DoubleV

Just got back from the track. I know my car's a slug due to it's rediculously weenie engine build, but it's still fun to go to see what you can run. With my engine finally fixed from the $hit job Rocket Racing did ( ), my goal was to get a 13.99 and I would've loved 97 MPH too. That of course is nothing nowadays and is pretty damn slow by many's standards, but I'm trying to do it on what I have to work with and what I'm working with ain't much...

Well, I just couldn't do it. Best times were 14.09, 14.07, 14.02. Best MPH was 96.69. Dammit!

These times were all from launching a bit off idle ( about 1500 rpm's I think ), auto shifting ( shifts under 5k ), drag radials, and with a little over 1/2 tank of gas. MPH were mostly 96.xx on most runs ( a couple of 95's ), and on my best run with the 14.02, I had a 1.89 60 ft., where all my other 60 ft's were 2.0x's.

So, yeah, I need a more consistant launch and better traction. I will be getting lower control arm relocation brackets soon as my car is lowered. That should help with traction at least, but if I could find a few more ponies with carb tuning and timing, maybe I could reach my goals and then some.

P.S. Most cars usually run slower at the track I raced at today compared to Norwalk....

380 Racer

From what John told me, it took you 4 years to figure out your motor wasn't running right?

DoubleV

So John admits he build me a crap engine and told you it took me 4 years to figure it out? Did you guys get a good laugh over that? Seriously, you don't even know the specifics or the whole story other than what John Stlopa apparently has told you, and he's a notorious liar. Why the hell are you guys talking about me anyway? Since you two pathetic losers like to talk so much about me, ask that lying sack of $hit why he avoided contact with me after I found out he didn't build my engine right and I repeatedly tried contacting him.

Wondering how exactly one 'figures out' an engine doesn't have the compression ratio one requested ( and what is shown on the build sheet ) and that one actually doesn't have a multi angle performance valve job one payed for anyway? I'm assuming John told you all about that right? Oh, wait, you must be refering to the crooked valve guides that caused the valves not to properly seal right? Well I guess you got me there. I should've assumed my professionaly built engine from a guy who specializes in Olds engines did a hackjob on the heads and sent me junk instead of thinking it could've been something else causing my less than perfect idle.

If you want to fight this out, PM me or start a new thread. If you want to confront me personally, I will be happy to meet you at the Olds nationals at Norwalk this year. Bring John too. It will be a blast. Just let me know OK?

But how about for now, you just stop trolling my theads. Better yet, just stay out of my threads altogether as you and I both know you will do nothing but splill your bile at me anyway.

oldsmobiledave

The best money you could spend at this point is on a dyno session. Your engine is what it is so now just optimize what you have. Once you have the jetting & timing down to achieve the most "power under the curve" the car will run the best MPH.

For further improvements more details are needed. Please list your rear tire size, your converter stall & rear gear ratio. Also what are your shift points & what RPM are you turning thru the traps?.

Sorry to hear that you are not happy with your build but atleast we can help you get the most out of what you have. It should be fairly easy to get that car on the "good" side of a 14.0 ET.

coppercutlass

Dude you need to relax. If I payed for an engine and 4 years later I found out it was not built correctly I think im **** out of luck, because a lot can happen in 4 years. Also due to the nature of performance builds a warranty is very rare to see. For all you know the guys you took it too fed you a pile of crap to get your business. John has done 2 sets of heads for me and all of my local olds guys running 10 sec 9 sec rides have all had their engines/heads done by him. Im sorry but at this point I think a tub of Vaseline is too late if you think you got screwed. Btw I think your engine is running pretty close to what it should be. try to run the x pipe open before the mufflers and run just the alternator and water pump. Also running a cutoff switch so you can cut the alternator draw at the beams will help then you turn it on on the return road. little stuff like this added up for me when I was running similar times.

380 Racer

Pathetic loser?......look in a mirror. Oh ya I won't be at Norwalk but John will.......you can talk to him there. Don't worry I could give a rat's behind about your worthless threads........a troll, I'm not.

