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mc71454

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Posts posted by mc71454

    454 LS5 vs 454 LS6

    in Engine Tech

    Posted

    Build a standard 454 and use a solid roller cam with gentle ramps and a wide lash to get the solid lifter sound and longevity as long as you use pin oiled lifters. And use oval port heads as they will make more power anyway than the rect ports. $300 for a repro intake that has better AL than the originals is available. Deep groove pulleys are a must for looks. This can be done pretty easily. But as others have said leave the original motor as is.

     

    The motor in my Chevelle can be built for $4500 and it makes 475 hp and 520 #ft I built it for $2900 3 yrs ago.

    Dakota Digital Dash Pic

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Rob is right. You just buy their kit and install the senders, mate the wiring to your stock wiring and replace your current gauge pod with theirs. Oh and remove the speedo cable. smile

     

    Yes, that is it pretty much. Time consuming, but straightforward. If you have the Factory Assembly Manual it really helps when removing the dash and putting it back, re-attaching grounds etc. The Dakota Instructions tell you what color the factory wires are for what connection you need to make. I checked all of mine with a test light and then verified in the assembly manual as well. The Dakota Instructions were correct.

    Dakota Digital Dash Pic

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Nice! The Dakota Digital kit has been on my wish list for a while now. I've heard the electric gauges aren't as accurate as the mechanical. Do you run a rev limiter and does it coinside (sp?) with the RPM readout on the dash?

     

    Hi Mac,

     

    Yes I do have a rev limiter. but haven't hit it as I have 5 passes on the car so far. The electric gauges are reasonably accurrate and I have never had a problem with them in my Monte as I run Autometer electrics in that.

     

     

    As I found out this past Sunday, the RPM readout in the Dakota is useless when racing. I am installing the analog tach for racing tomorrow night and will try to get a comparison.

     

    Modified my Stock Horseshoe shifter

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    That is so cool!!! I'm gonna try and work this little project in over the long weekend!. Thanks for posting Tom. Maybe this could be made a sticky. Lots of people over the years have wanted a mod. BTW Good luck heading to the track. I know it has been a long road to recovery from your accident.

     

    David

     

    Thanks Dave, I appreciate that. Good luck with the mod this weekend

     

    Tom

    Dakota Digital Dash Pic

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Nice real clean look! What are the sliding numbers for at the top of the left and center gauge?

     

    They are graphs that slide from left to right to coincide with the numerical digital readout in the center of the pods.

     

    Not going to be useful for racing, but look nice. I still need to calibrate my speedo, hopefully Tommorrow..

     

    I am going to install a small shift light and an old '70's Sun tach for use while racing as long as it looks good. With the shift light I don't really need the tach, but I already have one and will see how it looks

    Modified my Stock Horseshoe shifter

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    For Forward normal pattern...

     

     

    1. Move your shifter from 1st to 2nd making sure it is not under any tension and is positively in 2nd gear

     

    2. Then using a fine tip sharpie scribe a line on the plate with one on each side of the shifter latch.

     

    3. Take a cutoff wheel or even a dremel tool with a coarse cutoff wheel and make a notch for the shifter latch to fall into just like the other notches in the plate.

     

    Now you can bang the shifter from first to second.

     

    4. Now when you want to go to 3rd you need to lift the latch and go forward. In order to stop it from going into neutral you need to weld a small piece of bar stock on the inside of the shifter. Make the piece large enough that you will need to grind out the next notch to engage and hold third.

     

    I made this piece a little taller than needed so i could grind it down to where I wanted it and make a deeper notch to make it harder to slip past 3rd

     

    5. You need to now move the shifter to 3rd and make another notch into the piece you just welded on just llike the first one you made. I stepped the notch so that in order to go from 2nd to 3rd it was normal depth, but made it so I had to really squeeze the handle make the latch go all the way up to get out of 3rd and clear to neutral.

     

    Here is a picture of the Final Product before painting with the shifter in PARK..Any questions just drop me a note.

     

    Hope this is helpful..

     

    shiftermod.JPG

    Dakota Digital Dash Pic

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Thanks

     

    Got it through Summit as well.

     

    Install wasn't too bad, just need to take your time and LABEL Everything. Comes with all the senders and the wiring is pretty basic if you can use a test lite and follow directions.

    Changed my camshaft/ Opinions

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Was the block decked ? Do you know how much the piston was in the hole at TDC? Your piston has a slight dome, but your heads are open chamber heads that can be from 118 to 123 cc's.

     

    Typically stock blocks will have the pistons about .030" in the hole. To increase compression blocks are typically brought down .025 to 0.30" to get better "quench". the block in my Monte I left .005" for resurfacing in the future if necessary. With the heads assuming they have not been milled, I believe the pistons you have are a 10cc dome and assuming the pistons are .025" from flush with the surface of the block i would estimate your static compression to be more like 9.0 to 9.2:1.

     

    No need to worry, compression is overrated when it comes to making power. In large camshafts with a lot of overlap, the static compression is very important since so much cylinder pressure bleeds off during overlap. this is not critical in your setup as you have a good combination of parts and the compression ratio (static) is in a good range.

     

    the converter is a little tight Except that you have a 700R4 with a steeper first gear that helps the torque multiplication at launch..

     

    nice setup and good luck withthe newborn !! I have 3 - 13,9,7

    and they have their moments, but they are the best thing my wife and I did.

     

    Tom

    Big Block Head Comparison

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Yes,

     

    I will be racing this year..Monte on Sundays in the early Fall my '70 Chevelle on Wed nights starting in May.

     

    Monte is getting bars run to the engine compartment and across the dash. Suspension update with an Anti-Roll Bar and then to the paint shop June 1, and then a new vinyl top.

     

    Still recovering from my accident with back troubles, just taking it slow.

