I recently moved to eastern washington and finally made a pass at a track with the dart. There sure is a lot more air here than denver..

After some rejetting, the car ran 10.98@122 with 1.555 60' times. The usual dial in denver was 11.84@114.

The combo is as follows.

493c.i.d. 11.5/1 comp., 252/260@.050 compcams solid lifter cam with somewhere around .540 lift.
850 mighty demon carb, edelbrock rpm dual plane intake, OOTB edelbrock performer heads, TTI 2" headers, full 3" exhaust, 9.5 dynamic converter stalling around 5400 rpm..(was @ 4400 in denver)
dana 60 with 4:10 gears, 28x11.5 hoosier QTP's. cal-trac mono's and bars.
The car weighs 3600 lbs. with me in it and a full tank of gas.

I am now 10 jet sizes larger than I was running in denver, with 95's in the back and 87's in the front (IIRC). total timing is at 36 degrees. I am running 92 octane pump gas.

I am guessing I am in need of a tighter converter, and I could probably use a larger carbuerator.

So, the questions are...

1. How much is to be gained with a tighter converter and larger carb?

2. With all the variations of RB heads edelbrock offers, what would be your choice for a pump gas street/strip A-body with the 493 mentioned above.

3. Got a favorite cam grind?

4. Any suggestions?

Get a good single plane intake, and a bigger cam! Those two items will really wake it up. I would be looking for a cam with as much as 275 degrees duration at .050, more lift, and find out what works for basic bowl porting on those heads. On the cam choice, it is all about how lumpy you are willing to go for duel purpose.
The 850 is not hurting you much yet. I would stick with it.

You didn't say which track or the elevation you ran the car at,was it Spokane? Wait until you run the car at Woodburn, OR or Bremerton, WA or at Pacific raceway, the Seatle track I have a similar combination in a 3450 lb A body, I have ran 4:10, 3:91 and 3;73 gears in my car with 315x60x15 ET Street Radials and the same size(circumference and width) bias tires. The car ran the same ET and MPH with all three ratio so I am probally going to try 3:55 next, my converter is a 10 inch custom built Continental that foot stalls under 2300 RPm and flash stalls to 4300 at the lower elevation tracks. I have tested a Turbo Action SS race 9 inch converter(flashes to 5200 RPM) in my car with a SS 727 trans with aluminum drums, custom gear ratio, straight cut gears and so on, that combination was worth a tenth ET and no loss of MPH. The bad part is I'm not sure which part was the most change, I switch back to the standard trans and ended up breaking the rear end at the next race before getting a decent run to see what the 9 inch converter and standard trans would do what RPM are you shifting at now and what RPM are you crossing the finish line at? I run a Comp Cams solid roller and 1.6 rockers, the motor makes peak HP at 5800 RPM and peak torque at 4500 RPM now, at the track the car runs the fastest ET and best MPH shifting the motor at or above 7000 RPM The motor pulls hard all the way to 7300 rpm, where I get scared and shift it To answer your question number one , I'm not sure a tighter converter will help or not, my motor likes more air on the dyno, six pak set up versus a single 1050 Dominator are you using a low deck or high deck block? I have several intakes and carbs for both motors that are availble to use, maybe (PM me if interested). I'm not going to be on this site this week until next Friday 4-19-09, as I have some business to take care out of town.

c ongrats Shane!!!

I would port the heads and put the 2.20 intakes in. Tighten the converter 500-600 rpms. Run a single plane and a 950. My guess is you would get
some 10.30s - 10.40s.
For some reason that car has always done really well since you put that motor in. I am not surprised that you broke into the tens there. I have a 950 Race demon carb I will give you if I can get it back from a member on here who has it.
I am saving for a GV od this season and getting the car prepped for the track. I have also been kicking around the idea of putting in a manual trans at some point. I am getting on the E-85 too so I will keep you posted on the progress.
Good luck with the Dart this year. Let me know when you come to town dude.

Shane, 10 second time slip. that's great!
My vote, CNC the heads, 270 ish @ .050, .650 lift roller, Victor with a 1050(dominator?), and probably tighten the convertor a little. Have fun!
Are you coming to the Mopar meet here?

Thanks to everyone who has replied. As for borrowing parts, I dont like to do it, but thanks for the offer. Its just not worth the risk of messing up someone elses stuff. Murphys Law and all.
John and Dave, I am planning on towing the ride back to Denver for the Mopar gig on the 31st. Hope to see you there!
I wasnt really suprised with the ten second slip, though I figured I would have to work a litte harder than I did. The passes were made at Renegade Raceway outside Yakima. I had more trouble hooking up than I have in the past, but I guess that shouldnt be a suprise. I hope to make it to Seattle and some others before the season ends this year.
As for possible modifications, I dont think I will port the performers. My 57 could use some e-heads, so I would probably just purchase something already configured for the dart. I have been tempted to go to a roller cam, but the car runs too good to go that far just yet. (...the fluidampner is such a PITA to get off and back on). We will see.