Have a nice day

DoubleV

380 Racer, you're a worthless POS.

Coppercutlass, you don't know the whole story about RR. I do. I was charged for a valve job that wasn't even done and the engine was way short on the CR I was supposed to have. There's more than that too but I don't want to get into it here. If John was an honest guy, he would've gotten back to me about this period. Instead, he chose to be a coward and avoid me instead. Your great dealings with him do not change these facts. I don't want to discuss RR anymore. Thanks for your suggestions.

Oldsmobiledave, I may be able to get a good deal on some dyno time and will probably see what my options are in that department. It would be nice to find a little more hidden power somewhere.

captjim

All due respect, if you are serious about that then remove the,
"Botched 350 by the crooks at Rocket Racing" from your signature, otherwise it will be an issue whenever you post, your call. Nick isn't a POS, he is just friends with John. Anyone who sees that and likes him will respond the same way.

That said, you are pretty much where you should be. Q-Jets aren't that easy to tweak. You could bump the timing 2 degrees, see what happens. I assume you are getting outsside air? Anyplace to lose some weight? Going to a 951 Modine over a heavy copper rad, etc. If you are running drag radials at that power level, I doubt that suspension upgrades will show much. What front tires are you running and air pressure? Also, you could stage VERY shallow, kinda get a rolling start. Less consistant, but if you are number-hunting there are little tricks. Decent fuel pump? With a 1.89 60', you should be running 13s easily. Or, and this is the easiest solution, wait until fall when it cools off!!

DoubleV

Well, I'll respectfully dissagree with you about my sig, but I appreciate your respectfull candor. I just feel people should know the truth. They can choose to believe it or flat out ignore it if they wish.

I will try that. I would've tried that my last time out but I wasn't consistant enough on my launches to know for sure if it would've made any difference.

I have a cowl induction scoop but it's not sealed. The hole could be a bit bigger too, but yes I'm getting outside air.

Being that it's just a stock appearing street car, I can't think of anywhere I could shed weight other than removing the spare/jack and running with less gas. I already have aluminum bumper inserts and an aluminum radiator.

The thing is, my car is lowered, so that effects my traction a bit. I just purchased a set of relocation brackets for the LCA to 'restore' the arms to their rightfull angle.

235/60/15's up front at 35 lbs, though I just checked them today and one was at 33 and the other at 34. I don't know what most usually run their front pressure at though.

I guess I can give it a try.

It's just a stock Delco unit. I will be testing the fuel pressure soon though. Never seemed like there was a problem though.

That was actually a suprising freak 60 ft. If I can get that consistantly though, I think that'll really help.

No doubt! Also, Norwalk is the track that most usually get better ET's vs Dragway 42 were I was at. My previous best was at Norwalk.

coppercutlass

Try the open x pipe if you add some cut outs. Also try less drag on the engine. Like no power steering , moroso elec h20 drive and just run electric fans and the alt. Is the only thing you will run from the engine. I usually do this at the track and have it set up to do everything pretty quick. I squeezed nal I could from my mild little 350 this way.

captjim

With the fel pump it isn't pressure, it is delivery in terms of volume. Those big-azz from tires are slowing you down.

ETs are funny things. You can actually have worse traction and run a lower ET. There is waaaaay mnore to it than just HP, ask Nick! LOL Are you running a mechanical or electric fan?

DoubleV

Cutouts could be fun, but I'm not going to alter my basic setup and nix my PS or switch to an electric water pump. It's 99% street car, and I want to keep it as close to a stock setup as possible. I did consider electric fans though, but I hear too many people calling BS on them really freeing up any power, so I don't really know what to think about that.


I'm pretty sure I have a high flow needle/seat in my carb and the engines such a weenie, I would be suprised if the engine was starving for fuel at any time but anythings possible.

Nothing I can really do about the front wheels. I know they're not optimized for drag racing, but that's what I run on the car ( same as the rears which I rotate ). I can make sure they're properly inflated though. Is 35 enough or should they be 'over' inflated?

