i want to build a motor for my 1984 camaro, i was either goin to go with a 355 or some people mentioned to me a 327. i dont know which one. i drive it to work and school everyday during the spring and summer and also go to the strip every now and then. I want to be somewhere in the low 13s to high 12s. How should i build it. Right now i have a 350, world s/r torquer heads, comp cams 274 extreme energy cam, 1.6 magnum rockers, 2200 stall, turbo 350 tranny, 3.08 gears, weiand stealth intake, holley 600 carb, headers, i want something different because i dont think these are matched up right. what do you guys think, keep this setup, just freshen the block, or do other stuff to it too.

 

I'd stick with the 350, you got a good intake, and exhaust already. That's a great cam too. I'd get a Holley 650 DP or 750 vacuum secondary carb. Prolly the secondary one for better mpg.
Some 3:42s would be great too, but you're lacking OD, so that may not be the best for ya, but if you wanna run fast you gotta sometimes sacrifice mpg when using carb.

 

350 easier to find and build

 

considering he already has a 350.

 

You have all good parts but they need finessing.
You have the basics to go 12's easy.
You need to get the motors cr to a true 10:1
(Flat tops and 64 cc heads)
You need to home/port those S/R heads. And port match the intake to the heads. These head were made to be ported.
You need to buy a 3600 stall converter. (10")
You need to buy some sticky rear tires like drag radials
or M/T et streets. 26" tall
You need to change the rear gear to 3.73 or 4.10 no less.
You should get a 750cfm carb. Althou the 600 can be tweeked to do the job on a budget.
You don't mention exhaust, but you'll need headers and
a 3" hi flow cat back system. 1/5/8" priimary tube shorties or long tube will do. Don't have to be expensive ones.
You'll need a high flow (volume) fuel system {Pump} with 3/8" fuel line. minimum.
You need a sound distributor and plug wires.
I recommend MSD stuff.

This is the stuff you need to do to bring your combination
together.
When done right you'll still have decent mileage to drive back and forth to school/work with. No worse than now.
You need to buy a book by David Vizard, called:
" How to build a Chev small block on a Budget"
Best $10 you'll ever spend on going fast.

 

i like the 350 just cuz it is so easy to work on, and parts are cheap and easy to get. but i also like being a little different, but that will cost more IMO.

 

OK, I know you know more than me, and I may sound dumb sayin but.. lol.... are you crazy. 3600 stall , 410 gears with a non OD tranny. That is going to kill his milage.

 

Not really. Think about it, he already has a gas guzzler cam.
With a stock converter and 3.08 gear the cam is never in its optimum operating range. His cruising rpm is too low.
Thats right too low. The hi stall may cost him a little but not much compared to the gain in et. ( half sec easy) The rear gear change 3.73/ 4.10 will get the motor up into its range at cruise and he may very well see a gain over all.
May not be as good as a real mild cam but that not what he is trying to do. He wants to go fast. Changeing the gear will
be a win win situation. Or at worse miniminal loss.
He'll need to tune a tweek the carb and ignition setup to optiminze it but it will work.
Most of the time you're driving in the city at less than 50mph.
Do the math. With 4.10's he'll have very reasonable revs.
A low numerical gear like 2.73 or 3.08 and or OD only works if the motor is tuned to low rpms too. like small cams and valves and stock like intakes. Other wise the motor is out of its best range.
No he will not end up with a gas mizer but it won't be a hog either. No worse than now. His driving habits will have more to do with it than anything else. I bet his true compression ratio is not even near 10:1 so getting that up to snuff is going to add efficiency especially under part throttle cruise.
He has good 12 sec parts but is not getting the performance he thought he should. This is what needs to be done to bring the combination together while getting the gas consumpstion level under control for reasonable $$$. Keeping the 600 cfm over the 750 carb and optimiizing it for his purpose will be a ++ in his favor too.
If gas mileage is such a concern then y beat a dead horse.
Get a second car (old Honda civic) and drive it back and forth to work. You'll be way head of the game. Then you'll have your cake and eat it too.

 

I got what you're sayin now F-bird, I wasn't even thinking that the cam was too much for the rest of his setup.

 

should i step down to the cam right below mine, i think its the 268 grind?

 

I have the 268 about 400 miles on it, wanna trade.

 

No not worth the bother and cost. This 268 cam will still need the
higher gear and converter and compression to be best.

