took my vette to a dyo place near by, lets just say......worst day ever.
my car has a new 4 barrel carb, headers and exhaust.
puts out only 144whp and 180wtq.
i knew the 74 motors were bad but didn't know they were that bad.
their dyno was a Dynomite Dyno. My friend who also got his car dyno (98 camaro ss with slp exhaust, intake, maf sensor.) said there dyno was bull**** cause he was pushin out 298whp and 289wtq.
all i know.......i was sad for the rest of the day.

 

Why so blue? You've left out two key ingredients to make more power: Better heads and camshaft! What you have done is vital, but the cam is the "brains" when looking to increase the flow in your 'pump', which is all an engine is anyway. Ity-bitty valves that only open briefly, combined with relatively low compression, really prevents any big gains in output.

Hans

 

1000%!! look at the technology difference..14 years of making emissions engines run better with technology!! the ECM in the 98 cost more than what your vette cost new! plus the 98 I'm bettin has higher compression..throw a set of AFRs with 64cc chambers or even patriots a decent cam and you'll have 250-300 RWHP..

 

Could be worse - at least you didn't find out your wife was a man or something like that. Just kiddin.

You don't give up until you stop tryin. Keep tryin and you'll get that engine right where you want it. SB Chevy's are easy and relativley inexpensive to pep up to 300rwhp.

Agree w/cam & heads mods.

 

Take advantage of the situation. Install a cam and heads and challenge your friend to a race. You don't need to win but just come close and he'll never underestimate your puny 144 whp.

Dude, that is kind of puny horse power. I think my little sisters pinto was pushing more on a bad day.
Just kidding you. Couldn't help it. Good luck

 

I know how you feel.....

When I took my vert to a dyno for the very first time I too was dismayed.... my 327 with a Holley 600 and tri-Y headers managed a paltry 132 rwhp.

I felt better after a club day at the drag strip though.
I ran consistent low 14's and was beaten by only one other C3 and one modified C4.
That was about 10 years ago.

I drove the vette without any further mods for 8 years like that.... until the bug struck.... I have recently dug very deep into my pockets. and am now from ear to ear.

 

Just sounds like a real low-reading dyno. I have dynoed on a Dynomite before but it was calibrated differently and already read a bit higher than others, save for Dynojets. If a bolt-on Camaro SS only put down 298hp/289tq (which would probably be what... around 330rwhp/tq?)... then you might be around 170-180hp/210+ tq on another dyno. But really, dyno numbers only mean so much as they are really tools for measuring gains. For a real gauge on power, run it at the strip and check out the ET's.

 

Been there, fixed that Installed new heads, cam, manifold, rockers, the works. Now to get some miles on my engine and I can tell you if all the money spent was money well spent... Alas winter just kicked in here in Europe

 

thanks guys.......... =D
im actully bout to take a loan out maybe pick up a new turn key engine only can spend like 3800 on it rest gots to go in to stuff for the other car (92 corrado vr6) promised that car a set of cams and a chip.
I knew there was something weird bout there dyno but i heard dynojets over hype the power like by 10%.

 

Looks like that Dyno is pretty acurate. Right around 300 rwhp is what most Ls f-bodies dyno stock. I know the first time I put my 71 on the dyno with my zz4 it made 196 rwhp and 298 rwtq.

 

Well I dont know about this one..... I have a stock L48 1977 and i put out 170 hp and 233 trq....

Your numbers sound low to me... But what do I know....

 

I don't think 144 sounds that low. Take out for drivetrain losses and not being correctly tuned...

ptroxx, I wouldn't trust your numbers. Stock its 180hp, less 15-20% for drivetrain losses puts it between 144-153hp.

 

Don't feel so bad.
When i first got my 75 i had her dynoed and only got 132hp
although I’ve had experience with chevy motors before i decided not to touch the car before going to the dyno. After the dyno i started at her.
first thing i did was check the ignition:
-I found the mechanical advance was stuck and i fixed that also putting lighter springs in so i got full advance at 2500rpm.
-then i found that i wasn’t getting full throttle. Even though my foot was to the floor the throttle was only about 65% open
-the edelbrock air cleaner was sitting on the fuel squirt leaver (on the q-jet it's beside the air horn), had to dent the filter base and all was good.
-adjusted the secondary opening rate, that was so tight i doubt the secondaries even opened on the dyno.

Unfortunately i never dynoed after these mods but seat of pants feel was huge.

I'm also guessing you have the th400 automatic like i do, this auto sucks tones of power more then any other 3 or 4 speed assume approximately 25%
i remember reading about a guy who dynoed his LS1 and then put it into his camaro with a th400 and lost 23% on the chassis dyno. We have irs which will lose more then the solid axle of a camaro.

 

Are you certain that your accel linkage allows the carb to fully open when you put the pedal to the floor? See how far the carb plates open when you move the linkage with your hand (on the carb); then have someone press the accel pedal down as you check for the plate movement. You might just find that the linkage isn't allowing the carb to open up fully. (Ask me how I know.)

 

What motor is in your car?

 

Check Jeg's. You can get a GM Goodwrench engine with a warranty for less than $2400 complete. 290 HP, 332 ft.lbs torque. Check your Chevy dealer, you might buy one from them and save the shipping costs.

 

Sounds like your car is running as one would expect.

That, plus no convertibles, is why I built up my '69 when I got out of college in '77.

I use a G-tech and MEASURED weights to check RWHP:

The following are G-tech results:

Stock '69 350-300 gross 170 RWHP
Stock '63 327-300 gross 165 RWHP
Stock '93 350-300 net 195 RWHP
Stock '04 505-500 net 414 RWHP (Viper SRT-10)
Heavily Modded 355 320 RWHP (My '69 Corvette)
Near Stock 427 L-88 345 RWHP (Taranchala Manifold, Headers)
1991 ZR-1 350-375 net 313 RWHP
2002 270 net Trailblazer 180 RWHP

These were all run using the same technique.

The G-tech was calibrated for each run (read 1 G when held vertically).

I believe that most Dynos are set up to give people the big numbers they like to hear. I think the one your car ran on was calibrated to provide accurate numbers.

 

Chassis dyno is were the stops. You finally get to see what your killer machine makes. I haven't seen too many happy faces on first timers. Reality sets in and your hotrod ain't so hot. ( not talking about OP specifically )

You actually should have an idea and you should be able to estimate fairly close where you are at though, I am amazed at all the long faces. I was hoping for 300RWHP my first time with my warmed over L48 and came up with 286RWHP if I remember correctly, I was happy

 

I agree... my 475hp spec turnkey crate engine produced 311 rwhp on a Dyno Dynamics chassis dyno. I was expecting 350~380 rwhp with my manual gearbox.
I was disappointed with the number, but I'm NOT disappointed with the way it hauls ar$e! 300 real rear wheel horses is certainly exciting, and requires respect when pressing on the loud pedal!

By the way, have you run your 406 vette on a chassis dyno?
Just curious to know what you're actually getting to the ground.

cheers

 

The dyno does not lye, The truth hurts.
David