Converter could be too tight, I don't really know how to figure that out given the info I have. He has the transbrake set at 5800 which seems like an okay number. Once I see the dyno sheets I'll have a better idea of where the torque curve is but 5800 seems like it should be in the fat part of the curve for a 540 engine. The car doesn't push thru the lights so the converter isn't super tight. I'm not sure where the stall speed is since the car doesn't have a driveshaft speed sensor. I think he shifts the car at 6600 rpm which seems a bit low for a 540 with good parts but once again, I haven't seen dyno sheets so I don't know where the power peak is. He did say the car went faster when he shifted at 6300 so maybe 6600 is a touch too high.

What transmission is in it? Assume its a glide. For 140 the car should be much quicker than it is, easy 9.50's and if everything worked right 9.40's. Which makes that 60' even more horrific. A converter in a glide is a pretty critical part of the equation. I would also want to look at what shocks it has and how that ladder bar is installed. Maybe the car is just fighting itself off the line, but I would be VERY surprised if that converter was even close for the combo.

Are the engine build specs/details available?
CR, heads, intake, carb, header size, cam, etc?

See if the combo makes sense that it “should” be making 850hp.

Here’s another thought.......

Is the cowl hood the “correct” distance from the windshield?

Attach a piece of string to the inside of the scoop, long enough to easily come out beyond the edge of the scoop.
At the top end of the track, see it the string is sticking out of the scoop.
It shouldn’t be, but if the scoop is too far away from the windshield, the inside of the scoop can be a low pressure area, instead of a high pressure area.
If the string is being sucked out of the scoop, the scoop opening is a low pressure area.

What transmission is in it? Assume its a glide. For 140 the car should be much quicker than it is, easy 9.50's and if everything worked right 9.40's. Which makes that 60' even more horrific. A converter in a glide is a pretty critical part of the equation. I would also want to look at what shocks it has and how that ladder bar is installed. Maybe the car is just fighting itself off the line, but I would be VERY surprised if that converter was even close for the combo.

I agree with Al ! Probably a spragless too. He needs Data

Car is kinda heavy for a glide + wrong converter + wrong launch RPM + wrong shift point = PIG

but still there is something else major wrong if that's real the power/weight.

Agreed.

Until the question about just how the converter is behaving is answered......it’s a little hard to gauge the effectiveness of the cam.

I’d say if the 60’ was noticeably worse foot braking vs the transbrake, then the cam and converter may not be on the same page.

The car performance is so far off the dyno numbers of the motor, it’s hard to know what to look at first.
But that test might be revealing.

Be nice to see a dyno sheet to see how the curve looks.

Using my 90% rule....... at 880 STP corrected HP, it should be running 10mph faster.

The 140mph is showing what works out to a 28% loss.

It hasn’t been mentioned, but I’m assuming these runs aren’t being made at a higher altitude track.

One other thing..... does the car roll easily?
No dragging brakes or trans binding up?

I guess if I had to start somewhere, I’d see about borrowing a known good carb and see if anything good came from that.

Do the footbrake vs trans brake test.

Then look at those results and see if it makes sense to try a different converter.

If after all that it was still showing way low on power, I’d have the motor tested somewhere else.

Agreed.