horsepower vs. Cubic inch vs. top speed vs. accel vs. gear ratio...

[Jmac05]

Let's say I want to build a daily driver that will never pull anything. What I am after is being able to make the punk kid at the light in a ricer burner cry when the light turn green. I also am not too concerned with MPG. What kind of set up as far as engine/transmission should I look into. I also want a Stick shift, not automatic... Automajics are for lazy people.
Basically if I wanted a race truck that I wasn't going to take the the track.

[Reumster]

Ok first I'd try to find a 6 speed tranny out of a Camaro or Vette, that'll give you the high speed ability to cruise down the freeway. Then I'd use a 3:73 posi. Get some wider tires out back like 9" or 10", also put some meat out front for good cornering. Next depending on the money wanted to spend, I'd go with a Crate 350 thats full roller, and reds at around 6,500. Pushing around 400hp, thats the cheap method.

But if you want to go all out put this in there,



Thats a Schubeck 904 CC aluminum block, 4 valve per cyl, DOHC 1200HP engine on pump gas no turbo,no supercharger, no nothing just power

But remember without traction all that power will be wasted, with RWD street tires you won't be able to hook up at the line, and tubing and drag slicks are cheating, and don't count because it's not street legal. So AWD conversion is where its at with this motor, thats if you want a near unbeatable street fighter.

be careful about underestimating ricers, for the most part with a nice step-up you'll be able to beat them, but there's a few out there in every town that are nasty, you must remember we're fighting alot of weight, and there not, some of the new AWD ricers that are coming out are pushing 280hp from the factory, and are not to be messed with. There the ones that'll leave you talking to yourself.

[Project1970]

With a T-56 and the intent to slaughter ricers...I wouldn't run anything taller than a 4.11 rear end, but that's just me. 6th is still roughly a 2.06 gear then. Gonna need a nice new clutch to go with it...replace most of the body panels with fiberglass...run aluminum components whenever you can...definitely start with a coilspring truck...try and cut weight however you can. If you've really got money/time to burn, box the frame...it'll add some weight back but it's worth it.

If money really was no issue, I'd put a 427-cube sleeveless-block LS6-based engine under the hood...the stock 348-cube LS6 is good for 405hp right there! Yet it'd be smaller and lighter than a regular smallblock...

You'd be looking at 450-500hp, with a lot less weight than stock, and a lot better handling.

[72futuresweet2wd]

I am with JMac05 on those little wind up looking cars I would like to have a blazer AWD with ???? HP that would smoke there ass. Has anyone made one of our trucks into AWD? If this has been done what did it take? I would really consider dumping a some what reasonable amount of cash into my blazer project to make it AWD.

[70 Jimmy]

I'm no racer, but I don't remember any champion drag racers with AWD. The coolness factor is there, but AWD is about road racing not stop light to stop light. How many Porsches do you see running NHRA?

[mikep]

I'd avoid all the gimmicky crap like 6 speed trannies and the like. They just cost a lot of money that could be applied to the engine and arent even necessary for engines with broad torque curves. The more cubic inches the better . If you dont care about the mileage you can put together a decent 454 that will do everything you want for a lot less than some of the hi tech smaller cubic inch setups. 550 HP is certainly doable on pump gas with a 454. Mate it up to a close ratio 4 speed and a set of relatively high gears such as 3.30 or so . Avoid gimmicks and you'll have a nice reliable ride that will certainly smoke any import. How hard can that be anyway?

[slam33]

First off your talking about a staight line run, not a road race, right. You'll never beat them in a road race. You'll need lots of torque to get it off the line, that means a BB. A SBC might wind up quicker but you'll get a better lanch with cubes. As for the trans, no one can shift a manual trans faster than an auto. Why do you think the Powerglide is so popular at the track. Autos are not for the lazy, there for the guy that wants to get to the line first. I would also look at a 4:11 posi or locker and adjust your tire spin with tire size.

