351W mismatched parts...help dial them in

[Dan B.]

Here's the deal. I've been tinkering with my 1985 2wd Ranger for a while. It started as a budget build when I was in college and then started morphing into more and more of a serious toy. About that time we had kids and all progress stopped for about five years.

After starting on it again I found myself with some mismatched parts and ended up not going any faster than it did before. Without any tuning it went 13.9 but should be capable of quicker.

Basically here is what I have now.

Engine
-1972 351W +.030"
-KB Silv-o-lite slugs (10.7:1 CR)
-Stock crank and rods balanced
-World Products 2.02/1.60 heads
-Crane Energizer Roller Rockers.
-Crane Energizer "284" series cam (228@.050", .512" lift)
-Holley 750cfm dual feed (Vaccum Adv)
-Edelbrock Performer intake.
-MSD 6AL-2
-MSD Pro-Billet Dist
-MSD Blaster 2 Coil

Exhaust
-Total Performance 1 5/8" full length headers w/ 3" collector
-3" duals w/ Flowmaster Delta Force style race mufflers

Tranny
-C4 built locally
-TCI Saturday Night Special Convertor

Rear
-Mopar 8.75" loaded w/ 3.55's and SureGrip.

Right now it is setting w/o a tranny....kinda grenaded the C4 last fall while having some fun. So this is the time to step back and figure out where to head next in order to get all my pieces playing well together.

I think the heads and cam should work well together but the intake and convertor are not right. I already have a RPM Air Gap intake to install. After a tranny rebuild (suggestions on builders please??) I need to step up to a higher stall convertor and steeper gears (suggestions for stall speed and grears here also).

The goal...if I could see mid-12's I'd be happy. I've seen fox's with similar set up's running into the 11's so I don't think I'm asking too much.

Throw out some ideas...........thanks.

[badstanglx]

u need 2 throw that cam alway go with soild roller something work with app/ intake a victor jr will work great and a 750dp and c4 with a 3500-4000 stall that thing will sream

[SK@StreetLethal]

I agree on the camshaft but what is your intended useage? Mostly street useage or more race? The intake is not helping you much either. But again your plan for the truck can help you dictate what parts you will need/want to get the best performance. Gears definately could be changed but are not the worst offender in your combination. Give us all a bit more info and I'm sure we can help you obtain your goal!

[Dan B.]

Intended use......a little street cruising and some racing. Mostly just cruise the kids around to the ice cream stand or take the wife out for a pizza.....while being able to blow the doors off rice grinders. The 3" pipes and race cans deter a lot of potential challenges now but it's bite needs to match the bark.

Suggestions on the roller cam specs??

[SK@StreetLethal]

Are you willing to go solid roller or do you prefer hydraulic roller? Willing to change stall speed? Willing to change valve springs?

[torqueboxer]

Dan any of the comp "xr" series solid rollers are good street cams, ive got 5 years on my 286r and love every minute of it. Valve springs are cheap the cam and lifters arent rally though 250 for the cam and 350 for the lifters mine setup with stock length pushrods. when you come over we can go for a test drive in my green car and you can see what you think.

[Dan B.]

The motor is going to be out and apart so I'm willing to change whats needed. The WP heads have double springs on them already. What springs would you recommend??

I plan on going much higher on the stall speed...I'm only at about 2200 now and that does NOTHING for the 60's.

Torque...the potential t-bird buyer ditched me today but I'd still like to ride down. PM me your address and I'll try to cruise down on Wed or Thurs evening.

[somethingclever]

Any idea what the truck weighs?

Even with the parts you have I think it should run better than 13.9's.....what's your mph?

[SK@StreetLethal]

The springs required always depend upon the cam chosen for best performance. You have not said wether or not you wanted a hydraulic roller or a sollid roller. If your going for a weeking cruiser/ strip racer would bump up the lift. Install a steeper set of gears and a higher stall speed. With that said we have two cam grinders that work with us on custom cams and we are willing to share the savings with any board members! On a similiar 357 windsor we built with vic jr heads we were recomended and ground a cam that was 570-580 ish lift and 240-250 @ .050 duration ground on a 108. This cam was worth almost a second over an off the shelf cam with similiar specs. This was a hydraulic roller with a small base circle. Sounded great and ran great!

[Dan B.]

The truck weighs in under 3200. MPH is 99.

Hydraulic or solid.....no real preference. Whatever would work best.

[90TitaniumStang]

Scrap the vac secondary carb would be a great start, as for the cam hyd roller is fine. Don't necessarily need a solid roller. Call comp cams they can make youa custom grind that will fit your combo perfect. Also they can tell ya if there is anything wrong with your combo. Also an intake change might be necessary.

[Dan B.]

Just to see if the vacc sec'd made a difference, I spent one night at the track swapping springs. I went from the heaviest to the lightest and gained NOTHING!

[90TitaniumStang]

Just to see if the vacc sec'd made a difference, I spent one night at the track swapping springs. I went from the heaviest to the lightest and gained NOTHING!
You need to get rid of the vac secondary completely go with a good 650 or 700 demon
also save yourself somem oney and tune it on the dyno rather than trying to make changes at the track.

Honestly you can pay 100 dollars for an hour on the dyno and fix all your problems or atleast discover some answers. It would take you an entire summer at the track trying to dianose. Call Mike from Wolfepack he will hook you up.

[Dan B.]

Oh....I agree that the vac carb has to go. It just puzzled me that I picked up nothing. I think the intake and convertor were restricting the ability to grab RPMs fast enough that the lighter springs would not make a difference.