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Place Your Bets! Junkyard Carb'd stock 5.3 in '73

7K views 27 replies 13 participants last post by  CRUISIN'73 
#1 ·
Taking my recently completed swap Nova to WIR for the TestNTune on Friday to see what she can do in stock 5.3 trim. This is all for fun and to establish a baseline for my future improvments. Here are the specs:

Engine:
-Junkyard '03 5.3 with 80K-COMPLETELY STOCK
-Good consistant compression in all holes
-Rebuilt Demon 750
-Edelbrock dual plane
-MSD 6010 (open to advice on pill or tune)
-Ebay SS 4th gen F-body headers
-Dual 3" pipes to welded Thrush mufflers dumped at axle
-Stock truck coils/wires
-New NGK TR55 plugs

Estimated HP: 340HP@crank, 285HP@wheels. Based upon the following:
Carcraft's junkyard 5.3, mech 750 Holley, GMPP single plane, and header build and pulled almost 340HP stock.

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0804_325_chevy_small_block_engine/viewall.html

Suck Squeeze Bang Blow's Youtube test of a crate 5.3 with several different induction setups. The winner was a mech 750, Edelbrock dual plane and headers for just under 350HP and 360lbft.



Chassis:
Mild performance rebuilt TH350
2400 Stall convertor
Stock open 2.90ish rear end :bored:
BFGoodrich 245R14 rears
Scaled the car at 3260lbs (53%F/48%R). So 3500lbs with my 260lbs *** in it!

I am open to suggestions, but keep it constructive. I know this is not the optimum setup for performance, but it is what I have for now.

I would especially appreciate any recommendations for MSD tuning!

My guess is 13.65. With the open 2.9 rear end being the killer! Let me know your thoughts. Time slips to come Saturday morning. Thanks for playin'!
 
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#2 ·
With the rear and crappy street tires, no better then 14.0.

Ran mine with BFG TA's, 3.73 posi, never better then a 13.90 spinning like h3ll no matter what. That with an unmodified ZZ4 Fastburn, rated 385 hp/385 tq
 
#5 ·
Car Craft had the 66 Chevelle at Irwindale last week with a 4.8L that had a small cam, Holley/Edelbrock intake, cast exhaust manifolds (aftermarket) a 200R4 trans and 4.11's. It ran a couple high 8 sec 1/8 mile passes, then when it cooled off, it squeaked out an 8.58...about a 13.50 in the 1/4.
 
#9 ·
You don't have the chassis to support that engine. 14.0's lighting them up half way down the track. Work on the suspension and tires and it's probably a 12.80 car.

Kev (Goes 12.60's with a 260 horse engine and a little shot of juice)
 
#11 ·
Wow guys! Thanks for all the feedback! If the weather holds out I should get 3 runs. If I have a buddy I will get video, but will for sure post time slips.

I'm excited and nervous that my lack of legal drag experience is going to be the limiting factor! I've been reading up and probably over-researching the topic. Any track tips, advice or etiquitte to improve my times and keep me from looking to much the newb?!:D
 
#13 ·
I'll guess 13.90 to 14.30. Not that your engine isn't making good power, but getting it to the ground is the issue with that rear end and street tires. I could never run better than 13.40's or 13.50's with my old engine setup due to running street tires. 60 ft was never lower than a 2.2. This was with a 383 with around 375 hp.

For the dragstrip:

1.) Bring a helmet
2.) Bring a pen (to fill out tech inspection card)
3.) Bring a cooler with some pop/snacks (or $$$ for refreshments there)
4.) Bring a tire gauge (maybe let out a little psi in the rear, pump up the fronts a little more)
5.) Run with 1/2 tank of gas or less, anymore is unnecessary weight
6.) If running street tires, drive around the burnout box. Don't drive through it, you'll just drip water down the track and piss off the guys running slicks.
7.) Bring some basic tools with you just in case you need to tighten something or adjust something.
8.) Have a buddy videotape your passes, its just fun to watch later haha!
9.) Don't run your A/C in the staging lanes if you have it, drips condensation onto the ground.
10.) Be sure you have a radiator overflow tank to catch any overflow (the tech inspector will look for this)
11.) Be sure to have dual throttle return springs on the car (tech inspector will look for this also)
12.) Ensure you have no major leaks from anywhere (obvious reasons there)
13.) Pre-stage, then let the guy next to you pre-stage, don't just roll up there through all the beams, just a courtesy
14.) Watch the lights, leave on the third (last) yellow light. By the time you react and put your foot to the floor, the green light will pop on and you'll get a good reaction time.
15.) On your first pass, take it easy and just make a pass, get a feel for the process, where the finish line is, where the turnoffs are, etc.
16.) Let the car cool off at least 15-20 minutes between runs depending on how hot it is outside.
17.) Talk to other drag racers there in the staging lanes and pits, tell them you are a newbie, they will help you out and give you some extra tips, most guys there are cool.
18.) HAVE FUN!

Let us know how it goes! Good luck!
 
#17 ·
Results!

First! Thanks for all the guesses, encouragement and tips! It was fun to bench race a bit with you all. And it seems we were all about right.



