who has a heavy 4 speed car thats in the low 12 or 11s?

[73_RoadRunner]

i have a 73 road runner 440 4 speed and i would like to get it in the 11s or low 12s wanna see what you have done to your car i need to beat this cocky 77 pontaic trans am guy has a 400 stroked pump gas cams almost big 5something lift cam almost 600 850 holley dbble pumper msd billit distributor edlebrock heads ported msd box th 400 trans 355 gear or bigger not sure

He says 440s are over rated i need to build mine for cheap but good enough where i can spank him good i know my 440s better then his poncho motor

my car weigh 4060 lb with me have street dominator intake 4 speed 27 or 28 inch tall mickey thompson indy profile tires 4.10 gear shift at 5,500 rpm i ran a 1370 spinning need drag shocks cant find em for my year comp enginering doesnt have them for the 73 road runner only 72 and under i wanna beat him with all iorn motor no aluminum heads like hes got i have my time slips too if you wanna see em i wanna have a lot of horse power but dont wanna break my 8 3/4 rear and 4 speed trans not sure whats the most horse they will hold up to

[rumblefish360]

The 4spd will hold up to most anything you throw at it. If the internals are good without pitting, it'll hold.
The 8 3/4 will also do the same. They are strong.
In the MoPar Performance catologs, the old ones at least, they gave racer tips. These tips told you EXACTLY what parts they used to get the car into the time zone each set off tips is broken down into.
Ex; 14 second bracket. It has a list of engine parts with tranny, rear gears & tires to use and suspension parts used.

You can sub. parts for others like better cam, headers & intake or carb if you wanted to. So long as there equal or better to the suggested parts.
Then it goes to 13 sec. package. "Same as 14 sec. pack except the following; Then it will list parts used/changed, added,or upgraded.
Then it goes 13.5, 13, 12.5, 12, 11.5, 11, 10.90 Super Street", 10.5, 10, 9.90 "Super Gas", 8.90 "Super Comp".
Of course, you can only go as fast as your wallet says you can.

[360magcrate]

what size cam are you running? how much compression do you
have? are your heads stone stock? all of this info will be important in determining how much potential your combination
has. please provide specifics. your car is pretty heavy. my dad
has a '69 raodrunner with a 440 (auto. trans). it is about 350
pounds lighter than your car, it runs 11.60's. i would guess that
his combination makes around 500 or so horsepower. his 440 has been bored .060. uses TRW forged pistons(10 : 1),mopar
performance .508 cam, ported 906 heads with bigger intake and
exhaust valves. (i'm drawing a blank on the valve sizes right now,
i think the exhausts are 1.88"). it has a factory six barrel setup.
automatic transmission with factory roadrunner converter(could
use higher stall.) 4.10 gears. hope this gets you in the ball park.




some is good, more is better, and way too much is never enough!

[73_RoadRunner]

is that the big block speed secret book your talking about? if it is i have it i will read up on it

[73_RoadRunner]

not sure what all is done to the engine i got the car from my dads friend i think it might be .30 over still have to add lead in it so it is old if i wanna get in the mid to high 11s i probably need like a 850 cfm carb is my holley street dominator intake good enough to keep? i wann use mu iron heads just redo them is it gonna be hard to get this heavy car in the 11s?

[rumblefish360]

No. But it could be in the "Engines" book. It's in the S/B book. Reading up on this is the first step.
360magcrate gave what is known as the default 500 HP set up. I don't know if the extra weight will kill ya. But lighter is better.
I'd bet there 2.14 intake valves.

[360magcrate]

that intake with an 850 CFM carb sounds okay. if you don't know what kind of cam you have, change it. definitely get your heads
redone. use high quality stainless steel valves. get a qualified
machine shop to do a competition valve job and port the heads
concentrating on the bowl area. get them to open up the bowl
area to the valve seat-no further than that or flow will be hurt.
you may want to try a set of Super Stock springs from the Mopar
Performance catalog. they also have the longer "drag shocks"
to fit your car. this would help traction greatly, especially with
your 4 speed. put the car on a diet. every 100lbs. that you remove from the car equals .10 seconds E.T. improvement. put
another way, taking 100lbs. out of the car gives you the same results as adding 10 horsepower to the engine. relocate your
battery to the trunk for better weight transfer.



happy pontiac hunting!

[rumblefish360]

The problem with his rear springs is (I think) in '73 the changed over to the ISO clamps and buscits.
I could be wrong though.
Those shocks have a eye up top and stud down low.
Do you have an eye down low. (Bolt runs through a hole)
If so, there should be no prooblems.

[73_RoadRunner]

i will have to check on the rear shocks the front has the stud on the top and the bolt goes threw the hole on the bottom what compression ratio should i go for i dont really want turbo blue gas unless i have to to make sure i beat this guy i was kindof thinkin about the 500" stroker kit but i wann keep it cheap as posible cause im buying another mopar

[perfmachst]

hello, If you plan on sticking the tires to the ground, the 8 3/4 will not last very long. If you insist on using it, then install the richmond 4.86 pro gears with synthetic gear oil. otherwise, a dana 60 is needed. weight is what kills rear gears.
another thing is do not use a stiff clutch, use a mcleod clutch soft loc style, good luck

[70Barracuda]

How fast is the Pontiac? Did I miss that? 11s is pretty damm fast and no way to get there on the cheap. Especially in 4000lbs.
The cheapest way I can think of is a supercharger.
Build up the engine, the clutch goes, put in new clutch, the u joints go. Then the rear end goes.
ka-ching$$

Find a time sllip on that GM. go from there.

[rumblefish360]

the 8 3/4 will not last very long.

"73 'Cuda 4spd w 8 3/4 rear with 4.10 richmond gears. Not Pro gears. Pro gears are to soft to last in the street.
10+ years without showing mercy.

Yea, whats the Poncho indian running?
What do you want to run?
Did you look into your engines book?
Are you looking into cutting weight from your car?

Things like removing the front bumper. (Tell him your rechroming it.)
Everthing under the carpet and even the carpet itself.
Empty the trunk.

[MoparMarcIdaho]

Are you really spinning the hides that much?Weight transfer equals traction.DC pinion snubber easy addon,street tires like vht too.Put some in your washer fluid tankand rout hoses back to spray on the tires.Lets cheat.

[moparjeremy]

Sounds like some good info from everybody. Just remember speed costs money, How fast you wanna go?????????The biggest restriction in making power is the 440 heads. After .500" lift they fall flat. The 440 was know for big time torque clamed at 480ftlbs in factory form. Torque is what gets you moving off the line. Lighten the car, and get the tires to hook. Maybe use fiberglass hood, front and rear bumpers, aluminum wheels, heck maybe even fiberglass front fenders if you can find them. If you want power its all in the heads thats why the poncho guy ditched his iron. however mopar performance has stage Vl aluminum heads with 2.14" 1.81" valves that are a far cry from the old iron, or if your stuck on iron they have stage V iron which flow more air then any of the production stuff. By the time you pay for all the machine work and porting of the old heads you could have bought a brand new set of new ones. Good Luck tear poncho up!!

[Darren Blake]

Your buddy with the Poncho is really going to be disappointed if he looks at the last few years of PHR's Engine Master Challenge. Poncho's only seem finish ahead of the even more pathetic Olds motors. 440's spank the Poncho hard. If anything is underated its the Pontiac.