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Rebuilding car from street/strip to cruiser, need ideas or input.

mdurbahn

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I have a 67 R/T with 440 and 727. I built it 15 years ago for street strip and never drove it much because the strip wasn't that exciting and it only got 5-6 mpg on the street. So I am planning on rebuilding it for more of a cruiser and would like to keep as many of parts I can but get better mileage (I have read of people online getting 20 MPG's with 440 b-body?!?)

My current drive train has less then 500 miles on it and includes:
Holley 4160 750 cfm carb - vac secondaries
Eddy Performer RPM Intake
Mild Ported 452 Heads
Adj. Rockers
Cam - Hydraulic Flat Tappet, Advertised Duration 300/308, Lift .480/.495
Hooker Comp 1 5/8" Headers
3" TTI exhaust
2800-3200 stall converter
5.1 kickdown/shift kit
3.91 sure-grip

Items I am considering adding/changing to make it more of a driver and make this be able to take some longer road trips.
Briefly considered 6.1 hemi swap but would rather not
EFI Conversion or Six Pack Set up with vac secondaries
Gear Vendor OD
5 Speed MT Swap
Cam Swap?
Aluminum Heads?
Reinstall A/C - rebuild factory or use new kit?
Upgrade Sound/Heat Deadening beneath carpet and firewall

Any comments or suggestions??

Thanks, Matt
 
I would agree with a cam swap and maybe 3:23 rear gear and tighten up the converter.
 
Yep, all of the above. To do it again, I would look into gear vendors. Got 19+ mpg's highway recently with the TKO 5. Don't forget power windows for the front doors. Classic Auto Air in Tampa has what you need for ac going original or aftermarket.
 
That's a lot of duration for a street cam. Seems to me a smaller cam, converter and gear will do it. Everything else seems fine.

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure your budget but EFI seems overkill, though pretty cool. You'll have close to $3k into EFI including all of the fuel system mods needed. I bet a comp xe268hl or the next size up, 3.23's or 3.55's and a more mild converter would be do the job.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, think about an MSD digital 6 ignition. I'm running one and the thing runs great and fires right up with pumping the gas once even after a few months of sitting.
 
Do you have the spec on what your duration is at .050 lift? Advertised duration is pretty useless....
 
That's a lot of duration for a street cam. Seems to me a smaller cam, converter and gear will do it. Everything else seems fine.

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure your budget but EFI seems overkill, though pretty cool. You'll have close to $3k into EFI including all of the fuel system mods needed. I bet a comp xe268hl or the next size up, 3.23's or 3.55's and a more mild converter would be do the job.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, think about an MSD digital 6 ignition. I'm running one and the thing runs great and fires right up with pumping the gas once even after a few months of sitting.

Thanks, I currently have a complete FBO ignition kit that seems to work well, but it is pretty old now, so maybe MSD would be an upgrade?

By the way what is your engine compression?

I'm trying to find the receipt for the engine build, I think it was 10:1 or 9.5:1. Hard to remember exactly because I had it done in 1996!

Do you have the spec on what your duration is at .050 lift? Advertised duration is pretty useless....

DURATION @ .050 INTAKE: 204° EXHAUST: 214° This is an Edelbrock Performer RPM Cam.
 
For a cruiser you want a cam in the 114-112 LSA to keep good vacuum. Gears should be as tall as you can stand and a tight converter is required. EFI will help with drivability with the modern fuel. If you run a carb get a street calibrated one. The metering blocks on true street carbs typically have different calibration that provides better mixture control. 750 CFM on a mild 440 is good. Also optimize the advance curve and run vacuum advance on the ported port.
 
That's a lot of duration for a street cam. Seems to me a smaller cam, converter and gear will do it. Everything else seems fine.

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure your budget but EFI seems overkill, though pretty cool. You'll have close to $3k into EFI including all of the fuel system mods needed. I bet a comp xe268hl or the next size up, 3.23's or 3.55's and a more mild converter would be do the job.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, think about an MSD digital 6 ignition. I'm running one and the thing runs great and fires right up with pumping the gas once even after a few months of sitting.

Everything said above....X2 on the MSD!
 
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