I'm running the stock fan with a Hayden heavy duty clutch. Works great at keeping my temps rock steady but it sounds like a helicopter. If I knew for sure electric fans would free up some power ( enough to actually make a difference ) and keep my temps as steady as my clutch fan does, then I would go electric.

380 Racer

OK I never fight John's battles for him, but I have a few questions for you about "your side".

So 3-4 years ago you had Rocket Racing do a motor for you?
They shipped it to you and you installed it right away?
Did it seem OK at first or sluggish?
Did you check the plugs? Wires? The distributor?
Did you check the timing (initial & total)?
Did you check the balancer to see if it had slipped?
How about the carb?
Did you do a compression test? How about a leakdown? Results?
You then took it to machine shop #2? They found out about the low compression and all that head stuff right?
^^^^^I would do all of the above^^^^^

You then had them correct every thing right?
So now it runs slower than you think it should. Hmmmm sounds like shop #2 didn't do it's job to me. So now you want money or another motor from John 4 yrs later? Sounds like a scam to me.

Want to go faster?.......gears, converter, carb will do it.

cutlassefi

One of the mags tested this theory some time back. The alternator actually drew a bigger power loss then any other single item.

Kennybill

First work on your 60' time. Is it bogging or burning the tires, adjust your air pressure accordingly. Try more rpms, higher on the stall. I have gained by putting the alternator on a rocker on/off switch, when staging shut off alternator. Do things one at a time so you will know if it gains. Try upping shift points by 200/300 rpms. Read a spark plug after a run on the return area. If you weren't getting enough fuel it would probably be "breaking up" in high gear. If you have a smaller carb try it. I always felt it's better to under carbed/cammed than more. Plan your "attack" make carb change last. Write down weather and changes. Your engine has more in it, find it before spending the big $$ on geat/converter. Good luck, Ken

jpc647

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the head work was never done?
#7 stock heads were 71 heads, correct? So it was stock a low comp. motor. I know my 72 is a 8.25/8.5:1 compression motor factory. so you're less than that.

Why are you Running the Performer RPM intake, and not a regular performer?

You may notice a difference with the intake.

gearheads78

I see mis matched combo as your biggest issue. AR headers...what size tube? Performer RPM but you shift at 5000. Get the compresson up to 9.5-9.7ish and it will match your components so much better. G-body's are a cake walk to the mid 12's

DoubleV

OK, here's the scoop Nick ( I don't even know why I'm bothering because you will just blame me for everything anyway ) but first to answer some other guys;

I have an RPM intake on it because I was going to do some internal upgrades that would've worked well with an RPM. Also, despite the advertisments, the RPM has shown to work better than stock/regular Performer for many people even on very mild builds like mine. The AR headers are 1 3/4" tubes with 2.5" collectors. This is the smallest long tube header they make. Any off the shelf header would have a 3" collector.

OK so here's the condensed version of the facts as to why I think RR/John Stolpa is a crook. Yes, there is more to everything than what I'm going to post, but I'm not trying to leave out important info. Just the basics ( it's long, but if you want to know then here it is; ) with no exact timeline.

1) John tells me the engine will be done 1 month after recieving the downpayment for the parts. After 2 months and hearing nothing I contact him and he says 'everythings looking good' and I don't make any mention he's past due. This goes on for months but by now I'm actually asking him 'when will this be done' and he keeps giving me times he fails to make good on. Very poor communication too. Inside info tells me he was purposely dragging his feet on it. Why, I don't know. Don't recall exactly, but took him 8-9 months to get my engine done. He only got to it when I told him I wanted my money back and was going to take my buisiness elsewhere. He claims first come first serve. I know this is a lie because I know a guy who got his engine in, rebuilt, and back during the months I was sitting around waiting.

2) Got the engine and installed it very soon after. Was running on the CCC system in my car. Broke cam in, changed oil, set timing, yada yada everything seemed fine but the idle was a bit rough. Not horrible, just not perfect. This is important to note. It wasn't 'oh my god it runs like ****'. It was, 'yeah I'm sure with some tuning we'll get her to run a bit smoother but it's fine'. Remember, this is running on the CCC system, so it's possible it was never going to be 'perfect'.

