This is what it looked like from inside the car at Great Lakes with Clark we could not believe it.

Like he said, 8:00 on a Wednesday morning!

My son's both took a vacation day on Wednesday and left at 4am to get to GLD @ 730. They said it was awesome!

Very quick update, I finished and turned in my 12.47 all motor pass and am making nitrous passes now! The caltracs and monos are working really well. The extent of the wrenching for the whole week was tightening two valve cover bolts. Lol

Congratulations!


Just finishing is a huge accomplishment.

Alright, bringing this back up! *wall of text incoming*

I didn't get into Roadkill Nights this year and was honestly a bit salty about it, lol. Have definitely been bitten by the drag and drive bug though, and also have ambitions of not being in the slowest run group moving forward. Definitely want to do one of Tom Bailey's events again and/or Drag Week, depending on the tracks.

Have been reconsidering what direction I want the final goal of the car to be, and think I've come to the conclusion that it's time to take the plunge on a rollbar. It's already quicker than the safety equipment allows, and it's not the wisest thing to be attempting to run in the 10's @ 125+ on stock 55 year old lap belts. To be legal to 10.0 it would need the rollbar, harnesses, an SFI damper, an SFI flexplate, and a trans shield. That seems doable and worth the investment. However, if it gets a rollbar, I'm going to want to get as close to 10 flat as possible. The suspension, tires and axle should already be capable. Whatever direction it goes I'll upgrade the trans and fuel system.

Using the typical Wallace Racing calculators for the Fury's weight, plus adding in another 10% of losses for a less than optimal street/strip engine install, means it would need to make a bit over 900 hp to get there.

Am totally willing to live with a ridiculous cam, the 4.10 gears and a 4500 rpm stall converter, but a 440 with a head swap is not going to get there safely, no matter how much I spray it. As long as the cam has gentle ramps so it can survive drag and drives, I'm ok with lots of overlap and degraded idle quality.

Spent some time measuring, based on hood clearance and the available parts for the car, the tallest/largest intake I can run is the 4150 based Trick Flow RB intake- could at least port match this to the Trick Flow 270 opening, and possibly have Wilson hog out the plenum as well. From what I understand, the 270 port size is a tiny bit less than a true max wedge intake port. Any of the usual single planes with a dominator won't fit once I put a nitrous plate underneath the carb and also try to fit an air filter on it. It won't fit the Indy 440-3X, and it won't fit the 4500 version of the same TF intake either because of the increased height of the intake, a dominator itself, and the lack of drop base air cleaners for dominators. The TF 4150 intake would leave 1/2" of space between the scoop and the top of the air cleaner lid.

The other restriction is the 1 7/8" headers, with a 3" collector. There isn't anything bigger for a C body because the subframe puts the torsion bars in a weird spot compared to a B/E body. I would run it with cutouts as close as possible to the collectors though and open them up for any passes.

Have 2 trains of thought for the motor:

1: find a late 440 block with the thicker main webbing, and hope it sonic checks ok. Build a 505 or 512 with the TF270 heads I have now, a solid roller cam with bushed rollers, and either Molnar or Callies Compstar crank/rods + Mahle pistons. This should make a realistic 650-700 hp, and then can spray a 250 shot on my current plate kit to get it to the goal. My concern here is the stock block- have heard lots of horror stories about how the blocks won't live at that power level. On motor it would live, but add a 200 shot on top of that and I think it's on borrowed time. At the current usage, it likely would get 15 passes and about 1500 street miles per year. Will it last with the limited usage?

2: save up for another year or so and buy a Bill Mitchell aluminum RB block, build a 540 or 572 with similar Molnar or Callies components, custom pistons since Mahle doesn't have a 4.5 bore shelf piston, and top it with the same TF270's that have already been purchased. The block should at least live indefinitely at the 900-1000 hp level in this case, but am also concerned a 4150 based intake and 1 7/8" headers are too restrictive for a 572, regardless of how much it gets sprayed. I don't know if this can be compensated for by increasing exhaust duration and widening the LSA a little to make up for the exhaust. Since the heads aren't any different than what I'd put on the 512 I don't think the power would be substantially greater, it would just happen at a lower rpm and potentially be easier on parts.

Thoughts? Are those headers and a 4150 based intake/carb too much of a choke point for a 572? Will a 512 live with nitrous use? It really seems like a roll of the dice.

Just some lessons I have learned :

Build the biggest inches you can , it makes power and loves nitrous

Make it light , lighter is always faster

One option is to build a low deck engine. A low deck Mopar is still taller than a Chevy big block so it isn't really all that low of a deck but it will give you more room under the hood. If you are going to step up to a 540 or 572 with an aftermarket block you can build either one in an Indy block. At least take a look at the option and see what the cost would be. There is only a couple of Indy intakes for the low block so that is a limitation.

You might come to the conclusion that a custom hood will save you money in the long run. If the goal is 900 hp you'll need a lot good parts. Handicapping yourself with a flat hood makes the job a lot harder.

Other option is to supercharge your existing engine. A centrifugal blower can be hung off the front of the engine and then you can tune the power by changing the pulley ratio. That setup will fit under your hood and give you all the power you need. A front facing intake manifold with a big throttle body will clear a stock hood.

The headers are going to be an issue. You might end up needing custom 2 inch headers to make your power goals. 2 inch headers will support 900 hp but most people would go even larger.

"Big Tony' had custom 2.25" headers I think in his 71 Fury. It was an SR headed 440 of some undisclosed size back in the early 2000's. They can fit.
Looking at low deck and/or supercharger sound interesting to me. But I'm a fan of unending power adders...
Fiberglass nose?