[Reumster]

I'll have to agree with Slam33 here, Auto tranny for a street truck is the way to go, no missed shifts, and a built 700R4 is the tranny of choice for a everyday driver. Good slap shifter and your set.

72futuresweet2wd yes AWD has, and is being done with a 67
Short stepside right as we speak. I don't want to give it away cause it's not my place.


70 Jimmy your right you don't see to many AWDs in NHRA pros, but look at the street legal classes, with street tires, and they rule the class. Awd is where it's at for a street legal anything, with street legal tires, it a shear matter of tire contact patch, and weight transfer, 4 tires pulling you forward instead of 2, simple concept. So yes stop light to stop light AWD is where it's at know doubt. If you've ever seen a modified Syclone leave a Viper (not stock)look silly at a stop light like I have then you'd be a believer too. Or ever seen the 0-60 times of the Summit Quadra duece at 3.2 seconds. The proof is in the pudding. Awd is the future of street weapons you can bet on that.

[speeddemon]

I agree, go with the auto. If you want to shift gears put a manual shift valve body in the trans. and bang away.

[yellowgmc]

one word: nitrous. squeeze the widest tires you can on the back in something in a sportscar tire. High speed rating. go built small block for weight saving and a nitrous fogger system. this isn't really cheating since they run them as well. fiberglass panels, strip the interior and anything that doesn't make it go faster. go out and kick @ss.

[GMC71k20]

just put some stickers on your car and write a low e.t. on your windshield, then youll be really fast. dont forget to put some subs in there and a double decker spoiler. if you have a 4 cyl, put on a v6 emblem. the possibilities are endless. biggest rims that can fit, even if you have to sacrifice decent camber. the bigger the better...ok, dont worry im only kidding

[jmil1974]

If you HAVE to have a stick, a T56 from a 94-97 camaro/firebird is the way to go. Those boxes are rated at 450 lb-ft of torque and they are sweet. You'd want a 4.11 rear gear to match best. You can kick ass with this but it takes PRACTICE and a good shifter (Ripper or PRo 5.0), as well as a STAR Spec clutch. check out www.camaroz28.com for more details.

Light is right, eliminate as much weight as you can live with. All the suggestions above are right on.

AWD and 4WD kick ass for stoplight runs but it may take plenty o'time to get that **** dialed in, esp. on our trucks and this takes out the 6 speed option -- 4 speed or auto only.

Big blocks rule BUT they will lose you a tenth or two due to weight, make sure the power more than makes up for this. I'm a fan of BOP big blocks, big block power with small block weight if you go alum. heads, WP, etc. You may also want to consider a STROKED small block, like a Bill Mitchell 415 or 427, warranty with this baby too. How much of an object is money? A great option would be the Caddy 500 hopped up with a 4L80e, best of all worlds. You can always add nitrous and spray 2nd gear on as 1st gear with any of these combos except AWD/4WD will be a huge smoky-the-tires-fest.

Make sure you upgrade your brakes when you do all of this, and suspension and rear if you can. 12 bolt and coils would allow you to wait a little on those, but definitely do brakes, at least front discs with praise dyno pads in front and shoes in back. Last thing you want is to whoop a ricer and then plow through another light and into a (cop) car because your 30 year old brakes couldn't stop your 500hp, 4000 lb sled in time. Your victory would be pointless then, no?

[HvyChevy454]