3) Tune it best I can with little change. I guess this is the way it will run on the CCC system I guess. Other than that, everything seems fine. No alarm bells going off. It runs fine, other than a slieghtly rougher idle than I would've liked. Plugs appeared to be fine to me, though I'm no plug expert. I learn to live with idle. Even seemed to idle pretty OK on certain days too. Ran pretty good overall.

4) Track times a bit dissapointing. Contact John and he gives me some tips. Says with 'A. B, and C' I should be in the 13's. Goal was very low 14's, but that was in 'stock appearing' form. Johns telling me headers and such...not my goal.

5) Some more time goes by and I decide maybe if I had the carb modified my a pro ( Cliff Ruggles ), I'd be able to get it running perfect. I do that, but no real change. I do all the proper maintenence on the engine too ( ZDDP in every oil change too ). Again, this doesn't appear to be a real issue. Just a rougher than normal idle that is still very livable.

6) Someone tells me maybe it's an internal vac leak on the intake manifold. Since Smitty owed me a favor, I went to his place and we installed a new intake gasket. No change. Smitty didn't seem to concerned there were any issues, so I'm thinking things are the way they are.

7) After some more underwehlming track times, I start to think this motor just wasn't built with enough power to do the job it was supposed to. John claims it should easily meet it's goals, but never does. Now I'm thinking I want to pack some more power into this slug. CCC system makes that a bit hard, so I get a new oldschool Qjet and distributor. Tune it up as best I could and it was exactly the same i.e. livable idle but just not very smooth. Maybe it's just the cam? I don't know, but it's not a huge issue. RPM intake and headers soon follow, with little gains at the track but were a hair better.

6) Car now appears to be heat soaking a bit more than I recall it in the past making it difficult to start at times when hot. I was told this was normal ( todays crappy gas etc ).

7) One day I'm hanging with a 'car buddy' and we're talking. He suggests a compression test just for the hell of it. I do it and the results were awfull. Some cyliders WAY down and some really good, some right in the middle. I contact John about this and he says do a leakdown test. After winter, I do just that and see that it's the valves ( which I suspected ). At this time I was planning on pulling the engine, give it to a local Olds guru ( who's name I won't mention because I don't know if he would appriciate that ) to do some upgrades; bigger cam, a bit more CR, and some headwork. Obviously, the valve sealing issue was going to be fixed too!

8) It all happened so fast. Engine pulled, my friend ( unbeknownst to me ) takes my engine to the 'Olds guru' that same day and by the end of the next day, it was all fixed! Here's where things get interesting...

9) My planned upgrades I wanted to be done were not done. The Olds guru just fixed the valves so they sealed and everything was bolted back up. The reason why he didn't do the upgrades was because he found out some things about my engine and working around these issues would've not been economically feasable to me, so he just fixed what was broken and that's it.

10) Here are the engine facts;

1) Some valves weren't sealing because the valve guides were installed crooked. This is what was fixed. Cost me $375 total. The valves that sealed OK were the ones that weren't done. John claims every set of heads they do does all the valve guides. Obviously not true. Probably did a quicky rush job on my heads when I told John I wanted my money back because he wasn't getting my engine done ( and kept lying to me about it ).

2) My CR was about 8:1 instead of 8.8:1 like it was supposed to be. This was caused by big dished cast replacement pistons, thick felpro gasket, and pistons .038 in the hole ( build sheet says .030 btw ). Probably just slapped everything togther quickly without measuring just to get it done. Figured I'd never know the difference probably.

3) Multi angle valve job was never even done. Charged me $200 though.


Though I wasn't charged for them, my engine was supposed to have bigger valves which he never did ( I knew about that before the teardown ) and the hardend exhaust seats weren't there either ( this I didn't know, though I wasn't charged for this either even though hardend exhaust seats are listed on my invoice ).


