Nice meeting you guys Glen. Love the in car cam. I gotta get me one of those. I totally understand your goal of getting into the tens, but 3 tenths seems like a lot and your combo seems matched. The biggest gains are always in the first 60 feet. I'll suggest something different. I dont know what you run for a converter, but I would recommend loosening it up. Run synthetic fluid and a good cooler if you street drive it. I've run 5500 stall converters on the street before with no issues. I would shot for low 1.4x 60fts. When you order a converter and tell them you're gonna street drive the car, they usually make it too tight.
A lot of good advice, but I question the roller cam idea. A solid roller would RPM higher, but so would a solid flat tappet, it'd go to 7500. A solid roller has the potential to go even higher but you'd have to build up the short block for it. A stock 396 can handle 7500 RPM's. Also, sounds to me like the converter is loose enough, but then I hate loose converters on the street. The idea of some taller gears is a good one, too. But I think the cam change is the right direction, you'll love what it does to your motor, talk about waking it up! By the way, the old L88 cam was 242 degrees at 0.050" lift, at least that's what mine checked out at.
Cant speak for your 396 ,but my 408 (stroked 360) in my Dodge dart doesnt do well above 6,000 either.The guy i got it from said he shifted it at 5,500 .I only had it on 1/8 mile track once ,but i tried a few different rpm shifts while i was there.I shifted it at 5,500 and i went 7.63 .I then shifted it at 5,800 and i went 7.58 .I then tried it at 6,100 and it slowed to a 7.64 (and i thought i heard the valves begin to float ).I went back to 5,800 and it went 7.58 again.My 60 foot times where the same each run .I think you will get in the 10's easily with more tweaking without going over 6 .Sometimes taller gears will make one run faster ,esecially in a lite car like yours .Good luck with it...
put a 250 shot on it and you will be in the 10s .. and still street drive it i run 11: 40s and i cant street drive my car ..mine wont go past 6200 its a 468..410 gear ..hydo cam 4000 sthall looks cool
Got to start off saying that was an AWSOME pass ... car looked Awsome!! Sounded good as well. 396 ... sounds like you probually have a couple of issues ... i would look into whats been done with the heads? If they havent had a good port job then that would help . However The cam is probually the biggest thing you could do to help it. I would step up to a full roller something in the low 5's on lift and make sure the heads will flow at the kind of rpm your wanting to run. Just some ideas and these should also keep it very streatable. Remember what it needs to do to go faster ... rap faster and pull higher into the RPM's at the same time. I dont think from what it sounded like and how it didn't pull past 6k that gears will help you, in fact they will probually slow you down putting a deaper set in the car, getting you to 6k quick wont help if you cant get past it. It also didnt sound like you were having any fuel issues. however when you get the motor to pull faster and run the times and rpm's you want it might become and issue. Thanks for showing the pass ... it was SWEET!!!
What are you using for carb, intake and cylinder heads? A good oval port 396 doesn't do real well much higher than your turning it. A rectangular head motor with a little compression and the proper carb, intake and camshaft will go over 7k no problem.
Thanks for all the info, I didnt bother re-hashing all the details on the motor. The parts are there though....It will run past 6000 with the right camshaft. Brodix heads, Victor Jr. intake, a built Pro Systems carb etc. etc.
if you want more rpm on the top side either go with a shorter tire or steeper gears. what tire size are you running? i see they are the et streets. on my father in laws 73 duster we had the 29.5-10.5-15 et drags and a 60 foot time in the 1.48 and this year we put on the et streets that are 30-12.50-15v and the 60 foot times have come up to the 1.54 bracket. how big is your carb? is it getting enough air?
What i meant earlier when i said "sometimes taller gears will make you go faster is" , a big block in a lite car likes to work .I talked with a guy at the Day of the Drags in Temple a few years back racing a model A tudor very simular to yours.He was running easy 11.50's if i remember correctly with a mild street driven 454 and a 5 spd .It was street driven to the track and back.He told me he was running 3.73 gears ,but used to have 4.56 in it.He said he couldnt get out of the 12's with the 4.56 and just backing off of the gears ,put him in the 11.50's .Just a thought .BTW i dig the vids ...
I didn't know you were running the 292H. There might be something to the previous poster mentioning a problem with the lifters. You should be making a bit more power than the 400 or so we are estimating.
You can spin that motor over 6000, but you'll probably want to go to a mechanical cam. A hyd. roller will help, but most of them are limited to 6200 - 6500 and they are expensive. You can spin the right mechanical cam well over 6500. But, I'm pretty sure you already knew this. Cool car! Glad to see you having fun with it!
Now thats enternment ! I could see the guy in the stang looking to leave the track. SERVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had the same problem with the same cam. Tried springs, tried carb, tried more fuel... finally decided it was the hyd cam. Gave it one more shot and put a high volume oil pump in it and a set of (don't cry) Rhodes lifters and it would pull hard to 7200 then nose over. In my case, it was just a combination of lifters, springs and rockers... just keep toying before you give up on it, it's not a bad cam.
I agree, I ran a 292H in my 12:1 427 on the first build of my truck. Mind blowing acceleration from 3K up to 7K on more than one occasion!
Got your PM Glen. I'll BS more with you about it later, but here's some of the general stuff that's going through my head. If you know: You are getting enough fuel Your carb, intake, heads, exhaust can all support it Your ignition can fire up there... Then I would look very closely at your springs. Are you sure they were matched well for the cam? If so, move to your rockers. Are you shooting for too much lift with a big cam and big ratio rockers, putting more work onto the spring side? Rollers? Cheap Rollers? Possible deflection? Good contact point on valve? After that the thing I went to was the lifters because they are so vital to the good operation of a hyd cam, and they really either "work" or "don't work." I needed more oil volume for a cooler, so went for it, and the combo of a high volume pump and rhodes lifters worked for me. Boom. The thing would rev.
Yes, I have all the goods, carb, intake heads, exhaust and ignition... I changed valve springs last week, the old springs were on the bottom side of the acceptable rate, so I went to the perfect spring rate and thats how I gained 300 rpm. Thats why I keep looking at valvetrain. I will call you in a couple hours.
Maybe this has already been posted but you can change how the car makes power and how long it revs very easily with an hyd cam by changing the valve lash when adjusting them. If you turn them down right at the point they stop clacking another 3/4 of a turn or more this gives you more low end and limits the top end. If you only turn them down another 1/4 of a turn at the point when they stop clacking this will give you much more top end but less bottom end. This adjustment is done when the motor is warm and running and its free. jp
hell yes i have 2 cars one is fast one is low and slow if i had to choose just one the low and slow would have to go ....its always been about ripping assssphalt for me nothing compares in the car world nothing............my guess without knowing alot about your combo would be as stated fuel pressure and ignition a stock or slightly modified stock distributer cant keep up after 5800rpm.......super cool vid
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