Thinking maybe some minor performance mods instead of wheels for now

Techg8 is your man. EverydayPerformance.com is the Qjet man you need. Same guy, great quality of work

 

If I could do over, aluminum heads would be one of the first things I would buy.

 

I would do alum heads before any of those other mods. Dual 2.5" exhaust is plenty

 

X2 on this quote^^ I bought one of Ken's masterpieces a year ago and it's been amazing and trouble free

 

3" exhaust is not necessary until you approach the 550-600 HP level. A good 2.5" system is all you need. You can find what you need here- https://classicmusclecarexhaust.com/

 

^^^^TRUTH^^^^

A lot of guys here dismiss fuel injection. "Ma qjet bla bla, but ma Holley bla bla". But if you ask most of them, they've never actually installed a full injection system on their exact combo for a 1 to 1 comparison. I had a Holley that was not only tuned on a Dyno, but was later tweaked via O2 sensor 7 ways to Sunday and then gone over by some of the most well renowned guys around me (nhra class record holders and track champs fwiw). It was nicely dialed in to put it mildly. Drove great, fired right up every time, never gave me issues. From a throttle response standpoint, my fuel injection is better hands down. No conjecture. No internet lore. I've done both, a 1 for 1 swap. No changes other than that, the changes were noticeable. There are some guys here that build AWESOME carbs, and there's nothing wrong with that. But nobody can convince me there's no noticeable difference. Is it a world beater end all do all horsepower extraordinare mod? IMHO no. But there's a reason carbs have been replaced on not only production cars but many high end performance cars as well. I have absolutely zero regrets (though Ken accurately points out it's not quite as easy peasy an install as the marketing would lead you to believe). Don't think you're gonna gain a zillion horsepower with a FI install, but don't think you're gonna not see some smile inducing changes either. Been there, done that, experienced it first hand.

 

80's/90's technology > 50's/60's technology.

 

They didn't have self learning/self adjusting FI back then.

Just because TBI came before PFI doesn't mean it isn't as good or better than the later FI. Injecting the fuel where the air enters gives the A/F mixture more time to mix for a better burn.(don't even bring up direct injection because that is just some black magic sh!7 right there!)

To get the most out of PFI there would need to be a separate o2 sensor on every cylinder so each one can be optimized and that just ain't practical!(would be very expensive)

And no one ever said that FI makes more peak performance, actually it has been proven that a carburetor can make slightly more peak HP than FI can. But a carb can't self adjust itself to the changing weather conditions and altitudes which greatly improves drivability, which is worth it for the 3 HP you loose at peak WOT.

PLUS, an engine that has a cam with a lot of overlap doesn't have to rely on the vacuum signal at idle, the self learning self adjusting FI will adjust the A/F ratio so it doesn't stink when it is idling.

 

Not to side track the OP's thread but could you elaborate on this a bit please or pm me if you want. Theres a big lumpy rough idle cam in my 455 in my Riv and it seams when I first get it going it stinks pretty good like fuel. My wife also says while sitting idling or at a light she smells fuel. I just figured since the fuel tank vent is in the passenger side rear wheel well that when the window is down she's smelling the fuel vapour from the tank venting. I don't smell it that much on my side? For info purposes it does smell worse when the tank is full.

 

Perfectly valid reasoning Larry. But I stand firm that those who haven't experienced the difference 1 for 1 should not be so quick to dismiss it.

 

I haven't heard any good things about the Avenger series carbs. And why only a 770?

 

Fuel injection is nice, but The OEM's switched for emission reasons, they can control the timing of fuel, and the amount of fuel.
Same with drive by wire, its extremely slow in its response, blip the throttle and theres a delay, and after the gas pedal has returned to rest, the engine rpm is slow to come down, again, the OEM's don't want the throttle to slam closed and create a split second rich condition.

 

First of all the OP has the wrong style carb on that engine. For good street drivability and smooth power you want a Holley 750 mechanical secondary Double Pumper or maybe one of those 950's that are based on the 750. Toss the 770 VS That will make more of difference in spirited driving more than just about anything mentioned. If you were really serious you could run bigger but the bigger DP's(850 or based on the 850) will not be as forgiving with a stick. Holley became a big performance carb maker because of the Double Pumper. The reason for that is they are a superior carb to the factory carb, including the Q-Jet, for manual transmission cars. The only way a vacuum secondary carb of any sort can compete with a DP on a stick car is if you can keep the throttle mashed to the floor as you shift. Not many people can or will subject their car to that beating, the old "beat it like you stole it". Not even a slight let-off because at that moment the secondaries try to close and as you let go of the throttle the vacuum pulloff tries to close the secondaries. Then the problem is when you go to WOT again after the shift the secondary opening is slowed by the pulloff, wasting valuable ET. If you could manage to not close the throttle at all on shifting the Q-Jet may be better carb than the Holley VACUUM secondary unit because the Holley requires air flow through the primaries to open the secondaries and once the rpm goes down after the shift the Holley VS requires more RPM to fully open the secondaries. You can just feel it trying to recover, been there, done that. All in all that is why you really want to run a DP with a manual. The secondaries bang back open right after the shift. Plus the mechanical secondaries allow you to smoothly apply power to the driveline in a situation where you have to slip the clutch off the line or with street tires on.

I like the idea of a FI setup because they are essentially mechanical secondary carbs. These days self learning electronics FI would be superior to anything the OEM's had in the 90's and even well into the 2000's. The big deal is that it can adapt to all kind of situations that a carb can't no matter who's tuned it. As far as the electronics being slow let me just ask you do you think a computer is faster or better than a computer from a few years ago? Same goes for your phone and most other electronics so there is no way they are slow. Port fuel injection may be a slight advantage for precise tuning but where the throttle body FI is better at is the better vaporization of fuel in the intake ports and the resulting cooling effect it has on the air going into the engine. That is why the carb can out power FI at times but the self-learning electronics has closed the gap to almost non-existence and more than makes up for it in drivability.

Of course that doesn't mean I'm going to FI yet. I just have no real need for it because I don't pile the miles on my cars like I used to but if I did I'd have it on by now.

I fully believe the OP has enough of a setup to drop into the 12's but WITHOUT the stick. The stole it edict applies here. An automatic with a good converter would probably do it with proper tuning and decent air. However the stick is a much more fun car to drive around and get squirrely with. I know my plan is to sneak into the 12's with a '69 GS, stock 400(plus cam), including intake and exhaust manifolds, but with an auto. I'm thinking with a decent air day and the wind at my back it is possible.