11) When I contacted John about this he just acted like he didn't believe any of it. I told him I would have my "Olds guru' talk to him and tell him personally. He said OK. I talked to my guy and he just didn't want to get involved. Claimed it was a lost cause and said I should just move on and deal with the fact I got hosed. I contacted John and told him 'my guy' wasn't hip on talking to him and asked what he feels should be the next step. I tried contacting him multiple times but he dissappeared off the radar screen. He obviously doesn't want to deal with it.

OK, so I'm sure now others are going to say 'but why didn't you do this' and 'why didn't you that', or 'well I wouldn't done this if I were you' etc. None of that matters or changes the facts; I payed top dollar to have an engine professional rebuilt to a certain spec. These specs were not met ( though I payed for it ) and some of the work was flat out done wrong. These facts cannot be disputed. I know many are going to claim BS on my part or whatnot, but these are the facts. If my engine was torn apart right now, the evidence would be right there.

So to close, the local Olds guru I'm refering too is in fact a VERY skilled and honest man. In fact, many of you guys who post here and on other Olds boards know him well and would attest to his skill and character. This is not some shadey backyard mechanic or unscrupulous machine shop owner. He is the real deal. I wish he would've taken pics but in his defence he was there to fix my engine, not go through a bunch of other BS.

coppercutlass

So complaining about it helps why ?

71 Cutlass

gearheads78 is correct, the cr needs to be up near 10 if you want to make better power. The camshaft as well is not going to do much at 207/213. Did not read what gear ratio you are using but 3.42 at least is a place to start with a stall in the 2400-2500 rpm range if you want to drive it on the street. Just these 3 changes alone would make you quite happy. Here's a link to a video of my car "launching" from a start . Also, just for full disclosure, John Stolpa helped design my engine build, which was written in the JWO magazine a few years back.here are the specs:
Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold

Edelbrock Performer Carburetor (600CFM 4 barrel).

Edelbrock carburetor insulator gasket (0.320")

Edelbrock True Roller timing chain

Comp Cams Camshaft XE262H(
Duration @.050 218/224 Lift 475"/.480" LSA110)

Forged flat top pistons/rings (by Diamond) from Dick Miller Racing

W-31 stainless steel valves (2" intake, 1.625" exhaust)

Head porting (pocket) 3 angle valve job, tear drop valve guides

Sanderson Headers (Part # 0351—shorty type)

3.42 Posi track (originally 2.56 open)

TCI Torque converter 2400 stall (Breakaway # 241100)

Transgo shift kit #2

MSD Pro-Billet Distributor and MSD Blaster 2 Ignition Coil

MSD Super Conductor spark plug wires (8.5mm)

Walker Dynomax turbo mufflers/dual exhaust (originally single)

Spectre Performance Air Filter w/ Spectre Air Filter lid

Bored 60 over, 10.5:1 compression ratio

Shelley

Sounds like what is needed around here is an attitude adjustment (or two).

ah64pilot

DoubleV

Poster asked, I told. If you want to continue thinking John Stolpa is some sort of great guy, you go right ahead, but don't give me any static because I don't share your love for a guy who cheated me. If someone cheated you, you'd be bitter too.

I can't make any more power unless my CR is near 10:1? Well I will respectfully disagree with you on that. I'm just trying to tune as much out of what I already have. Nothing more. I'm not trying nor expecting to make crazy power with what I currently have. That just ain't gonna happen. My stall is around 2400 and I have 3.73 gears.

If my engine wasn't built the way it was ( huge dished pistons sitting far down with the heads already shaved to about 60 cc's ), the plan WAS to up the compression from my ( supposed to have been ) 8.8, and then add a bigger cam and do a little head work. Those plans got scrapped when I found out I only had about 8:1 CR with no easy way of getting were I wanted to be ( mid 9's ). Simply put, I need new pistons and/or I need the block decked and that wasn't the plan at the time.

gearheads78

Until you put a super charger on it or make major engine changes its going to stay a turd with 1 3/4" headers.

380 Racer

I started out just asking why it took you 4 years to decide to confront John. I'm still asking that question.

