Ben, E.T. is all about getting the car to launch with no wheel spin, and 60' well. So YES, you absolutely MUST have a Posi. Launching a car with both wheels is mandatory. You can get a Buick 350 to run high 13's, and still be fairly street able, but it will take careful parts selection, and definitely head porting. Want your cake and eat it too? Head porting is where it is at. I can't stress that enough. Porting will enhance anything else you do to the car. Unfortunately, the Buick 350 doesn't benefit from aftermarket aluminum heads like it's big brother, not yet anyway. The TA aluminum BBB heads outflow some of the best ported iron heads, right out of the box. Porting isn't cheap, but it's some of the best money you will spend on your engine. If you started off with a 455, your goals would be easily obtainable. It doesn't cost any more to build a 455 than it does to build a 350, and there is no replacement for displacement unless you want to consider forced induction or nitrous.:laugh: If you want to stay with the 350, you can attain your goals, it will just take more work and money. I don't want you to think that I am trying to convince you to not build your 350. Like I said, you need the car to launch well. That will involve matching your rear gear, and torque converter to a cam that will make enough power to get you to a trap speed of around 98-100 MPH. You will need head porting. You will also need to have the right converter built for your engine, being you also want to be able to cruise with this car. You can't just buy a converter off the shelf. The torque converter will be the most important thing for you after porting. A good converter will feel nice and tight on the street, but will stall where you need it on the strip with sticky tires. Select your rear gearing so that the engine will be at peak HP RPM as you go through the traps. All this takes money, and time, and tuning. Start thinking about porting your heads. Greg Gessler can advise you further on that. I highly recommend you talk with him. http://www.gesslerheadporting.com/g...2bd966a9262c4d4985256dd80027774a!OpenDocument Can't afford it right now? Do what I do, save up until you can. Good Luck!:TU:
Thanks Larry. I'll tell you what's disappointing, my wrong wheel drive Grand Prix runs 14.1 with just a K&N intake. I've always considered the Buick to be the bigger, badder car....I now see that's not the case. Oh well. I'm gonna restore it for sure...and I'm gonna do some performance mods. I may persue swapping the heads, I'm sure I'm getting a cam, posi, gears, stall and headers. Probably only be a 13.xx car after all that, atleast it will look and sound awesome. I guess I'll just have to satisfy my speed fix elsewhere. Just have to change my perspective on this build. Which brings to mind a question...of all the nostalgic small blocks, which one do you all think ranks supreme? 302? sbc 350, 327? sbb 350 Just curious... ---------- Post added at 05:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 AM ---------- Thanks Larry. I'll tell you what's disappointing, my wrong wheel drive Grand Prix runs 14.1 with just a K&N intake. I've always considered the Buick to be the bigger, badder car....I now see that's not the case. Oh well. I'm gonna restore it for sure...and I'm gonna do some performance mods. I may persue swapping the heads, I'm sure I'm getting a cam, posi, gears, stall and headers. Probably only be a 13.xx car after all that, atleast it will look and sound awesome. I guess I'll just have to satisfy my speed fix elsewhere. Just have to change my perspective on this build. Which brings to mind a question...of all the nostalgic small blocks, which one do you all think ranks supreme? 302? sbc 350, 327? sbb 350 Just curious...
Here is a mid 13 second Buick 350 with headers, a tiny cam, and no other mods: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?187641-Getting-there&highlight=artie The Buick 350 with 2 bolt main has been pushed up to 1021 HP on the dyno and even more at the track to run 8 second quarter mile runs. They eventually cracked the block at that point. I am having a girdle made for extra support, however I only see this being an extra precaution for street cars in the 550-750 HP range. Anything under that, no problem for the stock rotating assembly if it is in good shape. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?135594-Best-350-threads-**STICKY** Here is a nice nitrous setup Skylark in the 11s with a mostly stock parts Buick 350. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?245736-Nitrous-facts Then there is Nick A running 12s with a worn out Buick 350 and a shot of nitrous. He had GREAT results with a Lunati cam I purchased for a sponsorship of his race car. He is currently rebuilding the engine and porting the heads and intake. Still a stock rotating assembly just rebuilt. This was all from before he took it apart: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?174677-New-Cam-Lunati-33204&highlight=nitrous
People remember this and most other muscle cars as being faster than they tested stock. For example, even a 70 GS 350 which, rated at 315 hp, (more than any Buick 350) only tested at 17.4 seconds, 88 mph in the quarter mile. Road Test Magazine, June 1970. From the factory show room floor your front wheel car always ran faster and its engine likely makes a lot more power.