1st off start w/ a decent power plant. to move the weight of these heavy ass trucks id definatly say go big block. Id say the new GM 572/620hp, runs on 93, or you could opt for the 12.1:1 GM 572/750hp but that needs race gas.specs for the motors
2nd gotta lose some weight, a 67-68 swb is the most ideal truck to start with, give Us body a call and get yourself an entire fiberglass frotn clip, glass wheel tubs and glass roll pan. you could even redo the cab floor in glass. Power steering is nice but not neccasary, lose it. since your from cali, lose the heater/ac it doesnt get that cold. relocate the battery to bed of the truck. replace the rear and 1piece side windows w/ plexiglass glass, lose the weight of the vent mechanism. id say keep the interior nice as possible w/o being overly extravagant weight wise, maybe put in a pair of lighter buckets. Gas tank has to go, relocate it somewhere behind the rear axle.
Tranny, go w/ an automatic, a built TH400 is builtproof, run a higher stall converter, plus its more conveint to drive, behind that put one of them overdrive systems they had on Trucks!. I think a buit 12 bolt could handle the motor and torque but i imagine not as well as a built 9''. Box and narrow the rear part of the frame add extra crossmembers diagonally throughout the frame to stiffen it torsionally. chop out the stock front suspension and replace it w/ a camoro or firebird front clip, they are much lighter. even though the 3 link ladder bar susenpsion is a good start for our trucks, 4 link is better. definatly make sure yo have frotn disc and rear disc wouldnt hurt either, w/ all this speed u gotta be able to stop. finally tub it and stuff the widest tires possible under it b/c no matter what its still gonna break loose. its a truck.
even w/ all of this those ricers are still goin to have an advantage over you. if you've noticed pulling up to a stop light you have to stop at a white painted line, well that line is very slick compared to the asphalt and cement, mean you cannot really e on the gas til after you rear tires have cleared the line whereas the front wheel driver ricers only have to get the fronts across before the can go full power.
the way i try to over come this is by power the motor up to luanch off the line, a quick snap and that should be suffieceint movement to clear the rear tires and go full power.

[Jmac05]

I saw an ad for a kit car that had an all fiberglass body. They were putting in a chevy 350. They said don't let the horsepower (or lack of) fool you. the light body made the "zip." I don't know how fast zip is, but I assume it was well over 100.
It was a lamborghini Countach...
hmmmmm lamborghini......

[bigjimzlll]

to beat a ricer..thoroughly..a mid 13 second pass should do it...this can be done with a mild 355 with 9.5 c/r and a small cam.. decent heads(vortecs or dart IE) and a 100 shot of N20..with 3:73 gears(posi) and a 2500 stall and a th350 or m21 or T-10...now with a manual tranny you will break more things(because you cant load up the rear) this combo will produce more than 400 HP and 450ftlbs of torque on the squeeze..and will be alot of fun to drive off the juice
Jim

[crazy longhorn]

Yea, you dont need a big block to "kill' a ricer......altho, when you nail the loud peddle with that 572, it will probably kill the ricer 6 times as the truck is doin doughnuts! Sounds like fun to me....

[Jesse 67 c-10]

I'd say go stick, but it does take some practice getting shifts as quick as possible. Now If I was going to do this! heheeh! definatly a aluminum 427 twin turbo around 1000hp, backed by a lenco 5 spd planetary tranny (shifts faster than an auto! ) move the motor back 6" or so from the l6 position for better weight dist, this could be done with a glass' firewall, definatly switch susp over to tubular components, a-arms 4 link rear, box frame where it needs it and replace standard x-members with large diameter tubular ones, much stronger! move all stuff possible to rear of truck, gas tank, battery etc. and heres the killer, instead of running 2 rear slicks run one giant super wide tire driven from the outside ends steamroller style! that should give you all the traction you need!
on second thought, tubs will do!
Have fun!
Jesse

[mikep]

"I'd say go stick, but it does take some practice getting shifts as quick as
possible. Now If I was going to do this! heheeh! definatly a aluminum 427 twin
turbo around 1000hp, backed by a lenco 5 spd planetary tranny (shifts faster
than an auto! ) move the motor back 6" or so from the l6 position for better
weight dist, this could be done with a glass' firewall, definatly switch susp over
to tubular components, a-arms 4 link rear, box frame where it needs it and
replace standard x-members with large diameter tubular ones, much stronger!
move all stuff possible to rear of truck, gas tank, battery etc. and heres the
killer, instead of running 2 rear slicks run one giant super wide tire driven from
the outside ends steamroller style! that should give you all the traction you
need! "


I didnt realize dusting off a Honda with a coffee can muffler would take that much effort.