Johnmark - I'm definitely going to have to pay close attention to making sure the camshaft works with whatever setup I end up building. Proper parts selection is the key to making power.
I think you're probably right about the HP estimate. I did some quick math, and assuming that my Galaxie with me at the wheel weighs 3900 lbs, I need around 278 flywheel HP to run the quarter mile in 14.5 seconds. I think that for this big ol' car, 14 - 14.5 seconds is a good goal.
Like I said, I'm gonna have to start squirreling parts. I'll start with an intake and headers, and then I'll have my spare heads re-worked and I'll buy the cam last, put it all together, and have an exhaust bent up and installed. I'm just going to drive the car as-is this summer, and we'll see where we are in the fall.
I built the 400 that is in my Trans Am. I had the bottom end rebuilt with 0.030" over forged flat top pistons and had it zero decked. I had my 6X-4 heads milled 0.060" on the deck and intake faces (yeah, thats sixty thousandths) to get the compression up to 9.5:1. I did some basic porting work to the heads and polished the exhaust ports, but they're the best flowing of the "smog era" heads anyways, so their only real problem was compression. I'm running a Pontiac Ram Air IV camshaft with Rhoads lifters and roller rockers. Its topped off with an Edelbrock Performer intake and a properly tuned Quadrajet. It's exhausting through a set of Dynomax ceramic coated headers and a Thrush 2.5" dual exhaust. That motor makes insane power. It's matched up to a prepped TH350 with a custom 3000 RPM stall converter and a a 10-bolt positraction rear end with 3.73:1 gears. It pulls like a freight train and will run a standing quarter mile in 12.5 seconds. I haven't made it over to the dyno yet, but if you run the math, its got to be making all of 400 HP at the flywheel. I run out at Norwalk Raceway (ok, now it's Summit Motorsports Park) on Wednesday nights. It's a bummer 'cause we keep getting rained out. Hopefully next week it'll be nice enough to go racing again, I want to add to my trophy collection.
Matt
