Blue's Barracuda

[Blue]

Managed to grab a couple of hours to finally get on with last years winter upgrades. Trick flow cnc heads will flow more air and bump up the compression a touch over my current home ported Edelbricks. Very nice pieces, even the gasket match is almost spot on.

[Blue]

I’m also changing from an air gap manifold to single plane super Victor. That’s a whole different ballgame, the gasket match is way off for a start so I’ve started roughing it out. There will be a good few hours spent grinding and polishing before the thing fits correctly.

[Stu]

Having never bitten the bullet and ported before, it’s interesting to see the process. I’ll be having a go at some point!

What sort of power are you anticipating picking up with this set up?

[Blue]

I don’t know exactly but there has to be a good 50-75 HP potential here judging by what other people are achieving.

[Stu]

Sounds good

Do you know what HP you currently have?

[Blue]

I don’t know but guesstimate at about 450, I need to see 500+ to get this combination where I think it should be.

[Blue]

Intake all roughed to size, just need to spend a while with sandpaper rolls to smooth it out a bit. Much swarf created. Swapped in the correct combination of springs retainers and locks to get the correct installed height and pressure for my cam.

[newsatten]

Interesting stuff going on here , makes a nice change to read and see the other side of these cars,

Even though I used to do a lot of work and repairs to all manner of yank V8’s back in the day, as part and parcel of the marine trade, lots of Chryslers were used in offshore sport type boats, 350 and 454 GM’s Mercruiser etc

But that was a very very long time ago, but hopefully and especially as I work with one or two mechanics at work I’m quite confident we’ll be able to refresh my 400 without to many dramas !

[Matt]

Hi Blue

My engine currently in the 'Cuda is a similar spec to yours

408, Trick Flow heads, Edelbrock 2815 intake.
It makes around 540HP so hopefully yours will be in the same ballpark ?

I chose a gear drive as I wasn't happy with the timing chain stretch.

Cheers

[Blue]

Thanks Matt, 540hp would do nicely! I also have a gear drive on my next engine which I hope to have ready later in the year.

[Blue]

Heads are on! Needs longer pushrods so I’ve measured for those. Also discovered these heads use a shorter rocker shaft stud as well so those are on order too. Will finish off when I get the parts but very happy to finally get the heads on.

[Dave81]

Looks fantastic Blue.
Will be interesting to see what it picks up.

[Blue]

Pushrods and studs came so mostly back together now. Need to spend some time reworking the throttle linkage, it doesn’t quite work with the new manifold. Air filter to scoop clearance is snug, it clears by less than 1/4”.

[Blue]

Well, first meeting of the year didn’t go to plan. Running in Nostalgia super stock at the Nostalgia nationals, I got in 3 test passes on the Friday. Rather than picking anything up I was actually 4 mph down. I did a plug cut on the last run which showed I was very lean so I jetted up. Went out for another plug cut and I lost all drive in the fire up road, got towed back to discover there was nothing I could fix there so that was me done for the weekend. Pulled and stripped the trans Today expecting to find an issue with the rear band or clutch pack. What I found was an undamaged transmission full of swarf, the converter has failed. This is a 2 year old Boss Hog, same make as Dave Tildesley had fail in even shorter order. The drivetrain in my car takes a battering but I would have expected a 650 dollar converter to last more than 50 passes and a few hundred street miles, draw your own conclusions. Looking into getting a custom built convertor in time for Dragstalgia as I’m not willing to trust an off the self unit again.

[mygasser]

very cool burnout pic, it's a great looking car
neil.