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Best Bang for My $1500 Bucks

67Satty

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Just in case you didn't see this on Moparts:

The Challenge: looking for the most bang for my buck for $1500 I will soon have to spend.

Car: 1967 Satellite, 440, 727, 9.5" Dynamic 4200 stall converter, deep trans pan, driveshaft safety loop, 3.91 clutch-type Suregrip, 9X28 Slicks on 15X7 cop rims, all steel, full interior, manual steering and brakes, no heater, Weld Draglites and 165/80-15s, 3600 pounds.

Motor: .040 over '71 440, stock stroke, steel crank, 9.75:1 static compression, close to zero deck, unported 452 iron heads, 238 at.050 Engle Hydraulic, Performer RPM, 850 DP, Hooker 1 and 7/8", 2.5" mandrel-bent with X pipe, FBO ignition kit, 3/8" line from tank to carb.

Suspension: original 318 with AC torsion bars, Monroematic shocks (longer ones for a Dodge Pickup on back), original 45 year-old 318 leaf springs, no subframe connectors.

Goal: at least high 12s in the quarter.

Things I'm considering: 90/10 shocks, subframe connectors, Calracs, Superstock Springs, pinion snubber, Stealth cylinder heads, 'glass hood with scoop, glass front bumper (front bumper is all tweaked anyway).

New build that I just got it running and sorted out driving around on the street for about 500 miles. Happy with the way it runs. Now I want to make it ready for some passes down the quarter-mile.

Ideas for me? I know $1500 isn't much but it's something. Thanks!

P.S. Brakes, master cylinder, front end, tires, and steering linkage are all new and it has been aligned so I think it is about as safe as a 45 year-old car with 45 year-old technology can get.
 
One thing, I noticed is don't do the Caltracs with the Super/Stock springs, do one or the other, don't combine them, Calvert/Caltracs doesn't recommend it.... The best bang for the buck, for making HP/TQ, have your cylinder heads & intake manifold gasket matched & a multi-angle racing type valve job, some quality matching properly set up & installed valve/spring heights, shims, valve springs, retainers, locks & seal, ported runners, mainly short side radius under the valves, don't mess with the floor of the ports except cleaning them up & blending to the gasket matching about 1" into the ports, remove all sharp edges, areas & casting flash in the bowls, chambers & ports... Maybe even some 1.6:1 ratio adjustable rockers, preferably rollers, but not necessary... Anything to help lighten the car, fiberglass bumpers hood & trunk lid, aluminum, titanium, replacing any steel or cast Iron parts, or lighten any rotating mass of any type {including the rear wheels}, srung or un-sprung, is a great idea... Better fuel system with quality filters before the pump & carb, a bypass style fuel regulator with a return line back to the tank, larger/better flowing electric fuel pump, installed with a relay in the system {relays on any electric pump or electric motor for that fact} & 3/8" or #6 min. line & pick-up, some carb mods, like 50cc pumps & larger squirters, better flowing adjustable metering blocks, like Quickfuel or Proform, spend a test day at the track & tune it like crazy, proper jetting, timing, tire pressures, shock setting, etc.... A trunk mounted battery kit box & wire/cables, will help traction & get some weight off the nose & clean up the engine compartments looks too boot... Your compression is kind of low/borderline for aluminum heads you may want to look at heads that have smaller combustion chambers or shave /mill what ever you use to get some better compression &/or use 0.020" shim style head gaskets to keep the compression up near as close to 11:1 as possible... A hotter ignition is also a good idea, Chrysler Electronic will work fine get a Chrome box & quality Low OHM resistance plug wires... If you do the fiberglass hood, seal it off to force feed the carb or it's just a parachute on top of the car... A Manual trans valve-body with band apply so it can be street driven & won't grenade the overrunning clutch/sprag... Some 90/10's on the front & some adjustable rebound & compression type rear shocks for the rear, Tubular adjustable upper A-arms & dynamic strut-rods, for more caster angle & poly bushing on the lowers... Remove un-needed weight form the car, while at the track, like the junk in the trunk & the rear seat... Most of the rest, it looks like you have some of the basics done already... Good luck happy Moparing/Racing
 
Check out what my 66 is doing with almost no aftermarket parts http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?t=25225

The ONLY mod I did to the suspension was install SS springs with a snubber.

Doing a straight up comparison with my 440 I have more compression, possibly better heads, less cam, less carb, larger headers, stock intake, less converter and more gear. With all your parts as is you may find that only adding more compression will put you in the low 12's.
 
i agree with Meep-Meep, a little more compression will get you where you want to be. A set of closed chamber 915 heads with upgrade to bigger valve- (2.14-1.81) should do it, and if you search you might find a decent set at the right price. Or you could just spend the money and buy edelbrock heads-(closed chamber) and be done with it. Either way you will need the super stock springs and pinion snubber to get it to hook.
Good Luck,
"Just my 2 cents, not minding my own bussiness"
 
how much wheel spin are you getting?white mark the tires and have someone film several take offs.
 
