greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Well after countless testing I`ve decided to go with a full effort engine, I took the 477 out to find PERFECT internals, made me sick to take it apart. It was a good engine for street strip but def no drag strip player at 11.40-50`s .... at least I think that. I have already decided on parts and started ordering them...since the bores are perfect I`ll be using the same .100 over bores but I`ll be adding a 4340 cat 4.25 stroker crank and H beams all to be internally balanced. The pistons are to be the 13:1 srps with 1/16 rings. I`m planning to keep the merlin 310`s for budget reasons, these have never been touched and need to be matched n what not. Here`s what I `d like to hear, your opinions on good or bad..

the merlins are 2.19/1.88 310/290 cc runners how much duration / centerline / lift should I be looking at to run a 3,800-7,400 power band...car wieghs for all practical reason 3,700 w/me and fuel 4.30 geared 28 inch tires and 3,500 9 inch th 350

I currently have the demon 850 on a wieand team G port matched to a 1275 felpro...should I be looking for a larger carb with this new combo? or large spacers?

the headers...BBC swap hookers...how much are these killing me? they been ported up to the merlins "D" ports but still are long and thin 1 7/8.

What`s your thought on zero gap rings? I had a set on the 477 and there was no blow by and oil stayed clean. but I`m not sure how much power thier worth or not.

tommyboy

Do you run your car at Lapeer Dragway?

AlkyIROC

The Canfield heads on my 540 are only 310's but with 2.25/1.88 valves. Some 345's would be nice but I'm now at the powerlevel I want.

Yes, those tiny tube Hooker street headers are killing you but any larger tube headers are expensive.

I run Total Seal gapless rings. Only the top ring is gapless. Cost a bunch more than normal rings but the increased cylinder pressures are worth it.

My Isky cam is in the powerband you're looking for as are many other grinds. Playing with DD200 and different cam grinds all produce similar results but my cam has the fattest torque curve than any other grind numbers I fed into DD2000. If I tried a different cam similar to the one I have would it make a difference? Probably not on the dragstrip but numbers would change on a dyno slightly.

If you want a cam in that powerband, you're going to need more converter. My car is track only and the 8" converter stalls at 6000 rpm. I launch at 4500.

Everything on my engine was on a 469. When I built the 540, I just swapped all the parts over. Same carb, cam, heads etc just more cubic inches.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Yes, been there 3 times in the last month trying out different intakes and gears, I guess I`m at at crossover from street to strip at this point. Did you have the white bird a few weeks ago?


Thanks stephen as always, your opinion is always appreciated...I was thinking that converter would be too little but plans were lesser at the time I ordered the trans/converter and here it lays now. I`ll plan on more stall speed then. I`m also glad to hear your review on the rings, I thought they were worth the $. I`ll keep the 310`s without a worry and do a little work on them, it sounds like they will work for now according to you. If I had to pick a cam to use with the smaller headers would I want a large spread between int/exh durations to help the exh side or a cam closer to a single pattern....I`m planning to stay around .700 lift and was thinking mid 260-270 dur.

AlkyIROC

My mistake. My cam isn't an Isky but an Erson grind #E129894. .740/.740 and 274/278 @ .050. The lift seems high but it also has .032" valve lash which reduces the total lift. With the aluminum heads, lash can be reduced .006 so I lash mine at .028". I just got my heads redone. The Comp 991 springs are set up to 1.950 installed height and will bind at 1.125. That means I have a safe max lift of .765 so I can install a bigger cam in the future.

Like I already mentioned, exact cam grind isn't going to make much of a difference if you pick a cam you like. If you want one with .700 lift and 260-270 duration, Crane, Comp Cams, or any other brand will all perform the same with only slight variations. The big differences is if you pick a NOS or blower grind since those are designed for an artifical increase in cylinder pressures. Most of the time grind differences between companies is in valve timing. I just got lucky to find a cam that gives a fat torque curve.

tommyboy

Yes sir. We had the motor home. I know you were running 11.30-50s weeks before (We had the 68 tubbed Chevelle that day). On the day I was there how far were you off? I just got my car out and I use to pull 1.53-1.60 60 ft's. That day I ran a best of 1.65 60 ft. The best for the day was an 11.46 at 122.5. I went with my friend this past saturday, the best he ran was a 10.41 at 133.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Early in the month we were running quicker but couldn`t get off the line, shocks/springs were way off and the rear sway bar was puttting it into a bind. On the day you were there with the bird I was off a good .10 to .20 but the air was thick and itwas like 95 degrees....I was thinking this last saturday would have been nice weather for the cars too I`ve already got the crank rods and pistons comming, block is at the machinist...just a few things to round up now and then I`ll have to deal with these heads. hope to see you out there soon!

86t/a owner

i hope cat makes there cranks better then there roller rockers hehe

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Well, lot has happened since I updated last...cat crank was crap..I`m not using it in this build, but I`ll keep it for a stocker type motor. The crank was terrible as far as the casting and the machining...there was nothing "pretty" about it. I bought a eagle 4130 which in comparison is night and day in every respect. For rods I went with 6.385 eagle H beams with the bolt upgrade to arp 2000`s. The rest went like this, clevite H series bearing and dura cam bearings, total seal max seal top gapless rings, luaniti 14.1 slugs, Luaniti 269/271 .705 .708 on a 108, fluid dampner, cloyes hex adjust and lots of head porting on the merlin`s...we incresed the valve size to 2.4 on the intake and will go 1.9 on the exhaust. The intake will be some sort of 4500 single plane with the king demon 1090 I`ve picked up. Blocks bored and clearenced and the rotating assembly is going out to balance this week. Behind it I`ve got the th 350 with a brake and a 4,000 9 inch which has not been tested yet. During the time I pulled it out and dropped off parts to the machine shop I went and pulled the strange center section and took it over to drivelinesolutions.com for a 4.30 motive gear, I kept my 3.70 with the right shim for the pinion depth. I`m hoping to have it back on the track 1st or 2nd week of september. I`m hoping to see some 10`s with this thing