[ta man]

Went to St.Thomas this afternoon..nice warm day..Pontiac and Mopar day..first pass 11.5632 at 117.81 with a 1.7119 60 ft...I thought not bad for the heat ,but I just added a cold air cowl setup and a Wilson tapered spacer..little miffed about the et for the money spent.Next pass ...11.44 at 118.73 with a 1.666 60 ft..wow best ever in warmer temps ....So I do another run both cars bust at the line..wait fifteen twenty minutes.....finally run 11.4031 at 118.65 with a 1.6699 60 ft...holy crap best ever before was a 11.52 in cooler weather I never expected that!All this with a 3.08 gear!The Wilson taper spacer for my combo is worth the money...the cold air setup will work awesome in cooler weather...

[pontorquer]

Congrats ! Sounds like you had a great day, a lot of Pontiacs showed up ?

[ta man]

Originally Posted by pontorquer

Congrats ! Sounds like you had a great day, a lot of Pontiacs showed up ?

Yes quite a few ..my son pulled off a 2nd place finish too in the bracket comp!His first trophy!

[grandville455]

Awesome!! That spacer was always good for .08-.10 on Grand too!

[66bonne]

Congrats, sounds like a fun day.

Jim

[ta man]

Originally Posted by grandville455

Awesome!! That spacer was always good for .08-.10 on Grand too!

Works well with the 308's and the 3200 stall and the weight of the car.The 11.40 was a good surprise..I'm pretty pleased..still more tuning..

[johnta1]

Congrats!

That is an awesome time especially with the 3.08 gears.
With a 3.55 gear or so, it would probably get a low 11 second pass.

Congrats to your son also.

[Cliff R]

Maybe not. A few years ago I drag strip tested my car with 24", 28 and 30" tall tires on the same outing, and nothing changed as far as ET or MPH was concerned. The engine just buzzed harder on the top end with the shorter tires.

This simply happens due to the massive torque produced by the 455 in the loaded rpm range, and the broad/flat torque curve. The super efficient Continental converter is a BIG player here as well. It's like dumping a clutch and the engine is pretty much locked solid above the stall speed, with little if any torque multiplication on the run. My math shows less than 150rpms slippage with mine, but it flashes to 3500rpm's on the launch.

I have nearly the same engine in my car and it cares very little where you shift it at. I can shift clear down at 5000rpms, or clear up at 5800rpm's, and ET only improves about .03-.04 seconds.

Now more converter combined with more gear and better 60' times will knock a tenth or two off of it. It would even run a tad quicker without the gear change, but simply changing gears and the same converter I doubt if it will improve very much......IMHO.......Cliff

[Skip Fix]

So what motor combo for the 3.08s?

[ta man]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

Maybe not. A few years ago I drag strip tested my car with 24", 28 and 30" tall tires on the same outing, and nothing changed as far as ET or MPH was concerned. The engine just buzzed harder on the top end with the shorter tires.

This simply happens due to the massive torque produced by the 455 in the loaded rpm range, and the broad/flat torque curve. The super efficient Continental converter is a BIG player here as well. It's like dumping a clutch and the engine is pretty much locked solid above the stall speed, with little if any torque multiplication on the run. My math shows less than 150rpms slippage with mine, but it flashes to 3500rpm's on the launch.

I have nearly the same engine in my car and it cares very little where you shift it at. I can shift clear down at 5000rpms, or clear up at 5800rpm's, and ET only improves about .03-.04 seconds.

Now more converter combined with more gear and better 60' times will knock a tenth or two off of it. It would even run a tad quicker without the gear change, but simply changing gears and the same converter I doubt if it will improve very much......IMHO.......Cliff

Agree..the old car with the exact same setup but with 3.42 gears used to slightly 60 ft better..but ran essentially the same times when initially swapped..The current setup just works so smooth...my quicker runs I actually shifted a little lower right about 5400 rpm must like the big fat torque curve.Now the current car is quicker in the 60 ft than the old car due to a few tuning changes.

[ta man]

Originally Posted by Skip Fix

So what motor combo for the 3.08s?

462 85 cc SD KRE 290 cfm heads,SD's "Old Faithful"HYD roller cam,1.65 Harland Sharpes,Torker 2 untouched,Wilson one inch four hole spacer,Holley 950 HP with 50 cc pump on front,Spectre 4 inch cowl air cleaner,30 degrees total timing,12 degrees intial,all in by 2800 rpm,Hooker 1 3/4 inch Super Comps.3 inch PYPES X,cone reducers into Walker 2.5 inch Ultraflows,2.5 inch tailpipes,10 inch 3200 Continental Convertor(over ten years in service now..four different 455 combos and two cars),th 350 ,3.08 rear gears

[ponjohn]

Impressive, did you drive it to and from?

I wonder if more convertor with the 3.08 would improve ET?

[hal101]

sounds like it is running very good at what rpm do you cross the finish line ?

almost went to the track today or yesterday the 28th but the needle and seats quit holding so i had to put i kit in the carb
want to see how the vacuum pump works

[ta man]

Originally Posted by ponjohn

Impressive, did you drive it to and from?

I wonder if more convertor with the 3.08 would improve ET?

Yes I do..I drive 200 miles roundtrip..the 3.08's are great for the highway...Without a rollbar...I'm pretty happy where I am I didn't expect the 11.40... For sure a higher stall more gear would et quicker...but then I'd be replacing everything behind the engine,tranny,driveshaft and rearend...traction may become an issue too...Nice problem to have..

[ta man]

Originally Posted by hal101

sounds like it is running very good at what rpm do you cross the finish line ?

almost went to the track today or yesterday the 28th but the needle and seats quit holding so i had to put i kit in the carb
want to see how the vacuum pump works

I'm not sure..I'm usually looking at the fuel pressure gauge!It is sitting rock solid at 6.5lbs.

[2002Z4CSS]

That is one good running car. Nice times!

[Skip Fix]

Sounds good. I have a similar one going into the 81 TA with 3.08s. Difference Edelbrock round ports and a Stump Puller.

[tpssonic]

Great info and car. Thanks, ta man!

[78w72]

congrats on the 11.4. car runs good. i had some good runs last weekend too but ran into some fuel supply/starvation issues. curious, what fuel system are you running?

[Cliff R]

"The current setup just works so smooth...my quicker runs I actually shifted a little lower right about 5400 rpm must like the big fat torque curve."

EXACTLY what I was talking about. I'm sure you read where I just "de-tuned" my combo by going back to a factory intake, factory air cleaner/Shaker assembly, choke and primary metering rods in the carb and full length 2.5" mandrell bent tail pipes, and ran just as quick if not a tad quicker than before the changes. That combo has such a broad/flat torque curve, that it cares very little about where you shift at the track. The last one we dyno'd made over 600ft lbs torque (peak), and over 550ft lbs actross most of the loaded rpm range, so it's a very good engine for a street driven car without a lot of gearing or converter in it......Cliff