Oh, guess what? I
have done back-to-back testing of tailgate up/down!! The track I race at normally - Firebird - won't let me run with it down, but the one waaaaay across town - Speedworld - will. So, I ran one run up, two down, and one up again.
And I saw ZERO difference. I was surprised too. I think my fastest one was actually with it up, but the spread was no different than my average night at the track. I bet removed would be good for a little, but for the weight, not the aero.
Talking with some others, I might be able to do it with the 700R4. One of my buddies with an Impala SS has run the opposite scenario through Desktop Dragstrip - he keeps blowing up his 4L60E's (he's got a nicely built LT1) and wanted to see how much he'd lose if he went to a TH400...between the weight, losses, and gearing changes, it came out to nearly two tenths he'd lose in the swap. Which would be nearly two tenths I stand to gain. =)
So, the Edelbrock will be just to ensure I run 15s, and not just 15.99's.
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Project 1970 - soon to be seen at
http://milhouse.treylis.org:81/