John Burns

Here is how I did it: The basic combo: 10.1 - .060-over 454 w/iron Merlin oval ports; 350 turbo with a 2400 B&M converter; 3:31 gears. 800 Holley Performer RPM Cam: 530/558/246/254/114 Hooker comps 2.5" exhaust with big magnaflows Holley mechanical fuel pump Stock 3/8" line Stock fuel tank w/stock pick up BFG drag radials 275/60/15s It is heavy- what do these things weigh all steel, full interior? This combo just nipped 11.99- but that is what you wanted? Ha! I know, this combo may be limited in many different ways, but I'm anti-"race car" to a fault- not much converter or gear, a minimal fuel system- even a turbo 350! But it works. The race car stuff for me gets old- been there done that, but that is just me. Put the money into the heads and keep it simple- it'll run. Yes, I put that number up on a nice cold day with a well prepped track- but I can say it ran an 11! Drove it to the track and I regularly beat the snot out of it- so much fun to drive! Have fun!

Yo Mad- c'mon- where is the combo? Did you really go 11's or are you just pullin' our chains? Post up! (man- am I a smacked-a**? DON'T answer that- y'all already know it anyway. All in good fun.)

Awesome- welcome to the 11 second club! What all do you have done to the 468 and driveline? I have had bad luck keeping a belt on a stock set up with a long water pump- the belt likes to jump off the quicker the rpms come up (more power!). I took a ton of time aligning it recently and have been ok so far...

Steve, B&M and TCI make governor recalibration kits that you may want to look in to- I have used the B&M with good results. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=TCI%2D326500&N=700+400252+115&autoview=sku http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch....k=KeywordSearch Change your shift points. These governor recalibration kits will allow you to adjust the shift points of your transmission after it is installed in your vehicle. These kits are very useful for transmission swaps, or if you have a car that is very light, or has a low rear gear ratio. They also work great for bracket cars retaining an automatic 1-2 shift. I found this tidbit from another site: The vacuum modulator and governor work together to control shift points and shift firmness. If there is no vacuum supplied to the modulator, the trans will shift late and hard. As long as the vacuum modulator is connected to a vacuum port in the intake, it should work ok. The adjustment screw is a fine-tuning thing, it won't prevent it from shifting. Do you still have a good vacuum signal to the modulator? I have never had any problems downshifting a 400- I often downshift to second (or first if I'm going slow enough) and then pound the throttle.

Yep, yep... you're right! Geez that wheel bs is confusing- I gotta draw pictures!

Ok well if you are sure they won't fit. I didn't have to trim anything and I don't have any problems with my chevy rallys (7" 4.25 bs) with 275's.

You gotta fill that wheel-well- go with the 275-60-15s! MT DRs Rock!

I guess what I was asking about the suspension is if it is tuned in- the adjustments are infinite on that stuff, so it is easy to be "out". My buddy has an 8-second pro-street hemi Dart and he takes it to a chassis builder where they tweak the suspension using scales. As for the tires, I agree with Cali- they should fit no problem.

I've never had a BG carb and I'm happy that others like their BGs. But I'll take a Holley any day over any of these "hot rod" carbs. A carb is a pretty simple device- even I understand what it does… a little. My bro can get any pile of garbage carb to run- his biggest secret is to keep everything surgically clean whenever it is apart. My carb story: about 10 years ago, a local hot rod shop was working with a customer tuning a 10-second strip car. The car was built to run low 10s and was barely breaking 10.9. The car owner bought one of those expensive “hot rod” carbs (spent $900- no, not a BG) and it just wouldn’t run the number. They borrowed a stock Holley from us and right away the car picked up .4 seconds. We let them use the carb for a few months and they were actually PO’d when we took it back- and it was just a box-stock carb.

Hey BG guy- help me out here- if your "750's" flow 920, then why don't you call it a "920"? If my combo only needs a 750 and I buy your 750, won't I be buying too big a carb? Also, I've seen the internet rumors- can you tell me why you don't have a relationship with Summit Racing anymore? Thanks

You should have tried the Mickey's- they hook much better than the BFG DRs! I'm curious- are you trying to hook from a dead-stop or from a roll? Either way, 28psi is wayyy too much pressure. It is not easy to hook on the street from a dead stop no matter what- even a poorly prepped track can make it hard to hook. What does your car 60' at the track? I run 17 lbs in my BFGs on my Monte and it will hook from a slow roll with a bone-stock suspension. It'll do 1.7 60' at a well-prepped track. I run Mickey DRs with 17 lbs on my Camaro- with just slapper bars I've gone 1.54 60' (10.7 @ 125). On the street I can't just plant it or it'll make very long, dark patches, but with teasing the throttle just a bit after a small burnout, it'll hook. And 17 psi does not bother the ride at all. What all do you have going on with your rear-suspension? If it is all aftermarket, sounds like you need to tune it in. If it isn't set up right, it can be way worse than a stock suspension.

