4500 Dominator On the Street?
 

Hello all,

I'm pulling the trigger on a 500+ CID motor. I've found a machine shop and it will take some time to gather up all the parts but there are a few things that I need to source and one of those items is a carburetor. I've been told by a number of people that my old 800 cfm won't cut it.

Butler suggested 1050...my machine shop suggested the same between 1050 and 1250. Holley is suggesting the most "streetable" and capable to be their 1150 Gen3 Ultra Dominator. Anyone actually using one of these on the street?

Thanks

Yes,
I run them on the street all the time.
I use adjustable external linkage so the primary throttle blade has more articulation.
Unlike traditional Dominators with internal linkage .
They are track oriented as they start pulling the rear open at a much earlier time which can cause many side effects on a street combo.
Good thing is... they can also be converted to external linkage.

FYI: Dominators are the most challenging to tune as the blade diameters are large ( 2" +) and very sensitive to even minor blade adjustments.

Sounds like a candidate for a XE262 cam!!!:pound:

Wouldn't be as much fun if there weren't any challenges. Regarding this external linkage conversion...would you have any recommended references/website?

Thanks very much.

Sure:
Holley has off the shelf units and I build custom units built to customers combo & live tuned.

Shaker built the 1050 Dominator on my 461. It's an older 9375. He converted it to a two circuit and installed the external linkage. It has pretty snappy throttle response and is very streetable. Get around 12 mpg.

Thanks...in my searching I'm liking the Gen3. I'm reading good things about them in terms of tunability.

They have adjustable bypass air like mine which also is a nice feature.

If your not looking to exceed 650 hp at first and your working on a budget then to not have to also shell out another 1200 bucks or more for the dominator you can use the 800 and it will will be fine, in fact it will be cheaper to convert it when the times comes to a 950 which can still handle a motor that can top 750 hp!

Get the motor and car set up and then switch over to the set up needed to run the big Carb should you like.

If your not going to the track racing every weekend and need to win or atleast make it into the finals then adjust your build accordingly!

If you've only been use to a 400 hp motor then even 650 hp is a big change for you and the car to get use to and set up for!

Believe me, if your running on the street and the car is not set up as needed to completely hook up even 600 hp, then no one no matter what they may say or post up here can tell the difference between having a 600 hp motor under the hood, or a 800 plus hp motor under the hood so adjust your spending accordingly!

Of interest I'd like to know the HP goal.

On the dyno with a 4.125" stroke/ 450 CID combo we saw 20 hp difference between a 4500 set up and a 4150 set up, 700 hp vs. 680 hp. Both with port matched Victor intakes. My current 505 with a custom HP950 and a cut down Victor intake manifold, best pull was 660 hp at 5900/6000 rpm. That said these were not dedicated race combos, I suspect the torque curve could be a deciding factor.


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Congrats on the purchase , nice upgrade. I won’t get into what u need or not , lots of guys run the( big )carbs on the street.
I had shaker build me a 4500 series unit about 4 yrs ago. It was primarily a race unit but I ran it on the street and it performed fairly well.
He has the carb now and there’s some tuning to do. If u want one done he’s the guy. He more than accommodating , wont find a better guy for support.

Not the same unit Andy,
Yours is a 4150 and OP is asking a bout 4500 Dominators

Like mentioned, dominators can be run on the street just fine if you know your way around tuning them.

Might want to get that engine on the dyno first though, and see what it likes before you plunk down hard earned money on a nice dominator. A good dyno shop usually has a couple dyno carbs laying around to try.

Dad's 571 ci Pontiac made 724 hp with a little 4150 950 HP that only flows about 880 cfm. Tried a 1250 dominator that Tony Bischoff uses a lot on the dyno, and even after dialing that in the engine only picked up 6 hp. Not only that, but it lost average torque throughout the curve. The 950 proved to be the better carb on the overall curve. Dad bought a brand new 3 circuit dominator that hasn't made it on the engine and looking like it won't.
I'd have to get into some custom air cleaner work just to make the thing fit, and 6 HP and a loss of torque doesn't seem worth it to him at this point.

On my 500 I had a 8896 that did not make anymore than the 850/1000 HP 4150 but I did use the 2" taper spacer on a 4150, and it was before Jeff reworked the Dominator.

Thank you EVERYONE for the comments and suggestions. I spoke with the builder again this morning and he indicated much as some of you have said. They did have a couple "big" carburetors available when the dyno time comes. Once the thing has been run up, the numbers would help to make the best choice later. He also made the comment that since this is #1 a street car and #2 weekend racer, it's not like I'll need all the power available at the grocery store. It seems I don't need to run right out and get one on order.

Thank you all, you've given me much to consider.

To Steve's point, I have been and do have a ways to go with driveline and suspension work under way. The money pit is open for business once again :-)

What is your power goal with the 500"?

Targeting 650 to start. The emphasis to the builder is to focus on a way over-built street motor that will be driven with room for power adders for weekend track fun. A Procharger is my ultimate goal but that's long after my finances and other work being done to the car is complete.

How big a deal is it to install 16 hole annular boosters in a Dominator ? What is needed ?

What heads are you going to use? The 500 ci motor in my race car probably makes close to 700 hp without using a big cam , with a race weight of 3550# it goes 10.01. That motor would be challenging in a street car.

Planning to use the BP 340 CFM round port E-heads. Haven't yet resolved on which cam to use. It will be a roller cam. Also not sure about rocker ratio just yet either. The car weighs 3660 (thats with me, 1/2 tank gas and the existing 455 installed).