Possible combo for my 400 - good or bad?

[Charger_Croatia]

First let's say something about actual situation with my car and with use of her.
She should be kind of weekend driver so I can enjoy in cruising around. Engine is stock 400 2bbl; 8.25 rear end 2,76 ratio; tires would be 255/60/15 rear.
I would like to make her a bit more respectable by some ricers around. I don't want to do anything "wild" so some bolt-on parts and camshaft will suite my needs (I hope).
Due to problems with getting parts here I need to be sure what to buy and here is a list of what would like to do:
- Weiand Action Plus dual plane intake manifold 8008
- Holley 670 cfm Street Avenger carburetor with electric choke
- Fel-Pro Valley Pan
- Comp cam Extreme Energy 21-222-4; Adv. 262/270 ; Dur. @ 0.050 218/224 ; V. lift 0.462/0.470 ; lobe center 110
- Dual exhaust with x-pipe (I think to use 2 1/4'' pipes)

As I said for the moment the rest will remain stock (exhaust manifolds, rear end and converter). I don't even know how to get part such as rear end and transport it here.

Neal, Ron I need your opinion on this. And suggestion on Cam if this one is not suitable.

[aifilaw]

Charger_Croatia 

First of all I'll mention two things, first of all that I don't know anything about the weiand action plus.
I do know of only two intakes that play to the strengths of the 383 and 400 aspect dimensions, those are the holley street dominator, and the edelbrock air gap dual plane. In the last website we did a huge analysis and although there was some bemoaning I don't think you'll complain over either of those choices as they are head and shoulders above the rest. a traditional dual plane is not a good choice for your 400. The holley is out of production but can be bought second hand.
I much prefer double-pumpers to vacuum secondaries, so much more you can do, much finer tuning abilities, but if your skill level in this area is low or you don't want to jack with it too much, that is a fine choice. The carb won't make much of a difference as far as performance goes though, I prefer to simply rip a used one out of a junker, rebuild it for 10-50 bucks and its perfect.

There are two ways to make the car in its current state respectable on the street and gain the most acceleration for the cheapest price. exhaust, and rear end. Your rear gear ratio is built for cruising the highway, swap those out with 3.73's, or even 3.55's and you'll see a 2+ second difference in your times on the strip. The exhaust is by far your most restrictive force, and its one of the cheapest and easiest upgrades, far moreso than changing the camshaft. You'll see a good 40-60 hp from going with a pair of headers that cost under $300 just from that swap alone.

In regards to the camshaft, your significantly undershooting the part of the powerband where your engine actually makes power. if this was a 413, or a 440, then it could certainly be, but the 400 lives a bit beyond the 3000-4000 range that cam will provide without some better flowing exhaust ports, if you do not change the exhaust I'd suggest going with a larger cam, something with about 10 more degree's on the intake and exhaust duration. If you swap in headers, I'd suggest further looking into the cam.

[cudaken]

  A switch to 3.23's would be cheaper, 74 Police convert is cheap and will give you a 2400 stall for around $75.00.

Are you manafolds HP or a 2 barrel manafolds? If log type (2 barrel) I have to adgree with aifilaw about the headers. If HP's, well hurt some but not that much. I would guess with X pipes might lose 5 to 10 HP with the cam you listed if that.

I have had great luck with the Edelbrock DP4 with a stock to mild cam.  Next would be the old Troker intake but with a hotter cam than you listed. I would look at the DB4 but not the Troker.


Gears and exhaust is your biggest bang for the bucks.!


              Cuda Ken

[firefighter3931]

I'm gonna assume the motor is a low compression 400 because most of them were. That means you need to keep the cam conservative to build cylinder pressure and torque, especially with those gears. The cam i'd go with is an engle k54 which has a 112 lsa and 214*@.050 valve lift. A set of valvesprings to match the cam and a new timing chain. Pulling the heads and milling them would help but this cam profile should work pretty good as is if you don't want to open the motor up.

A good dual exhaust system and the 670 carb will be fine. You don't want a double pumper in a heavy car with stock stall speed and 2.76 gears.    As for the intake manifold, you want to use a dualplane to build as much torque as possible with that combo. The action plus is supposed to be descent but the old Edelbrock DP4B is also a good match. Check e-bay for a used one....you should be able to find it for under $100. This manifold is no longer in production but they're still out there.

