I'm in the beginning stages of building my street car for Speed Week out in Wendover, but I'm learning that there are an awful lot of things that I don't know, & I'm hoping that I can make use of some of the experience here. I'm not trying to set any records, I'd just really like to get my name in the 130 Club.
My car is a 1989 Trans Am GTA with the L98 350 (hyd. roller cam, Tuned-Port Injection). My plan is to drop the current 4-speed auto for a 6-speed manual as soon as I'm able. I know that the stock long-runner intake isn't ideal for what I'm trying to do, so I've gotten a Holley StealthRam intake, which I'm thinking should work reasonably well with the AFR 195 heads that I've also bought. My main problem right now seems to be that I don't have a precise idea of what's needed to get into the 130 Club. (Yes, I have read the rules for the event. )
A good example of this is my attempts to pick a cam - there are a lot of factors that I do know (car's wt is ~ 3650, RPM range is 6k or less, & still has power brakes & the stock ECM, & has to pass emissions). I already have a pretty good exhaust setup on the car, and larger injectors which should be a better match for my increased airflow. (I'll also be getting a custom tune to take full advantage of the new hardware.)
There are also a lot of things that I'm not sure about:
- * the biggest of these is rear gearing - do I want a fairly tall gear like a 3.08, or can I get by with something more "street-friendly" like a 3.42?
* Also, in order to put this car solidly into the 130s on salt, roughly how much HP will I need? (I'm fairly sure that the car's frontal area is about 24 sq. ft., & the car's Cd is about 0.31, maybe 0.30.)
* Is there a practical way for me to figure out the gearing I'd need to run 130 at the end of a standing mile?
- * Would it be worthwhile to lower the car by 1 or 1.5 inches?
* What kinds of other things can I do to increase my chances of a successful attempt?
Any constructive thoughts/feedback are much appreciated.