Well dudes I almost finished my five year frame-off and was hoping to get some input from you all. It's only been running about two weeks so I haven't had much time to flog it but it doesn't pull quite as hard as I thought. It pulls hard on the top end but not as much down low. I might have gone too big on the heads, cam, intake and headers. I still need to do some more tuning but right now it has a box stock 700DP with a 4.5 power valve. Believe it or not the air bleed screws where responsive and idled at 900 with 8" vacuum but would slowly drop which probably didn't work too well with my 4.5 PV so I upped the idle to about 1200 and now exposing to much of the transfer slot but at least the power valve is not coming on. My throttle return spring are a little weak which I will change. New 950 HP on the way, mainly for the better idle quality and driveability. Plugs also seem to have some deposits of some sort, they might be too cold and the engine has a hard time getting to 180 with the big four core rad. I'm thinking about going with a 195 stat instead of the 180. Valve lash spec is .026 and I set cold at .020, I have not checked hot yet but it sounds good and quiet for a solid. Tomorrow I'm going to swap out the spark plugs for some NGK's and the 950 HP and probably do a compression check. Then check hot lash. Also when I degreed the cam to 99 your supposed to use the +4 keyway but I got 97.5 and 101.5 straight up so after drilling for a bushing and rechecking with a zero bushing it was already at 99 with the chain at the zero keyway. The funny thing is when I degreed the cam with a gear drive in another block it was dead nuts on at 99 in the +4 position but I checked myself several times and felt good about the numbers I came up with at the time.

Basically I know I need some tuning but how much power should this combo make and ET? Is it a good combo? How much cranking compression should I have assuming the cam installed correctly? Or should I go with a smaller AFR head, RPM intake, smaller headers, and cam?


this is the combo:

406
6" rods
11.20 compression
.010 in the hole
.039 head gasket
internal balance scat 9000 crank
UD SB 288/296-F5 255/263 @.050, 540/556, 105 LS 1.030 BC
Dart Pro 1 215CC heads ......stock
Super Vic..........stock but ports lined up better then Vic
700DP stock with 4.5 PV
4.11 rear
275/60/15 Drag radials
2.5" flowmaster thunder kit out the back
1.75" Hooker Super Comps
2.64 first gear super t-10
180 stat
ZZ4 HEI.........stock
17 initial
total is 35 at 3000
70 chevelle

F5... :eek: ...rock n roll! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

i think you could definately use some 3" exhaust pipe, other than that it seems all right to me. really similar to mine, although you have a more agressive camshaft, but we have about the same shortblock and heads, same headers, i have an air gap on mine. i really feel like mine should make around 360-375hp to the rear wheels, give or take a few. i'm hoping mine runs in the 7.60 range in the 1/8mi, your's should probably go a little quicker, depending on how much torque you have with that super victor.

Ya can drill 2 1/16" dia hole in the primary throttle plates crack the back barreles and change the idle air bleed to 5/64" id,lock the distributor advance and it will idle at 850 or lower.
I have a customer with the same set up except a Crane cam with similar specs and an auto trans.

Well, most of it looks ok to me. The 215's aren't too big IMO. I use a set of fully ported dart 215's (233cc finished volume) and the work pretty well. The cam looks ok also, only thing I would do differently is bring the ICL back to 102-103.

The carb change will probably help quite a bit.

Also the Super Vic is ok but would be better used on a more agressive set-up with ported heads and roller cam.

The only thing I see thats a mismatch to me is the 2.5" exhaust.

You may also want to try 38dg total timing.

Power? Probably 460 or so if you put it on an engine dyno with no accessories and good headers.

Et? Can't help you there. Those darn manuals always throw me a curve ball. If you could get it to hook half way decent and the car weighed around 36-3700 I'd guess high 11's@116.

