I ran my best times ever at St. Louis this weekend. I ran two 15.21's at 87.5 m.p.h. I also ran a 15.22 at 87.5 m.p.h. Corrected altitude according to Mike Jeffries was around 1000 feet. My best previous time to this was 15.38 @88 m.p.h.

Spec's on car:

69 Valiant 2 dr. 3005 lbs. with driver
.060" over 225 with cast sealed power pistons
head milled .090", stock valves, bowl ported, gasket matched intake & exhaust ports on head and intake.
Cast iron super six intake with Holley 2bbl from a 360/400 chrysler v-8
MP 268/460" solid lifter cam
stock 904 auto with 2800 rpm stall converter
8 3/4" rear with 3:91 gears
235/60r14 rear tires 25" tall
Clifford Shorty headers with Clifford 2 into 1 adapter open header

Here's the thing, my MPH through the lights never changes from 87 mph. My e.t. can change .4 but the mph is always the same. I go through the lights at 5000 rpm's. I stayed in the throttle after I went through the lights and there are no rpm's left. I checked my spark plug color and they have just the lightest tan color on them with no speckles from detonation. My timing is at 35 btdc total mechanical advance.

I think I have reached the limit on this engine combo. I am going to work on a bigger valve head/ported head this winter. I have some other sneaky plans up my sleeve so there should be a big difference next year. Time and money will tell.

Joel Harris

Cool. Your package is very similar to the one I'm running. I'm in the mid to high 15's. One main difference is your 3.91 gear, but I augment my 3.23 with 22" tires and I have a 2.74 low gearset in the trans. My MPH is very similar to yours. I've run 90, but that was with a serious tailwind I hope going to a higher stall coverter will help my times.

This "2800 RPM" converter you're running... Is that the advertised stall speed, or where it stalls behind your motor? Are you pleased with it? I'm still trying to figure out which one to try next. My TCI "breakaway" is stalling around 2100-2200 RPM.

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

I purchased the converter from a swap meet for $25 some years ago. The guy I bought it from said it was from a 360 and would stall at 3500 rpm behind it. I knocked the balance weights off so it is a neutral balance now. I can foot brake it to 2500 rpm and it will flash between 2800 and 3000 rpm. It really made a difference in the 60 foot times on this car. I went from 2.3 seconds to 2.1 seconds. The only drawback is at highway speeds the converter is slipping about 500 rpm's.

Cool. What converter did you have in before? My 60' times are in the 2.4+ range right now. If you don't mind me asking, what is your starting line technique? Are you running a trans cooler to cope with all the slipping?

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

I used to have the stock converter which I had loosened up approx. 500 rpm by the local torque converter rebuilder. It would foot brake to about 2200 and flash to 2500 rpm.

The 3.91 gears made a big difference also. If I change back to 3:23 gears my 60 ft times go to 2.4 sec.

I don't have anything other than the stock trans cooler. I have never noticed a problem with the trans getting hot. I suppose if I took it on a long trip I would add a cooler, but since I don't go too far it isn't an issue.