You right away started calling me names and threatened to kick my ***. You are a typical internet tough guy . I will not fight John's battles (that's up to him). You are acting just like you did over on Olds Power. I really don't know why you get whiny and not listen to guys who know. You always ask until you get the answer you want One last question........why didn't you just go with the Olds guru near you in the first place? Didn't give you the answers you wanted?

jpc647

I think he feels screwed from his transaction. Now I don't know John from Rocket Racing, but if the olds guru the OP took it too says it wasn't built to specs and can prove it, I'm not sure what's being debated.

Part of this thread seems to be a blatant attempt to warn some of us from using the builder who built this motor. If I was in the situation, and I didn't get what was promised, It'd do the same thing. Hell I got screwed on my Genesis forum on a set of wheels, I called out the seller for a month on the forum so no one else would buy from him.

The guy is asking for help on how to fix his situation. With a few digs to the builder in the meantime. Lets help the guy constructively. No sense beating a dead horse about the engine on the forum. If the OP want's to take action against the builder, so be it. That's his business. Lets focus on helping him get into the 13's.

To me, it seems like this guy has a motor very comparable to a stock 71/72 motor. Slightly less compression.

captjim

Just for the record, what is the bore, piston, gasket, and cylinder head combination?
It sounds like what you have is pretty much maxed out. You can play with the Q-jet (definitely NOT my area of expertise!!), maybe remove the spacer, bump up the timing, lose weight, and do suspension mods. Personally, I would add a couple of degrees of timing and try short-shifting the 1-2. My 9 to 1 355 ran best ET shifting at 4600. Most heavy cars with small engines respond to that.

DoubleV

So you're saying because it has 1 3/4 headers my turd engine in it's current form cannot be tuned to squeeze a little more out of it? Nothing will help at all? If other people can tune a bit more power out of their weenie builds, why can't I?

I think you may be under the notion I have this weenie little engine and I'm looking to somehow make big power from it. That's not the case. I'm just looking at getting what I have to run the best it's able to run. Trying to squeeze maybe 5+ HP out of it if it's there to be had. Are you saying I can't do this?

Your header comment strikes me as funny too and I'll tell you why; when I originally purchased the headers, I wanted 1 5/8 tubes. American Racing wouldn't make those for me though stating 1 5/8 headers would not match up well to the large exhaust ports on the heads and hurt flow. They also flat out said 1 3/4 would be better anyway. Smitty said the same thing. No 1 5/8 sized headers exist for my combo anyway so it's either 1 3/4 headers or manifolds. I even got the smaller collectors to make the headers 'as small' as possible. Did I do something wrong here?


WTF do you want? I just posted everything there so you could get the whole story of how everything went down over the course of time and you're asking me this? Everything's right there. Your op was meant to start an argument. We both know it, because no matter what I would've said, you would've dissagreed with because that's what you do.

Don't sit there on your moral high horse and act like you're some innocent guy who wasn't trying to start trouble. Internet tough guy my ***. You can't act the way you do toward someone and expect that person not to have thoughts of smacking you around. But of course I never threatend to 'kick your ***' anyway. I just said I wanted to meet you.

So are you! I act nothing more than like a normal guy who makes normal posts and who responds accordingly when addressed. Nothing more. I came to this forum hoping to not have to deal with you and then you go and try to stir the pot with me. I get mad and you cry foul. Nice.

Here you go again! Unbelievable. You sound like broken record. You are the biggest hipocrite I've ever had the displeasure to cross paths with. What fictional great piece of advice am I not listening to this time? Where's this whining? Are you saying I have to blindly agree with every person on the internet no matter how absurd otherwise I'm a know-it-all jerk? What if there are 2 opposing sides and one tells me I should do X and the other tells me I should do Y? Damned if I do, damned if I don't right?

More made up lies to suite your weak arguments. You make $hit up about me then state it as fact. You and John are perfect for one another. You're both liars.

Wow, that's a real difficult question to answer. Ummm, how about because I didn't know him at that time.