I was concerned about the rod ratio and piston size in a low deck stroker, didn't realize that a conventional BBC has a lower deck height than a B block. That's good info. The Bill Mitchell and Callies blocks aren't available in low deck but that's great to know the Indy is. Thanks!

Even if I did a 540 or 572 I'd only expect it to make 700-ish with the smaller headers and a 4150 style intake, and then hope to spray 200-300 on top of that. It would be neutered on motor for sure. The only benefits I can see with that route is the block should live at the 900 hp level on nitrous forever. I don't think a stock block will.

Custom headers are definitely an option, but at that point I'd honestly consider going turbo instead. Nitrous I'd leave it carbureted, but if it got a procharger or a turbo I'd definitely bite the bullet and go EFI. There are too many advantages to it, especially if I had to buy a larger or different carburetor and new fuel pump anyway.

Thanks guys. And definitely need to work on getting weight out of the car...

Plenty of good suggestions here and a consistent theme I have to agree with in-general is there are a few imposed 'handicaps' that will make it difficult to achieve your goals. Unless you have a stupid-big budget you're really doing things the hard way. I don't want to discourage using this unique body style but weight is a killer of the trans. and ET. I'd consider doing a turbocharger and a t400 which will make some limitations like flat hoods and exhaust system easier to overcome. Might even be able to use a stock-block with that combo.

An extra hood from marketplace or wherever would probably be $100 or less when found, and then you could do whatever you pleased
and not really care.....cut a hole wherever needed and/or put the tallest scoop or bulge you can stand that will cover anything in the future.

Camera match the white or just paint the hood organisol black, maybe another $200-300 for materials, and then
you can do whatever you need to do. Maybe go first class and have it dipped to save labor stripping it.
Maybe chop some structure out of it for weight saving.

There are a few puzzles, and I feel hood clearance is the easiest puzzle to eliminate....create plenty of hood clearance (you have friends that can help), that will
accommodate whatever induction/nitrous plate (or go to a fogger/direct)/carb or throttle body bonnet
for a blower you want to use, and set yourself up for the future. If it ever goes back to stock then put the other hood on.

(and this is the downward spiral of how we end up with extra hoods laying around, and end up doing bodywork when we wanted to do an engine).

If you go low deck, then could have gone with raised exhaust port heads instead of standard, especially if going the custom header route, and will be limited to
about two indy intake manifolds. It's a good option, but is it practical? Don't know. Don't know how your headers would fit with low deck and standard exhaust port height.

Brainstorming, bench racing and spitballing is fun.

My vote is def option 2. 572 aluminum block.

I also vote for the spare hood with a scoop and using a real intake along with a 4500 carb.

900 on spray won’t be a problem.

Just a suggestion from the peanut gallery, but what about using v band clamps and flanges so you could remove the exhaust when at the track? Open headers and you added lightness cutouts work pretty good too tho

Thanks guys. This is definitely in the bench racing/planning stage right now, but figured it was a good time to toss it out there.

Sean, completely, totally agree with your points. This is 100% NOT the right vehicle for these goals, but it's the one I'm going to use. I'm in the midlife/nostalgia stage of my life right now, and my first mopar was a '67 Imperial that I drove in high school. I've always loved big cars, and this one I can say with certainty I'm keeping it forever. Just have to determine how much I can realistically spend and how much maintenance it will require. Turbo, + turbo 400 so I could use a decent size torque converter, and a trans with bulletproof internals would be the easiest method and also offer the most room to grow.

The car already has a '67 S/S hoodscoop on it. Looking online a couple places have offered a 1" taller version. If that was combined that with a 4500 sized throttle body (1.25" shorter than a Dominator), it would fit on an intake like the original B1 or the 440-3x if I stuck with an RB block, but would have to commit to fuel injection at that point.

If I stick with a 512, the ET goal should drop from 10.0 to something like 10.60 so it has a chance of living. And setting up the exhaust with v-bands sounds like a great idea too!

You could use a pretty much stock-rebuilt T400 for that. I'd consider a 'cheap' low-deck 451 with an aftermarket 3.75 crank and some BME 426 fueler rods. shelf piston etc

I dont know how i was doing it, but i used to go 9 teens pretty regularly with a stock block, stock crank .030 over (446) it had 440-1 unported heads. A solid roller and two plates stacked. The car was 3500lbs. So your goal is within reach.
dont get all wrapped up in how much HP you have, but also work on the total combination. LIGHTEN the car and make sure it works to use all the power you putting out. Build an engine thats upgrade-able in the future if that makes sense. Put a roll cage and use chromemoly, its lighter. Proglass windows all around, (they can roll up and down) Gut the doors and make sure anything you touch gets something trimmed off it to lighten it. You will be surprised how fast the ounces add up.
Of course you are using a unique body, but who cares it will always stand out because its different, but im sure it can get to 35-3600 and the engine doesnt know if its a 3600lb A body or a C body or B body. GOOD LUCK! ! !

HEMI Joel does this on his Coupe for Drag Week. I can have the full exhaust removed, or install in 5 minutes.

I think my Charger weighs more than the Fury



I like my cutouts, but every time I open em up @ the track, my first thought is how much faster would I be if I took the exhaust off

Subscribing for the inevitable...….

"Thoughts on what to change to run 8.50s"

The only way to know for sure is to try it and see
I did that on my old pump gas Duster that had a 3.0 inch system with a set of old type crimp Magnaflows 7.0x14. inch oval muffs mounted at the rear bumper at Madras (1/8 mile track) and it picked up from 7.01 to 6.99 ET and right at .2 MPH average on 5 runs increase with no other changes I'm thinking it was the weight that made that tiny bit of differences on that car