Economic amc engine in the 11s

[gremlin boys]

Ok this is my first shot at starting a subject if it is in the wrong spot i apologize now, this is a subject that i think needs to be addressed, can a amc performance engine be built at a resonable cost?, our orange drag car has a mild 360 i am going to try and list what it has for motor specs i am not computer savey, here i go, this car has ran 11.32, 118 mph and you could drive it down the road tomorrow it is not stripped or gutted at all and is all amc parts, 360 .30 over 9.5- compression, factory rods and crank has the extra oil lines under intake. the heads are 70-71 360 heads ported and matched to intake and headers stock valve size but are aftermarket valves. cam is summit brand the biggest hydraulic they make, its in the catalog, intake is a airgap carb is a holly 750 double pumper, oh yea cam is set straight up, transmission is a amc turbo 400 manual valvebody converter is a 3500 stall, amc 20 3.54 gears, stock two piece axels double keyed, you could build this motor fairly cheap , i have seen good running early 360s for 4 or 5 hundred , this can be put togethe for around 2000. if you can do some of the work yourself, with this combo we raced all year never broke and is still runnung strong, we have even sprayed it with 100 shot of nitrous when we race at the nostalgic drags cant let those big block fords and chevys show us up, well i hope this may start a good subject Don

[gremlin boys]

ok when we first took this combination to the track it ran 12.54 at 106 mph, it took one whole season of tuning carb changing messing with the timing, , oh a few more facts, the distributer is a petronix accel coil, no fancy ignition here. and a moroso electric water pump, i believe this combo will run high tens with a little more work or maybe a cam change.

[Rogue Racer]

You revealed a very well-known but often overlooked factor in the performance of any race car - thrashing and tuning. You dropped a second off the times of your car without any major component changes. It does not take massive horsepower or megabucks to go fast. It does take work, some intelligence and a lot of initiative. Lookat NHRA Stock class cars sometime. The stellar performances there are the result of years of thrashing, some bucks and lots of initiative.

[gremlin boys]

this gremlin was put together for just over $3000. to me for the money this cars combination is by far one of the fastest for the dollar cars we have built, i have had alot of very high dollar show and race cars and this car is by far the most fun, you do not need aton of money to make a amc fast , the combination and proper tuning of the car or 4x4 is one of the most important things that has to be right, it took us all summer to get it right, the only thing missing from this car is carpet and back seat, i i think the roll bar makes up for that, it could be driven on pump gas 92 octane, i would like to hear some other low buck combos that have worked well Don

[Rogue Racer]

G-Boys,

What are the three most significant things you did to improve the performance? I agree that the AMC has much more raw potential than the rest of the automotive world would believe or recognize. That is a big part of what makes them fun!

[jeepmonster]

AMC V8's are very, very cheap to build at the performance level you have referenced. In a gremlin you can get a 304 to put up those numbers without much effort. A 360 gremlin can do that with a variety of combos using simple cheap bolt on parts, I think the most important thing is simply not to mismatch the converter rear gear and cam.

I know of a humpster javelin that had a lot more into their 401 and was no where near as fast as it should have been because of poor chasis prep and mismatched rear end not a very good cam. That car is slower than the times you posted...and it was on nitrous.

360's are much more plentiful and are a no brainer to build.

[rollen dean montoya]

sounds like your gremmie is plenty quick as it is. just continue with what is
working for you.
later, rollen :lo1l:

[gremlin boys]

Well lets see the heads being ported and polished right cam and intake, right convertor, the gears should be around 4.10s instead of 3.54 as it is at 5000 rpms threw the traps and it should be 5500- 6000 60 ft will improve also, as i said i believe there is high tens in there with a little more work, i have a red white and blue gremlin drag car that is getting a 410 ci 11-1 comp 620-620 roller cam and lifters, roller rockers, indy intake two stage nitrous, complete milodon dual line oil pan kit, milodon stud kit. csr water pump, two speed glide ford 9inch 4.86 gears, this was built to go in the 9s we will see next year as this is a new car and set up, the old bbo gremlin will stay with the set up it has and if i get it in the tens maybe i could get it in the pump gas drags. i wanted to start this thread because there alot of guys that seem to think that a fast amc is out of the reach of wallet, not so , it has taken me many years to build the cars i have and alot of dedication, i also am far from rich, the deals are out there, i have another full roller 401 i bought from ebay for 1200 bucks and the guy took payments ! motor ran 11.0 with bad carb in his car, walt if your on here thanks, there is some amc race parts for sale on the amc forum right now cheap cast heads built by herman lewis 2.08 intake, 1.70 exhaust 500 bucks thats a steal, two 401s and 390. these lists are a great thing, well good luck in everyones quest for a fast amc or stock one if thats your thing. Don

[rollen dean montoya]

the amc v-8 engines can be easily made to run fast and be reliable.
my aunt phyllis has a 1972 401 jav fully loaded. dad has made some mods to the 401 but will not give up the info. the jav dyno'ed last june
at 475 hp to the ground and 480 ft lbs of torque. i don't remember at what rpm's max power and torque were achieved. the 401 at the time had
90,000 mile since last overhaul(1985).
later, rollen :lo1l: