Battle of the 355's! Two Firebirds neck and neck at US41 dragway.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=t...bill&width=800

or Streetfire - http://videos.streetfire.net/Player....D-3FAC28EB87B9

Both cars have similar mod lists.

1991 Firebird (closest to camera)
355sbc swap (originally a 3.1L V6 car)
Home ported heads
Edelbrock TES headers, no cats, Flowmaster American Thunder cat-back.
Comp Cams 210/220 with .490"/.510" lift with 114* LSA
Ported stock intake
Stock chip, no tuning done at all.
14.63 @ 91.32mph

1989 TransAm GTA
Balanced and blue printed 355, forged pistons.
Home ported heads
Hooker 2055 supercomp headers, no cats, SLP Two on the Left cat-back.
Lingenfelter 211/219, .500"/.525" lift with 112* LSA
Holley StealthRam intake
Stock Chip, no tuning at all.
14.61 @ 91.34mph

Both cars were experiencing some nasty transmission problems. Both of us had to let off for the 2-3 WOT upshift. I fried my transmission pretty good. Its as good as gone. Before I was done though I blew out my driver side header gaskets. They were all deformed and badly ovaled. The plugs were so nasty I kept them for future reference on what they should NOT look like :thumb:

Still, it was fun. Got to see a guy make a single diget ET run at 144mph. 9.61 @ 144mph looks damn cool. He ran into spark problems later and ended up going home.

[95bat]

How are those built small blocks running 14s? My buddy's V6 camaro ran 14.4 with $0 in mods..

Looks like they launch hard..

[Thirdgen89GTA]

Originally Posted by 95bat

How are those built small blocks running 14s? My buddy's V6 camaro ran 14.4 with $0 in mods..

Looks like they launch hard..

[b]Both cars were experiencing some nasty transmission problems. Both of us had to let off for the 2-3 WOT upshift.[b]

What good is all that power if your transmission is slipping and can't put it to the ground. Neither car had a chip burned for the mods and the spark and fuel tables were severely off what they should be. In essance both cars were probably down by about 70 to 80hp because of the tune and transmission.

I had to completely back off the throttle to even get my car in 3rd gear. I think my torque converter is the main problem, I might have ballooned it. But either way, at 70mph when it shifts into 3rd I have to shut down and coast for a second.

If the transmission was good I bet it' pull a 13.9 or a 13.8 over 100mph. After a tune, I bet it could haul ass down to the 13's.

The car is just a mess right now. I'm between jobs so I don't have the money to fix all the little stuff. I don't know for sure but I think the fuel pressure is dying off on the high end. The car doesn't pull up top like it should. This is before the transmission went at the track.

[Lucifer]

Originally Posted by 95bat

My buddy's V6 camaro ran 14.4 with $0 in mods..

Proof? (video, timeslip, pictures, drawings..... ) Nice run 89GTA, get that tranny problem fixed and keep the vids coming. Just some advice, you may want to consider a TH350 or 400 in place of that 700. I ditched my 700 because of the price to build it and the history of reliability they have.

[95bat]

2000 3.8L Camaro..

He's on the left.

And I agree about the TH400. They can be built nicely for cheap
I just had to rebuild my 4L60E and it wasn't cheap..

[nx468]

Sorry to say this but a TH400 is overkill for that lil of a motor. A nice built TH350 with a hardened sprag and input shaft with a full competition shift with some nice Borg Warner or Raybestos Bans and Clutches is all you need. Another note for 89GTA look up Dayco Converters 3200-3500 11" stalls thatll work very good even if you want to spray it and well under the 200 dollar mark I ran one for years back in my small block days pulling 1.5 60 fts.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

The car is a daily driver, so it has to stay with an overdrive transmission.

If I buy a converter I will put a 9.5" vigilante 3,200 stall in it and that would rock. Gaurenteed .3 seconds off the ET.

One guy has an bolt on L98 (stock cam/heads) with all the suspension mods and and a built transmission with a 2500rpm 9.5" stall. He was running solid 13.3's @ 99mph.

[bennyfizzle]

that was quite a "battle"...lol, ive seen faster ricer vids lol

[Thirdgen89GTA]

that was quite a "battle"...lol, ive seen faster ricer vids lol

**** off. They may not be the fastest cars in the world, but considering the problems we both had at the track and the stock computer both cars did damn good.

I was being honest about the times and mods. If I wanted to I could have told you they ran a 12 cause the times weren't shown.

At least I don't talk **** like most ricers.

[95bat]

Originally Posted by Thirdgen89GTA

**** off. They may not be the fastest cars in the world, but considering the problems we both had at the track and the stock computer both cars did damn good.

I was being honest about the times and mods. If I wanted to I could have told you they ran a 12 cause the times weren't shown.

At least I don't talk **** like most ricers.

Word.
They have way more potential than 14s.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

Hmm... 14.6 @ 91mph? Check these pics out.

This is what I pulled out of the car the day after the track.

I'll be damned. Stupid engine blew out several exhaust gaskets.

Here's the carnage.





http://mywebpages.comcast.net/thirdg...neup/plugs.jpg

Oh man, oh the carnage!!!

This was real good for performance. Bet that gave me a 1/10th or two. :banghead:

[95bat]

That is a pretty bad exhaust leak LOL
Get some good one put on right next time

[Vortech50Stang]

And do yourself a favor and dont put bosch's in a street/strip car!! Oh it hurts to see that lol. I used to use bosch platinums all the time til I seen how they were burnin up all the time. Also I'm sure if your leaning out up top thats probably makin it super nice and hot for them header gaskets. Also did you drive it for a little bit and let them heat cycle and then re-check/re-torque your header bolts? Just a few suggestions.

[95bat]

Yeah, standard autolites are an excellent plug.

He can probably find some locking bolts for that block. You can also clean the holes out really well and locktite the bolts in and you might not have to worry about retightening them all the time.

Speaking of that, I need to see if I should retighten mine LOL I already went through a set of gaskets, damn gaskets that came with my headers were garbage.

[Thirdgen89GTA]

I've been retorquing them every night to make sure they aren't backing out.

I didn't have a choice last time I did plugs on the car. I needed it running that day and I didn't have any regular AC delco plugs at any of the parts stores. :banghead:

So I had to put bosch's in there.

But I have AC Delco plugs in there now, no locking header bolts. But I'm using a Felpro 1405 gasket for the headers. Sealed much better than that percy crap.