12 sec 350?

[Yellow76]

I have a 76 2wd short bed chevy that has a 350 , it has 194 heads,flat top pistions,edelbrock intake and the performer cam just kinda mild. It is bolted up to a th350 with a b&m stage 2 shift kit small stall converter 1500 and 3.73 gears.I want a mid to hi 12 sec truck but i herd its hard to do if you want to keep the same bore/stroke so what do you suggest that i do?Thanks

[Super73]

I don't think it's be "that hard" to do.. Right cyl heads, cam, gears converter, Caltraks, tires and a little weight reduction.. How much are you willing to spend and how radical are you ok with?

[Yellow76]

Well i still need it to be a daily driver so not to extreme as far as my buget im willing to consider just about anything but its silm.

[Super73]

Well, the fastest/cheapest way to get a DD in the 12's is on spray.. Are you ok with that?

[383Ram]

I agree, spray is the way for a DD on the cheap. How much though is the question. I would say your already going to have to step up the motor, which is going to translate into running a high octane pump gas on a regular basis. Are you willing to go forth with an engine rebuild and run high octane all the time---even if it goes to $4.50 a gallon again?

The only other way i see this happening on a DD is a turbo--but again, its expensive. But it may not require an engine rebuild---although i would still surely think about it.

[Yellow76]

Well im worried about how much spay it would take for me to get in the 12s and i talked to a guy he suggested that i do a 383 or a 355. Do you think a 383 or 355 is the way i should go for a DD?Or should i just forget about a 12sec DD.

[72 SUPER10]

it aint gonna happen,sorry

[Super73]

Originally Posted by 72 SUPER10

it aint gonna happen,sorry

Not true.. I could technically daily drive my truck right now and go run a bottom 12 if not mid/high 11..



Again, what is your budget?

Does your truck run right now? Can you get it to a scale and weigh it?

What' in it currently?

At 4,200lbs (with driver) and an optimized set up, I'd guess you would need about 400hp to the wheels to make it happen. 4,000lbs I would guess about 375 to the wheels.

With the right set of heads and cam and a little spray, your there.

[djracer]

I ran 13.56 with a mild 350 and just vortec heads in a 71 that was lightened a little. I think it would have run twelves with a little spray.

[Yellow76]

Well thanks for all the info, the motor that i have is new but i still need to put it in the truck so no it doesnt run when i get it in there ill go down to scales and see what it weighs. O and for the budget i would like to not put more than about 1500 but i will think about it.

[POPO1984]

i am trying to do pretty much what you are doing right now. im going 355 with sportsman heads, comp cam, and a 650 edelbrock until i find a 750. it should be pretty close im looking for around 400 hp with that set up.

[72 SUPER10]

Gonna be hard with a 350 and 1500 bucks, i would take the 1500.00 and buy a late model engine from a wreck and spray it. The ls style engine,out of truck. 1500.00 / 2000.00 should do it with a little shopping around. You can spend as much as you want on anything, even if you get it for free, i seen a truck with one in it with stock manifolds and all go 6.90s at the track in 1/8th with 150 shot , i think that the 350 may could do it but i dont think it will be in the budget for you, mid 12s is hauling the mail pretty good for a truck you drive every day. Just my 2 cents,good luck.

[team39763]

There was a guy at the San Antonio Raceway that had a squarebody truck with a N/A 350 running 12.8 in the 1/4. I remember them saying it had camel hump heads, a good sized cam, larger converter, decent gears, and some slicks. Sounds like you just need a Summit brand cam, more converter and some slicks to be close to your goal. Oh, and you'll probably need a nice carb too. Good luck.

[Super73]

I'd put the $1,500 in to a set of heads, cam, intake and headers. Sell some of the stuff you have and buy a inexpensive single stage N20 kit. I think you could do it for $1500 + sale of your parts if you did it wisely.

Alum Heads $695: https://www.patriot-performance.com/...&cat=40&page=1

Cam/lifters $170: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-7102/

Head Gaskets $192: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CGT-C5877-040/

Intake $230: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2925/

Headers $390: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HOK-2454-1HKR/

--------------------------

This comes out to $1,677 with out shipping, but if you sold some of your parts and used the carb you have now it would move pretty good. Engine analyzer says that combo (assuming 10.6-compression and a 750 carb) would make 461hp at the flywheel.. Put the right verter in it and it'd be pretty close to a 12 second pass.. Add a 75-100hit of N20 and I'd say it could go deep 12's..

Hooker makes the same painted headers for about $200 less: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HOK-2454HKR/

[383Ram]

I agree, if your talking 1500 to do it, it can be done but some wise shopping is going to be neccesary. But some of the suggestions above in my opinion dont neccesarily make for a good DD combo. But that brings me to what i said before--whats reasonable to you to drive daily?

For me, i need to be able to put preferably 87 octane in--89 at the most---this puts me down on compression from the start. Well right there i have to carefully match parts to the combo--and in a small block, its not going to happen to go twelves in a DD--383 maybe though with a small shot of spray. Thats why i went big block when i found one reasonable. It'll do alot more for less drama--but the downside is its more expensive to build.

However, Super73 i believe is on the right track--but are you willing to use high octane gas day in and day out and live with a fairly lumpy cam all the time? Things to think about. I bet if you looked around, you can find the parts your going to need used, but just really think everything through---drivability, costs to operate, costs to get to the goal, etc--not trying to scare you, just want you to think about what exactly is going to happen here. I know the car i had that would have ran twelves (went 13.0 on two barrels of the carb)--i would not have want to put up with that day in and day out. You can make the combo milder if using nitrous (i wasn't), but its still going to take some 425ish HP overall to move that brick to twelves.

