Ktlplxm
02-16-2009, 08:17 AM
I know alot of people on the board like the powerful sound of loping cams and loud exhaust. Some prefer sound to power, whereas some see sound as the necessary byproduct of power. From the onset of my modifications, I have had a few specific goals that are often quite contrary to most. I wanted a car with very good power through natural aspiration, no Torque converter necessity, good gas mileage, very little interior or exterior sound, and enough plausibility to admit having longtubes and CAI without anyone questioning any further. I made this claim despite almost everyone telling me you cannot have all of those together in one car, and I hate beig told I cannot do something.
Finally after 2 months of obstacles, we're done. For those of you who want huge numbers to brag about to friends, you will not be pleased, but afterall numbers have never won a race have they. The engine is of course a modest 427 LS3 based motor, 4.060 bore and 4.100 stroke. I chose this configuration for 2 primary reasons...
#1 Since I do not plan on spinning my engine above 6100-6200 rpm, the stroke to rod ratio is not an issue and the increased stroke vs bore is very good for off idle torque.
#2 An LS7 install is a dead giveaway at dealerships, car meets, and dragstrips
-Heads are stage 2 L92's utilizing stock rocker arms to maintain the appearance of stock.
-Camshaft is a Flowtech designed cam most of you have seen in plenty of people's signatures just under different names. 228/240 duration
-Induction is provided by an AFE Dry filter cold air set up, which will be replaced with a Vararam once they are available. Please do not take this as me saying the AFE isn't worth it, if it weren't for the ugliness of the filter tube, I would not change it. Even mocking up a big 4" CAI on the dyno to mimick a straight design there were no increases in hp or tq
-Exhaust is a Kooks Long tube header with Kooks HFC through a stock muffler system. The axle back was pulled for one final test and an increase of 8ft lbs and 11 hp was recorded. As soon as a quiet axle back becomes available it will be utilized.
While the vehicle was in the shop idling, 4 customers looked at the car and not a one of them suspected a thing was done other than the obvious. One even stated "When is he gonna do some engine work? It's a shame to see that much money in bolt-ons without changing cams". Perfect 800 rpm idle, no fuel smell like you find with a lot of cam cars.
Final numbers are 465 hp and 463 ftlbs at the wheels.
I'll admit, at first, I was a little let down by the hp till I spoke with Andy, Ed, and a few other guys on here, but then we really thought about it. 24mpg highway 20 mpg in town, taking into consideration the approx 20% drivetrain loss through 2 piece driveshafts with rubber couplers, IRS, and a 12"-13" factory converter that puts us at 581hp and 578 ft lbs at the crank. Two respectable tuners even said the loss could be closer 22-23 since my trans has been having issues; if that's the case we could be looking closer to 600 flywheel hp.
So although the numbers aren't where we would like, we all agree it is solely the camshaft and my prerequisite of "no -lope". For those of you wondering about performance while appearing stock, we did a few quick passes at a 1/8 mile track yesterday. Factory tires, good track prep, and a Challenger in the other lane for motivation, we ran a best of 7.80 at 96mph with a bad 2.3 60'.
The car pulls unbelievably with all of the torque on tap. All in all pretty good considering it makes more power than the advertised Magnacharger numbers of 460hp 440tq. Before anyone thinks I'm downing the Maggie, thats not the case, just drawing a comparison; if someone makes larger chamber heads for us, I will prob still go the way of the charger in the future.
Of course enough is never enough, so we are looking at cam changes in the next week or two. I'd like to be the first over 500 whp NA if no one else has done it yet lol. I'd like to thank the guys on the board who have been helpful through out this entire process. Andy, I'll be calling you about the cam again after lunch haha.
Finally after 2 months of obstacles, we're done. For those of you who want huge numbers to brag about to friends, you will not be pleased, but afterall numbers have never won a race have they. The engine is of course a modest 427 LS3 based motor, 4.060 bore and 4.100 stroke. I chose this configuration for 2 primary reasons...
#1 Since I do not plan on spinning my engine above 6100-6200 rpm, the stroke to rod ratio is not an issue and the increased stroke vs bore is very good for off idle torque.
#2 An LS7 install is a dead giveaway at dealerships, car meets, and dragstrips
-Heads are stage 2 L92's utilizing stock rocker arms to maintain the appearance of stock.
-Camshaft is a Flowtech designed cam most of you have seen in plenty of people's signatures just under different names. 228/240 duration
-Induction is provided by an AFE Dry filter cold air set up, which will be replaced with a Vararam once they are available. Please do not take this as me saying the AFE isn't worth it, if it weren't for the ugliness of the filter tube, I would not change it. Even mocking up a big 4" CAI on the dyno to mimick a straight design there were no increases in hp or tq
-Exhaust is a Kooks Long tube header with Kooks HFC through a stock muffler system. The axle back was pulled for one final test and an increase of 8ft lbs and 11 hp was recorded. As soon as a quiet axle back becomes available it will be utilized.
While the vehicle was in the shop idling, 4 customers looked at the car and not a one of them suspected a thing was done other than the obvious. One even stated "When is he gonna do some engine work? It's a shame to see that much money in bolt-ons without changing cams". Perfect 800 rpm idle, no fuel smell like you find with a lot of cam cars.
Final numbers are 465 hp and 463 ftlbs at the wheels.
I'll admit, at first, I was a little let down by the hp till I spoke with Andy, Ed, and a few other guys on here, but then we really thought about it. 24mpg highway 20 mpg in town, taking into consideration the approx 20% drivetrain loss through 2 piece driveshafts with rubber couplers, IRS, and a 12"-13" factory converter that puts us at 581hp and 578 ft lbs at the crank. Two respectable tuners even said the loss could be closer 22-23 since my trans has been having issues; if that's the case we could be looking closer to 600 flywheel hp.
So although the numbers aren't where we would like, we all agree it is solely the camshaft and my prerequisite of "no -lope". For those of you wondering about performance while appearing stock, we did a few quick passes at a 1/8 mile track yesterday. Factory tires, good track prep, and a Challenger in the other lane for motivation, we ran a best of 7.80 at 96mph with a bad 2.3 60'.
The car pulls unbelievably with all of the torque on tap. All in all pretty good considering it makes more power than the advertised Magnacharger numbers of 460hp 440tq. Before anyone thinks I'm downing the Maggie, thats not the case, just drawing a comparison; if someone makes larger chamber heads for us, I will prob still go the way of the charger in the future.
Of course enough is never enough, so we are looking at cam changes in the next week or two. I'd like to be the first over 500 whp NA if no one else has done it yet lol. I'd like to thank the guys on the board who have been helpful through out this entire process. Andy, I'll be calling you about the cam again after lunch haha.