Ok all you car techies!

[-SpYrL-]

Right now I have a 74 Nova pushed by the basically stock 350 V8 (with 4 bolt main). I wanna know top speeds for it before I go and try to race it. My dad owns a body shop and all but I don't want to give him the idea I will be racing by asking him top speeds. Also a mechanic friend of his has a tricked 350 v8 that will push out ~400hp that he will sell cheaply but my dad will only let me get it if I decide to do bracket racing. Should I leave it as it is or is the bracket racing stuff actually pretty fun?

-SpYrL-

 

[Viperoni]

Bracket
besides, which would look better @ your local friendly stop light (dealer?)?
tiny patch or a huge strip + cloud?
The tricked out engine should do you for at least 140, I figure

 

[Demon-Xanth]

It will largely depend on how the engine is tuned and gearing, however I wouldn't suggest taking it too far past 150MPH w/o doing some body tweaks.

 

[Soybomb]

Thats up to you! What kind of racing are you looking at in particular? 1/8th bracket drags, 1/4 mile bracket drags, 1/8th mile heads up drags, 1/4 miles heads up, Autocross, etc.

Personally I like 1/4 mile drags the best, not in brackets, just to see how my tweaks to my car have helped. If you're going to bracket race though it doesnt have to be fast, just consistent. Go to the track on a test and tune night and get some baseline runs in to see how fast and quick it is, and to get a feel for the car and track.

 

[-SpYrL-]

Probably some type of 1/4 mile drags if I did, but are they all that fun?. Also the car still needs some work like having the entire exhaust redone cause the mufflers got about an 1" wide whole in it and the rest of it is rusted. The body is also getting rust around the corners. I can paint it and all myself but that would just be temporarily fixing it. It could really also use having the carburator (sp) rebuilt because of the 5 years or so it spent sitting.

I would actually rather have my dad's yellow 75 Vette though. It pushes ~375HP at the rear wheel according to a recent dyno test. (But that is a different story)

-SpYrL-

 

[LAUST]

When it comes to the motor it will depend on your cam also but in a 1/4 mile race you probably won't reach your top end.