Lark and Cuda

OK, so here's the situation... sorry its a bit long

A good friend of mine from highschool has finally purchased a car worth talking about. Its a '73 cuda with no drivetrain... luckily for him, he is a journeyman AST and built a 383 w/ 727 in school. It has sat for a while since it was to be transplanted into his 75 Dart Sport but that project is toast now.

To set the stage a little bit, we're both 24, my Lark has been in the family for quite a while and we had good times driving it in highschool... and he's always wanted to get something, deep down inside, that would be faster. Once its put together, he will want to line them up.

Now he's no slouch, I believe that 383 was built fairly stout, I know its over .500 lift int/exh, and good duration, and he's mentioned that he has 440 heads on it...? I'm guessing its going to flow pretty well. He's suggested he expects 450 hp, which is entirely possible.

Now I've done some work since he's last been in the car (full headers, exhaust, some other small mods), and we're going to be putting in a bigger cam once the lifters arrive (Crower 50259 cam if you want to check it out). The final piece for me is going to be the posi and gears as listed in my sig.

I've got pretty much all stock suspension, and I'm running 275/60/15s on the back. I have some time here to tweak and get it set up real well, but the day is coming when we'll be screaming down the highway.

Lets say he is going to be in the 400-450hp range, what do you figure we'll see for a match up?

 

I'd say you'll be down somewhere north of 50 to 75 hp at the least. The end results may not be to your liking.

 

I don't think your going to have enough beef. However, take it to the track and race each other. It would be fun either way.

 

Your small block sounds pretty stout. With slicks and open headers and your high gear ratio you may be able to run him down on the top end of the quarter mile where his big block wont be able to rev like your small block. Maybe with 4.11 gears you would be bale to take him. What gears is he planning on running?

 

I can't believe you guys are so crazy about gears. Have you ever ridden down the interstate in a car with 3.73 gears, and no overderive? Have Fun!:spank:

 

Not sure on his gears, it will be whatever is in there at the time being.

I also toyed with the idea of pulling the heads off and doing some more porting. The heads have a 3 angle valve job and some bowl work done... I think they may have cleaned up the ports a bit too.. needs to be port matched and such. Time to get out the grinder!

I kind of figured I'd be south of his car by a bit... 'no replacement for displacement' theory.

 

You want to beat him? Get a twin turbo set up from that guy on this board. I believe his screen nakme is Justa350.


You can not let him beat you. At all costs. You'll never hear the end of it. :3gears:

 

Haha, well I guess its time to resort to some Gessler ported heads and some big valves! Squeeze some ponies out!! :beer

 

$2000-$2500ou: I just did it on my 340,without the bigger valves!

 

I think the big block Mopar has got you beat. You're gunna need a little more than ported heads and 3.73 gears. Chances are he's got the same stuff done on his Cuda. The torque that big block is puttin out is gunna stomp you off the line and your higher revving small block probably won't catch him.

But who cares? I'd rather have a Skylark than a 'Cuda anyway. It'll be a good race. You might surprise him with that small block Buick is capable of.

It's good to see more young people doing this type of stuff. My senior year of high school (2005) there were about ten of us that built old cars. Keep it up

 

Well he picked his car up and brought her home, its an original 318 2bbl... doubt it has much for gears in the back yet.. he'll likely change that up though. Kinda fun to match the cars up, we'll see what his engine does when he put it in, never had it on a dyno so the hp was a guess.

Nice lookin car, goes in for paint fairly soon. Gonna be nice having a few buddies with some old cars at least

If we line them up, i'll let you know how it goes! :3gears:

 

Just curious:

Because you refer to the Skylark as "Lark", is the other car a real 'Cuda or is it a cheaper Barracuda model ?



Edit:

Just read your last post about the original 318 mill, so it's a Barracuda, the 'Cuda came with the 340 :TU:

 

Funny how engine work is like a domino affect...

So my brother and I pulled the top end off thinking we'd just change the cam... as of this morning, the engine/tranny are coming out, pulling the heads and sending them off with the intake for porting and matching! Tranny is coming out with it since I have a leak somewhere, probably just the pan gasket or a fitting. I guess I'll find out. Picked up two carb spacers, a 4-hole and an open, both 1". Try them out and see how they work. And to wrap it all up, I'm painting the engine bay and engine again, it was done around 10-12 years ago so its due....

As far as beating the 383, I'm going to give it a heck of a shot, if nothing else, make his big block sweat a bit. I'll tweak up the suspension, get some trac-bars etc and at least get it leaving hard from the line.

I'm guessing the Barricuda's with the 318/2bbl had a fairly tame rear gear... We'll see what he puts together.

Maybe he'll underestimate my little 350 :laugh:

 

if you run good against him i still wouldnt be ashamed

 

Sounds like a great combo. However........... You are going to need more Cam and More Gear to beat that 383. It is the ONLY Big Block Chrysler that will rev with your small block. I would say you need 4.56 gears and a cam profile with 240@.050 duration and 530-540 lift. That would get the job done!!! Problem is you can't drive it too far with 4.56 gears!!!!!! But thats what you need to beat him!!!!!! Also if there is anyway you can lighten your car...........do it!!!!!:3gears:

 

If your going to use a crower cam I would use # 50305 that would work great with 4.56 gears. You'll need a 3000 stall. I suggest a set of Mickey Thompson Drag Radials. 275 60R 15's that will get it done!!!!!!!

 

Those 383s are great motors. You'll give him a good run but I think it's the torque of that big block that's gunna kill you. But who cares? There's always something faster out there anyway

He's a mopar guy, of course he'll under estimate your Buick. haha Show him what's up

 

Exactly. Muscle cars are all about having fun and continually tweaking your setup. So if you dont beat him this time there is always a big block next time. Thats what you will need.
Really though just have fun, far to many people are over serious about the whole thing. Car craft wrote a nice article about this very subject in there "front man" section of january good read.

 

I agree with that... I'm glad to have a couple buddies who are into and appreciate the old muscle. He will be one of the first guys to help me with my car if I need it, and the same goes for him.

That being said, the engine is out, the heads are off, and going to the machine shop for port matching and some flow work! Sure is a pain in the :moonu: getting the engine out with the 1.75" tubes and a starter heat shield.

Long story short, gonna free up some ponies! :3gears:

 

I had a 383 in my 69 roadrunner with mild work and that could easily rev to 7000 rpms if you wanted to run it that hard.