408 W2 combo - where to from here

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inkjunkie said:
Sorry for the hi-jack....is there a build thread for this car? If not how about putting one up???
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I have never even considered doing a build thread of the car.
No one is building motors with W2 heads and most people seem to have there minds made up that you cannot run a solid roller on the street.

But I thank you for thinking the car should have a build thread.
 
DarrylsDart said:
I have never even considered doing a build thread of the car.
No one is building motors with W2 heads and most people seem to have there minds made up that you cannot run a solid roller on the street.

But I thank you for thinking the car should have a build thread.
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HAHA! I've had people tell me that too "you can't run a solid roller on street!?!?!". I just smile and say "oh, ok"........:D.
 
crackedback said:
It's losing a boatload of time in the first 60'. 1.9 60's are good for a mid 13's car.
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It took 20 posts before anyone pointed out the obvious ?
If there isn't 3 to 4 tenths hiding right there , I'd be amazed.
Given you want to keep street manners , a 3.91 ish gear is the most I'd recommend......unless you want to throw a GV overdrive or similar at it.
But that isn't cheap.
Get the suspension to work and copy as many stock eliminator tricks as you are comfortable with. Understand that there are also compromises that have to be made ............... the best of both worlds is difficult to obtain.
You will lose some handling if you go balls out with the front end in drag race trim. It will still be perfectly drivable , but you will be slicing a bit off each characteristic whichever way you go.
A good converter is as close to a magic wand as I see for your deal....... but once you're optimized there , traction will become more of a problem.
Simply throwing more motor at it isn't the answer , though there are gains to be had. Nothing wrong with your cam. Porting and carb size would be the first areas I'd look at here.
But if you get that car to get out of it's own way at the green , you're now ready to look at the rest of the deal. It is a combination......not one part or area that makes quick cars quick.
 
I noticed the 60' - but it's what I'd expect from a low stall, high gear, 3500lbs car with engine issues.

Look at the other numbers -
115mph @ 3500lbs should be a little over 400RWHP. Yet the dyno said 340. That tells me the convertor isn;t a good match and the engine's not making the steam it should.
Tweak the suspension all you want - it ain't going to jump off the line.
 
10" shelf 27-35, 3500 hughes converter in Brians car with the car craft engine went a 1.43 60's. Strokers don't need a bunch of converter if the chassis is right. Brian's car does have 4.56's in it. It was pushing through the light loaded up at ~3100-3200.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/irwindalevids003.mp4/

There are plenty of hard running strokers with 3.55's/28" tire and the same style converters going 1.5x 60's.

He mentioned the car is ~3200, with or without him? Without puts him in the same weight as Brians car ~3400.

This car is similar to a friends, car runs 130+ in the 1/4 and blast out with 1.9 60's and 11.00 et. Should be an 10.00 car, chassis sucks.
 
I'd be curious to know rpm at the stripe , but I still think a more efficient converter is the first thing I'd throw at it.
Most of the engine stuff i.e. carb , porting would help the 60' but I don't think as much as a good converter. I think the launch is where the most hay will be made as far as improvements. 1.9 - 60's and a buck thirty ? Throttle stop ? lol That sucker must march like Sherman on his way to Atlanta once it gets moving.
 
So you believe that an extra 200+ HP and extra full rotation of the pinion doesn't equal .5 on a 60'?
 
If you are asking me about the 200+ hp?

That's the 480hp car craft engine in Brian's car and it went 1.43. We figured it was making about 470ish as installed in the car with mufflers. With the 530hp 360 on the brake with an 8" it went 1.42, 565hp on brake went 1.37ish. That car leaves like a high 9 or 10 flat car because Brian worked the chassis really good to get it moving.

If the chassis works, it will 60' with a decent converter is all I'm saying. The OP's car should run 11.30's pretty easily if the 60's get in a decent range, 1.5x's or very low 1.6's. It's an 11 flat mill wrapped up in a 14 second chassis. Throwing more power at the OP's car is not where I would go with my $.
 
moper said:
So you believe that an extra 200+ HP and extra full rotation of the pinion doesn't equal .5 on a 60'?
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I see traction woes with 200 more h.p. in this deal.
If the car launched anywhere near respectably , 200 h.p. would make life really interesting.......not to mention the snappy new wardrobe we'd have to buy. I don't know how it is down under , but you'd be encountering a whole new set of " guidelines " racing here.
 
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_1110_pump_gas_small_block_mopar/viewall.html

Must be a different article than this one I remembered.
It's just a difference of opinion - I tend to think Brian's tenacity and racing abilities are higher than most - certainly higher than mine - and he's been sciencing that car out for a long time. So as far as the OP goes - I'll throw more power at it with some better-matched driveline parts rather than start him down a path that will take years of hands-on racing and hope he can master it. The reality of an "11 flat mill wrapped up in a 14 second chassis" defines the average enthusiast's street car...lol.
 
I agree, the converter is definitely not doing the car any favours out of the hole, but if I get a bigger converter its probably going to create traction issues anyway because as someone mentioned it is a 11sec combo trapped in a 14 second chassis. I am really surprised it even got into an 11 with the current setup and gears as it is exactly how it came off the boat from California less the drum front brakes. Standard shocks, springs, torsion bars the lot.

I am shifting at well into the 6XXX rpm range in first and second, but according to the dyno it was peaking at 5500-5600rpm, it seems to still spin to 7000rpm especially in the lower gears and seems to hit harded in second when I take it out to say 6700 rather than shifting at 6000.

I do want to get the chassis setup for some drag racing but also want to make the power it should be making at the same time, just seems like the heads may be lacking enough flow for the 408 cubes as they are. If I put a decent converter in it without doing anything to the engine its going to have a very narrow power band.
 
If you want to limit the wheel spin on upshifts - shift lower, not higher. There's too much internal inertia that is replacing the power above peak. So shift lower coming out of first.
 
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