Yeah Bill I bought the cam a few years ago before I knew people were getting them ground on wider seps. You should have heard that baby pop when I fired it up open headers :cool: I got pulled over not more then a mile from my house, good thing the cop like old muscle :D

M71, are you running 3"? I imagine you had the same cross member issues with the Hookers being real close to the floor pan. I tried one of the G-force cross members awhile back and the tranny mount was way too high so I sold it. The 2.5" just barely cleared the stock member. If I go 3" mandrel kit can they bend it without killing the benefit of the 3"

1968 Hot rod,
Do you mean lockout the centrifugal? If so will it crank with 38 degrees? I already locked out the vacuum.

John,
What would bringing the intake centerline back to 102-03 do?

if I don't run the Super Vic, what would be a better manifold? The Vic Jr. come necked down for gasket matching and that means pulling the heads off. Dart says to use a 1206 gasket for the intake but when you put that up to the head it's way big so I don't think I can gasket match the intake without pulling the heads off. What about an air gap?

Still it seams to me that a Vortec headed 10:1 400 with an XE284H and an RPM intake would make the same power.

If you set the valves cold at .020. I would check them when warmed up and set them at the .026 that they are supposed to be. YOu will probably notice an increase in low mid range.

Hilljack, I say set it to 102-03 because I believe it will make more average tq/hp from 3000-6500. That cam looks to be a good fit for your compression and cubes (in other words, not too big). Advancing a cam by 6-7 degrees is typically done as a crutch to boost a weak bottom end resulting from a too large cam. I've never understood why Harold recommends all his cams be installed 6dg advanced, but he's the expert not me. I say run it as is for now then when you get the time and the car is sorted out, then try pulling it back to 2-3dg advanced from 105.

hilljack, no i just have 2 1/2" right now, but i still notched my crossmember so i could get the 3" on, later on down the road. as long as it is mandrel bent, you won't lose the benefit of 3" exhaust. the 2 1/2" exhaust on mine is choking it severely. it is not mandrel bent. there was a huge seat of the pants difference when i had it uncapped.

check your valvelash at hot, My Son's motor is .018 hot and .021 cold. The lash actually opens up when the engine is cold. Ever notice that all solid lifter engines clack more when cold then quiet up some when warm? The powervalve has nothing to do with idle quality unless it's diaphram is ruptured and leaking fuel into the vacume port through the baseplate. If the idle is dropping it means your plugs are loading up from a rich condition. Crack the secondary blades open just a bit or drill holes in the primary throttle blades. Your idle will be better after the lash is reset.

Originally posted by baddbob71:
The lash actually opens up when the engine is cold.Actually, with an aluminum headed engine, I believe the lash tightens as it cools. That has been my experience anyway...

As for power, I would think you could tune it to around 400 HP to the wheels, especially with a manual. My 383 put down 375 WHP through a TH350 and 8" converter and it has a smaller cam and smaller heads than yours. I also recommend a 3" exhaust, I have been happy with mine.

Yeah tomorrow I'll recheck the lash and maybe down jet the HP some. I just wonder why they jet the HP square with a power valve unlike a regular DP that has about 10 sizes smaller on the primary?

Originally posted by hilljack:
I just wonder why they jet the HP square with a power valve unlike a regular DP that has about 10 sizes smaller on the primary?Because a regular DP has a power valve in the fron and a plug in the back. The 10 jet sizes in the back make up for the lack of a power valve. I believe the HP comes with power valves front and back.

Yeah I got that fare but why? I wonder what Allstates motive is when they plug the secondary and have a 10 point spread on the jetting???

Maybe it works better on the street where a lot of HP's end up????

PS: Greg the 383 your talking about......is that what propels you elky to 11.39 :eek:

Originally posted by hilljack:
Greg the 383 your talking about......is that what propels you elky to 11.39 :eek: Yep, with 170cc heads, too :D I must admit the 11.39 was with the car on a "diet" (no hood or tailgate). Normally it runs 11.5's. You can follow the link in my signature if you want any details on the combination.

Nice site and Elky dude! A lot of people talk crap about RPM heads but I guess you shut them up! Shoot when are coming up to O'vale so we can do some boony crashin, check out some biker bars and help me put a cage in my ride :D

where is Simi Vally anyway.....SoCal somewhere I know.....

Off of the 118, just west of the San Fernando Valley...

After adjusting the carb it's running damn near it's peak I believe. The only problem is I can't tell how much torque it's making :D As soon as it gets up on the cam it starts roasting the tires :D Second gear is pretty fun :D

Thanks for the input guys!