What could improve this setup?

[monterey1962]

Just looking for some info and tossing around some ideas for the long term. Would like to know what improvements would be needed to make the car quicker off the line. Let's forget a daily driver type car and maybe think a little extreme without breaking the bank.

Current setup in '88 GM ...
Engine: HO EFI302, Thumper ported E7 heads, under-drive pulley.
Trans: Performance Automatic AOD (non-wide ratio), TransGo governor, 2400 stall converter.
Exhaust: 2.5" cat-less pipe down-sized to 2" glass-packs and stock 2" tails.
Rear: 3.55 gears with trac-lock.

Lets say we keep the current block and trans. What could be done? Better cam? Full 2.5" exhaust? 255/60R15 (or maybe even a little wider) tires in the rear? Maybe 4.10 gears?

I'm open to relevant information and advice.

[1987cp]

If I understand correctly, Thumper himself is a regular poster over at SBFTech.com. If my brain has been absorbing half of what I think it has, I imagine the folks there will recommend:

- Victor EFI intake with the biggest TB you can afford (supposedly worked good for turbo2256b with just a stock HO cam)
- Build some longtube headers if at all possible
- TwEECer or other tuning tool so you're not limited by factory ECM programming
- Custom cam and matched torque converter to suit your driving needs (pricey, but they claim you can have a silent stock-like idle and 7000rpm screamingness in the same cam if you desire)

[Outlaw440]

It's going to depend on what you can afford, but 1987cp is right on. If you can budget it, a good used set of Trickflow TW 170's to go along with what 1987cp said won't set you back much. Easy 13 second combo with TW 170's, proper cam/intake/exhaust and rear end gearing to match.

[monterey1962]

I forgot to mention, keeping the Thumper heads. 1987cp, thanks for the site. I'll check it out over there. Probably wouldn't mess with long tubes, and just keep the current BBK's. That TwEECer looks interesting.

Outlaw, let's assume it is on a hobbyist's budget. The car wouldn't be running at the track for more than just fun runs. This would be a non-competition car.

[Pirate]

Here's my recommendations:

1. Long-tube headers. Yes, we've tried to make a set or two work....but we're going to have to go in a different direction here. Shorties just don't cut it, especially unequal-length shorties.

2. Dual 2 1/4" exhaust with H-or-X pipe. Yes, I know that the 2" exhaust works really well with producing off-idle torque, but now that the car has a 2400-rpm stall convertor....we can work on mid-range, something that the choked-off 2" isn't that great at doing.

3. Shitcan the Thumper heads, shitcan the Thumper heads, shitcan the Thumper heads. Get a set of P heads and be done with it, as the Blumper heads are turds. The 'numbers' I've seen on Thumper heads are great for bragging rights, but don't do shit in the mid-lift flow area....in other words, the heads aren't doing a damn thing until they get right at .500+ lift. It's amazing, really; buy a cheap stock set of P heads, or spend a ton on the Thumper heads....and get almost the same results.

4. Go Mikey's (MrLTD) route, and put an Explorer cam in it. Either that, or get the 'Baby' Crower cam, or the 'B' cam....

5. If all of this work has been done....put a set of 4.10 gears in the car. The AOD is still a fairly-close ratio transmission (something a 302 likes), all it needs is an extra bit of leverage on launch that the 4.10's would provide.

At this point, there aren't any 'low-buck' mods left to perform, short of putting a used 351W into the car....

[1987cp]

Mike has a Comp 35-349-8 last I heard. Or was the Exploder cam in his old car?

Interesting thread that resulted when I asked for opinions on ported heads, with random references to doing ported GT40s: http://sbftech.com/index.php/topic,21992.msg211053.html#msg211053 (apologies for a certain someone's avatar, but I can't control the whole Internet)

2-1/4" exhaust for a seroius 5.0 effort? Really? My turd engine (GT40 heads and cheapo 208/216 Crane cam) exhibited a slight perceived restriction when going from 2.5" tailpipes to 2.25" tailpipes while leaving the forward part of the system at 2.5". Of course, I'm still choked with shorty headers like everyone else, which is logically a more significant impediment.

[Outlaw440]

[url] (apologies for a certain someone's avatar, but I can't control the whole Internet)

.


Took care of that. :)

[Lincolnmania]

explorer upper and lower intake, 65mm explorer throttle body, lightning egr spacer.......2.25" custom tails......be a good bump without blowing your wad

[1987cp]

Took care of that. :)

Didn't have to change it just for me :lol3:

[mrltd]

Quicker off the line? Lotta gear and a bigger stall converter, and explorer intake for sure will get you a bit more power.... But, like everyone else said, a good aftermarket H/C/I combo would get you a whole lot more.

Larry, I have a comp cams XE264. I recommend the stock cam though. My car is a bit doggy off the line with the current setup. (3.73's WR-AOD, 2400 stall GT40 intake/heads) Pathetic 2.17 60" time and 15.02 1/4 (@4500lbs). However since I'm not a drag racer, the mph I can get out of first works well on most of the tracks I race at. I could probably get a little more out of it with the tweecer R/T, but I have fuel issues at the top end I need to fix first. And axle issues....

[Pirate]

Quicker off the line? Lotta gear and a bigger stall converter, and explorer intake for sure will get you a bit more power.... But, like everyone else said, a good aftermarket H/C/I combo would get you a whole lot more.

Larry, I have a comp cams XE264. I recommend the stock cam though. My car is a bit doggy off the line with the current setup. (3.73's WR-AOD, 2400 stall GT40 intake/heads) Pathetic 2.17 60" time and 15.02 1/4 (@4500lbs). However since I'm not a drag racer, the mph I can get out of first works well on most of the tracks I race at. I could probably get a little more out of it with the tweecer R/T, but I have fuel issues at the top end I need to fix first. And axle issues....

I recall you using a stock Exploder cam....whoops.

[1987cp]

We had actually mentioned somewhere about the theoretical benefits of a XE258HR (PN 35-510-8). It looks really good on Desktop Dyno, for what little that's worth, and what's more, the simulation gives favorable curves basically no matter which heads you plug in. Definitely good for entertainment value whilst staring at a computer screen, anyway .... though for the price of a new Comp cam, it becomes (in my mind, anyway) more obviously worthwhile to tack on the extra $100-$150 or so to get a custom cam that really is optimized to your specific combination and driving needs.