last of the stingray

my 1976 350 needs more horse power what is the best way to improve its performance?

redman76

First, welcome to the forum; there are a lot of talented, experienced, and willing-to-help people here. Always good to see another 76er. What are your performance goals and budget? Headers and true dual exhaust (depending on your smog testing requirements/laws), and rebuilding/recurving the distributor and timing are good places to start. Do you have L48 or L82 engine? What shape are the suspension and brakes?

snoopykissedlucy

Most people use the word horsepower yet mean something else.......
If you just want to smoke the kid down the street in a ricer car, here's my cheap formula:
Buy a timing light with advance and a vacuum gauge.

STL 71 C3

buy another vette

snoopykissedlucy

Tune your carb to pull the most vacuum at idle and give her the most advance she can take with no stumble.
Total cost= $50
Next, buy a new exhaust and high flow mufflers.....delete the cat or buy high flow cats.
Torque is your friend.........horsepower is for real racers running over 5000 rpms.
Speed cost money.........how fast do you want to go?

oldalaskaman

stick yer foot....further init

billla

The first question is how much money do you want to spend. There is always power available...at a price.

Is the car completely stock? Does it run well? Any current issues?

U17

Best way to get more horsepower,torgue ect...

Krystal

That should help, I'd expect!

I know you didn't post this with any intention of answering questions but you could really help me out.........

Concerning the side pipes and headers. I'd like to do those in my car too. But I keep reading that they won't work with "angle plug" heads. We recently installed a pair of RHS angle plug aluminum heads on my car and I was shocked to read the disclaimer on the hooker headers I was considering. Looking at your own situation can you see any reason why that might be the case? Even if you are using "straight in" plug heads can you see where there is a potential problem? Maybe take a picture of your set up for me?

I ask because you might be the only person out there who could give me such a clean "shot" it with the engine not yet in the car!!

last of the stingray

Thanks for responding. I have replaced the stock manifold and carb. with a Edelbrock performer series manifold and a 1406 Edelbrock carb also replace the distributor with a oem replacement. Brakes are in need of some work plan on replacing the calipers and putting on new disks. I have already replaced the master cylinder. The engine is a L-48 so I figure the horsepower is around 170? Going to put headers on I am looking at some from speed daddy 4.1 style stainless 1 5/8 inlet to 3" outlet. Thoughts??? I am willing to spend around 2000.00 If I replace the cam Is it necessary to pull the motor? I should probably get some head work done too.

billla

Headers and a free-flowing exhaust are the next smart investment and will deliver real gains when combined with your Performer intake - likely 20-25 HP.

The next best step is a good dyno tune; there are few shops that know how to do carb tunes any more; I would post in your regional forum to find a good shop. Given the new carb and distributor, I'd bet cash money that there's a lot of power, throttle response and driveability improvement to be found in a good tune

A mild cam swap would definitely add power as the L-48 cam is pretty weak. The engine doesn't need to come out. If you're planning on a cam, wait until after it's done for your dyno tune - every change requires an updated state of tune.

I think with the headers, exhaust, dyno tune and cam swap you're in a good place and probably spent about 1/2 of your budget. Heads would be the next investment; the stock heads aren't really worth investing machine work in.

If you want to tackle this all at once, a Vortec top - heads, intake and all the bits - can be done for around $1K and will make a huge difference. Add in a cam change and the headers and you're looking at around 1 HP/CID at the flywheel...which is a definite improvement!

Many, many ways good ways to skin this particular cat!

7T1vette

The Edelbrock carb you bought is a step 'backwards', as it's a knock-off of the old Carter AFB carb (pre-Qjet design). It can be made to perform at WOT just as well as any other carb; but it is a very simple and rudimentary carb, by comparison. It will not ADD any power to the engine, other than it might be in better condition than what it replaced.

Your first step should be to get some FREE power...power that is already available to the engine with adjustments to the engine timing curve produced by the centrifugal timing system inside the distributor. Most 'off-the-shelf' units are not set up for "performance". Do a SEARCH on past Forum threads on "distributor timing" and you should find lots of available info on how to make these changes. You will need a timing light--a dial-back light is much easier to use for this work--and some general purpose tools. You will also need to do some reading so that you understand this process and how it works. And you need some patience so that you can do the job correctly.

Lastly, you should know that advancing timing too much can cause engine knock; that can actually damage your engine.

U17

I can't really help with the angled plug question.... Mine is just a stock ZZ383 set up just like in the catalogs .... If Hooker or any manufacturer says their headers won't fit believe them !!!My engine has been in since July of '07 so pics are probably out of the question now.. I do have general pics but no real detail....

garygnu

try a elderbrock air gap and a holley 3310 with adjustable secondary springs.look at a newer HEI distributor with vac advance from jegs or summit.what exhaust do you have ?

7T1vette

That's the ticket! Throw money at it and it must go faster...

63mako

None of the above will get you noticable horsepower over what you have with your stock L48. You already know about headers and free flowing exhaust. That needs to be #1 priority. A performance distributor curve is a must. Stock curve sucks. It is for emissions and warrantee repair prevention not performance. You have a new carb and performer intake. Next step is heads and cam. I would suggest Dart SHP 180 heads with 64 cc chambers and a 1094 head gasket. That will bump your compression to about 9.5 to 1. Cam is a controversial subject. I would always, always recommend a roller cam. Howards is a good choice.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HRS-CL111145-10/

last of the stingray

hi The heads with the single valve spring or the duel valve springs? What is the difference?
Also what is the difference between cams as far as a roller cam vs regular?

last of the stingray

stock right now but looking at headers from stainless steel headers from speed daddy

jawagner777

Please nobody kill me but I bought the OBX headders and sidepipes and they fit perfect on my 78. Put in Sweet Thunder 2.5 inserts and they are very very nice. Think I have $900 invested in them all day.

AirborneSilva

Pictures please