Would have gotten the same HP out of the qjet if you had adjusted it correctly.

 

I had a 76 and it didn't matter what carb I had on it...It was a dog with that low compression smog motor.
The only trick that worked was setting the idle to almost stalling and letting the converter get real loose, than gas it

 

HI Hugie82. What do you mean by "letting the converter get real loose"?

Thanks

 

left foot right foot. smogger vettes were crusiers not bruisers. power jack it is about all your gonna do. and hope for a 5 footer unless you start adding HP your never gonna do it specially with the 3 speed auto. or you can neutral drop it and pray to the car god's your 350 turbo tranny stays together so you can either look cool cruising around as the majority of the C3's were designed for or look funny sitting at the light with your tranny scattered in the road your choice

 

Thanks elke_10.

What I was told is the engine was rebuilt with more HP. And others have mentioned ways to improove performance on these cars.

Here is what I know was done to this can 11 years ago:


1. Timing chain cover
2. Timing tab
3. Edelbrock Performer 750 CFM Carb square bore 4 barrel air valve secondary electric choke #1411
4. Edelbrock performer RPM intake Manifold 7101
5. Edelbrock water pump
6. Harmonic balancer
7. Distributer
8. Carter fuel pump
9. Check line bore
10. Bore .030
11. hone to fit piston
12. install cam bearings
13. install freeze plugs
14. resize rods
15. free float rods
16. install piston rods
17. install ARP rod bolts
18. balance assembly
19. polish cranckshaft
20. bearings 0020 - .003
21. install heat tab
22. recondition heads, machine, set spring height
23. steel crankshaft 030/020
24. main bearings, rod bearings
25. 8 moly rings hypereutectic pistons
26. melling high performance cam 480 lift
27. 16 lifters high volume oil pump
28. pickup screen oil pump shaft
30. felpro gasket set
31. 16 valve springs hardened lock
32. double roller timing set
33. 16 rod bolts ARP wave loc
34. dist motor
35. motor mount
36. spark plugs
37. ingnition wire set
38. pipe plugs
39. torque converter

I'm not sure what else. I have to check a few things first like: Timing, vacuum leaks, tune carb (or change carbs), etc.

Once I give the car a tune - up I'm looking for ideas on imporovements I can make to increase power off the start (without a new engine). I've been told things like stall converter, change gears in rear end.

Anything else you can think of?

 

It would have been so easy to have bumped up the performance on that engine when it was rebuilt just by going with a little hotter cam and higher compression. When the cam and pistons were changed out that was THE golden opportunity to do it. But that is water under the bridge. In my opinion just tune it up and cruise with it. You could probably shift kit it and go with a higher stall converter to snap the tires a little more aggressively. But I am a very firm believer in balancing the entire performance profile. To me isolated component changes are generally not the best way to go. Remembering the old adage that an engine is in essence and "air pump", all the components are related and interdependent on each other. The compression, cam timing, heads, carb, intake, exhaust should be matched together at whatever performance level is the target. Then based on this you need to match the components with the power. By that I mean depending on potential power of the engine you need to select the components that are consistent with that energy, such as forgings vs. castings, bolts vs. studs, etc. Then, the mechanics of the trans and rear end need to be matched to that engine and the vehicle weight. Of course you can make some tweaks on an existing power train without starting from scratch but this is the area where a lot of bad choices are made and performance is degraded rather than enhanced.

 

You list says "Melling High Performance Cam .480" lift".... So this could very well be a "480" lift cam already in it. Usually those "480" lift cams are actually 280 dur (adv) with normally 230* @.050. Every cam company makes a version of this cam. So you may already have a decent cam in it.... BUT a 230*@.050 cam is gonna need atleast a 3000 stall speed converter. If not it is gonna be a total dog on the launch. That cam won't even start making power til 3500+ rpms...

Does it SOUND like it has a cam in it? How is the idle? Smooth? Lopey? Choppy?

Either way, you need a stall converter to get that power coming in earlier....even stock motors benefit from a correctly matched stall converter. You can have a dog of a motor and put a good converter behind it and wake the car up big time. Remember converters multiply torque....and allow the engine to get into it's powerband easier at the same time....they are a must have.

