Which way do I go?

[bbaspense]

My situation:

I have a '77 Aspen SE with a 400/727 8 3/4 with 3.91 gears... weighs 3850 without me in it... runs 12.81 @ 106

I just aquired a '71 Valiant....4 door but who cares...NHRA says it weighs 2800lbs..

My question is......

I'm pretty much at the end of what this motor will do in the F-body and was thinking of swapping it to the A-body... 1000 lbs lighter...

Theory would let me believe that every 100 lbs is worth a 10th of a second then I could possibly drop a full second by putting my 400 in the A-body...

Possibly 11.80's in a 4-door...

If I don't swap the motor I will street the Valiant and add a turbo to the 198 /6 for street fun......

What to do....

I would just replace the BB in the Aspen with a stock 400. and street it with 3.23 gears..if I put the race motor in the Valiant...

Also.. the cost..of the A-body conversion

I would need another set of headers... I would guess fender exit, another 8 3/4 ( or heaven forbid a 9 inch Phord) , and some conversion mounts......

[charger_dan]

Were it me, I'd do the big-block swap to the Valiant, because you could do it fairly cheaply:

Since you're running a low-deck b-engine (383-400), you can use cheap Hedman B-body headers. If you haven't done so yet, check out www.bigblockdart.com to see examples of this being done. $90 for headers sure beats $450 for A-body big block headers!

Schumaker sells slick conversion kits for mounting the motor. Or, there's a cool page on the above website that outlines the mods (simple) for creating your own factory-style big-block A-body K-member. Slick. And cheap.

11.80s in a four-door. Don't forget weld-in frame connectors when you put in that cage.

Just think of the "sleeper" possibilities with a ride like this ... you could nail a ton of Acuras and Mitsu's with this puppy.

Best of luck!

[cuda66273]

Better get out the scales..My 66 Cuda supposedly came from the factory at 2980 I believe or something very close...the actual track weight with a roll bar was 3460. After we stripped the car of all unnecessary and some necessary items...and I mean stripped....we got the weight down to 3220 with the lard a$$ driver.

Things removed....all wiring, inner fenders, Fiberglass hood, all bumper brackets to very small aluminum flat bar, all interior, all rear sheet metal braces, headlights, windshield wipers, heater system, side glass to lexan, no window cranks, cut out 1/2 the metal from the inner doors and rear inner 1/4 panels, light weight windshield, no locks, no alternator and all seats...added frame connectors, legal roll bar and plastic seat...all this to shed 240 net pounds.