recently I had my 87 SC to the track, and ran a good but not good enough 13.1 I have a ZZ4 350 tucked under the hood of the SC, it has the ZZ4 manifold and a well-running speed demon which l am very happy with.

it has (i'm almost positive) 3/4 inch headers on it, and the factory heads. I've heard many good things about the edelbrock air-gap manifold. Is it any better than the ZZ4 manifold? they look pretty similar to me.

lm looking towards a manifold change to reduce my times 2-3 thenths of a second without doing any major engine work.

a cam and fresh valve train are soon to come over winter, but as of right now i'd like to hit 12's this season. any input would be appreciated. thanks in advance guys.

 

Some drag radials will probably put you down in the 12s w/o having to crack a valve cover. Play with the timing too. A nice cool night could also put you over the edge. 1.8 60s on drag radials is definately possible.

 

That 60' time is really sub par for that motor with a 2500 stall and slicks. Whats going on there?

 

I thought those times were with Toyo tires?

I agree on the 60. Should be much lower unless the car's bogging off the line.

 

Doh..my mistake. I missed that in the sig..altho why it's listed one line away from saying it has hoosier slicks is beyond me

Even for street tires thats a little high. 1.9x's should be doable.

 

yeah sorry if that was confusing guys, I bolted on the slicks later in the day, somehow the car made the most power and the best run on the first run i made which was on the toyo tires. the slicks made for good 60 ft times, but my ET's fell a bit, and 13.2 was all i could really hit. my trap speeds were also a bit lower (103-104) rather than the higher 105-106's that i achieved earlier in the day (on the street tires)

i pulled a 1.8 best 60 ft time with the hoosiers. if youre wondering why l ran the street tires at the track, l was just interested in finding out how the car would do and how much of an improvement would be made from the slicks. the 60 ft times were the only improvement, no ET improvement or trap speed improvement.

 

did the air get really bad later in the day? thats weird that you didn't get any better ET's with .2 off your 60

how tall are your slicks? perhaps they are too tall and you don't have enough gear with them on?

what rpms did you trap
street tires vs slicks?

 

theyre less than an inch taller, l thought about that, but l finished at almost identical RPM's with two different types of tires, it was already humid, and getting worse though jer, l also staged as identically as l could every time l ran. but with all that out of the way, the question still remains, would a different manifold show any signs of improvements?

 

damn thats an awsome time. wuts the horse on that engine? also i have a 350 with the specs in my sig that i am in the process of pouttin in my 89 bird, do u think i will acheive times like that maybe 12"s?? thanks man

 

the motor is rated at 355 horse and 405 ft/lbs of torque

with the future mods listed, l think you may be able to hit mid to high 12's. one question though, a .60 over 350, is that a 360?

 

wow u think i will really do that well? yea its a 360 and i belive a 5.9L

 

89formula, you won't hit those times on motor alone. put together a good running gear and add some suspension work and you should run quick.

 

yea i was gonna go with 3.73 gears and bolt on relocatiopn brackets, lower control arms prob spohn, panhard rod spohn to, i have sub frame connectors, and maybe a torque arm if i money permits.

 

I've heard good things about the ZZ4 manifold.

If you are seriously looking for extra horsepower, I'd recommend a better cam.

GM usually puts odd cams in their crate motors. With like an additional 15* on the exhaust side. The stock exhaust ports on most Chev engines aren't THAT bad.

Also, I believe the ZZ4 is a roller block, right? Does it come stock with a roller cam?
I think that maybe a larger, less radically dual-patterened (closer duration between the intake and exhaust), and beefier valve springs should give you an extra kick.

It seems like the first place all the magazines go with the newer GM crate engines, is the valvetrain.

The manifold may not be holding you back yet.

 

thats the exact info l was looking for NT, thanks, yes it is roller, l've heard some decent things about the LT4 hot cam l was looking deeper into that as a good possibility for my next project.

 

You say you've got "factory" heads. You mean the aluminum heads that come on the ZZ-4 crate motor (basically 80s-vintage Vette TPI heads) or factory as in your iriginal cast iron 1987 Z-28 heads? Either one is kinda crappy unless extensively ported.

I agree- switching manifolds won't get you there. I'd spend some time tuning the motor- ignition timing, jetting in the carb, etc.

 

damon, yes, l meant the heads that come with the ZZ4, do you reccomend a head swap, or possibly getting them ported damon?

 

i know vortec heads and a 280 roller from comp cams will put you will around the 450hp mark. car craft did it with a 383, and got 500+hp.
i think i would start off with a cam swap, with it being roller, you have some pretty darn good options.
my .02

 

my uncle had a ZZ4 in a truck once, it had trick flow heads on it, so it was makin more than 400hp, had a 4speed in the truck, that thing was nasty
me and my cousin were goin like 130 through town once, and when he revved it up it really moved the truck lol, thing had some ***** lol

 

how much hp does that engine have? i'd love to run bottom 13's on my current setup.

 

sounds like a killer setup with the zz4 crate. but honestly id think youd benfit from a lower stall cuz u r wasting almost a grand on the powerband of the cam... or get a bigger cam like you said. but the 2500 isnt necessary on a stock cam that puts out power at 1000-5500 really. youd probaly been better off with the stock converter just my .02

 

i was looking through summit, comp cams has a nice 501 501 lift cam at a 244 duration that would prob help u out