Dual quads

[Cliff Ruggles]

The engine is 11 to 1 compression, cam is on a wide LSA so it idles pretty smooth and has a very broad/flat power curve.  Flat out in full street trim it runs nearly into the 10's so we take steps to run slower on 1/4 mile tracks as mentioned above.

I also have a full/quiet exhaust system, with an "H" pipe to help mellow out the sound and reduce resonance as well.

The most fun we have is when folks come over to check out the combo after we make a quick pass with it.  The look on their face when they see the stock intake and q-jet is priceless!.....Cliff

[chance]

yeah, I'll bet...LOL I'll be getting a hold of you in the next few weeks to get a kit and some other parts for the TA carb. Can't do too much in my shop yet got cars stored in the for the winter and I still have some snow on the ground....I'll be in touch.
Thanks again for your time!
God Bless!!
Chance

[Cliff Ruggles]

Snow on the ground......where are you located?

[chance]

North east Washington state about 20 miles from the Canadian border. I live on top of a mountain overlooking a lake It's amazing. The down side is sometimes we get a lot of snow and this last winter we got our fare share....LOL Not really a down side as I have snowmobiles to play in the snow. Do you like to fish? My Local track is in Spokane Wa, about 100 mile from my house. Needless to say we get our fare share of street racing from our little town and surrounding towns.

[Cliff Ruggles]

I love to fish and go to Florida every October to do some surf fishing while my family enjoys the beach.  Last year was the first year we didn't make it down in the last 15 years.

We didn't get any measurable snow here this year aside from one or two very light "dustings".  Very odd as we typically get a pretty decent amount of snow and a lot of snow storms came thru the area but every time went just North or South of us.

I love traveling out West to the Rockies and making a trip out there here in a few weeks......Cliff

[chance]

I always wanted to try surf fishing....That's where you use a really long pole and a lot of weight sling it out as far as possible right? I do mostly fly fishing in our little mud puddle. I want to do some ocean fishing...maybe when i retire...LOL We got a lot of snow this year, so much that it's causing flooding issues all over the state. Roads washing out ect... Our neighbors to the south in California are no longer in a drought for the first time in 20 years. Our daughter lives in San Diego and said they can water their grass and not get a fine....LOL You and your family have a safe trip... Hopefully you will around when I call to get my parts, I'd like to talk to you in person.
Take care and God Bless!!   

[Cliff Ruggles]

Surf fishing is becoming a lost art from what I've seen.

We do very well when we go, but you have to go when the bait fish (finger Mullet) are running to do the best.  In Florida this will be in early October most years.

We catch Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Catfish, Red Drum, sharks, and on occasion a King Mackerel will come in close enough to hook one up.

You just never know what you are going to get into, and sometimes they are so big that they will spool off all your line and you can't stop em!......Cliff

[chance]

Hi Cliff, did you make it to the Rockies? I'm going to be getting a hold of you this week to get some kits. I've got three projects to build for. The carb numbers I dug out boxes of carbs are as follows. For the Charger that we were talking about I've got that TA carb 17057274. I'm going to build one for my shelby cobra replica, I bought the car a couple years ago and don't know anything about the engine build. it's a 302 with an Edelbrock rpm intake and the long tube headers. It has a smooth idle sounds like a mild rv cam, Im guessing 275 to 300HP. It's a little hard to tell in such a light car, I'm sure recipe #1 from your book will be adequate for its needs. I have a 17059213 and a 17058213. I was thinking one of those for it. The dual quads for the charger I have some older carbs set out, 7045214,7042244,7041202 and a carter qjet 703202. Or should I go with the two 1705 carbs and build one of the older one for the ford.
Please let me know when the best time to call is in your time zone and I'll do the math.....LOL
Looking forward to talking to you my friend!
God Bless!!

[Cliff Ruggles]

Our trip to Colorado went well.  Heading back out there in October for an Elk hunting trip.  Going to be "roughing" it a bit, and there is no cell phone coverage within 50 miles of where we will be hunting.....which is a good thing!....

