Im thinking about getting this stuff for my cutlass
Edelbrock performer intake 3711 with fact quardaget that i have or edelbrock 2711 with edelbrock 1406 cfm
Either comp cams XE256H camshaft kit, matching lifters, valve springs, spring retainers, valve locks, valve stem seals, timing chain and sprocket set, and cam break-in lube...
or The Edelbrock cam 3712 with lifters..... either cam does not call for gears or stall converter.
Tranny, gears and 350 rocket are all stock to my knowledge.....
I do have long tube headers and duel flowmasters.....with mallory unilite distr and mallory coil, plugs etc that i havent installed. I was thinking I can get all the stuff done together and maybe gain some more power when i get it back versus doing things at a time just with headers alone i did notice it had some power gain.

I would like some quick horspower or torque without a full rebuild engine and getting into gears.. any response and or opinions are welcomed the more input the better thanks guy...

 

Do you know what your gear ratio is? If you have 2.56s, or even 2.73s to some extent, I really think you'd be better off to address this first. You'll get a noticeable improvement in performance, and you'll be better prepared for future engine improvements. If the engine is original or unknown, I'd want to have it gone through before I'd just throw a cam in there. I know you said you didn't want to do gears at this point, this is just my opinion. Gears now, maybe ignition upgrade and recurve at the same time, and a more thorough engine build down the road.

 

You did not mention a year but I assume it is the 71? If so, the biggest problem is compression, which is low on the 71-72 350s. There are better cams than that old generic 204/214. Definitely go with the Performer intake or a stock cast.

 

I do not know what gears are in it there but I can tell u this just with adding the headers I can get a ok burn out and it will scratch them again nice in second gear.....Im not sure if gears have anything to do with this...how can i tell what gears I have.

 

yes it is a 71 I dont think its the orginally engine though there is a number 395558 and a 2 if this means anything and driver head has a 7 on them.

 

An easy way to get a general idea is to lift up the rear and manually turn the driveshaft to see how many times it goes around for every 1 turn of both wheels if it's limited slip, or 2 turns of one wheel if it's open AND if only one wheel turns. If the driveshaft goes around 2 1/2 times, it's 2.56. If it goes around 2 3/4 times, it's 2.73, and if it goes around just over 3 tmes, it's 3.08. You can repeat this process if you're not sure, or you can count the driveshaft revs for every 10/20 turns of the wheel(s) and divide by 10/20.

Chirping tires don't really give a good measure of whether your gear ratio is ideal. With 2.41 open I could tear up one tire. With 3.42 limited slip, I can tear up two tires. But there's a BIG difference in how it moves. For me, gears all by themselves were like putting in a new engine. If you put a used Performer and 3.42s in there, in conjunction with the headers and recurving the distributor, I predict you will be quite happy with the results. By the way, I'd keep the Quadrajet.

 

Ill give that a whirl and see what i come up with thanks....I have been thinking anbout keepin the qjet

 

If your looking at doing performance upgrades, go with a 7111 Edlebrock dual manifold.

Was just on horsepower TV this morning, made 20+ more HP than the Victor high raise single plane intake. the 3111 intake is just a lighter than stock unit

 

IMHO ...

If the OP is wanting something comparable to the Performer grind (cam wise) he mentioned ... the regular Performer manifold (non RPM) would probably be the better choice.

 

I was pretty disappointed in the power output for the amount of dollars they had in it.

 

Bumping an old thread. What'd you ever end up doing?

I wouldn't say a stock 71 350 will roast the tires through first and second through a th-350 unless it's been hopped up some, or the tires are balder than bald. Especially not with a posi 3.08.

 

I endend up just doing headers and mallory distributor carb rebiuld thing runs like a scalded ape..lol..my mechanic said he would not recomend doing anything to for now just drive and have fun with it...I am saving to get the 700R overdrive the local tranny shop will do it for 1200 thats next on my list...that 3 speed I do not like and electric fans are coming also...

 

Thanks for the reply! Seems to me from the posts above that engine is more than stock. Good for you! Enjoy.

 

Yeah alot of people tell me it sound like a got a mild cam in it but the distibuter made a world of difference over points

 

Its got something. It'd like to know what cam!? An 8.5:1 cr motor that woke up that much with a simple cam. Interesting. If and when you ever tear it apart, let us know what is in it!

 

I would consider a 2004R over the 700R4. Better gearing and no drive shaft cutting. A near stock rebuild with a Trans Go or CK shift kit with a stock or 2000 stall convertor, should be perfect. Add 3.73 gears and you won't know it is the same car.

 

X2.
And I'll bet it was at least a different spark curve in the new distributor that made the difference more than going from points to electronic.

 

Interesting. I can't pretend to know much about HEI distributors, and how they work. I can check base timing and such, but would recurving a stock motor produce that much of a gain? Is that just a matter of switching weights and springs inside the distributor?

 

I agree. My experience in the late '80s was that switching from a well set up points distributor to a good HEI distributor made absolutely no difference in performance.

Now, if a points distributor had issues then swapping to a HEI (or ANY properly functioning distributor) could make a huge difference. But then again, properly tuning the points setup could give just as much of a performance gain.

 

This is the exact reason why people diss the Qjet carb. They ditch old worn out Qjets with brand new Holly's or Edelbrocks and then mention how much better their engine runs without that 'Quadrajunk'.

 

What distributor did you switch to? Did you re-curve it with different weights or springs?