[James408]

Hey guys, I'm just curious. What kind of performance does one get from this motor. Just curious, a guy I know put one in his kid's 90 1/2 ton truck and he said it would blow the doors off my 69 Firebird(Pontiac 408, 274 xe, t400, 2000 stall, 4.10 posi.) Not worried just curious.

[440GP69]

They are not very fast a little healthy but any regular 4 bbl 400 would smoke it

[77birdman]

Originally Posted by James408

Hey guys, I'm just curious. What kind of performance does one get from this motor. Just curious, a guy I know put one in his kid's 90 1/2 ton truck and he said it would blow the doors off my 69 Firebird(Pontiac 408, 274 xe, t400, 2000 stall, 4.10 posi.) Not worried just curious.

Blow the doors off how???? by the soundwave his spinning tires generate???

[James408]

Originally Posted by 77birdman

Blow the doors off how???? by the soundwave his spinning tires generate???

LOL

[71 Ventura II]

Originally Posted by James408

LOL

James, I've seen this "False" sense of empowerment many times. People who aren't familiar with true performance think because they can smoke the "TIRE" (Singlular one-wheel wonder or possibly both twin-spin) tires they think they have a Tiger by the tail. TRUCKS: Because they are so light in the back, come with a middle of the road gears between 3.42-3.73, all combined with street radials account for the false sense of power.

The choice is yours on how bad you want to embarass the driver of the truck! I didn't even mention the facts surrounding what a 330HP SBC has to do to pull/push a 4500lb truck down the track. If he could get low 15's in the 1/4 I'd be surprised. JD

[James408]

Yeah JD. I'm probably just going to leave it alone. This guy is a friend of mine and all chevy guy. I don't street race but if we happen to meet on a two lane road I may have to safely pass him.

[95ramairformula]

James
I out ran a guy at my work who has a 330hp/350 crate motor in a 65 chevy long bed.
He thought that thing was bad. I laughed everytime he said he would whip my slow TA.
He had everyone convinced at work that his truck was fast.

I work in a manufacturing company out in the country. We finally lined up one afternoon on a nice long straight road. Two of his buddies from work came to watch. I will say it was pretty close to about 50 mph. I had him by a length. By 80, I had him by 2 1/2 lengths and pulling. He was so quiet when we got back to work the next day. He never mentioned racing me again. It was a humbling experience for him.

By the way my car was a 1979 TA with a stock 403 (OLDS) with headers, a shift kit and 2.73 gears. It ran low low 15's at 93 mph in the 1/4.

[77birdman]

I have a Toyota Tundra with a 4.7L V8 and a 4.10 rear. It can spin the tries all day, with around 270 horses.

My 400 will chirp the tires with a 3.73 rear, 255/60 rear tires, 350 horses and posi but it will not keep spinning since I have better weight distribution and a posi rear.

For that mater used to have a 1969 Dodge Dart with a 170 (yes a 170 not a 225) slant 6 and 13 inch tires could smoke them all day

The important factor is power AND hookup, you could spin tires with just about anyhting.

[carcrazy]

I put this same crate motor (ZZ3) with headers in a 79 El Camino with a turbo 350/shift kit and 3.73 gears. The Elke is not real heavy-I would guess about 3700 or so. It ran very well. Never went to the track with this setup but in a good state of tune pretty certain it would run upper 13's to low 14's. Ran out of breath about 5600. Prior to the ZZ3, the same Elke had a ZZ4 crate motor and headers. An easy upper 12 to low 13 second car. Unfortunately the ZZ4 only lasted about 30k before self-destruction. Both of these motors don't have the torque of a Pontiac and in my opinion would not be suitable as a hot street motor for a truck or other heavy vehicle.

[Malky]

I put the earlier version 350/300HP crate engine in an 86 GP with headers and dual exhaust. It was a dog, but that was with the stock 2.78 gears. 3.73's would have helped, but it still wouldn't have been fast.
I don't know about now, but back then the quality control was poor. The cheap chrome timing cover it came with had the crank oil seal hole off-centre, and 3 months outside the 1 year warranty, it started burning oil big time. I stripped it down and didn't find anything wrong, so I figured maybe bad rings?

[RandyW]

I put this same crate motor (ZZ3) with headers in a 79 El Camino...

The ZZ3 is not the same, the ZZ3 was the 345 h.p., aluminum head predecessor to the ZZ4 and the performance was almost identical, the 330 h.p. H.O. is a vortec iron head motor.

[carcrazy]

Randyw you are correct. I stand corrected!