You should be fine with a fairly small shot. And with the diff ratio, with a standard engine, 3.5 will be fine. Standrd they come with 3.08 and makes first gear real long, so with the lower ratio, the car will be alot better off the mark

Put a Stock roller Vt engine in it, convert back to carby with a harrop or one of the redline manifolds, 3.9, 2500 stally, extractors and good exhaust iit would run mid to low 13's and be quiet and idle like a stocky. Or fit a crane 286 to your current motor, edelbrock performer manifold, rejet carby or holley. So many choice, but i like rollers. cheers darren

ELA-RE - I know what you mean, my first gear goes to about 80. Second to 150 lol. What size shot would you say would be ok? Jet R31 - Are you talking a genIII or the pre genIII V8 VT's? Either way, I dont want to much around with new engines, lots of hassle and not that much of a gain for the money.

Quote: Originally Posted by ELA-RE Its best to do it in one go, not bit by bit. Im doing a 372 stroker in mine why a 372 mate??? pistons are a **** to find for that combo!

Quote: Originally Posted by Sinister why a 372 mate??? pistons are a **** to find for that combo! Its not so much the pistons, im using 6 inch carillo rods and its a special offset/ground forged crank, the pistons are Mahle, they are very light and arent suitable for forced induction. It'll be roughly in the vicinity of 368-372ci range. I was actually goin to do a 355 first, but the guy doing my motor came across a whole bottom end which someone put a deposit on, but never picked it up, so i got it. I cant wait Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

with my VN V8 in 3rd not o/d and a 3.08 diff was 205k @ 5500rpm with 3.45 my VLV8 done 180k @ 5500rpm Vt s/c v6 does 215k @ 5000rpm in o/d thats if my spedos were right , so i would thing with 3.9's u might be round 160k ? the 3000stall makes a big differance but if u only got a stock cam it only gives u 3000 - 5000 rpm to make power , bigger stall isnt always better

i use a 288 solid cam good heads stock manafold and a 750 vac in vb commodore and will run 12.6 all day long also 3800 stall and vl diff

Get boring doin it all day ?

Haha drew smart ass. My redline (atm) is around 4700rpm and I make it to around 200ish atm with the standard ratios (3.08's). I think Ill go the 3.45's as we have long roads with pretty much no speed restrictions.. I was thinking a 2200rpm stall. I feel I should get the cam and heads done before any nos is hooked up.. then I could use a bigger stally and maybe a higher gear ratio without sacrificing top speed too

Quote: Originally Posted by Stable Haha drew smart ass. My redline (atm) is around 4700rpm and I make it to around 200ish atm with the standard ratios (3.08's). I think Ill go the 3.45's as we have long roads with pretty much no speed restrictions.. I was thinking a 2200rpm stall. I feel I should get the cam and heads done before any nos is hooked up.. then I could use a bigger stally and maybe a higher gear ratio without sacrificing top speed too if you wanted more top end you would go lower diff ratio's not higher to 3.45's?

Ah yeah I know but I want them a bit higher for better acceleration, just not alot higher so that I have no top end at all. With a bigger cam (bigger redline) that should up my top speed by a bit and should kinda counteract.. that anywhere close to right? haha

stable, keep in mind the trimatics in the 5L VL had no overdrive, at 100 kph ur doing about 2700rpm, putting a lower diff rartio, i.e. 3.7:1 u will find at 100kph u might b doing around 3400 rpm. u will have a lower top speed cause u will max out with revs. if top speed is ur objective keep the 3.08:1 lsd and do ur engine work. keep the carby cause changing to efi won't much difference if ur carby is well set up. i have personally seen rochester carby's make 430 hp. stroking ur motor doesnt make a huge difference to HP but more to the torque produced. Torque is what u feel when it puts u back into the seat. i only suggested this cause i wasn't sur on ur budget. converting to efi will blow ur budget apart, but not make any big gains. the standard 5 litre manifold WILL NOT flow beyond about 245kw N/A because they they will only flow 500cfm of air at 0.500 thou lift. Motec twin T/B manifolds flow more than this but ur also looking at an extra $4700 + computer. A 100hp NOS kit would b nice if ur engine is well built. Check ur local RTA, not what ya mates reckon, for NOS legalities. In most other states if ur picked up with it connected, the fine is worth more than the car.

Ah ok thanks bigtoe, I never thought about cruising speeds before. Whats a good combo to get me into the 13's? Do you reckon if I just set the car up with the mods I mentioned before and got a big cam, new head and a tune itd get me there?

go back a couple of posts and read the combo i already gave u!! that combo ran 13.4. in a VK

Hey bigtoe. How much was that motor combination? And what would I need to do to get it into the 13's if I wanted to keep the 3.08s and without the 355 crank? Would it be really stupid of me not to just throw in a stroker crank? I keep hearing bad stories about streetability and 355's chewing bearings and needing a rebuild every 10k.. Im not saying its a bad combo, dont get me wrong about that. I know you know your stuff!

parts alone would be around the $5k mark, depends who u know. Dont get the guy to build ur motor that told u strokers dont work, must be only the way he builds them. u will still pull 13s with that combo without the stroker. if u have the $$$ try and put one in cause the bottom end torque it will give u is some nice tyre shredding stuff. using ur 3.08 ratio might get u high 13's. building these sort of motors isn't rocket science. just make sure the machinist u use has a good reputation. if u want to learn a bit about modified engine a great book to get is "Engine Blueprinting" by Rick Voegelin. Its based around 350 chevs but the basic principles are the same. if u have trouble with degreeing in cams it tells u the most basic way to do it. u will learn heaps from it. any thing else u have trouble with, i.e clearances etc., i can help u through it.

if u desperately want to run NOS, i can show u a way to run a direct port system that is completely hidden from the local constabulary

bigtoe - That would be awesome if you could do that. Theres a little datto up here running nos except nobody knows about it. I soughta want to do that and keep it on the low. I was thinking Ill just do cam head and maybe manifold and have the carby tuned or rejetted (engine wise) until my budget expands after I finish schooling or when the bottom end gives way, whatever comes first. Haha I should have about $1500 - $2000 to play with soon. What speed would you be doing at the end of the quarter if you were running high 13's? Ive seen people with high gear ratios run out of puff 3/4's down the 1/4 mile heheh

stable, try & get a few more $$$ if u can b4 u start on the build. $1500 wont get u much, maybe 50hp more. The vl 304 had 122kw standard. they r a light car compared with a vt-vx. extra 70 hp might get u equivalent performance to a standard vt 5l. from what u been saying, i reckon u will be bored with it quickly. get ur cash together then u dont have 2 do things twice, three times. high 13's is roughly 100mph

Mmm Im just going to put that money into the drivetrain and an exhaust. And get my fuggly stockos polished Yeah sure Ill get bored of it but its a good improvement and somethign to build on. My friend with his 355 (was 304) VL Cal thinks hes Mr Bigshot. I need to be able to take him down by the end of the year.. its basically a standard 304 with a crank. Well thats my goal.. doesnt seem to go too hard so I think it might be achievable. If not then bah, ill get him the year after when i have a fulltime job. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.