Use the right combination of parts, and tune it properly!

I talk to a lot of people that work on their musclecars, trying to "Restify" them ( Restore/Modify if you don't know the term.) and end up disappointed with the results. I think the problem is the old- "A little bit of knowledge is dangerous" theory. Here's what I mean. Someone reads that the Edelbrock Victor Jr intake manifold and a 750 Double-pumper Holley made the most peak hp on a dyno test of different manifolds on a small-block Chevy. He doesn't read that the engine in question was an 11:1 383 with a roller cam with .538 lift, and aftermarket aluminum heads, and that it went in a Nova with 4.11 gears and a 4-speed. The Victor Jr is a single-plane design that is popular in Nascar and makes peak power between 4,000 and 8,000 rpm. He puts this combo on his 72 Chevelle with 8.5:1 compression, a hydraulic cam with .383/401 lift, and an automatic with 2.73:1 gears. It's a dog, and doesn't even run as good as it did bone-stock. That's because the Victor sacrifices low-speed and mid-range torque for top-end pull. On the hot 383, that makes 450+ lbs ft of torque, that's okay. Even if he lost 50 lbs of low-speed torque, he still has 400 lbs ft, and the mechanical advantage of stiff gearing, to get the car moving and get the engine up on it's power curve. On the stock 350, that makes maybe 280 lbs ft of torque, losing 50 lbs of torque kills it. Further, the high ( low numeric ) gearing, further handicaps it at low-speed. And, the stock engine is going to start running out of breath about 4,500 rpm, and be all done in by about 5,200. The Victor intake doesn't even START to make power until about 4,000, so you see the problem. He'd have been better off with an Edelbrock Performer intake ( which builds torque from idle-5,500 rpm) and a 600 cfm vacuum-secondary carb. It would also serve him well to swap the 2.73 cog for a 3.42 or 3.73 to put what power he does have to the ground effectively. The same goes for camshaft selection. Everyone says "Put a Cam in it." It's true, that the camshaft is a big source of engine power, but especially in a street-driven car with an automatic transmission, it's better to err on the side of caution. You have to remember that your engine is basically an air pump. The more air and fuel you can flow through it, the more power it will make. This is accomplished three ways- one- with cylinder pressure-i.e. high compression ratios, or forced induction, i.e. supercharging or turbocharging. Two with a larger engine-cubic inches, or three with better flowing cylinder heads, and a longer duration, higher lift cam. A bigger cam is going to bleed off cylinder pressure. That's why you need high compression to run really big cams. There are some cams on the market, that are short duration/high lift, and close the intake valve early to build cylinder pressure, and "fool" a low-compression engine into acting like a higher compression one. These are good for relatively stock engines, with stock torque converters and high gearing like 2.41-3.08. The cam manufacturers will give you good guidelines on what works and what doesn't regarding intake and exhaust, engine size, ( a cam that kills a 305 inch small-block Chevy will run great in a 400 small-block) car weight ( A cam that rocks in 327/4-speed Camaro, is probably not going to work in a 350 powered 3/4 ton Suburban with an automatic pulling a trailer). Axle ratio is important too. Put a Ram Air IV cam in your 8:1 compression, 2.56 geared, automatic, "Smokey and the Bandit" Trans-Am and wonder why it's a slug. Like the Victor Jr intake on the Chevy, the RAIV package, even on a torquey 400 Pontiac, sacrificed a lot of low-end torque for top-end rush. There'a a reason that RAIV cars had 10.75:1 compression and were only available with 3.90 or 4.33 gears! Most cars, whether small-block or big-block do well with gearing in the 3.23-3.73 range. Go to 4.11 or 4.56 and your engine runs out of rpm, and no one wants to be buzzing at 4,000 rpm on the freeway. The last thing is basic tuning. I see so many cars, that run like crap. Check them out, and the timing is way advanced or way retarded, the vacuum advance is unplugged, the carburator is way rich or way lean, the spark plugs are two ranges too hot or too cold, and other ills that can cost you as much as 50 hp, on a bone-stock engine. Get information from the experts before you start buying parts. The Edelbrock "Total Power Packages" i.e.-heads, cam, and carb and intake, give you good guidelines on how to build for street, towing or drag racing. A little research might stop you from spending a ton of money and then being disappointed in your car's performance. Mastermind