ideas for more horsepower?

[inglewatt102]

I have a 74 nova and I was hoping to find some not TOO pricey ways to increase horsepower.Im relatively new to muscle cars(first one).So this is what Im working with so far.I have a rebuilt 350 with an edelbrock 600 carb and performer intake,KNN air filter,camel hump heads,its bored out 30 over with flattop pistons,roller rockers,a lunatti 480 lift cam,hooker comp headers to 2 1/2inch dual exhaust,accel hei distributor.With a turbo 350 tranny an a 2500 torque conv.I am going to install a posi rear with 373 gears and a shift kit pretty quick.I was wondering if maybe going to a serpentine belt system would be a good idea.Also I got it timed up but it sounds like it kinda wants to die when idling especially at a light.Should I go with a bigger carb maybe 650?And if I do should I get a bigger fuel pump?I know I just asked a whole lotta questions with not much detailed info but any suggestions would really be appreciated.Thanx guys.

[goddard68]

Wait till you re-gear the car, you'll be surprised at the increase in power you will notice.

[novaboy22]

he wont see a power increase from gears, accelaration yes. power no. gears just get you going faster. posi will help put the power to the ground though. put a 72 front end on that 74 please, i hate those things. lol

[novaboy22]

a 650 is probably too much for your setup. dont go double pumper either, theyre a bit over the top on automatic cars. as far as the fuel system go with a holley electric pump, you know when its working and it provides straight up pressure all the time instead of fluctuations with a mechanical unit. 600cfm is al you need for the street.

[71nova2]

The heads you are using were designed for pop up or hi compresion pistons.
You are running flat top. I think your horse power problem is compresion.

[wafrederick]

There is one mistake people do,put a too big carburator for the wrong application.I heard about it a lot,one was someonone wanted to put a 1200 cfm carb on a stock engine and a 1200 cfm carb is not made for a stock engine.

[inglewatt102]

Well I got the 650 d.p. but I also got some 906vortec heads and an edelbrock rpm intake.Gonna put it on pretty soon here then next is the 3.73 gears.Hope theres a noticably difference in torque and power!I'll let ya know!

[Dennis321]

A couple of things ot think about for some extra horsepower would be converting to electronic ignition, if you don't already have one. The dears will definitely make you feel the power that you already have more. Also consider starting over with your timing. Get cylinder 1 to TDC and gofrom there. Sometimes on the old Chevy balancers, the outer protion of the balancer can slip over time making the timing marks virtually useless. Once you get it at TDC and time it, if you find that your marks on the balncer areno where near where they should be, replace the balancer. You can get the timing correctwith one thathasslipped, but it's a lot easier with onethat is still working correctly. Also you mentioned the dual exhaust. Be sure that you have an x pipe or h pipe in your set up somewhere. You need to have some backpressure in the exhaust. Running a true dual with no crossover can actually rob you of horsepower instead of giving you any gain. Good luck with your project.