15.196 @ 92.25 mph 15.253 @ 92.14 mph 15.333 @ 92.01 mph So how am I doing with a mostly stock car? 1971 Skylark 350 4bbl, only mods are: 10:1 pistons 750 cfm Edelbrock carb TA Cam, dont know which one damn enigine shop didnt tell me! Headers and flowmaster 2 1/4 exhaust. Oh and the trans is slipping James
Them be some good numbers for that stock of a setup. I knew of a guy with a totally stock 72 skylark with 3.73's and a posi and he eventually got down to 15.20's. even my 72 thats got a bunch more non stock pieces on it has only netted me a best ever of 13.84 at 99 mph with a 1.94 60' time. 3.42 posi too!
Hey david Im looking to make my skylark into a 13 sec car too, what all have you done to your car?:Comp:
Well lets see.? Its a 70 motor that has had a little head work, t/a intake and headers 800 cfm qj, custom ground 224/235 at .050 cam with .448/.449 lift int,exh on 110 centerline. Its been balanced and massaged here and there and I basically beat the crap out of it. I leave at1500 rpm(on street tires) with a 10 in. 3000 rpm converter and I shift at 6000 rpm. Get rid of the points distributor if you still have one since I feel that no ones selling good points anymore. even the costly accell ones bounce at about 5500 rpm in mine. I use a mallory unilite. oh yeah I have old trw 10.25 to 1 forged pistons in it too. I've been beating on this motor for twenty years and I havent killed it yet.:TU:
Do you have the adv. duration specs for your cam? Thanks for all the numbers . I sounds like a great motor. Yeah Im still running points.
I believe its a 284/290 advertised but like I said it was custom ground on an old kenne belle cam that was losing a lobe.ou:
2.73's I think. The car was (before I got to it) an original 350 4bbl convertible. I dont think anyone put any gears in it, considering I cant spin them off the line . Oh and I cant find the rear axle code either.. James
I wouldn't call that mostly stock... when you're swapping out pistons and a cam. If you got a carb and exhuast it's mostly stock. But thoose are good times. I think with a little tuning you should be able to get in the 14's. What type of ignition are you running? If it is original points, ditch it. Get HEI. And recurve the timing advance if you haven't already. I remember reading that 350 2 brls came with 2.56 gears and 350 4 brls came with 3.08 gears. You should be able to spin them off the line, my stock 2 brl could smoke em up with the 2.56's.
Well I think quite a bit of my off the line performance problem is tuning related. I am still running the original points garbage, is there anything I need to know about swapping in an HEI in this motor? Yea I guess I should have said "still mostly stock looking"
I wouldn't "pooh pooh" the points so quickly. I've got a '69 350 thats .030 over with TRW pistons and a TA 290-94H cam. Stock intake manifold and quadrajet (rejetted), very mild head porting (no port matching done yet), TA headers, a T350 with a Turbo Action shift kit and Daaco 2400 converter, a muffler shop (no mandrel bends) 2 1/2" exhaust with Cherry Bomb Turbo mufflers and a H pipe, and a 8.5 corporate rear with 3.23 posi. All running on P215-70-14 Cooper Cobra radials. Last weekend it was turning 2.1 60' times and 14.1s/14.2s @ 96mph quarter times going through the traps at about 4500rpm. In 85 degree heat with 80% humidity to boot! ***All this performance with a points ignition.*** I tried shifting everywhere from 5000 - 6000 rpm and it pulled strong all the way. I've got Blue Streak points and set the dwell at 25 and have yet to have a problem (*knock*knock)! The key to the 350 is the total combo; cam, converter, gears, tuning. Screw up any of them and the rest suffer severly!! Ken '69 GS California
It is true you won't really be making much more power with the hei, if the fuel is ignited, it's ignited.... but... the HEI requires no maintance like point do, and are less prone to failure. But where the HEI will give you power is the pluthra of advance kits made for it. When I did my HEI swap, I also install a MSD kit made for HEI's. I made a little page with some info. The main differance between mine and installing straight HEI is the wiring. http://members.aol.com/nerdboy845/heimsd.htm
I hear ya Ken. But with my job and schedule; I'm more of a "the less maintenence the better" kind of guy. But its good to know that I'm not really loosing power due to my old points box Sounds like you have a nice ride, but whats with the tiny 215 tires!? I'm about to replace my tranny, I take it that your pretty happy with your choice of converters? I've been on the fence as to what stahl speed to go with (80% street driven car). 72 Skylark.. thanks for the info on your page, was it pretty easy to slide the distributer in Any gotcha's other than what I saw on the page? James
I think your car must have the 2.56 gears, or do you have a posi? I had a 2.73 one legger rear in my buick before, and when I stabed it off the line it would spin nonstop. I can't wait to get my car to the track!
I think /2.73 was the lowest gear for a 4bbl car. My car is an origanal 4bbl car and it came with 2.73s. I think your right though about the 2bbl cars coming with the 2.56's
well, you're not losing power with points IF they are in perfect order. If the dwell setting is off, or they are burnt, or otherwise worn, you will loss power with them. The distirbuter swap was pretty easy. With just the HEI there is some wiring you have to replace. and run. With the MSD, it has all the wiring. If you use junkyard parts, you can do the upgrade cheap. I decided to spend the little extra and buy a remanufactured distributor for $130. You're probally right on that being 2.73 gears, I remember reading it a long time ago, so I'm probally mistaken.
I'm 99% sure its a posi. Really wish I could figure out the gear ratio though, but since I lack a tach I cant exactly do the math right now. As it stands, the only way I can break them loose is with no gas and powerbreaking. Well either way, I think I'm going to replace the gears with a set of 3.42's. I know I'll give up some mpg, but thats what my Mitsu is for! James
Looks like the swap is going to happen sometime late this month. Do you know how well the rev-limiters work in the 6AL modules? I'd like to get myself some cheap over-rev insurance.
I did some quick research on your rear axle and hope this doesn't confuse things further.:laugh: What I found out (this is from my official Buick Parts Catalog) is that the 2.73 ratio was standard for all Skylarks with a 350 4bbl in '70,'71 and '72. This is different from the G.S. 350's, which had 3.23s in '70 and 3.08s in '71 and '72. However, the chart also shows that the 2.56 and the 3.08 were available as options in '71 and '72 (options were 3.23 and 2.56 in '70) in a Skylark with a 350 4 bbl. So unless you can find the code, you really can't be sure. This should be on the top of the right side axle housing near the diff. housing. The codes from the chart are as follows and are correct for the '71 model year only. Ratio Std. code Posi code 2.73 LLB LOB 2.56 LKB LTB 3.08 LAB LSB My '71 GS 350 has stock pistons, cam, manifolds, carb and exhaust. It does have a fresh 3 angle valve job and a shift kit and the last time I took it to the strip it ran 15.20, 15.34 and 15.19 all a little over 89mph. With speeds over 92mph, you should be able to break into the mid 14s with a little tuning. BTW, traction is a serious problem, and to was on my Dad's old '72 Skylark with 2.56 gears as well. You should have no problems insinerating your rears if everything is ok. You didn't mention 60' times...mine were all 2.3sec. That might help to determine if you're getting off the line ok.:TU:
wonder where my rear came from...3.42 posi, 10 bolt 8.5". were those from the GS's? last owner bought the car as a rolling chassis, i think he said the last guy had 4.11's in it that he wouldn't part with and sold it with a 2.56 or some such rear in it.