Tom- can you get gears changed cheaply- and correctly? I've had to pay through the, uh, nose, to get gears installed. Setting up gears is not easy- you gotta find someone who really knows what they are doing. I'd go for a smaller converter and try to sell the one you have to offset the price, and then you'll end up with what it seems like you really want.

The 3.73 will make it less annoying to get the car rolling part-throttle from a stop- the converter will flash less which should help a little from building heat in the trans. Sam is right, get a converter with less stall and keep the 3.31s.

I saw another swipe at B&M, so I have to defend them- I've had a few different B&M converters in different cars- lots of horse power with lots of miles and plenty of abuse- never had a problem!

Wallaby- did you have a clutch fan? That shouldn't have made much racket- unless the clutch was toast. Those solid mount non-clutch aftermarket fans are junk and the plastic ones are even worse- they gobble way more hp than a stock clutch fan. I have the dual spals in my Camaro and they work great. The only issue I have is how hard it hits the electrical system when it comes on- and I have relays and all that. I am considering getting one of these controllers from this guy: http://www.dccontrol.com/0820.htm The controller makes the fans come on slowly so they don't slam your electrical system. There are other benefits to this thing versus having the fans just turn on and off through a switch. He says you don't even need relays. Spal has a similar set up, but this guy seems decent and really into his product. I've seen posts on pro-touring that say he is super busy though. I have a clutch fan on my Monte and that works fine, but if I did go electric, I'd get a Mark VIII. Crazy amount of CFM with Ford engineering. (I'm not a Ford guy, but I'd go with "big-three" oem vs aftermarket any day.)

Dupli-color makes a product similar to the Burnout Guard- http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SHW%2DBP200&N=700+401129+4294865036+115&autoview=sku I got some but never used it. I have drag radials and they make way less mess than slicks or "street slicks". (Carl- if you haven't already gotten your BFGs, I would suggest taking a look at the Mickey Thompson drag radials.)

Fluid pouring out is not good! When does it leak- when it is running or after you've driven it? Make sure you aren't overfilling the trans. I chased a leak recently and found out that I was overfilling- the trans has to be really hot to properly measure the fluid level- drive it for a long while before you check it and top it off.

Notice the single groove crank pulley- would that be from a non-power steering car?

I remember recalibrating my governer- I think I had this same issue- it was a long time ago, B&M has this kit: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=BMM%2D20248&N=700+115&autoview=sku

You all can hi-jack my posts any time if you're going to talk smack about racing each other!

I'm curious why you think the 9" true-track looks frail? I put one in my Camaro earlier this year. I haven't put a ton of miles on it, but it has a bunch of drag strip runs and it isn't treated kindly on the street- and so far so good. The car is a tank (3900 lbs with me in it) and it goes high 10s. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=CUR%2D9TT375S&N=700+400264+115&autoview=sku

The cam is a solid flat tappet, but I can't remember the company; maybe Crower or Lunati- gotta ask my bro. (Hey I'm curious- do you want to stay away from a solid cam?) As for the power brakes... let me start by saying this cam was in my Camaro, with power brakes, and it was fine. (The Camaro now has a hydraulic roller with even more duration and the brakes are perfect.) I think the booster in the Monte is fragged because, if I remember correctly, it would occasionally get unhappy even with the stock small block. I'm looking to replace the booster this winter.

I'm curious- at what point does the MC need rear suspension mods for drag racing, and what are some must-do changes? I was surprised I pulled a 1.72 60' with a completely stock rear suspension. If I throw some N20 at it, I can't image the stock suspension will continue to "work". I'm used to leaf-spring cars that need slapper bars with any sort of power.

I have a 350 behind the 454 in my Monte and it has seen some serious abuse the past 3 years. I recently nipped the 11's and the car is no stranger to WOT. Plus, I've accidentally done some very bad things to it (shifting to 1st from 2nd at full throttle is NOT a good idea- the fan belt broke and actually dented the hood- duh...). The trans was in the car when I got it (looked like a junkyard replacement) and I added a B&M shift kit and a 2400 B&M converter. These Montes are obviously heavy (more than 4000# with me in it)- that with a 3:31 gear, sticky tires- the trans is getting some abuse! But this is the first 350 I've had any experience with- I've always run 400s in my Camaros. And the weird thing, the Monte is faster than any of those Camaros with similar engine combos. And the Camaros always had more gear (3.73s or 4:11s), more converter (3000 stall) and they had to weigh less. Can't give the Turbo 350 all the credit, but it hasn't hurt!

Thanks! I can't the big pix to work- hmmm? How far are you from Cecil? I understand not wanting to break stuff, but these Monte's are tough- they can handle it!