First SBC build, Recomendations?

[dostuntz]

Hey guys

I'm new to the board. I just purchased an 84 sb c10. It has (told by previous owner) a 93 sbc with lt1 rods, flat top pistons, 98 vortech heads, a decent cam (no idea on specs) but it lopes, edelbrock polished intake (I can't see any markings on it though), and an eldelbrock 1404 carb. The engine is backed up with a th400 and stock rear end.

My ultimate goal is to hit consistant 12.5's with the truck. I don't mind using a bottle to help me but I don't want a pure bottle baby on my hands. Any recomendations? What should I keep, what should I throw out?

[AceX]

Suspension is your friend.

Cal-tracs bars, new rear end gears, and some sticky tires will get you some seriously lower ET's.

A 12.5 is going to require alot of hp and traction.

[grinch4om]

weight is your enemy...

[swb85]

So are you planning on starting from scratch or just throwing parts at what you've got? Unless you start that truck on a diet, you're going to need 475+hp to get that sled into the mid 12's. A cam with duration in the 230's, headers/exhaust, bigger stall converter and rear gears along with a 100 shot should about get you there. If you're starting over, go 383 for sure. The suspension suggestions above will also be required to get you out of the hole and lower that 60' time.

[old Rusty C10]

I think you should just give the whole truck to me!! I havent got any ideas on this one but wanted to take the time to welcome you to the board and say its a nice looking truck and wed love to see more pics of it

[vern350]

I'd run it down the track once to see where abouts you are and then go from there.

[dostuntz]

Well, I am not completely starting from scratch. Also, I do have a 2800 stall in the tranny, It has long tubes and 3" true duals dumped after the dynomax mufflers. Right now I am probably going to stick with the short block that is in it. When you say weight please give me some ideas. Where can I afford to loose weight? What are some standard things I can do?

[dostuntz]

And yeah, the carb is a 1407 not a 1404. Sorry :P

[grinch4om]

bumper, hood, inner fenders, a/c stuff, emission stuff, core support lightening,if it don't help it go forward and it is after the firewall, loose it or make it lighter.
If you plan to drive it alot, cubic inches, motor strength and spray the crank out of it

[grinch4om]

speed costs...how fast can you afford? it takes 500 honest HP to make 3000 lbs go 10.90

[Cherub]

Originally Posted by grinch4om

speed costs...how fast can you afford? it takes 500 honest HP to make 3000 lbs go 10.90

I want to go just a little faster than the next guy

[grinch4om]

don't we all...

[swb85]

Ok we've established you want to keep the stock shortblock......now how much money do you want to throw at it?

[dostuntz]

I don't mind doing a part at a time... and I have a lot of time. I don't want to put a second mortgage on my house but I know it will not be cheap. I have axcess to some victor jr heads and air gap intake manifold, I am wondering how much they would help me with the set up I have. I really need to figure out what cam is in it. The guy said it was a roller cam but can you run a roller with vortech heads?

Weight wise, I want to keep the looks of the truck pretty stock (keeping bumpers etc.) I will be driving the truck on the street so I guess I am looking for around 500 hp to reliably get 12's consistantly. What does it take to get a real 500 hp?

[dostuntz]

some of you asked for some more pics so here goes. It looks decent, it is not a show truck yet though.

[swb85]

Good looking truck!

If you want to keep the 350 (no stroker) and have a powerband that's actually usable on the street as well as the strip, keep your vortecs and run a roller cam in the 220-230 duration range and an rpm air gap intake. That'll get you an honest 400+hp, then spray your way to 500hp.

[softballnrd27]

You are going to have to spin some rpms and use some sort of power booster. Dpending on your pistons, i would go with the alum heads with some more compression and put a nice shot of nitrous on it. If you plan to drive more strip that street go with a single plane intake and a better carb.

[Pyrotechnic]

As others have said, I would take the time to optimize the truck as it sits.

First thing you need to do is take the truck to the track and make some passes to establish a base line and find any quirks or issues that need to be worked out. From there, start making changes to the truck. Once you have the truck really dialed in, then start to consider engine modifications

Rear end gears (3.42 or 3.73 depending on tire size)
Wide and sticky rear tires (A 10.5 inch wide drag radial on a 10 inch rim will fit with room to spare)
Cal-Trac bars
High stall torque converter - Something in the 2500 range is good for a street/strip truck
Carburetion and ignition tuning - Is the carb tuning and ignition timing the best it can be ? If the carb was just bolted on...then you have work to do.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Sweet looking truck. Welcome to the best board around from MT. You can make it get where you want it too run just going to take some time and money man.

[dostuntz]

Well, thanks guys. I am taking the truck up to my perf shop tomorrow morning to get tuned on the dyno and to see what I am at currently. I'll let you know.