Should go high 12s as it sits. If it were me , i would run it once of twice and then decide what to buy. 12 second B bodies don't usually need much suspensionwise. I would suggest frame connectors on all old Mopars, whether they are raced or not. If you can cut and weld, you can make your own for $30. I would expect the stock 318 springs to wrap up . Add an extra leaf per side and experiment with clamps. This will cost very little , especially if you have some old springs already laying around. I like to make my own clamps out of 1/4 inch bar stock. Cheaper. Bowl port your 452s. Don't remember if you mentioned the fuel pump. A Holley red or blue would be fine. Not sure who makes the best mechanical pumps right now. At this point you should be able to run low to mid 12s or something is wrong. And you will have 1100-1200 dollars left. The Stealth heads would be nice but will eat up most of the budget. Get some fresh air to the carb. Either run some ducting to it, scoop the stock hood , or get a glass hood with scoop.
 
Stealth heads and Performer RPM intake. Ron
 
Already have the Performer RPM intake, so far I've spent about $600 on a pair of 9" Hooiser Quicktime Pro D.O.T. slicks and a pair of 3400 pound Superstock springs. I might buy some 90/10 shocks, take off the front sway bar, and set the pinion angle with some shims and call it good for now until I get some runs under my belt to see how it goes. Thanks for all the ideas!
 
A wise old professional engine builder once told me, there are 3 things to know about when building racing engine & do them in this order, #1 CYLINDER HEADS PORTING, #2 Cylinder heads Flow Rates & valve seal, #3 cylinder heads parts/component improvement/lightening, the heads are the most important single performance parts change you can do, to make better HP/TQ, think of them like the lungs of your engine, it needs to breath, or it won't run to it's potential... But also don't forget the chassis it's equally as important, especially lightening it up, were ever you can, it's all about "power to weight ratio" after all, lighter is better & easier....
 
Already have the Performer RPM intake, so far I've spent about $600 on a pair of 9" Hooiser Quicktime Pro D.O.T. slicks and a pair of 3400 pound Superstock springs. I might buy some 90/10 shocks, take off the front sway bar, and set the pinion angle with some shims and call it good for now until I get some runs under my belt to see how it goes. Thanks for all the ideas!

I agree with 383man the Stealth heads would be my number one modification at this point. The engine combination looks great accept for the stock heads. Make sure when you buy the heads to raise the compression by a point or so. I would not run any lower than 10.5:1 with an aluminum head motor. My pump gas 512 will be around 11:1 compression with Stealth heads. The suspension upgrades will be needed after the change, good luck.
 
Already have the Performer RPM intake, so far I've spent about $600 on a pair of 9" Hooiser Quicktime Pro D.O.T. slicks and a pair of 3400 pound Superstock springs. I might buy some 90/10 shocks, take off the front sway bar, and set the pinion angle with some shims and call it good for now until I get some runs under my belt to see how it goes. Thanks for all the ideas!

Unhooking the front swaybar will do wonders for straightline performance. The 90/10 shocks and subframe connectors will definately help once you free up the front end.
 
I would change the TQ to a lower stall.
Something around 3500.
Next I would the carb to a 750 Holley.
I know this go's against what most people are doing.
And sub-frame connectors.

Examples.
67 Dart.
446 727 .590 cam 4.10 gears
3500 stall
750 Holley
Runs 10.71 1/4 mile
Launching at 2000 rpm's

74 Duster
440 76 stock pistons .160 down in the hole
.528 Mopar cam
RPM intake
780 Holley carb
Schumacher headers
727 trans-3000 stall
3.91 gear on a 8 1/4 rear
Runs 12.20's
Now talking about changing heads.
I changed the stock heads to stage 6 heads
0427012005.jpg

This change alone changed the et to 11.70

0727001236b.jpg


IMGP1117.jpg


Times are off the juice.
You have a good combo.
For your $1500 you could get Stealth heads,750 carb,TQ and sub-frame connectors.
Low 12's
Marv
 
womanator,
How much juice are you running on that thing? I was just looking at the the plumbing for your system. What kind of fuel system are you running? You may want to get a regulator for the nitrous side of the house. You probably know this already but the nitrous system needs 5 psi of fuel pressure and the engine will need 7 psi. Regulating the pressure will help you tune the system for optimal performance. I had a freind that was having problems of the car falling on its nose when nitrous was activated. Problem was to much unregulated fuel pressure. Hope this helps because I surely do not want to see a detonation problem for you.
 
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