[tubbed 68]

i have a n/a 355 that runs 12.7 all day in crappy air that i drive pretty much every day wouldnt call it a sole daily driver but it gets driven a lot. the truck weighs 3750 lbs going down the track the setup wasnt even right could have used a bigger converter and better tranny.

[originalJD]

I have built a couple of street/strip budget build 350's and am curently running one in my 78 Z28 at full weight and can run 12's. (No power adders)

Here my set up....

Isky Megahydrolic Racing cam = $210.00
Summit rebuild kit W/pistons (flat top) = $200.00
Reman. stock 882 1.94 heads = $500.00
Edelbrock 750cfm carb = $200.00 (preffer Holley But this is all I had)
Holley dominator intake = $200.00
Accel powerpack ignition
E3 plugs

This set up I have found works very well for street/strip driveing. In fact, I drive my Camaro almost 70 miles, sometimes 80 miles a day. I can run a 650 carb and get about 15 mpg. I will be building another for my truck as soon as I get my hands on another sbc 350.

[72 SUPER10]

Ok, im done good luck, lets see some video of some 350 drivers that runs 12.50s, trucks that is. My truck is a 468 bb, glide,373 gear 10.5 tire, and runs 12.40s on motor and i know that a 350 aint gonna be with me when i get there. If so it wont be a true street driver , 383,406,probly, 350 noway. Just my 2 cents.

[383Ram]

What concerns me about all this is the original poster has not chimed in to say what he is willing to deal with as far as drivability. I am also willing to bet he has not driven such a vehicle to know what something like that acts like to drive. I often see all over the internet "i want to build an engine that runs XX.XX seconds" and have no idea whats involved and then say they want to drive it daily or all over the country. Sometimes the two just don't jive--those in the know have a clue what i am talking about.

Things like turbos (my favorite choice), nitrous, superchargers will always allow for a milder build and more drivability to an engine. Doing N/A, you going to have to deal with rowdy cams, usually more stall in the converter, loss of torque on the bottom RPMS (most normal driving is done idle to 3000-3500 rpm), poor gas mileage due to larger rear gears (unless you can do an overdrive to regain some milage back), louder exhaust because it flows free to make power, etc, etc. I am not saying some have not done the 12 sec daily driver and been succesful--but what i am saying is you must sit down and really think about what your willing to deal with for the entire package.

In my opinion, to go that fast and have some REAL drivability, the bigger the engine the better. If you build the torque to get that barn door moving, the horsepower will come with it and push it faster. For a N/A setup, I would start with no less than a 383 or 400--and if the budget allows, go to a 454 or a 496 setup. A Power adder car could stay around the 350 size and still be docile enough to drive anywhere---by far the cheapest way out is nitrous, and you can buy a whole lot for $1500.

[narleycarley]

i've seen some trucks with LS motors fuel injected that were getting over 16mpg and in the 12's

[djracer]

that sounds sweet I'll have to build one of those.

[Wild83C10]

You can definitely get a 350 in the 12s in a truck. My truck should have run 12s with my 350, just didn't get it to hook, but 107 mph trap speed said it was a 12s run. truck made 350 hp/tq to the wheels through a 4spd.
Combo: 350, 10.5:1, Tick flow heads, hyd tappet comp cam (have to look up the spec), victor jr intake and a 650 dp. You would be better off with an air gap intake.

However, it wouldn't be the best DD, as the mpg would suck. You are better off running a BBC or a mild 350 with a power adder. BUT it IS possible for a N/A 350 to run 12s in a truck with todays heads and cam technology/advancements.

383RAM made some good points.

[glock35ipsc]

13.0x best in the 81 (at 5800' elevation). Sorry, the pic is almost 19 years old, and I never owned a video camera until 3-4 years ago.

355, used Crower solid cam, 2.02 64cc heads, used 1.5 RR's, swap meet Victor Jr/650DP, swap meet MSD dizzy w/6AL, some cheap cast domed pistons (don't remember what they were), TH350 w/10" converter, 4.56's w/mini spool, and slicks.

It was a daily driver back then. Not practical, but I was in my late teens/early twenties, and didn't care if it was practical or not. It was a street fighter. Drove it to the track, swapped rear tires, unbolted the headers, ran it, drove it home. One tank always had 100LL av gas, the other held premium.

13.0's at 5800' would easily be mid-high 12's at sea level.



I never ran it at the track with the tunnel ram, but it was obviously slower in the low end. All the time I raced it was with the Victor Jr, the ram was for fun and show.

[72 SUPER10]

what was your 60 ft. and mph

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by 72 SUPER10

what was your 60 ft. and mph

I have 3 time slips in a photo album from 5-25-91..... damn, that makes me feel old!

60' - 1.878, 1/8 - 8.393/82.10, 1/4 - 13.179/102.14
60' - 1.901, 1/8 - 8.363/82.44, 1/4 - 13.108/103.21
60' - 1.922, 1/8 - 8.375/82.85, 1/4 - 13.108/103.47

Wild83C10 - Thanks! That truck was a lot of fun, and I still had 'farm' plates on it too. Finding some old pics not long ago was one reasons why I got this red 85. It getting a 5.3/4L60E at the moment.