LE1 heads & Advaced induction valvetrain/cam

RatSSled said:

But hey, perhaps you could talk Bill DeBlasio into putting a new top end and cam in the flambe. With nothing more than "the right parts" in his 396, then he'd probably be faster than you.

Click to expand...

LOL. Thanks Glen, at least SOMEONE gets it.

1FAST94 said:

The outstanding factor regarding BK that folks tend to overlook is that he is not trying to be "fast". And if he ever decides going "fast" is more fun, everyone on this forum can look out: we're all in for alot of fun.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make my car as fast as yours (dream big I guess)

Click to expand...

Thanks Mike (and Glen).

I guess I broke enough stuff back with my blower car that I just decided that I want to run and run a lot without pushing my LT1 to the ragged edge. Sort of what I am intending to do with my 502 and what Glen is doing with his BBC. We ain't pro's, we can't keep breaking our junk and spending our mortgage/kids college money on engines over and over. Been there, done that, never want to go back.

Not to digress but my current 396, with the best of the best Callies rotating stuff in the bottom end, was built before the advent of AI, LE, etc. It has a, to quote Pat Gish "goofy wide LSA" cam that was the 'rage' back in 2000 when my engine was built. It was set up for a 250 shot. The heads are what was considered state of the art in 2000.

Here are my specs of my H/C combo:

CNC ported LT1 heads that flow 262/196 at .500 and 271/216 at .600 lift. The cam is a custom Comp Cams grind: 224/229 at 114 LSA. Yeah I know, old school LSA. Awful for N/A. .528/.510 and the cam was installed at 110 intake center line.

At Cecil on 12/12/09, just a few months ago, I ran 12.37 and 12.39 NA at 109 and 110 mph at 4600 lbs with an autocross suspension and still managed to rip off a 1.64 60 ft time. I also tried to spray and had some minor issues but pulled off an 11.76 (see sig and look for it on YouTube) with a 1.56 60 ft time.

Lance, Matrix, and Alex (Impalexss) among others were running their AI and LE packages at about 12.0 and 12.1 side by side with me that day. Lance dropped his belt, his exhaust, etc, and ran 11.7 but in as best an apples-to-apples comparison as possible the AI/LE/ERE boys were about .2-.3 faster that day.

In the summer, when I slow down a LOT because of my combo tune for nitrous (yeah I'm lazy - one tune for all) the AI/LE Ellwein Engine boys beat me by about .3-.6 on any steamy July day. So they are running 12.3-12.5 and I am running 12.8-12.9.

I have come close a few times to pulling the trigger on an AI package just to see what it can do on this sick bottom end. However, I just can't justify spending $3,000 to go a half second quicker. At least not today. Of course I could change my mind tomorrow.

All I'm saying is my fat, flat launching, pretty boy car is not getting blown away by the new technology. While I would point any friend putting together a new combo towards AI/LE/Ellwein Engines I am saying my old technology and stout bottom end has held up for many passes, including nitrous shots, PLUS it's driven cross country and back to all the large events and races.

Sorry to digress the thread, my name got mentioned twice.

As for which is better, AI or LE...I think the results might SLIGHTLY lean towards AI because of my first hand experience racing side by side with these guys season after season...but again...I know enough when to STFU when the smart people are talking. I just absorb and try and learn as much as I can.

So for right now, I just can't justify the extra $3K to get .5 faster. Besides...I need to save my pennies to finish the damn 502...she's so close...

because Dwayne doesn't know how to interact with the human species. He is rude, and ultra-defensive. I've really never seen anything like it, it's almost comical sometimes.

He can't have a normal conversation without trying to insult someone or push his favorite setup.

You know...like this... vvv

96capriceMGR said:

He replaced Lloyd's heads/intake/cam with AI's heads, cam and an as cast intake after he found a LOT of substantial problems with Lloyd's parts. It was a REPAIR. Point being he could have spent LESS and gone faster had he done it right the first time rather than the second.

Click to expand...

Just asking a question, man. Shove the CAPS UP YOUR ASS!

JetJoe said:

I was thinking the exact same thing.

Click to expand...

Yeah Stony and I exchanged emails, he made some cam suggestions (as did Pat Gish and few other friends) back in winter 2008-2009.

I decided I didn't want to mess with something that purrs like a kitten and is dead balls reliable. So I went taller (28") in the back to get more bite and went from 3.73's to 4.10 and went back to my tried and true Edge 3200.

My buddy has a relatively stock Impala and he drove the Flambe the other day and he was freaking out how responsive it was PLUS he couldn't believe it had a 3200 stall in it.

