Alright I'm new to drag racing and was looking to start out with building a bracket racing camaro running 13 sec with a goal of 12 sec. Any ideas of rear gears i should run matched with engine combo. I was thinking of running 4.12 gears and a 350 short block but not sure of what heads will be good for this.

 

The diff gears need to be matched to the rest of the combination. Depending on engine rpm range, transmission gears, torque converter stall speed, tire size, you want the gear ratio to allow you to cross the finish line at or just after your peak shift point. You can't just pick a gear ratio and hope it works for your car. It could be too high or too low a ratio.

I've gone through a lot of gear ratios over the years but also kept increasing my tire size, engine rpm range and stall speeds. I currently use 32" tall tires with 4.86 gears. I shift at 7400 rpm and go through the traps between 7400 and 7600 rpm. Last year I tried some 4.57 gears but they dropped the rpm too low and the car just didn't react the same so I put the 4.86 gears back in. Even something like using a lower stall speed converter will require a different gear ratio. My converter stalls at 6200 rpm on the transbrake. If I used a converter with maybe 5500 stall, I might be able to get away with some 5.14 gears.

Start off slow. Take the car to the track with basic parts and upgrades and see what it does. It takes a long time to build it up to what you want with good parts that will last and with a good combination of parts.

 

would you mind sharing your motor combo size heads cam? would greatly appriciate!

 

i would use a block board .04 over you could use iron 202 camle humps with a cam and intake maybe port them a little and it should get you a low 13 also you want decent compression if running all motor i would run 4.56 gears in the rear end should get you were you want for a base point

 

Sounds similar to what your runnin with now camaro4663. I wasn't exactly plannin on runnin massive tires tho. Maybe 28 by 10 slicks. That should get me plenty of traction for what I'm looking at right now.

 

ya it is similar just i had the 1.94 heads and stock cam and just gears and still got that motor to push my car at a 13.75

 

I have a 540 BBC on alcohol. The link to my web site with all the car info is in the above sig file.

 

alright so if I have a 357 sbc with 2.02 camel hump heads with a 650 carb I should be alright running into the 13s.
I was also thinking of putting in a bigger cam. Any ideas on what size if or if I should do it at all.

 

Since this is going to be a bracket car, go with a 750 double pumper carb. The 650 is a little small for racing.

Cam size depends on pistons and how much lift is allowed by the heads. You could have too much lift and the bottoms of the spring retainers will hit the top of the valve guide/seals. Generally, keeping it below .500 lift with stock heads is safe. Anything higher than that and you need to start checking lots of clearances plus needing better valve springs and roller rockers.

 

Yes i knew that i would most likely need to put different springs in if i changed the cam. Then would putting a different stall converter be something worth looking into?

 

The converter should match the camshaft for best performance. For strip use only, the stall speed should be around 1000 rpm into the powerband. Knowing the advertised duration, a stall speed can be roughly calculated. The best way to know the best stall speed is to put the engine on an engine dyno before purchasing a converter.

 

cooper2799 i might have a whole rotating assembily i could give you this winter i am allways willing to help out a fellow third gen racer but it all depends on what i do and if i can get a set of 195 afr heads at a good price!