Decided that function is more important than form. Over the winter I dropped a 385 into the car topped with an aftermarket TPI setup. I wanted it to have a stock appearance, so that when the hood was open, nobody thought twice about it. The goal was to run just above the bracket class cutoff of 12.00. After the first month or so of the season, I felt like I was leaving too much power on the table. A few guys convinced me to try a carburetor setup on it. Picked up a dual plane Performer RPM intake, and topped it with a Holley 750 free of charge from one of the racers. Stuck an analog MSD 6AL from another friend in there with a mechanical advance MSD Pro-Billet distributor. Wired everything up, and it fired on the first crank.

Headed out to the track Friday, but only got one hit. 12.36@111, 1.84 sixty after massive tire spin. Saturday was our points series, and they allowed two time trials before eliminations.


Second and third passes after the carb addition. I suppose I can live with that consistency.

First round elimination was a bit of a wash, ended up being paired with a good friend in his 19 second ride. Broke out 12.26 on 12.29 dial, but as any bracket racer knows, it's hard to judge being nearly 7 seconds faster.

Video courtesy of Mark (fasteddi) and Emily.

Heading out Wednesday to try a few things out. I feel this car has 11.9x-12.0x in it. Saturday's runs were run with a full tank of gas, leaving at an idle, bouncing off the rev limiter 1-2 shift (6000 shift with a 6400 limiter chip, a little close), and running hot.

With a full tank of gas and me in it, it weights 3540. I weigh approximately 130. I would estimate 3350-3370 or so without me and less fuel. It's a Formula with a smallblock, iron heads, TH350, Moser 9". It's got dual 3" exhaust with mufflers, stock Formula rims, and a FULL interior. With aluminum heads, open headers, skinnies/fatties, amongst other things, I could probably drop this thing to under 3000 race weight. That won't happen though, because that'll put me too fast for the class, and I'll also need a cage. I'm happy with it as is though. I've got a lot of compliments for keeping it stock appearing yet dropping it deep into the 12s.

What do you guys think?

 

Very nice ride Looked fun =)

 

Pretty good runs considering they're in opposite lanes.

What kind of times were you getting with the EFI system? Sounds like the carb setup is making more power for you. It's also more tunable once you understand what each circuit needs. With EFI, you need a computer to map the fuel curve to do the same thing a carb can do.

What's the list number on the 750? They're not all the same but it sounds like that one works fine. Just as long as it's not a 3310. Holley should stop making those ones and all the ones that are out there need to be thrown out.

Throw about a 150 shot of NOS on there and you might get a 10 second pass during T&T runs with a street car.

 

I didn't experiment too much with the EFI before getting frustrated with it. I admit I went to a carbed setup for an easy fix. It was going mid 14s. Could never get the tune right and just ran out of patience with it. Also thinking the intake may have been flawed from the previous owners' porting. Mark yelled at me for swapping over lol.

I'm not sure on the numbers, but I know it's not a 3310. Just looked it up Friday, but I don't recall exactly what they are. The carb was previously on a 11.90-12.00 355, so it was setup pretty close when I got it. I jetted it down a ton though, it was in the region of 10.0 to 11.0 air/fuel. Went from 80s in the front straight to 70s, and that got it close. It's still on the rich side, but closer. 11.5-12.0 air/fuel. Once I lean it out a bit more, burn off some gas, leave on the converter, and put a different chip in the 6AL (done), I'm expecting high 11s or 12.0x. First round elimination I hit 1.69 sixty leaving off an idle lol. Do you have an estimate on how much of a gain I would see from leaving on the converter as opposed to idle? It's advertised 3000 stall. I may keep leaving off an idle, because it's very close to the spot on the tree that I used to hit while on the converter with the old setup. Now I just need seat time with the new setup, and this thing should be deadly, being that consistent.

On the nitrous note, that's a negative. Hypereutectic pistons and nitrous don't mix well from what I've heard. Norwalk is very strict on NHRA rules also, so if I did hit 10s, or anything under 11.50, they'd have a fit about not having a cage, or roll bar. It would be neat nonetheless though.

 

what was ur efi setup ? do u still have it? im looking for something to get rid of the pretty damn near stock tpi on my tt iroc

 

Yes I did.. Toss a 7730 ecm and let me tune it it would of went the same if not faster.

