i am a subscriber to GMHTP but i somehow missed getting the issue were they drag tested the heads and cam swap on 'ol blue thunder. i am assuming they used world products SR torquer heads? are the times listed with slicks? BT has runners and i think a base also, custom chip, and a dynomax exhaust. it also had slicks, headers, and is a 5 speed car and it only went a 13.89? you can look at my sig, i have all that BT has except chip, intake runners and base, exhaust, and slicks, and go a 13.9. i dont know what BTs trap speed was but mine was 97mph. can anyone else comment on this? many of us here with 305s can do better than this wit less mods on street tires with automatic trannies, whats the deal?

 

Well I hate to tell you this but blue thunder blew it's motor on the dyno in this last mag. I guess with the 170K on the odometer she decided it was time. So with a dieing motor and with the retards putting the runners on wrong and having a major vacuum leak, I'am sure the times could have been a little better. Anyways they decided to junk the 305 for a L31 Vortec 350 short block and reuse the heads, on the dyno they got 257 HP and 337 foot-pounds of torque on a very very bad tune.

 

They couldnt get no numbers with the head & cam swap cause the engine went south before they could get any numbers out of it. It sucks that they just decided to get a 350, I mean I know is the wisest choice but I wanted to know about the heads & cam on the 305.

 

Did I miss an issue? Last one I got with BT was when they did the head and cam swap.

 

It's the January 05 issue.

 

yah i got the latest issue where the main bearing gets hammered. i'm actually not sure if a loose main bearing woudl really slow it down at teh track that much? it sounds like it ran fine untill they put it on the dyno.

anyway, i missed the issue where they installed the heads and cam, and i wanted to know for sure what heads and cam they used. were the heads stock or ported? did they get the 13.89 with slicks, or on street tires? did they talk much about the ed wright tuning the car required? those were the things i was wondering.

i was also pissed that thay put a 350 back in it. what a shame. they just caved in to peer pressure and now they have a cookie cutter 350 just like everyone else in the world. for just a tad more cash they coulda put a 383 short block in, and had a real motor, what a bunch of geeks.

 

All these stories are done with deadlines, rush rush, and they don't have time to fiddle with the car like we do with ours. How many times have you done major mods like a cam and head package that needed time to be sorted out? Every time. In a magazine, there is never any time to sort things out properly, you must bolt it togther and dyno it.

BT is (was) a very high mileage car. Boom doesn't really surprise anyone. They also have to keep other things in mind deciding on a 350,

As above, less hassle the better
Cars often go to a shop that is supposed to do something, and they just can't seem to get it done for months at a time
They need to keep their advertisers happy. GM performance parts is an advertiser.
Costs being about the same, would YOU put another 305 in the car, or a 350? Do you think GM performance parts would recommend a 305 or a 350? Get real.
Bang for the buck, the 350 is better than the 383 any day.

I think that should suitably rile you guys up

Troy
So Cal

 

Glad to see some people understand what we at the magazine go through as far as deadlines and such are concerned. Usually we just get hammered by close-minded internet heroes.

BT went 14.00 on the BFG KDWs and could have probably gone a 13.9-something on them if i kept at it. We were running out of time on our track rental, the Weld wheels were offered and i figured the weight savings alone should be good for a tenth and it was.

Those times were pre-head/cam install and we are still working on finishing up the computer tune. As far as the loose bearing, i don't think that would kill power either but the 7-10 degrees of timing the knock sensor was pulling out should certainly have an effect on things.

The heads are Torquer 305 castings and the cam is an off-the-shelf-LT1 grind that was offered to make the deadline. Its not optimal but so far is producing the numbers we expected with no tuning.

I would have liked to keep the 305 as well, but i needed to get the car up and running in a few short weeks and the local machine shops could not accomodate us within that time period.

We've got an extremely lean idle and very fat WOT issues right now that we plan to have addressed in our next installment, along with some HP numbers and maybe track times.

Steve Baur
Associate Editor
GMHTP

 

Nice talking to you Steve, I think deep inside we all understand. I know I would have done the same if it was my car. Is just that I personally was wainting for the results, you see I have an 88 305 tpi with allmost identicall modifications. I was waiting for BT's results on the heads & cam swap to make my desition. (I didnt get the response I wanted). So now I dont feel to confident on my engine.
Its all good. I still think BT is pretty cool & let me tell you something, BT was the reason I suscribed to the magazine. So pleace keep the storys coming.

 

Yup good luck with the car. Blue Thunder is my favorite article to read about. Keep up the good work.

 

TurboSteve, thanks for your reply. you answered the questions that i started this post to answer. i did not have all the facts and now have been properly informed. i am assuming your 305 would have been good for a mid 13 under ideal conditions, which is what i am shooting for as well. and while i am still bummed that you guys but a 350 in, i can see what you are sayin about the deadlines, and i am interested to see how much the big bad 350 will out perform the 305 once the chip is tuned. i am curious to see how much faster the 350 really is. at any rate, i dont want you or anyone else at GMHTP to be disrespeted by my comment above about "what a bunch of geeks" i envy your job and respect your talent. i dont hate 350s, i am just a fan of 305s becasue most people think they are junk, and building a 305 is unique. I was sad to see yet another car owner cave in to installing a 350 when i think there are better options out there (better options do not mean 305s either). overall though i understand why you installed a 350 and we will see how good it runs. thanks for your reply.

 

I am in the process of building a 305 similar to the one Steve was. I'm starting with a vortec 305 short block with a lpe 211 cam ported sr305 heads, big mouth base, tpis runners, 22lb injectors, edelbrock headers, dynomax cat back, ported plenum, afpr, built 700r4, 3000 stall. I'm hoping to have it in before the tracks close around here. i will post times when i get them

 

Steve! Drop a SuperRam on the 350 and let's see some numbers!!