Street/Strip back to cruiser advice

-

watchdoc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
121
Reaction score
63
Location
Greenville, NC
long story short,

I'm changing my 71 340/727 Dart to a more cruise friendly setup to enjoy with my family and I would like carb and fuel pump advice.

Currently, I have a Holley 3310 Vac Secondary carb with lots of track side tuning goodies with a Carter Hi flo mechanical pump that pushes 7psi thru my fuel pressure guage. Both need to be rebuilt but the car never idled very well and was pretty cold natured. I would like a more cruise friendly setup with an emphasis on idle quality, fuel economy, and driveability.

I am leaning towards an Edelbrock 650 or even one of the new "fuel economy" tuned 600's. I believe my Carter would push too much pressure for any Edelbrock so I would need to replace it or add a regulator once it's rebuilt.

Suggestions and Why?


here is the long story for anyone interested in more details

I've owned this Dart for 20 plus years and made hundreds and hundreds of passes in the local street car brackets with it (13 sec and up class). This was my setup for the last 20 years. She was always consistant in the high 13's and low 14's.

71 Dart (orig 318/904 car)
73 340, Small valve J heads, 340 hiflo manifolds, purple shaft 284/484 cam
Holley 3310 VAC Sec carb with quick change bowls and a few other track side tuning upgrades
Weiand Action Plus 8007 spreadbore dual plane intake (I use a squarebore adapter)
3.91 8 3/4 Suregrip with Moser Green dot axles and pinion snubber
big bolt pattern disc brake car
245 BFG Comp TA drag radials on reproduction Rally's
Mopar Chrome box ignition, Taylor wires, various plugs over the years
rebuilt 727 with offbrand higher stall converter that hates the street and shifts hard enough to scare people.


The car has been used very little since my divorce 10 years ago but I have recovered and I would like to use the car with my family and introduce my 7 year old to muscle cars, car shows, and afternoon cruises. He has recently begun to notice "fast cars" as he calls them and has asked me several times about my "old green car".

I have already put 3.23 8 3/4 suregrip in the car and the transmission is getting a new street friendly torque converter. Once I get the carb and fuel pump sorted out I plan to do some engine dress and move on to wheels, tires, and handling upgrades.
 
I have also considered a ThermoQuad but I'm not aware of a reasonably priced and trust worthy rebuilder.

Being that my Dart is a 71 and has a 340 and a spread bore intake already, it's pretty tempting to try one.
 
If you want "cruise friendly" consider small primaries, IE TQ or even A QJ. In this day and age of alcoholized fuel, think about EFI
 
I have ran a Thermoquad on my 340 for 15 years and if you have a good one there very hard to beat as a hot street carb on a small cube mopar the spread bore gives great low end and plenty of cfm for the top end. I run a 770 with jets from a 850 off a 400 big block ,I have ran the 850 with a 430 rear gear and it matched up nicely but with 355 or taller I prefer the 770
 
If you want "cruise friendly" consider small primaries, IE TQ or even A QJ. In this day and age of alcoholized fuel, think about EFI

I'm not aware of any EFI kits that are reasonably priced and I'm not a big fan of the TBI setups anyway.

It's either gonna be a TQ or new Edelbrock. Summit sells reman TQ's for $300 and Rock Auto has them for $250. Those prices would be fine assuming they were correctly rebuilt. The internet consensus is that the remans are poorly assembled and often use mismatched parts.

The Carb shop has a few NOS 9801S TQ's for $420 but they are as is with no warranty.
 
Well, after a short discussion with Rob, I am getting a rebuilt Super Quad. I have never owned one and I am looking forward to giving it a try.

My next question is concerning a fuel pump. I currently have a Carter hi po street/strip pump that needs a rebuild but I see where you can buy a new carter "muscle car" pump for around $35 new.

Any suggestions on a pump that will work well with the TQ and gives many years of good service?
 
I run a carter muscle car pump and also put it on when my carter strip pump gave up. I was skeptical when I put it on but the price was right and it was in stock at my local auto part store. it has done the job nicely, my motor puts out about 400 hp I run 3/8 fuel line with no problems.
 
First thing I would do is lose that cam.... The 3310 you have would be fine if tuned properly. A good TQ would be the ultimate street carb though.
 
First thing I would do is lose that cam.... The 3310 you have would be fine if tuned properly. A good TQ would be the ultimate street carb though.

Whats wrong with the purple shaft cam? I havent considered changing it but im open to suggestions.
 
I ran a combo real similar to yours on the street for a long time. When I race i use my Holley 750 but when I want to cruise i use my Eddie 600 thunder series carb. I got it two years ago and took it out of the box and it ran great...adjusted the idle a bit. I don't know why no one has suggested that carb yet but I love mine.
 
-
Back
Top