I would have a 10", 3000 rpm stall at a minimum slapped in that sucker by sat afternoon if it was me.

 

My little 327 will burn them down.

 

The idle is a little rough, the exhast is newer too. Sounds mean. It's a low sounding idle, the problem I have had is when it warms up it starts to stall. I played with the idle mixture screws and raised the idle a little.

Thanks for explaining a little about what you think the Cam might be. This was done at a real automotive shop and from the list they did alot to it. i would find it hard to believe they put on new 2.5 inch exhast, new Edelbrock performer RPM intake, new Edelbrock 750 CFM carb, etc... and didnt upgrade the Cam. I just don;t know anything about this and I'm trying to figure out what I have.

I'll look at a tune-up, stall converter (seen some people say don't go higher than a 2500 for street driving) and try to figure out exactly what gearing I have. That may have been changed over the years, I really don' t know. Guess I can jack up th rear, and count drive shaft revelutions.

Question: How hard is it to put in a stall converter? Do I have the pull the engine? Or can I do it from under the car? Would be nice if someone had some instructions.

 

Here is what I recommend you get:

http://www.coanracing.com/Catalog.as...uctDetail=1912

It just happens to be on sale right now also. Driving around town normally you will barely tell it's there...but when you put your foot in it, the converter will loosen up. Ofcourse it's not gonna "flash" (aka. Slip up to rpm) as high with a mild small block as it would with a torquey big block but it will definetly get you moving. I would get the 3000-3200. Your rear gear ratio really doesn't matter in this case. You can use this Coan with a 3.08 gear or 4.10, it will still work the same only it will be a tad looser with a 3.08.

I would do the converter and external transmission cooler before doing anything to the motor....(other then a tune up ofcourse).

Don't cheap out on a converter....those that hate stall converters are those with cheapies....lots of bad side effects...(just like nailing a hooker....)

Btw you pull the tranny out from the bottom, slap the converter in it and stab the tranny back in. You can do it in a day, maybe a weekend at most.

 

Also, take a video of the car running, get good audio of the exhaust and besides the engine so we can determine if it has a cam in it or it's just missing/dead cyls etc. Put the vid on YouTube and link it here so we can check it out.

 

Ok, that sounds great. I'll get that up on utube and send the link ASAP.

Thanks again for all the help. I need it.

 

Tires will make a HUGE difference.. I couldnt even bust the tires lose (without doing a brake/torque) with the BFG T/A Radial 275/60-15's.. And I'm dynoed at 460hp with a 3000 stall but I did have a 3.08 gear in it at the time (4.11 now)

However, after installing an even fatter BFG T/A Radial 295/50-16, it was much easier. The reason is because the narrower tires had larger threads so there was more rubber making contact with the pavement.

In all, just because you install a looser converter doesnt mean your gonna be able to bust your tires lose.. Get that thing tuned, run as much initial timming as you can without getting any spark knock, install a line lock and play around with different tire brands.. Thats the cheapest and easiest way to go. Keep in mind running a small diameter tire will also turn over easier and its much cheaper than installing a new rear gear. Having a tight rearend so it doesnt squat will also help. If your rear squats when you launch the car, its trasfering the weight to the rear, which makes it harder to bust the tires lose.

 

Here is a video. The sound cuts out after a few but maybe this is enough?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nUpXsob8zg

 

Your convert stalls @ 1800rpm if its stock, give or take 100rpm. If you can get the car to idle down to 600rpm the convert has very little resistance pushing against it. Almost like being in neutral. Then when you gas it the motor revs quick and the converter plays catch up. Its like a neutral drop but not as violent.
On a stock engine that is tuned well you can do it BUT watch your oil pressure!!! Some engines will loose to much oil pressure at low rpm and spin a bearing if it gets below 20psi

 

Great, thanks guys. I'm going to start by getting a tune up, check some basics, then go from there.

 

Dude that audio is horrible.... Get some from about 4-5' behind the tail pipes, keep the wind away from the camera. I honestly couldn't hear $hit in that video. Also let us know the idle speed of the engine that the video is capturing...