hey all, i fianlly got the coupe deville out to the track. i had a blast but got beat every race. but i was just out there to have some fun:cool2:
my best time was 17.834@77 MPH with a .825 R/T that was my first run of the night too. i couldn't ever really get my E/T's any quicker but by the end of the night i was cutting good lights i got my R/T down to .247. anyway i was just wondering waht other people's 1/4 mile tims are. i have a 1978 coupe deville with a 425 and 140K on the clock

I am not sure if you know or not... but the RT has nothing at all to do with 1/4 ET.... and the reason why it is so high, is because you probably wait until you see the green light to go... the green light is *not* go, "go" is the last yellow light :)

'78 Coupe, 140k miles... all stock? you ran a 17.8@77mph.

Not too bad... my '79 Sedan, 90k miles, all stock except for 14" Edelbrock open element air filter (whoop de doo) ran a 17.5@78sec.

my race weight was about 4,700lbs or so. IIRC the track elevation was 1,100ft.

I am going to be putting on a modified 472 intake manifold and rebuilt carburator (it is already modified, just not on), then race it again. It needs a shift kit as it takes about a second to shift from 1-2... well, maybe not a whole second, but it is way too soft, even under WOT.

But most of all, the 2.28 gears do absolutly nothing for performance on the car, that is the ultimate thing holding the car back... we'll have to see though.

I'd say, considering the age, mileage, and million ther factors, our times are damn close and accurate :)

wow thats not bad, i read that a '75 Coupe Deville will run a 17.6 at 78 Mph, same exact time for a '75 Eldorado Hardtop. I got these out of a 1975 Issue of Motor Trend and a 1975 Issue of Road Test Magazine.

The 75 is a completely differant animal though with an extra 75ci and nearly 1000lbs.

Rick, don't you have a gutted cat too?

It will be interesting to see what my 1/4 miles are when I finish the Eldo

yeah i know exactly what the r/t time is and that it has nothing to do with the e/t i'm just saying that i kept on cutting better lights i would think that my et's would get a little better. with the lesser amount of weight of fuel and what not. but any ways yeah i had a ton of fun. i'm going back out tomorrow nite too.

but yeah my car is all bone stock the only thing i can possibly think of that could have been to my advantage is that i flipped the air cleaner lin upside down, was running 93 octane(which w/o the compression to really take advantage of the octane that prolly had little to no effect) and it's kinda a staright header exhaust lol. but thats becasue the pipe right after my cat is all rusted out and the only thing holding the back of the exhaust on are the 2 clamping bolts on the back of the cat. but other than that the most that engine has ever been opened up is the passenger side valve cover gasket was replacecd. i raced in in drive too i didn't manually shift it or anything. mainly because i was out there just to have fun and honestly i don't think it would have made a diffrence

well yeah i know the 1975 is about 900 lbs heavier, but i just thought it was interesting to see how similiar they are in acceleration.

The 75 is a completely differant animal though with an extra 75ci and nearly 1000lbs.

Rick, don't you have a gutted cat too?

yeah.... I forgot... does it count? lol

I simply pulled the drain plug, drained the beads.... drove aorund like that for months, then when I brought it to get an inspection, the guy thru a factory replacement plug on it for $5, I was happy, as the droning sound was annoying... the whole cat was smashed with a hammer.... very obvious he goes "yeah, sometimes those plugs fall out, then beads come out the bottom when you are driving, and it pretty much makes the cat. conv. useless" <---- ooo... woudln't want that to be the case :)

yeah i know exactly what the r/t time is and that it has nothing to do with the e/t i'm just saying that i kept on cutting better lights i would think that my et's would get a little better. with the lesser amount of weight of fuel and what not. but any ways yeah i had a ton of fun. i'm going back out tomorrow nite too.

but yeah my car is all bone stock the only thing i can possibly think of that could have been to my advantage is that i flipped the air cleaner lin upside down, was running 93 octane(which w/o the compression to really take advantage of the octane that prolly had little to no effect) and it's kinda a staright header exhaust lol. but thats becasue the pipe right after my cat is all rusted out and the only thing holding the back of the exhaust on are the 2 clamping bolts on the back of the cat. but other than that the most that engine has ever been opened up is the passenger side valve cover gasket was replacecd. i raced in in drive too i didn't manually shift it or anything. mainly because i was out there just to have fun and honestly i don't think it would have made a diffrence

lol, the old air cleaner trick... except on this car, it dosn't make a difference... for $30 you can get an Edelborck open element air filter, then you need 1.5" of air cleaner spacers, and a new threaded rod thingy, and it will be nice.

