I need some advice. I have a 69 RS/SS convertible that I had a 383 built for it. The engine is not exactly what I wanted. The engine has
-Brodix Track 1 heads and valves
-Comp Cam hydraulic roller lifter kit
-Custom cam shaft
-Edelbrock air gap intake manifold - polished aluminum
-SCAT Stroker crank with I-beam rods,racing pistons

It was built by a guy who ran a couple of NHRA dragsters and funny cars so I have no doubt of the quality of the build. The trouble is, I wanted a Sunday driver that I can drive downtown without people glaring. something the wife can drive to work.

The carburetor he matched up to it he took off one of the race cars, the cam is pretty loopy and it’s just not a fun car to drive.

I was thinking of having the cam replaced and installing the Holley Sniper EFI.

Not sure if this the way to go to give me a daily driver or should I go with a new crate motor. Also comparing the costs. I can do an engine swap. Not sure about the CAM and EFI install. I already have $16k into the existing motor.

any suggestions?

Dan

 

Well I would test the waters of selling the motor,maybe get word out through the builder and see if you can recoup most of the money spent.
If that pans out and I'd stay firm on your asking price since they can hear it run you could buy a nice 300 hp crate engine for considerably less money.
Good luck with it.

 

Welcome aboard

 

Do you have the specs of the motor? If the heads flow too much they can be tuff to tame.

Normally I tell guys make sure you have a dual plane carb go smaller on the carb and cam and make sure you have a good ignition system that uses vacuum advance.

Adding the EFI will help if the heads flow too much I are easier to tune. Tuning a carb is a lot of give and take. You only have one jet and one float level. You can tune that to be right on at 6000 RPM or 2500 RPM but its tuff to get 100% out of both. If you stick with carb and find a good carb tuner and size the carb right you can get pretty close to EFI.

Y2K is right though if you are detuning the car and then engine is built with all forged parts it will be kind of a waste. Most race type engines have softer rings with larger ring gaps. that means they will not last as long as a 300-400 hp crate engine. Heck your builder may trade you a crate motor and swap it in for you for even money. Then he can sell the motor he built to someone else at a reasonable discount. Have you though about an LS setup. My 2000 Z28 idle as smooth like my wifes minivan but it could get the job done over 3500 RPMs. It almost felt like I hit the NO2. Even my carbed 350 hp 67 is some what choppy.

I think it is a good move. Not sure how much you know about the 1st gen convertible but the engineers did not want to put a big block in the car. They said it was not rigid enough and there was a risk of twisting the body. Marketing had to get management to push the option through. Modern tires have a lot more traction and even hard tops with big motors will twist their bodies. The rag tops really should have added bracing or a roll cage for support over 400 Ft of torque.

 

Guy was a one hit wonder,almost a year since his one post here.

 

Got me

 

It happens

 

If that pans out and I'd stay firm on your asking price since they can hear it run you could buy a nice 300 hp crate engine for considerably less money.