I went without on my first classic car. Not the same mistake made this round.
You shifted through the gears by feel? OH yeah, that car has got to have low 14s in it if you hit the track tomorrow with a good tune and quality shifting with a tach. The tach allows you to safely wring it out while knowing mostly what is happening to your engine speed. I'm not sure what you're looking for in the car, but if you are going to go for 13s, I can't guess how much of the stock instrument panel you would mind obstructing with a small 2.5" tach.
Best $40 and 3 hours (at max unless something breaks during removal) of wiring patience I've ever spent. For my Riv, the tach showed me that above 4k rpms my ignition could no longer keep up, and the roar that accompanies 4k rpm is sometimes enough to make me shift out of second on my own. My educated guess is that you short-shifted your way to a 14.9 when you could be at a 14.4 if you hold your engine in the powerband for longer with the added safety and assurance of a tach. Look at the Bosch units on JEGS. Nothing but praise for those little things from me here EDIT: Also, the tach will tell you your converter stall speed if you footbrake it, so you will once again gain more useful information from it if installed. Please keep us posted on this thread about your 1/4 mile experiences.
John I’m new to this drag Strip thing and I want to learn to do it better. Thanks for the advice. I want to pull all I can out of this lil 350 without spending a lot!!!
I'm in the same boat learning as well. Currently I'm a bench racer until my car is ready, but street driving and hard pulls have taught me a little, as well as copious amounts of reading on the forum. Good luck and add some faster time slips in the future! Im passin out tonight, but while I'm at it... http://www.jegs.com/i/Bosch-Actron/885/FST7911/10002/-1 here's what I bought, great instructions. A caveman could do it
Why not grind the governor to shift at what ever you want ,then leave it in drive, same shift point everytime and no worry about missing the rpm or going 1st to third.
That's what I assumed an easy answer would be, but he currently has no idea what rpm hes shifting at. I'm with Gary 100% that he should cut and grind it to the top of the cam's powerband and then let it shift itself. Takes out human error and creates consistency.
If I was going to try to make a 350 run hard first thing I would do is put a 200r4 and 4.10 gear. The 350's just don't make the TQ needed to get an Abody up and moving. You need a lot of TQ multiplication to make that happen
Congrats on getting on the track! Life is but a series of moments and those few seconds screaming down the 1/4 mile are some of the best. Cliff
Be careful what you wish for. This is a slippery slope your standing on. You want 13's today. When you hit that number you want 12's after that each second faster is gonna cost ya 5x's the $. It got me so bad I quit trying to make my street car faster and built a dedicated race car to get my go fast fix. 5 years and Im nearly at the place Im somewhat happy with
Bingo! That is always the key to making a small block run. IMO it's a far better way to spend your money than on trying to make the engine do all the work. It's all about leverage.
Ok. You guys are scaring me with $$$$!! Lol. I think I’m happy with 14.9. If that is a respectable number for what I have I’m happy then.