The first run i roasted the tire all the way into 2nd... With each run I learned more and got progressively faster. AS you can see I need to work on my reaction time! With a good R/T I would be able to shave up to a tenth.

By my third run I had my 60' down to 2.2 which is about as good as I could get on street tires and an open diff, right? Maybe a flat 2.0 is possible?

The fourth run was just for fun against a guy with a 396 Nova that wanted to do a flag race, so he gave me a 3 car lead. I still lost BUT I also figured out my 1-2 shift point at 6000RPM. With the 2.9ish rear end I can finish in 2nd at about 5500RPM and JUST UNDER 100MPH at 99.7MPH. I am pretty sure if I would have started at the line I would have broke 100! Even the stock cam was still pulling hard at the 6200RPM limit I programmed in the MSD. I'm going to kick that to 6500 and maybe sneak some LS6 springs past the fiance! :secret2:

All and all it was a great success I met a bunch of great guys that were more then happy to give me tips and pointers. Including one guy with a green S-10 with a built 6.0 and nitrous. My buddy, slim80, was in the stands and got vid of a bunch of different cars. He got my first run, skip to about 2:50 to see me roast some BRgoodrich and get spanked by a Lancer (I think...) He said he will be posting a vid of just my 4 runs soon. Thanks Slim80!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4BbxIEnbnc&feature=youtu.be
 
#19 ·
Bowtie is correct, R/T has no bearing on your ET. But its still a good idea to get that down.

Nice video! That other guy was sleeping at the tree or something huh? You got a major jump on that guy. Car looked good going down the track!

A 2.2 60 ft time on street tires with a 2.90 rear end is great. If you could get some good drag radials on there and swap out your rear for a new posi with 3.73 gears that would really shave some serious time off of your ET.

If you just keep practicing you'll widdle down your ET as well. Main thing is you went to the track, ran your car, learned some stuff, and had some fun! That's what its all about!
 
#20 ·
Thanks Bowtie and Cdahl for the input. I am still learning how all the timing stuff works, I thought your ET started when the last light goes! guess I have some more studying to do. My buddy (SLIM80 on LS1Tech) was in the stands and put this Youtube vid together of all my runs. The night race is the flag race against the 396 Nova. Damn did that thing sound NICE!

http://youtu.be/-1lYjfugOdE

Thanks to everyone for the input and guesses. It was educational and a lot of fun to share this with ya'!
 
#21 ·
tell ya what with minimal upgrades---posi, gears, tires, you'll shave a she-it ton off that e/t.....
Save the $jack$ for it and you'll be running 12's in no time.:yes:
Just a posi and gears would put you in the bottom 13's even on street tires am guessing.
 
#22 ·
Thanks Mike! Mid-low 14s was my realistic goal for my all-stock configuration 1/4 mile time. My experience at the track has helped me to set a goal of a high to mid 12 second build. I feel that I will be able to maintain good streetablity and not go broke getting there!

SOOOO I think worked 317 heads, valvetrain upgrade, semi-lumpy cam, 3.42 rear gears and posi and some M/T slicks are in my future.
 
#25 ·
What trans are you running? If you have overdrive I would go with a 3.73 or 4.10 provided your cruising RPM's are still low enough for what you want to do with the car.

Definitely tie the frame if you're going to run tires that hook decent. Even on street tires my engine was able to shift the fenders and stuff around. When I went to put the hood back on after a few months of driving with no hood, I couldn't get it to fit. Took it to the bodyshop and they had to move the fenders a little and reshim things. The car will ride better/firmer as well afterwards, less squeaks and rattles too, definitely worth it.

Sounds like a good plan!
 
#28 ·
I am running a TH350 with a slight performance rebuild. So top gear is only 1:1. Right now an 80MPH cruise is just over 3000RPM. If I moved up to a 3.42, that is closer to 3600. So anything higher is out of the question.

BTW, in the begining I stated an axle ratio of 2.9:1. Well Tarantula and I did a little figuring and it is actually a 3.08! So not QUITE as bad as I thought. Thanks for the Help Tarantula!

Basic 355 with a healthy cam, ported S/R torquers, etc etc etc. Car would launch pretty good with drag radials and no subframe connectors. After about 100 passes, my door started rubbing really bad, like it was sagging at some points and too tight in others. The alignment on my fenders, hood, and doors were all a little goofy. Required quite a bit of shim and metal work to get it straight again.

Moral of the story - $100 set of subframe connectors = good investment.

Kev
I have a Nova buddy in town with a 355 pushing pretty hard and he has seen wrinkles in the C-pillar even with subframe connectors! I think I may have to move up my timeline for connectors a little sooner! Thanks for the advice!
 
#26 ·
Basic 355 with a healthy cam, ported S/R torquers, etc etc etc. Car would launch pretty good with drag radials and no subframe connectors. After about 100 passes, my door started rubbing really bad, like it was sagging at some points and too tight in others. The alignment on my fenders, hood, and doors were all a little goofy. Required quite a bit of shim and metal work to get it straight again.

Moral of the story - $100 set of subframe connectors = good investment.

Kev
 
#27 ·
Yep, frame connectors are a must if you've got an engine with some decent power. Even if you dont hook that well it'll still shift things around on the car over time.
 
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