The car is owed by Mark Downing. He says he is still running the stock 95,000mi 305tbi engine except for an Edelbrock intake, Turbo City tb, MSD ignition, Hedman headers and a manual valvebodied TH350 tranny with a 3500stall converter. He also has the nessasary suspension mods to get it down the 1/4mi.

His best stock time was a 16.2 at 85.73mph and his best boosted time is 12.37 at 109.24mph.

I'd sure like to know who tuned it and what problems they had to overcome to acheive those times.

Steve

 

Wow, that's really impressive. I wonder if he just used an FMU or actually did tune it in. Did it say how much boost he was pushing?

 

That is really amazing, and I guess it puts the whole "supercharging a stock lo3 is pointless" issue to rest. He is getting really, really good traction too.
The one thing I don't understand is that generally superchargers will boost hp and tq by 60% at most. So even if the mods prior to the supercharger yielded 200hp outta the lo3, that is still only 320hp at the flexplate. But I guess it is a buttload of tq, and it just goes to show how important torque is. Can't wait to read the mag!!

 

This was in the readers rides section so it didn't go into great detail. For all we know the guy could have stripped everything out of the car for weight reduction. Still I bet it is loads of fun to drive.

Steve

 

Power adders work differently on different engines. The L03 to me is as anemic as the LG4 if not more (LG4 responds faster and cheaper). Doing N2o, turbo, or supercharging will definatly get the mph up and get you into the 12's, that's really nothing crazy. What is crazy is doing that on an engine that's small displacement. If the engine rotates and wants 5.0L of air per revolution, then you supercharge it, you're effectively increasing the VE by a huge amount in comparison to a "healthy" small block.
Look at that MPH and my thoughts are he's making at least 340hp, that's a "healthy" naturally aspirated 5.0 with good heads and a cam . Just putting it into perspective.
Before anybody goes bolting a supercharger onto there rides consider this; the same money for the supercharger can go into a nice 350 and make more hp leaving you with power potential and less to break . I'm not biased , but I just like playing devils advicate.

 

JP, I agree with you on the durability of a mild 350 but as far as simplicity goes, a bolt on would be so much easier if tuning is not a problem. Then if you blow the 305 up a 350 would be the only replacement option and the blower would just be more icing on the cake.

Steve

 

Steve, true of the simplicity of installation but EVERYTHING needs a tune. Unless you're the kind of person that can through money at new engines and get away with driving it on the "street" for a whopping 100 miles a year to and from the track.
The onther problem is getting laughed at for having a supercharged v8 camaro running times only similar to n/a combos . Oh, and having $$$$ for a blower kit and then replacing the 305 for a 350 when it dies is more $$$.
An engine swap is actually a VERY simple procedure if you just disconnect everything. Took me only a week to do the swap, my first, and that's waiting on parts and working only in the evening. I can do one now in a day if no parts ordering. The only special tool is an engine hoist, chain and unbolt everything, the exhaust is probably the hardest if it's original manifolds.
So I think a 350 should be considered before a blower UNLESS the blower kit was cheap , then i'd pick it up for sure and play with it .

 

I guess I didn't word it right. I meant that if you already know how to tune a chip then it would be a simple bolt on. As far as an engine change that is fairly simple too. But I still think it would be better to use up the engine you have before replacing it. As far as supercharging goes it's kind of like why poeple want to keep thier 305 in the first place, they just want to be different. I myself like displacement.

Steve

 

You guys can argue all ya want about displacement and better ways to spend your money but if you do replace it with a 350 most likely you'll through a carb on it and then it won't be an LO3. I would love to do what this guy has done and I would keep the same engine I've got just because it has like 6K on it and doesn't seem to be giving up any time soon even with a 6K shift point. If a super charger is all it takes to knock off 12.xx 1/4 miles and run with LS1s then I'm all for it. It would cost way more to do a 350 swap if you don't have connections like most of us don't. Mods and rebuild for the engine, not to mention all the extra crap, and time it would take to swap and tune.

Plus LO3s are different and the looks I got from a couple people at the track when I had my Open Element off the car...seems like they never saw it before. You guys said it wouldn't be worth it to do it and now someone has with very good results and he's still running faster then most 350s, :hail:

 

A brand new GM shortblock with vortec heads is cheaper than that super charger alone. He did way more than throw it on. It is true that he may be faster than most 350's but then again if you put that same amount of money into a larger motor you would be much faster. It is unique none the less and he does suposedly produce solid ET's. Just like Jprevost said up top though, it is kind of embarrasing when you have a heads and cammed and blown motor that can only must high 12's. That would be a tough pill for me to swallow.

By the way: I didn't think i'd ever run into anyone else who lived in Hokesin DE

 

And what it takes to work can vary by owner.

Forgive the tangent, but I think it's applicable to some degree here.

Sat, a friend calls up asking if I'll throw my WB on his car, and a pal of his. First car a Turbo 2.3L ford. Second car was a 69 cad. Gutted, black/black/black, Holley, 500 CID, 9x30 slicks. Turbo was off of some farm tractor, and 6 PSI of boost. BTW, has run 12.02s at 113. And the turbo plumbing was somewhat wrong. No pressure referencing to the float bowls, no ref to the fuel pressure, no boost timing compensation, no throttle shaft sealing. Lots of room for improvement, kinda. Thing is he knows how to read spark plugs, and slowly one jet size at time, and 2d timing changes at a time, built a tune that WORKED very WELL. The plugs well, were as good as I've ever seen, and the WB while a lil lean wasn't at all bad.

So while someone says something can't work or there might be a better way, there's someone always willing to go the extra mile to get things right, and somewhat do the impossible.

If you want to turbo or S/C a L03, by all means do it. Just take your time, and do the best you can.

 

The reason I always hound on the "get a 350" is because most likely it will have better heads and a better cam, not just because it's got bigger cubes. That's just the added bonus. It's just that the 350 is by FAR the best bang for the buck!

 

Not that I don't like argueing about what to do with money or 305s vs 350s but I'd like to know if anyone has anything else on what he did or any theories on how he did it cause I'll have mine by next summer if he got it to work without too much of a hassle.

 

My truck with the stock shortblock and a head/cam/intake swap is as fast or faster than a stock truck with a Whipple. That was before I started tuning, converter swap, etc.

It had less than 45K on it when I started modding it, so I figured "why not get the most out of what I already have". Most don't have the original engine, or at least that have been completely rebuilt.

I get the pleasure of getting the most out of it N/A and learning to tune before I install the Vortech

 

Am I the only one who doesn't quite have full confidence in the reader's claim? I'm reserving judgement until I see more.