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Got killed by my buddy's '67 Chevy with a 454

TheDarkAngel

TheDarkAngel

New member
Well, it was mostly a race to see how badly I would lose. First race I lost by about 1 1/2 lengths, totally expected. The next race, I had done some things. Resonator delete, and flipped dogbones. This time I only lost by about a length or less. I felt proud.
 


It was a '67 Chevy single cab that he replaced the be on it with a '98 Chevy stepwise box. It's sharp, I'll post a picture.
 
Well since the 454 wasn't a thing in '67, god only knows what it is.

Unless it was out of a truck or in a truck, it should have walked you much harder.

Edit: In a truck, looking forward to pictures.
 


wow im tired, i saw chevy and thought chevelle asap lol

is this a full restored truck? if its geared right it should plaster you you into the seat. my brothers chevelle with a 462, 454 30 over would launch like a bat out of hell. ( this was fully build 600 hp engine b and m built tranny 3000 stall and full posi 411 12 bolt rear) i know for a fact my regal would be no where near him after say 60 feet lol id be sucking fumes big time.
 
Just having a '454' doesn't automatically make something fast, as the OP learned - that engine was made for a LONG time in a LOT of different configurations (from high compression badass muscle car mills to super low compression ****ty 70s smog era crap). Don't get me wrong, with that many cubes the potential is always there...but people automatically think 'fast' when they hear '454', and that's often not the case.
 
They weren't all monsters stock.
1978 & 1979 205hp @3600 - 335lb/tq @2800 8.00:1CR
1976 & 1977 245hp @3800 - 365lb/tq @2800 8.25:1CR
1975 215hp @4000 - 350lb/tq @2400 8.25:1CR
1974 230hp @4000 - 350lb/tq @2800 8.25:1CR
1973 240hp @4000 - 355lb/tq @2800 8.50:1CR
 


its those TQ numbers that pull the car, not the HP so much. and gears make a world of a difference, per application of course.

lord knows a cam, heads, intake and big old carb and some long tube headers really wake these big blocks up.

my brothers car used to break the wheels loose at 40 mph no problem. bang second gear and floor it and the back wheels just lit up. full manual valve bodys are so much fun lol
 
High relative torque is real nice - but only goes so far. You can get away with less aggressive gearing with a lot of torque, as high relative torque mean you've got a fat powerband to play with.

But...high torque and low hosepower doesn't win races. Aggressive gearing makes up for high horsepower/low torque, where you have a peaky power curve and need an aggressive gearset to get into your powerband. Adding aggressive gears to a vehicle powered with 215hp/350ftlbs motor isn't going to be beneficial - it's just going to make it run out of steam faster.

High torque/high horsepower is where it's really at (provided you can hook it).
 
its all in the cam. for the most part, then good expensive bottom end parts come into play. ( for the durability factor lol)
 
340HP at the axle 408HP at the flywheel 426torque at the axle and 511torque at the flywheel. 373 12 bolt rear end. 350 turbo transmission. Stock stall converter. 1974 big block came out of a pickup. 8 and 1/2 to one motor high rise intake, 2 inch spacer between the intake and carb. 750 Holley vaccum second Dairy. Headers, mild cam. Weights 3660. B&M racing shifter. No slicks ragular street tires. Ran 9.5 in a 1/8th mile track and ran 12.6 in a quarter mile track
 


If that's the case you shouldn't have even been close. But 9.5 1/8 doesn't equal a 12.6 1/4 maybe a 14.6
 
TheDarkAngel said:
340HP at the axle 408HP at the flywheel 426torque at the axle and 511torque at the flywheel. 373 12 bolt rear end. 350 turbo transmission. Stock stall converter. 1974 big block came out of a pickup. 8 and 1/2 to one motor high rise intake, 2 inch spacer between the intake and carb. 750 Holley vaccum second Dairy. Headers, mild cam. Weights 3660. B&M racing shifter. No slicks ragular street tires. Ran 9.5 in a 1/8th mile track and ran 12.6 in a quarter mile track
Click to expand...

I think your buddy is BSing you man. 9.5 in the 1/8 isn't near 12.6 in the 1/4 - to run that 1/8 and 1/4 time, he'd have to have a BIG power car that spins for a solid 2 seconds through the 1/8 then picks up HARD, which he just isn't doing with 340 WHP at 3600lbs raceweight. I've seen stuff like that happen, but it's with cars with twice the power that your buddy claims his truck makes.

And like...why dyno the motor and they re-dyno it on the chassis dyno? Turbo 350s do fit behind big block Chevs, but almost no one uses that combination (BBC/TH400 is the much more common setup).
Not trying to be a jerk, it just sounds like the kind of stuff you hear at every car show/cruise where every car is super fast etc

All of my suspicion seems to be confirmed by the fact that your Wbody only lost to his race truck by one car length.
 
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