I used to run 93.... but there is no reason, with 8.2:1 compression, I now run 87 and under my most extreme driving, there is never a single ping... plus, 87 is supposed to be more easy to burn, thus more potential power, so its all good.

rigged up stright pipes eh? I bet it sounds pretty nice :)

I didn't manually shift either, I simple put it in the right drive instead of left, I thought it shifted a little firmer, the timeslip said otherwise :) I also hav a tachometer in my car so I know exactly what RPM it is at.

I still consider the stock cool air intake system to be better than a big open element that sucks hot under-hood air. And a gutted cat definately made a differance according to my ass-dyno so I'd think it would make a differance at the track as well. I should find that out for sure when I get around to taking my 75 to the track, it still has the stock cat and I should be able to drain and maybe patch it on-site after a couple runs (and a cooldown period obviously) then make a couple more runs to check the improvement.

nah, the stock air cleaner is rather restrictive, it gets really narrow.

Another thing I really didn't like, the filter only got dirty on 1 section, so you had to rotate it often, which also means most of the filter isn't being used (for the most part)

With the 360* filter, it allows alot more air to come in, and from what I can tell, the huge mechanical fan kinda creates a ram air effect at higher RPM's

A dual snorkel setup would be best, but you have to get crafty for that... plus I like the look of the open element air filter, alot omre cleaner under the hood, and it sounds cool :)

My best time with a real P.O.S. '76 CDV was 16.4. This was back in 1987 or so. The car was completely stock except for advanced timing and the carbonator cold secondary lockout tang removed. I raced another '76 CDV which was in nice shape. The guy had a posi 3.15 which he had taken from a limo, a cool can and some Accel H.E.I, adaptor gizmo. He ran a 16.01 or something else close to 16 flat. Got me off the line while my one tire spun for a bit. I was catching up with him towards the end but ran out of 1320. The announcer in the booth at Englishtown had a blast talking about a landyaght race.
This car was weighed right after the run 5075 Lbs without me in it.
Plug this into the old Petersen Publishing weight/horsepower calculator and it spit out a figure of something like 235 rear wheel horsepower.
The magazine review times seem to be all over the place as far as numbers go.

Ape Man, how come you always say "carbonator" instead of "carburetor?"

It's the thing that makes all the carbon.

wow yeah went back out to the track last nite and had even more fun!! i improved my best time to 17.656@77.6MPH with a .037 R/T. i went from a 17.82 to a 17.65 by just taking the spare out of the trunk!!! i was cutting some really good lights last nite too. by all time best R/T was .003. not too shabby. that race i actually beat an S2000 at the 60' mark. however after i parked the car for the nite i realized that if i would have just left it in L2 instead of drive i prolly would have picked up a little time. because it would shift into high gear like right before or as i past the traps. and the shift from 2 to 3 just kills the car. so i think if i get the chance to race it again i'll try doing that and see what the outcome is. next week i'm gonna race my camaro though so it'll be a bit before i get back out there with the caddy. i did get some really good video of the caddy doing a burn out and a video of me running the 17.65 time. this week i actually had quite a few fans of the caddy racing. it was pretty cool:cool2:

Wow, I was going to take the '79 tonight, but the intake manifold isn't on it... so I took the '93... my 4th time racing that car (4th time bringing it)

Those are some damn good RT's!

Wow, since you removed the tire (min was also on the 17.5 run) our times are even more close.... it seems like our cars are damn near equal, despite all the extra miles on yours and stuff.... now thats gotta say something about how well these cars were made :)

S2000, I believe it, they redline at like 9,000RPM and don't start making power until 6,500RPM... not a cool car, IMO. Witht he massive torque from the BB Cad, even with crapy gears, it is no wonder it pulls better from a stop.

