ok here's the deal me and a buddy are going to build a budget racer out of an 86 Cutless.we got the car for free
what i'm looking for is some ideas as to what works best with what we already have.
what we have:
86 Cutlass,400 block 30over,650 Holly,Comp cams 600ish lift solid cam.
so i need some recomendations for heads,crank shaft,rods,pistons,transmission,stall speed,gears,tire size,intake,fuel pump...........................?

also i need info on the rules and regs on drag racing.when do i need a helmet,when do i need a cage,when do i need to have a drive shaft loop.......that sort of thing.web address's?

all comments are welcome

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What class / bracket/ whatever? How fast do you want it to go? Budget?

www.nhra.com for their rules, check the other sanctioning bodies as applicable.

 

send nhra 12 dollars for a rule book ,well worth it to have, and unless you have a puter in your garage it's good to have a hard copy. you never said what sort of budget you're working with, even john force has a racing budget ,his is just a lot bigger than most of us can aford.

 

well the budget is to go as fast as we can afford to go and that ain't much.
the goal is low 13'2 high 12's

my main concern is i don't want to just throw parts together and hope for the best.

will a 650 Holley be enough to feed a 406?
should i go with a duel plane or a single plane intake?
what would be a good stall for this solid cam that we have?
could i get a way with a set of stock 350 heads with bigger valves or could a set of vortecs get me there?

 

RB83L69 where at in Loveland?my freind that is building this with me lives there off of Loveland Madearia(sp?)that's where we'll be work on the Cutlass.

 

I'm a little southeast of Ward's Corner, off of Branch Hill-Guinea, on Carpenter. I guess you can tell just by the road names that I'm out in the woods, literally.

Stock 400 heads are worthless. Vortecs would be far better. But, they're a long way from being usable with that cam, as they come; they'll need the pull-out studs replaced, spring pockets cut to 1.55", valve guides cut down to clear the retainer and'or longer valves installed, etc etc etc. Might make more sense to go aftermarket.

I'd use a Edelbrock Performer RPM for the Vortecs.

A 650 is definitely too small; 750 would be the minimum, and it would probably still go faster with more.

The cam's .050" duration would be a useful thing to know. Sounds like it might be alot more than you need. But you have to know that to predict what a good stall speed would be.

You'll need to upgrade the 7½" rear end unless you lighten the car a whole lot, and even then, it probably won't last real long.

 

Get rid of the camshaft. Its too expensive to build around
on a budget.

Head air flow = horsepower. This is where to dump the money and effort you get for that roller cam. Port up a set of stock heads and you'll have money left over for other things.
Buy a solid cam and kit
Build the motor for 10:1 cr so you can race on pump gas.
On a 400sb with flat tops that means 76+ cc heads.
You can build the motor useing the short 400 rods or 5.7" 350 rods but get some ARP rod bolts. You'll have to check and grind the rods bolt head for cam clearance. Have the block 0decked for the pistons you buy or have and get the bottom end balanced.
The stock cast crank is fine if in good condition.
Find a set of 920, 441, 487 or 336 or 993 70's era
open chamber heads and port the snot out of em.
David Vizards book on preparing chev cylinder heads is the best $10 you'll spend on your heads.
Avoid 882's and 624's.
If ya don't know how, find out or get some one to help ya port the heads. It's easy but a bit o' work.
Install new budget 2.02 x 1.60 valves With a 3 angle valve job.
install new crane 99846 valve springs and pin the rocker studs.
shorten the guide bosses to allow for high lift cam .575"
You can buy the right bracket racer solid cam and lifters
for $99 us from Competition Products.
# e1090p specs are 256/264@.050" 105* .537"/.557"

Use some Crane Blazer roller rockers 1.5:1 ratio.
Buy a Victor Jr. or holley strip dominator or a Professional products single plane race intake ( new or used ) and port match it to the heads.
Use cheap heddman 1-5/8"long tube street headers.
Use a rebuilt turbo 350 trans with a 10" 3600 stall converter
like B&M's holeshot 3600 get 4.10 gear for the stock 7.5" rear end. Get some Mickey Thompson 10.5x26.5 8.5 " wide)et street tires. Get an a poly urethane trans mount. Get a drive shaft loop.
Get an electric fuel pump and use 3/8" fuel line from tank to carb. Your 650 cfm carb will do. Use it, you have it.
Buy a hi perf Hei distributor and coil with some quality plug wires.
This motor does not need to be reved higher than 6500 rpm.
EVER.....

This combo will make way over 400 hp.
This combo will run solid 12 sec quarter miles times
and be dependable if you keep the rpms down. 6000/6500 rpms tops. This is NOT a high rpm motor.
There are many ways to skin a cat but this is a good cheap one that gets the job done for less. $$$$ And you can race all day on 93/94 octane gas. A good ride for the money.
Gooooo Budget Car!!!!!!!
If it doesn't make ya go or stop or steer or you're not sitting on it.
Consider takeing it out of the car. Ever 100lbs removed is .1 sec.
off the et.

 

That pretty well sums it all up. I can't add much to that. My old 383 was almost to those specs and it ran into the high 11's with a 3200 pound car.

The 650 carb is good for a street engine but not a race engine like that. My 383 race engine that I blew up a few years ago used an 850 DP.

 

my buddies motor is:

350
dart 180 iron un-ported heads
solid flat tappet
10:1
performer rpm intake
holley double pumper

gos 11.60s on motor in a 3400lb thirdgen
10.70 on a 150 shot

the cutlass will be heavier

 

change of plans were going to go with a 383.we have more parts for the 383 so it'll be cheaper for us to go that route for now.
what kind of RPM range will we be dealing with with the 383?
would a Holley red pump be enough to feed a 383?
would a 600cfm carb be enough?

 

The 600 or 650 Holley has to go! It won't even feed a race preped 283. You'd be better off with a 800 quadrajet. Many 70s Pontiacs came with um including the famous 301. You may not be able to use that cam in either of those engines, unless you use the 400 rods. A 5.7 or 6.0 rod 383 or 400 has issues with the rods hitting the cam on 1,2 5,6 when running a stock type cam.