i have a 283 engine with strt domintaor intake 4 brl carb. headers and i still run18-20 sec.inthe1/4 mile help

Question

the engine is in a 1972 chevy nova with 3:11 rear gears and a 3 speed manual tranny how could i get the car down to 14 second's or below with out nitrous or turbo charger i just want raw power

the 4 brl. carb is a quadrojet the cam is a RV cam the piston's are forged

MSD coil blaster II

Answer 1

I'm not a big fan of the 283 engine but I've been told they can be built into very powerful race engines. As mentioned before the times you are getting in the quarter mile are cause for concern because I think a normal stock 283 in a 72 Nova would do that or better.
First off the 3.11 rear gears are killing you for sure those are major highway gears meant for top end and not getting there very very quickly either. A 4.11 rear gear ratio would be much better or maybe a 4.56 rear gear ratio but then you'd be sucking gas bigtime. If the car is a daily driver then you'll be killing yourself on gas mileage with the 4.56's.
I'd also be looking into the timing because honestly 18-20 seconds in a quarter mile is pretty bad no offense intended but alot of stock cars will manage that or better. Check the timing gears and chain make sure the gears aren't worn exsessively and that the chain isn't in bad shape. make sure the enigine isn't 180 degrees out of time. That is a common problem with some previously repaired engines. generally in day to day driving in won't cause too many problems but it can. Make sure the distributor internals are good and tight. Take off the distributor cap, place your hand over top fo the rotor and see of you can turn the distributor or any plates are loose.
As far as cams and the like they are a definite option, the best way to know which kind to get is talking to an experienced engine builder and telling them where you want the most power in reference to how the engine is running now. If you can narrow down the area where the engine plateaus out and get a cam to address that problem you'll be greatly suprised with the resulting change in performance. Since your running a straight -shift the size of youre cam will only be limited for the most part by the clearance between the valves and the pistons so you can go with hydraulic, solid or roller cams. I'm pretty sure you can now call some of the cam manufacturers and get technical support over the phone for your needs.
The carb may also be a little large for that engine and i'd be a little leary of the possibility of some of the gas getting past the piston rings and contaminating the oil also. It's not a common event but possible on occasion.
The greatest benefit you have with that 283 is it's capability to handle high RPMs and wind up quickly so you need to capitalise on it's strength in that.

Answer 2

It may be possible to have too big of a carb. A 283 is pretty small. Check out the the timing and check to make sure there is nothing internally wrong with the engine. Did the cam get a proper break-in? If not then you may already have a flat cam. If you are running 3:11 gears than going to 3:73s or 4:10s will probably show more of an improvement than anything.

Answer 3

i hope 3:11 is a typo otherwise that is a major part of your problem, what are your trap speeds ( mph) what are you reving at the traps ? my brother campaigned a g/stock automatic and was doing 13.2's, his buddy had a '67 nova in superstock that would run 11's with a 283 and a 4 speed, so it is possible ( this dude had a machine shop so you and i won't reproduce his results ) so get a 350 and get some new 2.02 heads, get a very hot hydraulic cam , the best valve springs you can ( ever miss a shift ? ) and get the manifold , carb and header collector length tuned to the cams power band , 4 speed trans,rear gears and tire diameter so you are through the traps about 500rpm below red line, then if that doesn't work , break out the nitrous. good luck be safe, have fun.

Answer 4

Even if the rest of the motor is bone stock, something is very wrong there. This should be a good deal faster. So first, you'll want to fix what's wrong.

Start by doing a compression check. Perhaps it's got a blown head gasket or worn rings. If that checks out, see if the ignition timing or carb jetting is off.

Adding power to a sick engine isn't going to help.

Answer 5

You should be doing better than that. You might have to go with a bigger carb. Maybe a higher intake. If you really want it to go faster redo some of the internal parts in the motor like the cam and the rockers. The carb could help i don't no what you have on it now.

Answer 6

The 283 is pretty small in cubic inches you may think about if you can afford it a hydralic roller cam with just over or even under .500degrees lift due to your limited room in your cylinders for any type inexpensive performance heads due to the small vavles limit of the 283 you'll need to back this with stout gears i'd go with 4.11 to 4.56 to wring every bit of power of the 283!! love your thinking with using the small mouse sound's cool have fun!

Answer 7

That's a heavy car for that small of a motor. Like Matt said, check for blown head gasket. Then, I'd drop in a 4 speed, and put in a larger bump stick, preferably the roller kind. High perfomance coil, plugs and wires. Even with all that, like I said, that's a heavy car. Have fun with it and save up for a big block.

Answer 8

Swap out those 3:11's for a set of 3:73's or 4:11's and you'll do wonders for your times.

Answer 9

get rid of the 283 and replace it with something bigger-327-350. or go all out and put a big block in there. it is hard to get alot of power out of a small engine. remember** there is no replacement for displacement**

Answer 10

Boys that age love autos and trucks mutually as women love princesses. verify it somewhat is impressive and colourful and the photos/gadgets are super adequate that they'd see them particularly yet can not attain up and pull them off (I lost some mobiles that way till I discovered to hold them greater).