Wow I didnt know my car was that slow from the factory Jim...I hope my recent rebuild runs a little better than from factory! I can attest to the fact that SBB builds are pricey and parts are more scarce than the BBB. My recent build budget verse actual was not even close to be honest but head work is not cheap but essential to make HP. Good Luck.
The GS 350 car as tested weighed in at about 3800 pounds. It had AC and an auto trans. Some 70 stage 1 magazine tests stock were in the 14s. The best one, from Motor Trend, was 13.3 but there were several more not nearly so good. Back in 1970 my neighbor and childhood friend had a 70 stage 1, no AC with A 3.64 REAR GEAR. With a perfromance tune and just headers it ran only 12.9 and it was the fastest stioplight to stoplight car I saw at the time. Stock it would have run in the low 13s.
You should do alright. Even a 8.5:1 compression stock Buick 350 in a Skylark can run mid 13s with a small cam and some headers as shown here: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=artie
Sure with modification to the suspension and tires, etc you can improve a car's ET. But without adding horsepower it is hard to change the quarter mile mph. So let's do a little scientific experiment on line. We know the magazine test car weighed in at 3800 pounds and the quarter mile mph was 88. Let's assume the driver weighed 200 pounds so the total weight down the quarter was 4000 pounds. The SAE horsepower for a SP 70 GS 350 is about 250 hp. (315 HP gross rated at the time). Would someone with a desktop dyno figure the horsepower it takes to get 88 mph in a quarter mile run with a 4000 pound car and driver? It should be around 250 SAE horsepower.
and to think I ran a 16.7 with my stock '97 Grand Am GT (weight about 2950lbs Auto trans, 3.1L V-6 about 155-hp, well I had some Kuhmo Ectsa tires). Even if it's slower my Skylark is much more fun to drive!
A stock 2012 Dodge RAM truck 5.7L (345 cid) runs 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds on 89 octane fuel. This is as fast or faster than 95% of the muscle cars from the 60s and 70s could do it stock on premium fuel. It is about where a 70 stage 1 was 0-60 mph. Technology has come a long way since our classic cars were new. The 5.7 (345 cid) Hemi in the truck is rated 390 hp SAE stock and demonstrates about 400 hp on the dyno to prove it. How does it do it with just 345 cid you say. Well it is the 2 plugs per cylinder, electronically controlled timing and fuel injection but most of all it is the pent (semi -hemi) head design. Considering all stages of lift, they flow better than a TA aluminum 455 head does stock. So, the lack of a modern aluminum head that flows well is the bottle neck for the naturally aspirated 350 Buick.
Thats the key word...."CLASSIC CARS "..... I know I can buy a really quick car and or build another manufacurers motor to run better,,,,,But I like my Buick and what i can make my 12 second car do!
260SAEHP really isn't too bad as far as power goes, sure its nothing like a stage 1 but you can still have lots of fun and get into plenty of trouble, trust me:Brow: I run 14.1 @96mph on a bone stock motor. No head work, stock cam, 8.5:1 compression. All I did to the motor was curve the ignition, put on an everyday performance Q-Jet and run headers through to 2.5" dual exhaust. Very basic modifications that are relatively cheap compared to building a motor. Another great bang for the buck is an overdrive trans and some short gears out back. Sure its pricey at first but once that is done you can only go up. I think thats a much better order versus picking a cam to match highway gears and a stock stall. So you need an ultimate goal and a plan of action to get there. Maybe building a mild motor is a little bit too much cash right now, so do your best to freshen up what you have and improve what you can while also improving the rest of the drivetrain. Going from 2.56's to 3.73s you will swear you gained another 50hp
Sure but drivability of the car at highway speeds really goes downhill. I used to have 4.78 gears in a 70 GSX stage 1 I drove on the street. And we own a 426 MAX wedge with a 3.73 gears. Neither are good for the highway.
He is right with that when I put in a Comp Cam 268 in 1983 with 273 gears out back and 28" tires and stock trans and convertor I ran 16.70 at 90. A373 gear got me to 14.89 spinning the tires with a Thermoquad that was flooding and that screwed the motor.
If I buy the Pertronix Ignitor II (points elimination kit), what else do I need to buy? Just that kit and that's it? Just new wires and plugs? http://www.pertronix.com/prod/ig/ignitor2/default.aspx Why are the other conversion kits that I've seen $500+ http://www.taperformance.com/products.asp?cat=326 Can someone educate me on what the differences are, pros and cons, and what is needed for my mild build, please? Thanks
