I have had a 1968 Firebird Convertible for about 13 months now. I bought the car fully restored and don't have much history on the rebuild, especially the motor. I am very much a newbie mechanic and so I am asking you experts for advise on a performance question. The following are the specs on the car:
1968 with original 350ci (I assume not bored over, but an unsure) Originally a 2bbl carb car Currently a 4bbl Edelbrock 1406 carb Comp Cam P8 XE262H-10 2.56 gears, non-posi Turbo 350 trans Electric fan Vintage Air (never use it) Estimated by dealer at 300HP I only run 93 octane
This is the oldest car I have ever driven. So I don't really know what to expect on the performance side. She has highway gears and I get a nice 22MPG on road trips. About 3K RPM at 80MPH. It starts and runs well with no over heating issues (195 degrees max). My question is hole shot performance. I can't spin the tires no matter how hard I try. Not that I plan to do this every time I drive her. However, given the above specs, should I be able to roast them If I choose to? Or is this normal for a 2.56 gear, automatic, 350ci car? I have had her into a local performance shop for tuning.
My coupe came with 350 2bbl and 2.73 gears. It would spin tires every time I was in gravel lol
I would change out your gears to sometime a bit better say 3.2+
I'll bet you have a 2sp powerglide as well. If stock get a TH400 or TH350 3sp automatics.
Nice wheels!
Good luck
Engine Test Stand Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoxyUwptUcdqEb-o2ArqyiUaHW0G_C88 restoring my 1968 Firebird 400 HO convertible (Firedawg) 1965 Pontiac Catalina Safari Wagon 389 TriPower (Catwagon) 1999 JD AWS LX Lawn tractor 17hp (my daily driver) 2006 Sequoia 2017 Murano (wife's car) 202? Electric car 203? 68 Firebird /w electric engine 2007 Bayliner 175 runabout /w 3.0L Mercuiser__________________________________________________________