Better to step up the motor and chassis to match the cam and your origional plan of 400hp. It's in the parts u have, you just need to tweek them.

All depends on what you want. You'll have to deside on your performance priorities and budget.

If you want to improve the low speed performance
of your motor for potential gas mileage improvements with say an OD trans. you would go a few steps lower like the XE256 or 262.
Or even down to the XE250 cam.
But you'll give up top end horsepower. The motor will be much tamer though.
All depends on what you really want, a 12 sec car or a
high 13 sec car that cruises at a lower rpm.
You can't have it all without changeing the whole combination
at $$big cost$$. Designing and building a motor/chassis combination is always a compromize usually trading $$$, mileage and power.

combine a milder cam with 214/224*@.050 .442/.465 112 specs with generous head porting, compression tweeking and say 3.73's and an 700r4 overdrive trans with a 2200 stall will get you mid to low 13's and some better mileage.

In any case some head flow work and compression ratio tweeking should be considered.

I think if you tweek and impove what you have with the
above changes {converter, gear, porting , compression etc} you'll get the 12 sec car you were looking for and have mileage the same or a little better than now. Certainly no worse.

And the fun factor will be improved signifigantly.

 

the driveability will still be the same too right, i could drive it to work and school everyday and cruise around town with it. i take an occasional cruise down the expressway and to the dragstrip which is like 45 min. away from my house.

 

No the "driveability" WILL NOT be the same. It will be DIFFERENT.
At *full throttle* the high stall and rear gear will allow the motor to bypass the weak low rpm and launch at near peak torque and accelerate through the best part of the rpm range (3500 6300 rpm).
With *sticky tires* it will nail you to the seat at full throttle. and jump off the start compared to now. You'll probabily gain a full sec et with just the converter and gear change.
By the same token the cruise rpm will be higher (sound more busy'er under hood) and the high stall will feel loose at light throttle acceleration. The loose low rpm coupling of a high stall
is what allows the motor to spool up at launch to near peak torque
(3500rpm) as compared to now (1500/2000 rpm stall.)
takes about a week or two to get used to the car. Once the car reaches its road speed the (dyno effect) not near so noticeable.
It's not bad drivability, just different. The car will idle much better in gear. Don't wimp out and decide to just get the converter and not change the gear thinking you get it all. You won't. The two work together. Many people make this mistake. In fact if your going to buy one first get the rear gear first. And don't be a woosie, get 3.73's or 4.10's for a 26"tall tire. this is the right gear for the cam. You'll love it. The car will no longer be boreing.

I have 4.10 and this 3600 stall converter. I drive all over the place and to the track an hr away.
How many runs I make at the track effects my mileage more than the converter change did.
Yank those heads off and get porting then. Don't be shy.
These are good quality heads but don't flow that well "out of the box". They can be milled down to get the compression up to 10:1.
these two things are why your motor is not making the power you wanted.

But with a good max porting job they will flow enough to make tons of power. When your done you'll have a head equal to most moderate size aluminum heads. Like 190 AFRs or TFS.
250/260+ intake flow is possible with max porting.
230/240 cfm will get you what your looking for. You CAN do that.
They are about 205cfm now.

 

wont i top out too quickly with a 3 speed and that high of a gear. Im gonna have a set of iroc rims on it, the meats on them will be 245/55/16. What do you think i will top out at?

 

I wouldn't think so if you have that 274, it makes power to at least 6000 right?

 

yeah, 1800-6000, what would i finish the quarter in and what do you think the top speed would be? put it this way, will i be able to beat those f-ing ls1 camaros. all my frineds have them and im tired of them beatin me

 

A 245/55/16 should be 26" tall. No you won;t top out too quick
(in the quarter mile) you'll be just right. You want to finish the quarter at peak hp rpm or just over that.
Your going to need sticky tires to get the job done. Like drag radials or soft compound tires. Like M/T ET streets or Sportsman Pro.'s

 

The top sppeed at the end of the quuarter mile will depend on how much horspower your engine produces.
106/110 mph depending on how much effort you put into improveing it. and stay off DDdyno2000.

If course you'll take it TO THE TRACK won't you.
Street racing Kills.

 

you didnt mention budget, so could you go to a t-56 or even a t-5? You can control your gas milage more because of the gear range, and you can also rev the engine to whatever "stall speed" you want. F-BIRD is tellin you right. Tweek it, because you have a nice set-up. Let us know how it goes.

 

i cant afford it right now, but i will in the summer