Budget conscious Performance Upgrades

[mavwreck]

I should also mention why I’m trying to stay budget oriented; In total I’ve only got about $8000 into the car. I got the car from the hosts of Roadkill back in 2021. It’s on its 6th motor (5 318s and now the 440), 3rd trans (small block 727, bb727, a833) and 3rd center section. All low buck stuff and I’ve really enjoyed the car since I was working on it in college but I’m trying to keep the cost of the car overall under 15k if I can. I’ll enjoy the car no matter what I do but if I can do something to make it faster for cheap I’m going to do it

 

[dvw]

Funny when I saw the post I assumed you were local here in Mi. I know the owner of Tucson Dragway. It's at 3074 ft so it'll be more of a challenge.
Doug

 

[sc440]

At 91 mph there isn’t much et left in it. What rpm is the timing all in?

 

[padam]

11-12 second and budget don’t go together.

 

[mavwreck]

Funny when I saw the post I assumed you were local here in Mi. I know the owner of Tucson Dragway. It's at 3074 ft so it'll be more of a challenge.
Doug

I am from MI! It was a 4000 mile round trip to go to Duct Tape Drags and compete in the Battle of the Beaters competition. Got eliminated 2nd round though

 

[mavwreck]

At 91 mph there isn’t much et left in it. What rpm is the timing all in?

I could walk out the back door in 3rd but I did shift into 4th a few passes

 

[66 Sat]

I am from MI! It was a 4000 mile round trip to go to Duct Tape Drags and compete in the Battle of the Beaters competition. Got eliminated 2nd round though

4,000 mile round trip - respect!

 

[mavwreck]

4,000 mile round trip - respect!

Wish I had the gusto to drive the car all the way but I mostly trailered it since I didn’t want it to break before I got there. I drove it a fair bit in the way home but not even close to the 2000 miles we had to cover

 

[RJRENTON]

4,000 mile round trip - respect!

Got a Brooklyn Bridge to sell you......seriously, what was your total costs for the entire journey, including : fuel costs both ways, toll costs both ways, food & lodging costs for entire trip, fuel & tire costs for your drag car......my guess = $ ~ 2500 +/-......or roughly half of your $5k budget.......question: was it worth it??......just curious......
BOB RENTON

 

[mavwreck]

Got a Brooklyn Bridge to sell you......seriously, what was your total costs for the entire journey, including : fuel costs both ways, toll costs both ways, food & lodging costs for entire trip, fuel & tire costs for your drag car......my guess = $ ~ 2500 +/-......or roughly half of your $5k budget.......question: was it worth it??......just curious......
BOB RENTON

I actually did keep tabs on the trip. In total for gas, food, accommodations, uhaul and tickets for 2 people it was JUST shy of $2100. I had saved up for over 2 years to go and it was SO worth it. I would vouch that it was one of the best weekends I’ve had since I got the car. Parts is hard to say since I’ve been slowly prepping the car for over 3 years and I’ve bought and sold a lot. I got a killer deal on slicks. I got 6 for $100. They all had plenty of life on them. Fuel was much less than expected due to gas being so cheap down south. On average we paid $2.83 a gallon. It’s hard to put an exact price on everything but if you negate the car itself it was $2100. I did have to get a helmet and sun gear while I was down there so we didn’t pass out in the 107° weather which put us just over 2k

 

[6872n73]

Engine Masters did a show on a budget 440 from a motorhome that might be worth looking into.

 

[66 Sat]

Got a Brooklyn Bridge to sell you......seriously, what was your total costs for the entire journey, including : fuel costs both ways, toll costs both ways, food & lodging costs for entire trip, fuel & tire costs for your drag car......my guess = $ ~ 2500 +/-......or roughly half of your $5k budget.......question: was it worth it??......just curious......
BOB RENTON

Experience and memories Bob = Priceless.

Imagine all the countryside you'd see, the people you'd meet, the friends you might make. Or you can sit at home with the car in the garage counting the dollars you've saved by not doing anything.

 

[RJRENTON]

Experience and memories Bob = Priceless.

Imagine all the countryside you'd see, the people you'd meet, the friends you might make. Or you can sit at home with the car in the garage counting the dollars you've saved by not doing anything.

I'm well aware as I've towed the Plymouth GTX (RS23V0A******) from Pittsburgh, Pa to Detroit, Michigan five times, for participation in the WOODWARD AVENUE DREAM CRUISE, (google it.....50,000 cruise cars same numbers of spectators over the weekend) in the third weekend in August each year....except the Covid years....along with a group of others in convoy. Total costs for each excursion was in the neighborhood of ~ $ 2100 +/- for 5 days each time.....including all costs for fuel, tolls, accommodations, meals, incidentals......been to the Chrysler mueseun, met the original 2 nd generation Hemi design/development engineer, Tom Hoover, the original Ram Charger car and owners........memories......yes, absolutely......was it worth it????.......yes......but that was then, when costs were lower......memories are priceless........
BOB RENTON

 

[weedburner]

For a target of 11.50's on a 5k budget with what you have, i'd keep your engine as-is.

...gear the car for 115mph stripe @ whatever rpm limit works with your engine
...steel bellhousing, steel flywheel, Powergrip clutch, 'tamer
...ign box w/ rev limiter/2-step/retard
...caltracs
...remove whatever weight you are comfortable with, then add just enough nitrous to meet your goal.

Probably do the above for around $4000, money left over for safety equip.

Grant

 

[padam]

I guess more than anything I’m just looking to see where the most improvement could be made from my current setup and or where I should start to put my money into. I don’t know what parts I exactly want at the moment. I know I am looking to upgrade to disc brakes in the front, and much stiffer rear leaf springs for sure but I’m unsure what actual performance upgrades I’d like to do since I’m not sure what’s going to make the most difference. From what I’m gathering a good rebuild of the 440 with new valve springs, a better intake, and a degreed cam coupled with a better rear gear sounds like my best course of action

Here is where you’re going to blow it. Stabbing parts at it because the are “improvements” may be satisfying, but it won’t get you to your goal within your budget. You will find out as time goes on that some of that was wasted money and work that has to be done over.
For once I agree with Renton (I think.)

Go to the formulas, Wallace calculators, Mopar Performance manuals, etc.

Draw up a plan with the ideal combination:
Engine HP
Transmission
Clutch
Rear end gear and strength
Tires- final drive ratio
Car and driver WEIGHT!
Chassis stiffness
Brake upgrades
Safety equipment

There’s enough info on great engine builds on this forum with verified dyno numbers that it’s almost down to a formula.
And plenty of info on the other stuff.

See what you can live with as far as performance tradeoffs and start plugging in numbers.

 

[451Mopar]

I'd get some edelbrock small chamber E-Street heads, or maybe 440 source stealth heads. The better airflow and lighter weight will really help.
Then just a bunch of tuning before deciding on the next change.

 

[Geoff 2]

The BB Mopars have one of the highest rod/stroke ratios in the industry [ Only the Chev Z-28 was higher ]. That is what prompted this warning from Erson cams:

 

[Kern Dog]

I mostly trailered it since I didn’t want it to break before I got there.

 

[mavwreck]

View attachment 1816135

View attachment 1816136

I wouldn’t trust this thing on a 4 mile roadtrip let alone 4000 . In all seriousness mechanically it’s sound (other than the upgrades not really meshing together well) but the car really does run like a bat outta hell. It’s just not as fast as it COULD be



Here’s an in car video of a little pull I did

 

[1967coronet]

Those heads seem like a bottle neck to me unless they have had a big valve and port job.
Car has to go on a diet, Get some gearing under it.
Jmho.