     

     

    Big Block Head Comparison

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Originally Posted By: 680HPStroker
    I read all these posts and agree for the most part, but let's all remember one thing "it's a big block". It will have a ton of torque no matter which heads you use. 325cc runners are big for a street car, but if you are planning on making runs down the track once in a while with the right combo it will still perform well on the street. With a big heavy car, tall rear gears and a 3.06 first gear in the tranny more torque vs HP is just as bad, or worse than not as much. The right torque converter can manage most of the issues you will encounter with either heads. BB Chevy's are more forgiving than small blocks, so don't get so caught up in the numbers game.

     

    X2

    ANY BB that is thought out and put together correctly will make lots of torque, if it can't move the monte then you really have issues.

     

    Hi Thanh

     

    Looking Real Good ! How have you been ?

     

    Tom

    torque tec exhaust....

    in Modifiers

    Posted

    Back Pressure = Bad

     

    Any back pressure is bad...The old belief about needing back pressure for the street is just an old tale that is unfortunately not true.

     

    Low grunt low RPM motors will typically have a short duration of valve opening overlap so that the intake charge is not contaminated with exhaust charge. When the RPM's go up, there is not enough time to get enough fresh charge in while the old is getting out....which brings upon the saying "I ran out of camshaft" That is also why they can get away with lower static compression ratios because a relatively small amount of cylinder presure is lost with short overlap periods.

     

    On the Converse, the high RPM designed camshafts will have a lot of overlap, and that is why you have a Pig when you put in too much cam in our heavy cars without the gear and compression and converter required. The overlap is also why cylinder pressure is lost and one of the reasons big cams need big static compression ratios assumming we leave Lobe Separation Angles out of this.

     

    As the topic was exhaust size I will tip my 2 cents in.

     

    The exhaust system will act as a big heat sink and depending on the type of mufflers you have will be an important part of the equation. The small block you are contemplating will not like the 3 1/2" exhaust. So no matter what kind of a deal you get, you may always wonder if it would run better with a smaller exhaust, maybe you won't care and I don;t want to pretend I know what you prefer, so no disrespect intended. I do know that many that have done this and gone smaller afterwards.

     

    Someone discussed velocity, and they were right on. Remember the flow rate in Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) will be the same throughout the system, but restrictions in the flow whether it is rough edges, kinks in the pipe, the mufflers, a shifted gasket will all effect the CFM. Look at two extremes.........Use a straw as a tailpipe, imagine the backpressure. Now consider open headers....you get the idea..

     

    But the right sized exhaust system can make the same average power (area under the curve) as an open header. The difference will be that the open header will win up top in the RPM range and the properly sized exhaust will win in the lower range, but the overall average will be almost identical.

     

    The difference is that for a street/strip vehicle you have to weigh your preferences and look at your total combination to see what is best. if you want the best driveability and great performance at the track, you need to be very picky and informed about your exhaust system selection and be ready to experiment.

     

    If all you care about is to be loud around town and get the best MPH at the track with a cam that lives above 4500 RPM, put in sewer pipes, they will act as an open header.

     

    From my experience with my own vehicles and buddies that have raced for more than 25 years, I offer the following for what it is worth.

     

    For a typical BB 400 to 450 HP low to mid RPM motor, a 2 1/2" system will work very well with free flowing mufflers.

     

    500 HP - A nice setup is a 3" front pipe to quiet mufflers with 2 1/2" tails.

     

    550 to 600 HP will also like 3" all the way with free flowing mufflers

     

    650 to 750 HP 3 1/2" with 3" tails

     

     

    Spacer Comparison - Open, 4-hole and none

    in Engine Tech - Archive

    Posted

    I checked out the spacer data in there. It was very interesting. I recently added a 1" HVH Super Sucker to my 489. I haven't had an opportunity to test it yet, but I could feel the car pulling harder on the street. What was even more interesting was the the big cubic inch motors and the power that they say they are making. They all seems to make good torque, but that guy who posted the dyno pull data seemed a little short on HP. I know we are talking dual plane intakes, but my small cube 489 made 470hp with a Eddy Performer RPM @ 5,900rpm's with no spacer and a AED 850 carb. I always thought I was lacking in power with my original setup, but maybe I was right in there. My initial goal was to make 500/500 at the wheels, but that never happened with a dual plane. When I switched to a single plane with the same carb and a bigger hydraulic roller cam I got a best of 517hp. Now with a 700 lift solid roller cam and a Dominator carb I've made it to 534hp at the wheels and believe there might be 540 in there with some more tweeking. This has all been done with the same 489 long block I started with at only 10:1 compression. I'm just wondering if my engine is really efficient, or are the big cube guys lacking due to their setup? Some day I'm going to go another .030" on the cyliner bore and up the compression to 11:1 and leave everything else the same and see what I can make. I've turned in a power numbers junkie, but the true test will come at the end of next month when I finally get this beast down the track. A hood, safety equipment, and a stronger rearend are what have been holding me back. It's all going in now along with updated brakes. I'm hoping to get into the 10's, but at this time I'd be ok with very low 11's. Peace.

     

    Hi there 680..

     

    I think the dyno pull data you are referring to is the one in the link on Team Chevelle. if it is, that's my motor and my dyno pulls. Yes you are correct it is a bit short on HP. Using old 049 iron heads and a 226 @.050 duration hyd flat tappet, it is a bit short. Purpose built motor and drivetrain combination designed specifically to run in a 12.00 index street legal class. I will also be using a 2800 converter to have a softer hit at launch as well. 3.42 gears and 28" tires to boot. For the quickest ET I would normally use 3800 10" converter.

     

     

    The HVH spacer work really well and I anticipate using the one I have when I shoot for that 9.99 time slip in my Monte..

     

    Gotta go for now...Talk to you later

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