So since John's your good buddy and all and you guys like to talk about me, why don't you just tell him to call me?

captjim

Why no answer? You took a LOT of time responding to Nick and Gearhead??

The more I think about this, the less it makes sense. I don't see how you ended up with 8.1. With big dish el-chjeapo replacement pistons down .050, you would be lower, around 7.6. With 6 cc Speed Pros down .025, you are higher, at mid 9.xx. Did he use Egge 14cc pistons? Did he use the big dish and mill the heads? That seems unlikely. Big dish, slight mill, thin gasket? Maybe.

71 Cutlass

And without a higher CR you are not going to get much, just as I said. If you are only looking to tune the engine with what you "already have," then you won't gain much of anything at 8:1. With that being the case, I no longer understand why you posted wanting "more power". You should have posted, "How can I get just a sliver of power, if any at all, out of a 350 motor with 8:1 compression."

gearheads78

Full disclosure my personal experience is with more SBC's than anything but I have personally witnessed cars with mild small blocks slow down going from 1 5/8 to 1 3/4.
Port size has little to do with it. The engines ability to pump enough exhaust gas to create some scavaging does.

KOOKs and ARH are used to building headers for 6500 rpm ls1s with 11:1 compression and kick *** heads from the factory so 1 3/4 works well in that case.

captjim

If the center divider wasn't welded and the crossover filled, the positive effects of scavenging are pretty much negated anyway.

DoubleV

Sorry I missed your post. Engine has .030 overbore. Pistons sit .038 in the hole though the paper work says .030. Thick Felpro head gasket. I forgot off hand but I think 60 cc heads. Big dished cast replacement 24cc pistons.

Before the engine came apart, I was under the impression I had the smaller 14cc dished pistons. Using a calculator and using .030 in the hole ( which is stated in the paper work ), Felpro gasket size ( about .041 but I've always heard they measure a bit more than that even ), I came up with the head chambers to be around 66cc's I think. Those numbers all made sense to me. I then find out from my guy the pistons were even further down than specified and I had the big 24 cc dished pistons. Dispite the smaller than assumed head chambers of about 60 cc's ( which my guy measured them to be ), I was woefully short of 8.8.

DoubleV

My op clearly shows I am in fact only looking for ( as you say ) a 'sliver' of power to reach a goal that is but inches away from my grasp.

DoubleV

Thank you for understanding.

captjim

That is about right. Mine sat .052 +/- down. The only way to fix it is to do what I did, tear it apart and zero deck. You would then need to mill the intake and get new push rods. Those pistons suck. You can get 14cc pistons from Egge (expensive) and with a .027 gasket you are at 9 to 1.
Honestly, if you are running 14.0s, I would leave it alone. On a cool evening with a little tweaking you should run a high 13. I don't really understand the traction issues, with drag radials you should hook like crazy and be consistent.

DoubleV

It was 1 3/4" headers with 2 1/2" collectors or exhaust manifolds. 1 5/8 wasn't an option for me. I really pressed for them too. No dice. I chose what I saw as the best option I had. Are my headers perfectly matched to my combo? No. Are they better than SBO's manifolds and provide a better foundation for future upgrades? Yes.

DoubleV

Yep, I'm not going to tear it down. I will leave it. A better engine will be built in the future. For now though, I'm just trying to get the best out of it I can.

With my lowered car, traction isn't as good as it could be. It's good ( that 1.89 was a freak 60 ft! ) but it can be better.

Here's a vid of my car last year ( I think ). I don't recall at what stage my engine was in at the time, but in the vid, that's with drag radials and a good burnout;
It doesn't spin nearly that bad now ( Hellwig rear swaybar and 1 air bag added ) but just wanted to show you what it was like with just drag radials and nothing else.

380 Racer

I'm really tired of your stupidity so I will say this slowly so you can understand;


4 Fricking years Nobody will warranty a motor 4 Fricking Years later.........DUH!!!

captjim

You should still not spin with drag radials. I launched off idle, on the nitrous, no burnout, 28 PSI, 1.73 60'. Are they M/Ts?