can anyone tell me what it would take to get a 70 skylarks front wheels of the ground with the 350 engine. HP, tq, suspension, tires, gears, any info is appreciated. My new goal is to getem up! :Brow:
Well I think I would start with the turnkey engine advertised here thats 551HP 350 Install it with a good trans with a brake and some 373 gears and a 4000 stall converter. HR rear bar and drag shocks in front. Use a MSD and a 2 step, lighten the car up a little and go for it. Or you could just put the engine in the trunk with an olds trans axle
Since 283 Chevy Stockers have been doing it for 40 years, I think a good set up chassis and a nice set of tires(slicks). A well built 350 Buick with 350 to 400 hp and do a good burnout, stage her up and tach it to about 5500 and drop the clutch, should do it. Jim N.
Unless everything else is prepared the chances of breaking your drivetrain is there. Maybe it is your 8.2 rear, an axle, a U joint etc.
suspension. Weight loss, and weight transfer. Take all you weight out of the front that you can. Move battery to trunk. 90/10 front shocks. Take off front sway bar. Lots of things you can do to accomplish what you are looking for, but you sacrifice drivability. Let us know how it goes.
Jim 's right, but whats the fun if you don't break something?:bla: :TU: Wheels up means a really good suspension/drivetrain setup...a stocker won't handle that for long. Be prepared to put some bucks in your suspension/rear end/driveshaft/trans/torque converter. Good posi, strong axles, some fat sticky tread, 90-10 shocks in the front to shift the weight, air bag(s) in the rear, 4k converter at least, should have a trans brake, and a stout motor to back it up. If anything, you'll find all the weak links!
What about that 68 granny 4 door out there that twists and stands up like theres no tomorrow??:grin: I think it's in a thread somewhere in the "bench".:idea2:
The NHRA guys are pulling wheelies to 11 second slips without head porting, stock intake, q qet, stock lift on cam. The key will be in the gearing and chassis setup since these guys are running 11s with about 380 hp and 400 ft tq. You'll need a 373 gear at least and a tq converter of 3000 rpm actual stall. For the engine, I suggest getting up to about 10:1 comp, some head porting, oversized valves, 1.65 roller rocker conversion with a cam that pulls from 3000-7000 rpm, Burton machine single plane intake, 800-850 cfm carb. The stock 73-80 rods are fine to about 600 hp but the 68-72 rods do not last at anything above stock power levels.
I just searched for 23 minutes to find that pic of a ratty old 4 dr twisting it up at the line. Can someone chime in here? Everyone wanted to know who it was.:Comp:
There was a recent thread in The Bench with it a couple weeks ago -- something about someone wanting to take up a challenge against the guy in a Buick. That's the thing, though. It was discovered that that car has a Chevy block, and is taking a big hit of squeeze. So, there's another option -- juice the heck out of it, and wait for it to break! :TU:
4.88 ring and pinion!! wont make it to the finish line without layin over, but that and some traction will get em up!!:eek2: ray: :eek2:
I appreciate all the info especially the using a jack idea:TU: . I was told there is a way to fab the rear control arms to shift the weight towards the back. If this is possible i would love some info on that as well. I have a lot of planning to do to make it streetable as well....
I did some looking in the jeggs catalog and was wondering if traction bars would be worth the price. If so what brand do you recommend:3gears:
Lifting the front wheels is really not that hard, but it is difficult... "hard" being the ammount of HP/TQ it requires, "Difficult" being the modifications required and the sacrifice in driveability. Consider this, The new Z-06 'vette... 500+ hp and 2700 lbs [aprox]... How many of them do you see doing wheel lifting takeoffs? None, of course, because they, like all cars are designed from the factory to ride and drive straight and level.... As is your 70 GS-350. It's all in the suspension, and getting it to transfer weight rearward durring takeoff. This is most easily acomplished by moving the fulcrum point of the rear suspansion forward by welding in a set of laddar bars. This effectively "ballances" the car over the rear axle. Of course, if your gonna do this, might as well replace that weak 8.2 with a 9 inch ford axle. Next is creating a positive rear weight advantage, by placing the battery in the trunk, and removing all the excess weight forward of the fulcrum point, including, but not limited to; P/S, A/C, inner fenders, stock front seat, front bumper, etc, etc... Then you need to install acessories that will "dramatize" the weight transfer, like shocks/springs in the rear that will "squat", along with shocks/springs in the front that will "jump up". Also, rear tires that will give sufficent traction to handle the sudden burst of power,,, oh, and light weight front tires that will offer less weight resistance. Finally, you need a driveline that will deliver all of the engines power instantly, like a manual trans, trans brake, and/or a high stall [or switch pitch] converter. Do these mods, and you can pull huge wheelies with your stock engine, but be warned, the front end will be squirley and light, the rear end will be heavy and squatty, and it will understeer like a mo-fo, so dont even think of driving it in the rain. Of course, on the other side of this arguement, the more hp/tq you make up front, the less of the above mods you will need to perform to pull the front wheels, but then again, it's a ballancing act... Too much power up front makes for a miserable driving expirence. It's not really practical in either scenario. By the time you have built a car with enough power,,, or enough suspension to pull the wheels, it's no longer streetable.