Ron

[Charger_Croatia]

Guys, thanks lot for advices. As I said, I'm considering to do something to gain some power (or torque).

Aifilaw/Cudaken : I guess experience is quite important since I did my combo based on let's say more theoretical side. If Eddy intake is better choice that's fine. Headers is on my mind also. Thanks for the tip on carburetor Aifilaw. As for rear end, I would like to make swap to 3.23 ratio since I would like to have driveable car for cruising also, not hot street machine. Don't forget that I have 8.25 rear end. But my biggest problem is location. Since I'm overseas it is hard even to start negotiation for me. It would be nice to get 8.75 rear but hey, how to organize transport of that part to Europe.    And I don't have a clue where to find 74 Police converter   

Firefighter: I think it is low compression 400. It came with remanufactured 2bbl Carter carburetor when I got car. I must say that I was looking at K54 but I put Comp cam here since I found a set on Summit with lifters, springs and chain. So K54 should be way to go. What about #2186 Performer Intake (just in case I had problems to get used ones)?

[cudaken]

 Charger_Croatia, I don't know anything about 8.25 rear ends excpet they are cheap. If I can find you a rear end would you want it? Let me know and I will do some checking and see what I can find in the 3.23 range. I have no clue as what gears they have.

I be happy to help with shipping as well. I don't know why people make such a big deal about shipping over sea's. Paper work only take's 5 minutes to fill out.

Let me know and I will see what I can find from local friends.

                                    Cuda Ken

[Charger_Croatia]

Charger_Croatia, I don't know anything about 8.25 rear ends excpet they are cheap. If I can find you a rear end would you want it? Let me know and I will do some checking and see what I can find in the 3.23 range. I have no clue as what gears they have.

I be happy to help with shipping as well. I don't know why people make such a big deal about shipping over sea's. Paper work only take's 5 minutes to fill out.

Let me know and I will see what I can find from local friends.

                                    Cuda Ken

Ken, thanks a lot. Check your PM box for message

[firefighter3931]

Firefighter: I think it is low compression 400. It came with remanufactured 2bbl Carter carburetor when I got car. I must say that I was looking at K54 but I put Comp cam here since I found a set on Summit with lifters, springs and chain. So K54 should be way to go. What about #2186 Performer Intake (just in case I had problems to get used ones)?

The 262 comp grind is a little big for your combo....if you had to run a Comp cam the next smaller grind would be my pick. The k54 will make more power than the Comp because of increased valve lift and more agressive lobes. As for the manifold : the action plus is a better choice than the performer. I just mentioned the dp4b as an option to save you some $$ if you can find one on e-bay.

Is the 8.25 rear a suregrip or a one legger ? An upgrade to an 83/4 or even a 91/4 with a little more gear would help a lot with "the off the line" performance.

What year is the Charger....the 71 and up use a wider axle than the 66-70 b-bodies, fyi. If it's a 71-74 you might be able to score a nice 91/4 suregrip rearend cheap that'll bolt right in.

Ron

[Charger_Croatia]

Ron, thanks for these few tips.

As for rear and, I guess it is one 8.25 legger and I'm aware what gain I can have with some steeper gears. On my first run when car arrived only one tire (right side) made burning marks on the road. My car is '73 and I must say that I didn't think a lot of 9 1/4. It seems that could be the best way to go.

If I'm right than: Action Plus intake+670cfm carb(or 750 cfm)+K54+Headman headers+dual exhaust+3.23 rear end = good combo ??

[Chryco Psycho]

I agree the performer is not a good intake choice

[firefighter3931]

If I'm right than: Action Plus intake+670cfm carb(or 750 cfm)+K54+Headman headers+dual exhaust+3.23 rear end = good combo ??

Yep, that should work nice, even with the 2.76 gears.

Ron

[Charger_Croatia]

Thank you all for help on this matter. 

I guess after all I should have nice cruiser with certain potential. I don't have intention to be involved in off-line starts (well, never say never), more likely to step on it while rolling around and she should be able to do something against most of the European cars.