390 fe at the dyno, help please - Page 2

MaSnaka · #21 (**permalink**) 05-09-2009, 04:14 PM

Rick,
Sorry to hear about your hips. That does not sound good. Your suggestion of bending over my fenders is a good one and would probably help. I can always resort to the ice pack, beer and vicodens afterwards.

Flip,
I have the dreaded CR side pipes you descibed. With the flashlight and mirror method I see that little hole in a flat metal plate. I have new mufflers coming from Classic Chambered and will post my comparative results.

HI Cobra · #22 (**permalink**) 05-09-2009, 06:19 PM

MaSnake,
Now that you have seen how much it is restricted it is easy to see why it
can't breath. I was lucky (I guess) with the new pipes because there were
no problems at all with the exchange, and what a great surprise with the
power gain. I am hoping yours are as easy to change as mine were.
You will be happy. I thought the old pipes sounded fine but got a big thumbs
up from everyone regarding the sound of the new ones - much better.

WildBill1965 · #23 (**permalink**) 05-10-2009, 02:12 PM

If your compression is that low, the cheap fix is get a set of steel shim .015 head gaskets. Ford used these on FE's to arrive at different compression ratings. Also find a set of 428 heads.

MaSnaka · #24 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 06:30 PM

A little follow up if anyone remembers this thread.

Rick your idea about shiming the air cleaner with stacked up gaskets got me to thinking...I know it's a chance I gotta take once in awhile (thinking that is). I used 1/2'' rubber weatherstripping with an adhesive side from Home Depot and used it on the aircleaner base and lid. This compressed gave me a total 1/2" gained clearance above the choke horn.

New intake manifold, Edel Performer RPM replaced the Edel Performer 390. The carb base sits about 1/2" taller and 1" further back than the 390 perf. Reducing the carb spacer to 1/2" keeps everything under the hood.

New mufflers installed into my existing CR side pipes. Classic Chambered 2 1/2" x 30" with louvers open to the exit side. Deep loud sound. Yes my ears hurt but they tickle my ribs and make me smile.

Ok here we go. Pipes are coated and back in place. The only changes made are Edelbrock Performer 390 (basically a stock intake, aluminum) was upgraded to a Edelbrock Performer RPM and I replaced the original CR mufflers with Classic Chambered's 2 1/2" core x 30" Cobra packs (louvers open to the exit side). With no air filter in place, the original intake and mufflers, tuned at the dyno was max output at 253rwhp and 320rwtq. With no air filter in place, the new intake and mufflers, tuned at the same dyno was max output at 305rwhp and 361rwtq. A fantastic improvement and experience. The mufflers that I replaced had 1 1/2" dia. x 24" perforated tubes offset inside the muffler body. Basically my car was trying to exhale through two straws. The max numbers tell one story but the curves tell an even better one. At 4500rpms I gained over 60rwhp and 70rwtq with a much flater tq line from the low end up through 4600rpm. Stock 390 with 280H cam, Performer RPM intake, stock iron heads, Holley 750 street avenger, and headers.

News flash. The Holley Street Avenger is a 770cfm not a 750. So instead of going with the HP series no choke horn carb which is not availible in 770, I am going to mill the choke horn off my current carb. This saves me another dyno trip to rejet and a few hundred bucks. I will save my quarters so I can upgrade the heads and the carb at a later time.

Thanks to all who contributed their knowledge to help me. The results are quite satisfactory.

John

Chaplin · #25 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 06:43 PM

Nice job- big improvement!

sparks · #26 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 08:10 PM

I put a mighty demon on my car in place of the old holley . Much better and screw the choke( it is NOT needed),Even on a 50 degree day it only takes a minute or to to warm up the engine....Dont waste to much time on the air cleaner issue. The stellings will be just fine.

RICK LAKE · #27 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 03:16 AM

MaSnaka John that is some nice power to start with. The car has good bottom end with the torque and a flat power band to 5,500 rpms. If you add about 15-18% to your numbers this is what the motor is putting out at the crank. For a starter motor, this is a great one to play with. It should last for years with little maintainance. Down the road you may or maynot get the power hunger and go to a bigger motor. This build gives you a basic understanding about matching parts and getting good power from the motor. Hope you have many miles of pleasure in the days to come. Drive easy for the first 500 miles to break in the motor and also for you to get quicker reflexs.

Ps NO WAVING to people for the first 250 miles on the road.

Rick L.

MaSnaka · #28 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 01:11 PM

I know my numbers are'nt huge like a lot of you guys with the big FE's. But this car sure gets my respect. I think a lot of you are just on the border of insane. Now I'm sure the day will come when I get board and complacent with this set up, maybe sooner than later now I have been biten by the performance upgrade bug. We'll see. Thanks for all the help guys.

John

undy · #29 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaSnaka

I know my numbers are'nt huge like a lot of you guys with the big FE's. I think a lot of you are just on the border of insane.
John

Yep, 600hp doesn't quite cut it for me.. The car's just barely, if any, faster than the daily driver (my 508 rwhp 07 Z06). I'm looking at plumbing in a 300HP nitrous fogger system with a progressive controller. That should get the darn thing rolling OK, for now!

Dave

MaSnaka · #30 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 02:28 PM

Hey Undy,
Your in a totally different league than me. I don't understand what a 300hp fogger will do for you that 600hp wont. My tuner suggested I get 100 shot fogger and I kinda laughed back at him, atleast for now.

John

jdean · #31 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 03:45 PM

Great improvement John. My guess is most of the gain is from the pipes, and maybe 10 hp from the intake.

undy · #32 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaSnaka

Hey Undy,
Your in a totally different league than me. I don't understand what a 300hp fogger will do for you that 600hp wont. My tuner suggested I get 100 shot fogger and I kinda laughed back at him, atleast for now.

John

I'm running some M/T ET Street 315/35/17 drag radials out back and with a good preheat you'd be surprised how much HP you can get to the road.

Not a different league, just a bit more horse power crazed mania..

lovehamr · #33 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by undy

Yep, 600hp doesn't quite cut it for me.. The car's just barely, if any, faster than the daily driver (my 508 rwhp 07 Z06). I'm looking at plumbing in a 300HP nitrous fogger system with a progressive controller. That should get the darn thing rolling OK, for now!

Dave

Dave, that reminds me of a Pantera that I once saw in Texas with 2 big Air Research turbos and N2O plumbed in as well. When I asked him if it was a little over-kill to have both, he answered; "I've just got the nitous for until the turbos spool up!" I cracked up! Had throw him a high five on that one.

Steve

undy · #34 (**permalink**) 07-02-2009, 02:55 AM

A lot of horsepower and race rubber is quite addictive though..

That 100 shot might not be a bad thing.. might help to embarass one or two of them pesky mullet wearing late model Vette owners..

oops... ib1 (W/O the mullet

)



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