Technical More power from a small block chev

Hey legends!

trying to get more into the drag racing aide of things with my 63 impala, with my 350 chev just looking for some tips/ways to get as much horsepower i can while keeping it naturally aspirated?
Theres alot of knowledgeable people on here so any tips would be great on where to start. Its already got a cam and 650 holly.
Cheers heres a picture of us at the 40th annual rod run in narrandera australia

 

Just a few questions. Do you intend to keep it something you can still drive on the street? What fuel do you have available?

 

There are a lot of things you can do to wake it up and make it more reliable, though perhaps the thing that you will notice most would be a set of aftermarket heads and a good dyno tune by someone who frequently times carbureted small blocks ( not someone who only tunes with a laptop).

cheers,
Harv

 

Also, what transmission and rear end ratio does it have?

 

Which 350 ? There's a bunch of different ones & there wasn't one in '63

 

What's your budget?
What's your current ET?
What ET is your goal?

 

What kind of drag racing around you wanting to do? Occasionally and having fun, or are you wanting to be competitive in a certain class? Those are two very different things. 1/8 mile, 1/4?

Is your engine a low-compression, low octane, low horsepower stock engine, or is it something better than that?

Putting heads, cam, and intake on a dog will make it less of a dog, but won't make it a race engine.

Is your engine in a good state of repair? I just found a bunch of horsepower on the 355 in my 62 Bel Air by replacing a worn out distributor and retiming it.

You have basically no information, we need a lot more.

Your car looks like it would be a sweet street cruiser currently.

 

The ol adage

"Horsepower costs money, how fast do you want to go"

 

Big block

 

Weight. Biggest enemy of ET. 'X' frame. Best supporting actor nominee of killing ET (although the more serious you get there are solutions). Addiction. Drag racing is more addicting than tattoos.

Ok, let's assume you're already there but you still gotta scratch that itch. You can build a 550hp motor but if the rest of the car isn't made to play nice then you're entering a pancake eating contest while suffering 3rd day constipation. You need a goal, a target, a plan. "I wanna go fast!" is simply the title. You need a chapter on budget too, but rear axles in those era Chevy models crack like peanut shells when asked to move 1.75 tons of car 60' with any measure of "authority". I'm not trying to dissuade your ideals here, I can imagine an old stock class look-alike with vintage decals and lettering, perhaps capable of sub-14 sec ETs and yet remains supremely drivable. Even at that, the mid bearing driveshaft will need attention in order to stay reliable when you start launching in anger. There's billet/urethane mid bearing blocks that help.
Gather all of that up in your cliff notes and once sorted you can decide the end game. Speed costs $$$$$ too so how fast do you wanna spend? In the most real world level of advice I'd recommend you start hanging out as often as possible in the sandbox you wanna play in. There's sure to be someone with a good motor/trans combo they've set aside that might be what the Dr ordered, and usually for a lot less than what it costs starting from scratch. I hope I didn't piss in your coffee here, and I'll again assume you had at least some of this in mind. But the single most important? Once you've mapped an A thru Z strategy STICK WITH IT. I've seen a lot of cars left abandoned because that 12 sec bracket racer got convinced he was really wanting trying to run Top Sportsman. It happens. Tell us more, whatcha want, how fast, how soon...


Quick edit, how kool would it be to get an old vintage racer that gets dragged to the track by a tow bar attached to your 4dr hard top? Sometimes a turnkey car can be had for a modest investment that would be faster than what you could do with whatcha got now. Just sayin...

 

How much horse power ? How much do you have to spend ?

Just saying that you've got a "cam", means NOTHING to the readers ! What grind (brand?) is the cam ?

1 - A quality aluminum intake manifold. Normally Edelbrock, maybe a "Performer", or "Performer RPM".
2 - Ported cylinder heads. Or aftermarket aluminum heads.
3 - Replace the (probably) 3.23 gears from the rear axle and install 3.50 or 3.73 gears. Remember you need "torque" at the tires to the ground.
4 - Update the ignition (all of it). New or a quality rebuild of the original.

That's a simple start.
Remember...Details matter...(that would be Holley...not holly !).

Mike

 

Since summer is right around the corner, I'm assuming you don't want to get to deep. There are some pretty decent aftermarket heads out there. That's going to be your best bang for the buck without getting into pistons/cam change etc. Don't get carried away. Stick with cast iron and smaller port size.

Then there is always a gear change/torque convertor upgrade.

 

Keep in mind that a '63 Impala is a big girl to get moving. Going quicker is always more fun, but your choice of car is probably not a good starting point if you want to be seriously competitive. And the other guys are correct, real get up and go doesn't come cheap, especially normally aspirated. Be realistic as to what you want and what you can afford to acheive. It is not just about an engine. It is an entire package deal. Power adding exposes the weak links and other things will fail to cope. Money, money, money......

 

The most HP gain for the money in my book is in better heads. The right cam certainly helps, but if the heads are restricting it then it wont make more HP than the heads allow flow for. A good pair of aluminum heads will change a decent HP engine to much more. And if your compression is not very high the new heads can be bought with smaller combustion chambers and bump compression up also to get better ratio.

 

He's in Australia, they're going into winter.

 

Well then, that changes everything. Send your block and 10k to the machine shop.

 

To quote squirrel - "Begin with the ending in mind."

 

He's in Australia. Better make that 20k.

The first few tenths of a second will be the easiest and cheapest to find. As you get quicker you will be astounded by how much a tenth can cost....... Then you start chasing hundredths.

 

That can be costly if applied without other things. Destruction in a bottle.

 

Take some of the advice you have been offered, and put a blower on it.

 

A 63 Impala weighs 3700 lbs, plus a 200 lb driver = 3900 lbs
If you could get an honest 350 hp that would be good for a 12.90 second quarter @ 105 mph

That would be a respectable time for a heavy N/A street car

You need as much mechanical leverage out of the hole
I would hunt down a T56 6 speed from a Holden "Commode" [2.66 1st] then install a 5.13 rear end
Then a pair of Hoosier 28"dia DOT cheater slicks.

You'll need your engine to pull 6400-6500 through the traps

With the 6 speed and 5.13 rear end you will be cruising in 6th at 1940 rpm at 100 km/h with 28"dia tyres [or if you swap them over to 25"dia street tyres 2170 rpm at 100 km/h]

You need to get the car to hook up [eg 90/10 front shocks etc]

He's in Australia

 

I have a friend who said " Girls are OK! but he preferred the real thing, He would rather go drag racing"

 

Yea...I understood that after the first guy that couldn't wait to correct me.

 

Beat me to it! Nice reflexes!

 

Mikey likes it! Bolt on the power adder.

 

Big blocks can make very strong numbers naturally aspirated. Without some form of boost, you would be lucky to get where you really want to be with a 350. NOS is good for cheap short term power, but it is hard on equipment. I like to build a strong bottom end and then add on from there. If you can’t afford the great heads right now you could easily add them later. Buy a good cam that will work with a blower if you find a good deal. Think of your engine build as a modular system. As you get the chance, upgrade the modules. But always make sure there is room to grow and that all the parts will compliment each other.

 

Since you’re from Australia I’d be looking at a Ford I6 4.0L Barra. I have no experience with them but from what hear they can take insane amounts of hp and abuse. Garrett Motion 62mm turbo is good for 850 hp. Surprise a lot folks with one in a four door Impala.

 

Cheapest hp available for a SBC is Vortec heads which can be gotten very cheap nowadays but you can’t hide the center bolts.