How much is to much.....HP
- Thread starter shootinblanks
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He already has AL heads and a cam on his 350 so the $ of the $$ have already been spent.
What rear gears and torque converter does it have? You can make up for a lack of torque by spinning things faster.
IN a G body, really anything over 400hp without strengthening mods is asking for trouble. 3-450hp is great for a daily driven vehicle. 5-600 is good for a weekend cruiser you only have to fill with gas once or twice a month, anything over that is pretty much useless if you don't race a lot.
For a driver, the definition of "too much" for me depends on whether or not your power is streetable and you can hook up. Spinning is not winning. My Olds 403 had mad torque down low and would fry the tires off from a dig but compared to an LS engine would lack mid to high end power. I actually hope that my new 420 RWHP L92 set up has less low end torque but based on Texas Speed dyno graphs I doubt it. I am running the widest tire possible out back and suspect I will still have traction issues. I don't think I would ever mini tub the car or put tractor tires on it for the sake of performance.
HP needs follow application and 'wants'. What do you want it to do? Saying I want it to have ummph doesn't help anyone give advice without knowing what you have right now. I agree that if you don't want to open your current motor up, then a 383 crate motor is great plan, but definitely not the cheapest. But swapping in a 383 and using a 600cfm carb and stock manifolds or 1 1/2" shorty headers is silly. The same goes for using a stock TC or a set of V6 highway gears such as 2.__ anything or much less than 3.08 unless you're running a set of stock 14" tires. Others have mentioned you need to put together a combination of parts to achieve your goal - LISTEN TO THEM - they are not leading you astray.
We, my son and I, are in complete agreement with Anubis, we are always looking for streetable HP. Anubis has his plan with his L92 and hopefully it should meet his needs. Our needs ('wants') are 700 whp and still be streetable. And by streetable we mean reliable and reasonable fuel economy - 15ish mpg. Others might not be concerned about there cars being streetable, so there goals and wants are different. You need to come up with what you want.
With this in mind, please spend some time (free) answering UNGN's questions in post #14 and I'll add what transmission and size tires are you planning to run. I hate to see you, or anyone, waste money on a half baked build plan. Let us help.
We, my son and I, are in complete agreement with Anubis, we are always looking for streetable HP. Anubis has his plan with his L92 and hopefully it should meet his needs. Our needs ('wants') are 700 whp and still be streetable. And by streetable we mean reliable and reasonable fuel economy - 15ish mpg. Others might not be concerned about there cars being streetable, so there goals and wants are different. You need to come up with what you want.
With this in mind, please spend some time (free) answering UNGN's questions in post #14 and I'll add what transmission and size tires are you planning to run. I hate to see you, or anyone, waste money on a half baked build plan. Let us help.
Never too much hp, just depends on your goals. Your version of streetable could be more mild than mine, or more wild than mine. Some people want smooth idle and 20mpg for streetable.
I have a cam that is on the edge of using vacuum power brakes, still runs my a/c ok, and it runs 93 octane, to me its more than streetable... and I will go bigger eventually. Some people would shy away from this.
I have a cam that is on the edge of using vacuum power brakes, still runs my a/c ok, and it runs 93 octane, to me its more than streetable... and I will go bigger eventually. Some people would shy away from this.
G bodies were not built with unlimited capacity for torque and horsepower. 80s G bodies are even weaker than their late 70s counterparts due to downsizing and cost cutting. 80s versions are made of thinner gauges and have internal bracing deleted. Unlike modern cars, G bodies are constructed of mild steel which is weaker than HS steel modern cars use. They were designed and built to be cheap, light, granny cars with the performance sub models as afterthoughts. GNs, with high hp can blow out rear windshields from body twist and snap off lca frame mounts not to mention stress cracks in the body. If you really want a 500 hp or more Gbody, start with a aftermarket frame swap. Like with so many things, there is always a declining return on investment such as with hp, especially increasing power in old cars.
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