I'm new to this forum. Last July, I finally bought my Dad's 1973 Stingray, 4sp manual w/air, base 350. He was the original owner and kept it in excellent condition. The car has less than 51,000 miles on it. Block is original 2-bolt main.

So far, I've done the following:

Crane Gold Race Rocker Arms - (plus new pushrods, ARP headbolts and carb studs)
Holley 4150 650cfm Carb, doubled the size of the accel pump
HEI Distributor, chrome drop air cleaner
Summit Alum. Cylinder Heads-64cc chamber, 200cc intake runner. I had these machined to increase the compression ratio to approx 10.5 to 11:1.
Edelbrock Performer Intake Manifold - had to do machining mods here so it would fit the different angle on the machined heads
Hooker SuperComp Headers (ceramic coated & wrapped)- 1 3/4", plus full 2.5" mandrel bent 304 stainless exhaust, borla mufflers

Maintenance/Restore Items: New Brakes, replaced brake lines, new Centerforce clutch, new shocks, rear shock mounts, replaced some vacuum lines/actuator/check valve, new driveshaft & u-joint, yoke, front coils, replaced trans and diff fluid, Stub Axles, strut rod camber bushings,

I'm still thinking about doing more and would like some advice about:

1.) Better Intake with Hi-rise hood - I'd still have to machine the intake to match the heads. Not sure if I'd need a larger carb too
2.) cam & lifters - Not sure which to get for the biggest performance gain
3.) 5 or 6sp transmission or maybe modifying original muncie 4sp?
4.) Tires - I was thinking about 255/60/15 all around?
5.) Finish off rear suspension - half shafts and trailing arms
6.) Anything I'm missing or would give more bang for the buck (either safety or performance)?

 

if i were spending your money, i'd get the 5 speed next; change rear gear ratio if needed . . .

 

IMHO, you need to slow down and look at what you have done, some doesn't seem to make a lot of sense right now. You said "base" motor.
Is this a L-48, original low compression motor or a L-82 motor with the stock cam in it right now?

If this is the stock L-48 cam, you have way too much compression for that cam. L-82, different story.

It sounds like you want a high RPM motor and you may be building it on a L-48 platform, not the best idea IMHO.

You have the nice air induction hood on the '73, I'd stick with it and use the Performer intake.

If you go with the 5 speed, you'll more than likely want a 3.08 rear end, is this a 3.36:1 now?

 

It is an original L-48 motor but I just realized I forgot to mention that I added a new COMP Cam (hydraulic flat tappet, lift .454/.454, duration 268/268. Does that make more sense?

Honestly, I'm not sure I want a high RPM motor. I just want to add more power to the original engine. And, I may not be adding the right pieces or doing it in the right order which is why I started the post.

Thanks for the reply.

 

You have 10.5-11:1 going on, maybe?? TYPICALLY, high compression means big cams which means high RPMs to build power. The 268 is a bit on the small side for what you have going on, just my 2 pesos.

You might be best off building a 383 for tons of torque and keeping the original motor for the cars value.

 

As you can tell I know just enough to be dangerous here. I'm not doing most of these mods myself. So, the 10.5-11:1 is probably a bit of a stretch.. it may be more like 10:1. That was a guess/goal the mechanic gave me.

When you say build off a 383, does that mean new crank, rods, pistons but keep the matching block? And while we're down there, get a more agressive cam?