You said you got some video? I have my own website and would love to host it if you need to, just let me know :)

hey i'd love to share my video!! how would i go about getting it to you? i have a video of my 17.6 run and another of a 17.7 run with a killer burnout on it. the best is to see the guys running the bleach box slowly turn thier heads to watch my burn out instead of the 1972 camaro burn out that ran in the 13's LOL:thumbsup:

send it to my e-mail address InoventionsEast@optonline.net and I'll throw it on my site :)

I think that I am going to be hitting low 13's

I think that I am going to be hitting low 13's

In what? with what under the hood?

Probably in his 76 Eldo with a worked 500.

I'm aiming for high 11s at 5320' track altitude myself. Then again I am sometimes known to be an optimist (but I think forged pistons/rods, 2.19/1.9" valves in ported 76cc heads, mountainous cam, modified stock intake, headers w/duals, and a big hit of spray should do it.) I really need to get a tach in the 75 so I can take it to the track for some baseline runs. I expect a high 18 up here with everything stock and letting it shift itself, maybe mid 18s if I shift it, maybe even low 18s if I drain the catalyst beads.

eeekk.... my only problem with building up a 500 in an Eldo would be tearing up the CV shafts, as they are not easy, and cheap to come by...

Honestly, 11's in a '75 DeVille.... still being somewhat street legal/driveable, and without nearly everything gutted, I would say is a little on the high hopes side.... for what you said, I would think high 12's/low 13's honestly.

Yeah, Dave is right.

I don't know yalls definition of "worked" but mine will include

stock rods, shot peened, with ARP bolts. KB hypo flat tops, bored .040 over, ported heads, new valves, stock size, valve seats, and guides. Ported EFI intake manifold with multiport fuel injection powered by the Megasquirt system, headers w/ 2.5" dual exhaust, Comp Cams 260H cam, Potters 1.7:1 shaft rockers, and I think that's about it.

I think low 13's is a reasonable guess, don't yall? Not like it's made for racing anyways.

I don't know what it will do to the CV's. We will see.

why run the 2.5" exhaust? why not go for the 3". i have a 415 in my camaro with 3" and it sounds and preforms great. i would think an engine with almost an extra 100 cubic inches would also prefer a 3" system. but i guess it reallt depends on how radical your cam and power band are.

Yeah, Dave is right.

I don't know yalls definition of "worked" but mine will include

stock rods, shot peened, with ARP bolts. KB hypo flat tops, bored .040 over, ported heads, new valves, stock size, valve seats, and guides. Ported EFI intake manifold with multiport fuel injection powered by the Megasquirt system, headers w/ 2.5" dual exhaust, Comp Cams 260H cam, Potters 1.7:1 shaft rockers, and I think that's about it.

I think low 13's is a reasonable guess, don't yall? Not like it's made for racing anyways.

I don't know what it will do to the CV's. We will see.
why do you plan to use stock size valves?

Don't want the exhaust too big don't want to give up my torque.

I dunno. Would it really make that much difference?

Is there any way I can mount a small tach on the steering colum? Or I mean you know the metal on the til and telescope steering wheel?

tach on steering column:

http://inoventionseast.com/1979%20DeVille/Caddy1-3drive.AVI

Notice how it does not redline 2nd gear when simply in drive? :)

Honestly, 11's in a '75 DeVille.... still being somewhat street legal/driveable, and without nearly everything gutted, I would say is a little on the high hopes side.... for what you said, I would think high 12's/low 13's honestly.

The high hopes part is me finding the cash for my project more than me being able to actually do it. The plan is forged pistons and rods, 2.19/1.9" valves in self-ported 76cc heads, lots of cam, BBC Monte Carlo headers w/3" duals, then LOTS AND LOTS of spray. I'm bouncing back and forth between a homemade cross-ram intake with 2 propane carbs or MPFI (with the option of liquid propane injection later on.) Once I break the rear I'll probably use a Ford 9", and I've got a transmission guy who will help me with the TH400. It'll make a good weekend cruiser and the ETC will stay as the daily.

Once I have that built, I start on my FAST car. :thumbsup:

Oh, and Rick I've been meaning to ask how big is the face on that tach? I need to install one on the 75 and I don't want a BIG one that looks rediculous, nor do I want a tiny one. The one you have looks to be about the right size. I'd probably try to mount it closer to the column though.

Ah, perfect! Thanks. I was wondering if I would still be able to see everything.