My car 60 fts like a beast but as you can imagine with that cam it leaves something on the table at the big end of the track.

I am really spooked on going into the motor after some bad experiences in the past.

LOL to all. I DO think a sick AI HC package will help me but as stated, I am surrounded by AI stuff at a lot of our races and I believe I would pick up .3-.5 at the most.

As far as Stony and a few others saying just do the cam...well hell if I'm going back into that motor, or should I say PAUL is going back in, then we are going to do heads too.

I like my consistent, drive-anywhere setup. I just put about 125 miles on her this past week playing around making sure she is ready to rock tomorrow at ETown.

Will post cold (45 and sunny forecasted) weather results here when I get home tomorrow night and also let you know how the ERE/AI 383 boys like Lance and Matrix did as well.

Also keep in mind, not that it matters much, mine is a 396.

It was built back in 2000 by Nick at Nutek before his business went down the toilet with all best-of-best all-Callies rotating assembly.

Found these pics of my junk in the archives... I know you guys like pikshers...

Etown yesterday. Tranny is almost done. 2-3 shift you can hear the engine rev a bit before it catches and starts pulling again.

Just thought you all would like to see this pic on the scales...



That's one fat whale! Full tank of gas, full drivers seat o'driver, 12 way Bonnies, 1500 carpet with dynamat, LTCC coil per cylinder, full nitrous bottle in trunk (not used), tool bag, etc. I listed anything I think added weight to the car.

I ran 12.45-12.55 although the slower runs had some serious slippage as the ETown right lane was a mess at the end of the day. It cost me a shot at the win IMO as I lost the coin flip to Keefer and had to go right in the finals. We were both tearing it up in the left lane going through eliminations. I bounced Nabby with an .019 light to his .060 light. Made him break out running away from me. A good light will slay a sandbagger every time. Also had an .025 light to send Dragon Wagon home.

So, anyway, 12.45-12.55 with 2-3 slippage. When I hooked I was in the 12.45-12.48 range all day.

60 fts were great as usual for a 4600 NA car:

1.64's all day when I hooked, 1.66-1.68's with slippage.

MPH's were all in the 107.5-107.8 MPH range.

I was about .3 slower than Lance all day, right where I expected to be.

BTW, I drove it there cranking the tunes and taking turns on the Belt Parkway at unrealistic speeds as usual. Raced all day, and drove it home like a maniac as well. God I love this car.

Comments, thoughts, suggestions?

LOL Jeff I already lost 50 lbs. I'm trying man!

And yes, I am tempted to one day gut it and really shake things up BUT my goal is to eventually finish the 502 and then make that my drive everywhere race car. Then I will look into weight reduction, etc.

The Flambe will then be returned to a pleasure driver and maybe even throw the 6-speed in her I've been dreaming about for 15 years.

The other 96 SS I sold to Shane had the 4L80E in it. This one is the tranny built by Terry in CT for Cliff and its been rebuilt a few times. I'm gonna try over-adding a little tranny fluid but I think since I spray through the shifts (even though it was just a baby 100 shot) I may have contributed to her demise.

Shane is promising me a Level Eleventy Billion 4L60E so we'll see what I decide to do. Of course, I've also thought of a Turbo 400 with a gear vendors overdrive...hehehehehe...

Lance said:

My SS with 4100 lbs race weight, 1st generation LE2 heads and AI 234/242 cam in a Ellwein 383 got 12.1's @ 111 all day at E-Town, but I still couldn't beat Keef

Click to expand...

Well, you were slightly faster than Keith and I was slightly slower and he whupped us both. It didn't matter on Saturday, the bastard was ON! I thought I was on too with my back to back .025 and .019 lights until I guessed wrong on the coin flip and wound up right lane in the slop for the finals.

ProTools4 said:

Cause ALL flow benches are created EQUAL

Click to expand...

You forgot to say...NOT! LOL.

Tad can show you benches that can get heads to flow 300+ if you want that to be your number.

Mike Harris said:

Try to remember that tire spin will kill reaction time. You likely reacted the same as the first two rounds, but the tire spin made it look like you fell asleep

Click to expand...

Thanks Mikey, you made me feel better-er.

I had a whole side conversation with Pat about how major slippage on bias ply's isn't as bad, they push you forward even while spinning. My rock solid 1.64's only deteriorated to 1.68's with what felt like major slippage.

Usually on DR's you wind up losing a tenth or more on your 60ft time when you slip.

-----

Defdaboss, are you saying that's way too much? I think it's a good deal to have them fully assemble it to their specs.