Congrats again though. You got it to work out with the carb so thats a great thing. Love seeing a thirdgen tear it up in a track full of fords.

 

He had some sort of intake he got off here. To be honest though it looked a tad over ported inside of it like someone just ran a carbide in there and took as much out as possible not considering how air flows.

 

Thanks Mark! Felt good to be going fast in a stock appearing car. Like I said, tons of compliments on the "street" car lol.

On the TPI setup, it's an aftermarket setup that was siamesed by the previous owner. I did my best to clean it up with guidance from our local engine shop. It's comprised of SLP runners, siamesed about 1-2 inches down on both plenum and intake sides, an Edelbrock base siamesed runner side and ported huge on head side. There's approximately 3-4 inches of runner wall left in the intake. Mark can vouch for this, the setup liked the high rpms. I didn't intend or build it to be a high-revving setup, and thus it wasn't matched correctly with the cam, stall, and gear. I also had a stock MAF sensor, and stock 48mm throttle body that I'm sure were restricting flow. I purchased a BBK 58mm throttle body off Tuned Performance, but pulled the whole setup for a carb before I put it on. The plenum needed opened up to match the bigger throttle body bores. The runners need cut in half, ported to match the intake, and then welded up again. I didn't have the resources to do that. If the runners were taken care of, this thing could flow a ton of air. I'd probably let it go if you're interested. All I do is bracket race, where consistency is the name of the game. As noted in the first post, the carburetor delivered the consistency I'm looking for lol. I just wasn't competitive with the EFI, it varied too much from round to round.

Made a few changes to the car tonight, will see the results Wednesday. Won't be hitting the rev limiter anymore. I couldn't believe how much 2 stutters made the car feel like it fell on it's face. Should be running around half a tank of gas as well, so race weight should be just under 3500. Going to try leaving on the converter, see if we can't get that sixty down a bunch more. It's looking to be hot though. If I hit 12.0x now, I'll have to slow the car down somehow in the fall to stay in the class...

One day after the points season ends, I think I'll try for a best ET. Removing the exhaust, seats, amp, and center console. That alone should be 200+ pounds. The fall air will work wonders as well.

Perhaps toss in a glide with brake and make a fool out of myself in Norwalk's Halloween Classic wheelstand competition?

 

i might be interested in it but i can tell u it has to be a good price considering stealth rams are going for about 320$'s shipped brand new

 

I understand andrew. Carbed is best for your app. And it showed when you ran so consistant last weekend.

If your gonna toss a glide in there might as well cage it. Then youll have a good strip car. Your exhaust needs a exhaust bra though..lol Those puppys are so close to the ground. Now you know how i felt with my low exhaust last year.

BTW f-bodys love to pull the wheels! Nates car pulls them up, not a ton, but it does on the moto pics, so im sure your be close with some more power and getting up on the rpms apun launch. Whats your stall converter again? Ever get to log it and see what the flash stall is?

 

Waaaaaaay too hot and sticky out today to draw any conclusions about the changes I've made. Picked up the win in Norwalk's Mod Stock class though! Car was fairly consistent, never changed my dial more than .02 after first round. Need to get a new alternator and battery ASAP, cannot keep it cool between rounds. If I leave the fans on, it'll kill the battery within 5 minutes. Still did good though.

Mark, I think you commented on the stall when we went for a ride, and said it's right about the advertised 3000. I only left on the converter once, and it still spun a bit to a 1.72 sixty. I ran 1.70s the rest of the night off an idle. Might just keep it at idle, it's very consistent there. And the glide comment was just for the Halloween Classic lol. Actually I'd be better off with a TH350 with a brake, since the first gear ratio is much more agressive than a glide. I know it needs something done with the exhaust! Still, low 12 sec street car with mufflers is pretty cool lol.

project89, I'll PM you tomorrow after work about the TPI setup. It's late and I've gotta be up at 4:30 for work lol.

 

I remember it was stalling at 2900 or so IIRC. But considering you picked up 2 seconds since i rode in it last. Im willing to bet the stall went up a tad. Yes a 12 second car with muffers is pretty cool but watch out on here. Gotta remember most ppl on here think thats slow. 11s and 10s is whats considered fast anymore for a street car. But your definitly on you way there.