[chance]

Hello Cliff, it great talking to you a few weeks ago when I ordered my kits from you. got the carb done for the charger. it works awesome! Hoping I can get to the track before it closes for the winter. The bottom end power increase is so much better that I'm going to have to run a stickier tire, first gear is useless...lol I also found a short block 400 for my Trans am. It's fleshly rebuilt, but has been sitting in a shed for 20 years. needless to say it has to come apart....lol I'm going to pick it up this weekend. It's a 67 400 casting bored 30 over with flat top pistons with valve reliefs. that's all I know until I get it apart. I'm going to get that pontiac book you told me about, can I get that from you or should i jump on ebay and get one? You told me to get a hold of you when I found one...so here I am...lol Anyway I want to build a low to mid 400HP engine that will behave pretty well on the street and still leave most of the ricers behind...lol. the heads I have are the 4X 7H castings. these are 98cc heads, they're at 93cc right now. I don't know how far I can cut these heads down to get the compression up?? I'm going to drill and tap them for screw in studs.  you said that you have played around a lot with cams for these engines, what do you recommend? I almost feel bad putting a 67 block in a 77 TA....lol Some guy out there with a 67 firebird would be pissed. Anyway and guidance woul be greatly appreciated...

Take Care my friend
God Bless!! 

[Cliff Ruggles]

What are you goals for power production?

Difficult to get a decent compression ratio with those heads.

If the engine was built with the 8 valve relief cast pistons they will reduce the compression at least another half a point, so they have to be replaced as well......Cliff

[chance]

I thought I might have to go with different heads, a friend of mine has a set of 65 389 heads but the valves are smaller? I want a low to mid 400 hp engine that I can drive on the street and some weekend drag racing, the car has 3:42 diff in it. I"m picking the engine up tomorrow so I'll be able to look it over more closely and see what's there and what the quality of the parts are.
I'll keep you posted, I'm going to try to build it this winter and install it in the spring so I have some time to look for what I need
Thanks!
God Bless!!!

[Cliff Ruggles]

I wouldn't use heads earlier than 1967, they made big changes in 1967 and all for the better.  The early heads also mess things up for using a decent piston as well, and why the "generic" cast replacement pistons have 8 valve reliefs instead of 4.

The 8 valve relief pistons are garbage.  Not only do they reduce compression, most are .030-.050" below the deck at TDC.  Pontiac engines THRIVE on very tight quench and will run hot/overheat/detonate if you build them with too much quench area.

They also use cast iron connecting rods which are a disaster waiting to happen.

I'd put a good set of 4340 "H" beam rods and Icon or equivalent forged full floating pistons on my wish list for that engine.  The better pistons also come with a revised ring pack and are much lighter than factory replacement type forged pistons......Cliff

[chance]

Yeah the engine I took out of the TA had those 8 valve relief pistons in it, the 67 block I'm getting today only has the 4, I haven't had a chance to look at the rods closely but I'm assuming they're 67 units. I'll no more tomorrow.
Thanks bud!!
God Bless!!

[chance]

Well Cliff, you gotta love a friend of a friend story....LOL When I went to look at this 400 it was on a pallet with another engine stacked on top in a shed. I could see it had new pistons and the guy was a friend of my friend. so I said I'll take it, so he delivered it to my friend as he was going to Florida for 2 weeks. Long story short.... It's not a 400, it's a 68 350. so my Question to you is can I use the 350 and the parts of the 400 that I have to build a stroker motor, are the cranks the same can I put it in my 400 block, since I'm going to have to buy pistons anyway bore one of them to 455??? I haven't paid for the engine yet and I know he will take it back. Like I told you on the phone this is my first Pontiac build and I don't know them like I do the mopars and chevys What are your thoughts? I ordered the max performance Pontiac book that we talked about on the phone it should be here in a few days.
Take care my friend!!
God Bless!!