how much horsepower should i have

[transamguy]

i have an 80 trans am with a 400ci. it has a holley 650cfm carb, edelbrock performer intake, 6x heads, crane cam with 480 lift and 284 duration,bored .60 over,dual exhaust, msd 6al ignition, 350 transmission 2500 stall,and shift kit. I think gears are 3.08 but not sure 3000 rpm at 70mph. what kind of horsepower and torque am i looking at and what about the 1/4 mile? all freshly rebuilt the car is just about fully restored should i stay with this or get a 98 or up ws6 trans am

[89RS_dude]

well, im not trying to be smart or anything,but that is what they make dyno's for lol. If i had to guess id say in the mid to high 300's for hp, idk bout torque. But seriously, take it to a dyno, it wont hurt your car. Just dont(as im sure you know) max it if you just built the engine cus it will fall out. Has to be broken in before you do this;but as i said im sure youk now all this

[N20LT4Bird]

i have an 80 trans am with a 400ci. it has a holley 650cfm carb, edelbrock performer intake, 6x heads, crane cam with 480 lift and 284 duration,bored .60 over,dual exhaust, msd 6al ignition, 350 transmission 2500 stall,and shift kit. I think gears are 3.08 but not sure 3000 rpm at 70mph. what kind of horsepower and torque am i looking at and what about the 1/4 mile? all freshly rebuilt the car is just about fully restored should i stay with this or get a 98 or up ws6 trans am

The Pontiac 400 with 6X heads made about 220 HP from the factory.....you have an aftermarket intake and a mild cam which may give you a few more ponies, maybe bringing it up to 250 or 260 at the crank.....

A higher compression, big valve, head change (12, 13, 62, etc) and a set of headers would wake that motor right up....then MAYBE you'll hang with an LS1, and thats a big maybe. Ive got a 69 GTO with the 400 CID pontiac, with 62 heads (10:1 compression), mild cam, ram air, etc and I am running low 14's at about 98-99 mph...not fast enough to hang with the LS1's...

[Joe 1320]

sounds like a nice cruiser. If you want to run with an LS1, you'll need a more aggressive cam, headwork, more compression, headers, gears and slicks. I would keep it as it is..... as a nice cruiser and start saving the dough to add an LS-1 to your stable.

[ColdBird]

400's are like buttholes.
Everyone has them and they all stink
Same problem as my dodge. Late '70s emissions low compression motors. Luckily my truck somehow snuck out of the factory without a catalytic converter its rated at 235 stock, but i think that is a little pessimistic. Torque numbers should be good though, at least mine are.

[N20LT4Bird]

400's are like buttholes.
Everyone has them and they all stink
Same problem as my dodge. Late '70s emissions low compression motors. Luckily my truck somehow snuck out of the factory without a catalytic converter its rated at 235 stock, but i think that is a little pessimistic. Torque numbers should be good though, at least mine are.

I think youre thinking of a chevy 400. A pontiac 400 is a different story. This is the legendary GTO motor.....and CAN be made to run quite impressively. Some Pontiac 400's came from the factory severely underrated at 370 HP. The RAIV GTO was no slouch......

Its just that he is running, as you say, a late 70's low compression set-up. 220 HP out of 400 cubes is not too impressive, but with the right heads, cam, intake and carb, the car could be a beast....

Transamguy, I think it all depends on what you want to do with it......turning your current car into an LS1 squasher will be cheaper than buying an LS1, but will take some work and careful planning. Edelbrock makes a nice set of RAIV replica heads, cast in aluminum. A ported set of these heads, matching intake, RAIV cam, roller rockers, big carb (I prefer a quadrajet), set of good headers, free flowing exhaust, MSD ignition, etc would make the POWER necessary for 12 second quarter miles....now all you have to do is hook it (but LS1 cars have the same problem). I would suspect that it would run you about 3-4k, if you did the work yourself......

Now, I, chose to leave my GTO a cruiser (not that low 14's is something to be ashamed of) and park it in the garage for running on nice days. I have the bird if I want to go out crushing everything on the street