Re: 1973 el camino luck of power

by SSTOOLMAN Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:28 am

bracketchev1221 wrote:You can compromise a little on this by maybe not putting so much gear in it, but increasing the stall speed of the converter. The trick to quicker acceleration is how quick you can get the engine into its powerband. So you can do it with gear, or make the converter slip to accelerate the engine a little faster. But the converter won't affect your cruising rpm too much as gears do. I plan on using a 3.42 gear and about a 24-2600 stall converter in mine.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bmm-20412
I put in a B&M Hole Shot 2400 rpm converter this spring along with 3.42's and I love it... I went from 2.73's so its quite a difference.
The 275R60s' tires will smoke with little effort. Speedo is 11 mph faster than actual now and it runs 2800 rpm at 65 mph.
Dropped my gas mileage from 14 mpg to 11 mph. But that's the trade off... more fun = less $$$...

by rogal_tx Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:10 pm

Is it worth looking for posi Rear end with 3.42s? Because I have 10 bolt non posi with 2.73s right now and don't know if I just should replace the gears to 3.42s?

by dynchel Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:18 pm

i will warn you about my experience. Before converting to posi i could "one wheel peel" for probably 30 feet. After the posi, it is reduced to probably 15 feet with lots of wheel hop. I have done alot of research and found it is more common with posi to get wheel hop than with a open rearend. You may not aquire this problem, but its more headaches (and $$$) if you do.

by bracketchev1221 Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:04 pm

You just need twice as much power now. That's all. Very Happy

by dynchel Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:43 pm

bracketchev1221 wrote:You just need twice as much power now. That's all.

Yeah, but his problem is "lack (luck?) Of power) plus a elcamino will have less weight over the rear end.

by rogal_tx Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:27 pm

My bad (lack not luck) auto correct on my phone Wink

by rogal_tx Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:20 am

Hey, I just uploaded video to youtube of the 1973 el camino that we have been talking about. Here is the link for those that want to see it.
Thanks for all the help.

https://youtu.be/9SFs8BIGrSI

by pila Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:49 am

That '73 looks good. However, he needs to secure all the hoses & spark plug wires that are laying all over the engine. Simple stuff maybe, but it makes for a neat looking engine......

by rogal_tx Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:05 am

In regards to hoses and spark plug wires, yes I will do secure all that to look more neat. It was secured at one point but firing order was wrong so I had to undo it.

by Dinomyte Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:05 pm

Looks real nice.

by 77mali Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:11 pm

Definitely sounds like a factory cam from the era. The motor sounds tuned well also.

Just curious but have you checked for any problems with the trans or the converter? Even with 2.73 rear gears- you s/b able to "feel" 190 horses when you hit the throttle.

by pila Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:24 am

The bigger the engine, the lower the ratio in the rear ! Very Happy

I got away with a 2.56 in the '77 Elco I had, with a well messaged 406, but it did eat two transmissions before I built my own...
A 3.73 would have been a lot of fun though....

by rogal_tx Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:42 am

Transmission doesn't feel like its slipping, it was rebuild 6-8 months prior to my purchase. As far as problems with converter I'm not sure what to look for? I switched the vacuum line to port that gets constant vacuum and adjusted timing, carb and it runs a lot better. I'm not 100% sure that you can feel full 190 hp but it will get up and go compering to what it felt before.

by bracketchev1221 Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:54 pm

pila wrote: The bigger the engine, the lower the ratio in the rear ! I got away with a 2.56 in the '77 Elco I had, with a well messaged 406, but it did eat two transmissions before I built my own...
A 3.73 would have been a lot of fun though....

So would a 540 cu in engine with a 4.88 gear make sense? Very Happy

I had them when I went 9.30's then dropped to 4.56's when I went 9 teens, and now have 4.33 gears going 9.0's. Every time the mph went up, I kept having to drop the RPM back down to 7500 at the stripe.

by bracketchev1221 Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:56 pm

I'll be honest, I think a 2.73 gear and a stock converter are just not going to let a short stroke 350 get up and go. Even 190 hp, is about 150 at the wheels.

by pila Sat Oct 25, 2014 11:04 pm

Not a good combo for sure. Likely OK for a daily driver when not in a hurry....

by rogal_tx Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:13 pm

Well, than its very clear and abvious what I have to do. Swap out stock converter and change out gears to 3.42, unless I will find posi track rear end with similar geers. Thanks everyone

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