What is the diameter of the one you have in the video? What did you use to hold it on there? Zip ties?

Don't want the exhaust too big don't want to give up my torque.

I dunno. Would it really make that much difference?

On the exhaust, I think 2.5" on a mild engine is plenty. Too big and you could start to lose power.

Over-size valves (along with good port work) will make a big difference.

The tach is nothing special, kinda cheap actually, but it gets the job done, and I am happy. It is a Sunpro, has some air core thing so as soon as it gets power it automatically goes to 0. You can get one with a chrome outer ring, or white faced etc... but I don't want to chrome, and the white letters with black face and orange needle nearly match the exact scheme of the rest of the gauges.

it is 3-3/8" or something... I forgot the fraction but it is something 3" something, the other one i was thikning about was 4 or 5" but really.... too big... its a s.l.o.w. revving big block, and an automatic, I just want to know what RPM it's at... not if it is idling with a bounce of 3RPM.... those huge ricer tachs are just funny.

It is mounted to the included little bracket, thats why it is that far... I had 2 layers of double sided tape holding it nicely on there, until the tape got old and didn't hold anymore... my temp. soultion was put 3 zip ties together (so it was long enough) and simply strap it to the coulmn.... well, like alot of things, the temp soultion becomes the permenant soultion, it works, and no problem with it, so I am happy.

there is the wire that goes to the distrubtor, then you need 12v power, a ground... and an illumination wire, so when I dim the instrutment panel lights, the tach dims at the same exact rate... or can turn off.

Its a Sunpro, they make good stuff, and I am happy with it. I personally would prefer it went to 6,000RPM since literally half the scale I don't use... it goes to 8k with a moveable redline or shift line or whatever.
has a switch for 4/6/8 cyl. If I put it on 4, it doubles the valve so it idles at 1,500RPM and will race to 8,000RPM to shift from first.... 6cyl is a fraction between the 2...

what i thought about doing, was seeing if there was a way I could remove the face, then somehow print out a new lable (something i have never done) with different valves... then put it on 6cyl mode, so I have a much more useful range of the tach.

like everything, it was a pain to install, but now that its in, I am happy :)

Alright, sounds good. yeah I know it's low revving. I want one for just the same reason.

lux,

What would be the hp difference between stock sized stainless valves with lots of port work and oversized stainless valves with lots of port work?

Alright, sounds good. yeah I know it's low revving. I want one for just the same reason.

lux,

What would be the hp difference between stock sized stainless valves with lots of port work and oversized stainless valves with lots of port work?
I wouldn't know what kind of numbers you'd be looking at. Personally, I think that if you're gunna open the runners, that you'd want to get more flow through the valve area too. I guess that unless the heads are flowed, you don't really know.

i'd say 3" exhaust for what was described becasue that seemed to be a little bit hotter than a mild engine. and i can attest that having head work makes a world of diffrence. and if you port the runners then you pretty much have to get bigger valves other wise all that port work is a waste. i had the heads on my big block (chevy) ported out and over sized valves installed and man it was like night and day! i had to get bigger headers because the hooker comps which have 1 7/8 primaries would seal up anymore so i upped to the super comps which have 2" primaries. and that could be an issue with porting out a caddilac head. i know there is a growing after market for them but if you port them out too much you'll run into being able to find headers and an intake that will help take advantage of the new port sizes.

Finding big enough headers shouldn't be a problem. If you use for example the Hooker BBC Monte Carlo headers with Cadillac flanges welded on, those have 2" primaries IIRC, which should be plenty since these engines tend to like smaller primaries than the BBC anyway.

Are 1 and 3/4 " primaries enough?

Can I do oversized valves myself? Besides ordering the valves, what do I have to do to the head and all?

Are 1 and 3/4 " primaries enough?

Can I do oversized valves myself? Besides ordering the valves, what do I have to do to the head and all?
They have to be machined.

So before the machine shop gets to my heads (which they havn't yet) I need to ask them to do oversized valves, eh? What sizes would you guys recommend? I know nothing when it comes to this, not even stock sizes.

2.11/2.19/2.25 are common intake valve sizes, 1.77/1.84/1.90. Talk to the vendors about finding a valve size to match your project.

Cool. Now I just gotta wait for everyone to get back from EMC