O.K. what I'm going to be building is basically a 68' 400 h.o. That's going to be using the stock heads,carb,cam,etc
What I'm looking for is any little secrets that I can do,

why dont you port the heads and use roller rockers etc in the engine so it moves a lil faster but looks stock. little things like that.

Secrets for?

Insure your tolerances are uniform and exact! (ring gap, cam dial in, clearances)

Insure that your spring installed height, open and closed pressures are within cam specs.

Valves/angles are important.

Have Cliff Ruggles rebuild your Q-jet.

Insure your carb, intake, cam, heads all compliment the gear ratio of rear, trans and weight of car. Mismatching components by throwing whatever on the drivetrain will cause more problems than is worth.

Have your old distributor recurved..or at that recurve your new one.

Buy both Pete McCarthys books, subscribe to Pontiac Enthusiast, HPP and whatever Pontiac related you can and read.

You will not go fast or far without trial and error, knowledge and $$$. I highly recommend you just build it your way for now, take the car to a dyno session and have the operator make the changes to the motor (thats what you are paying for) just make sure to take alot of secondary rods and hangers for the carb and a few different sets of plugs in different heat ranges. Also, try to have your primary idle circuit adjusted prior to dyno session.

Tom what about the heads 3-angle valve job,porting anything else I'm missing?

Doug,

Tell me what your goal is, what you have now and how much time you have to do it.

Unless you have at leats $1k for the heads and need to go into the 12's..forget porting for now.

If you do not have the suspension or trans to hold up to a well built motor, hold off on the porting.

What heads are you using? intake? cam? carb?

The motor should be built on one factor. Head flow.

In relation, and second, intake and carb efficiency.

Third, Cam

Fourth, exhaust.

Let me know what your goal is.

What I want is something that's streetable and fast at the track I would like to get in the low to mid 13's maybe high 12's.On pump gas if that's poss.What I'm working with is a 400 with #16 heads,068 cam,pertronix II dist.With a wide ratio muncie, 3:55 rear gears.I was kinda hoping that there would be something else that I could do to add a little more power.I've never had and engine built so I don't know about cam degreeing intake port matching,3-angle valve jobs.

Oh, Tom do you know when that show/swap at the fairgound's is this month?

Doug,

Swap meet is the 9th and 10th.

Believe it or not, you can get alot I mean ALOT of gains from properly calibrating the carb and having the distributor curved and tweaked by a good builder. Vacuum leaks and poor or variations in cylinder compression may factor in.

Your setup sounds fine for a high 13 second car. You should set it up, tune the motor as is now, take to track and get a couple of slips.

Then, when time and $$$ allow, have Cliff rebuild the carb and have someone recurve distributor, then goo out and try again. I say you will be 5 to 8 tenths faster.

Heads should be done last AND only when you have tweaked out and corrected any bugs with ignition and fuel flow. If heads done first, then you backtrack, not as fun or exciting as having the basics (fuel/spark) tapped to thier full potential. I can estimate a good port and polish to 240-260 on the intake will get you in the 12's for around 1k or less.

Again be mindful that all factors must compliment each other within a percentage. If you buy a cam, make sure you get thier springs that are recommended. If you get another companies springs, make sure the open/closed pressures and coil bind heights are checked with max lift of cam.

Honestly, the best bang for the buck for first time builders would be the Edelbrock RPM package which is the carb, intake, cam, springs/lifters. Add on the RPM heads, 72 CC, and you'll have a managable and straightforward motor. For Under $2500, this setup is very nice.

Of course, you could go the other route with mixing and matching whatever you have and what you "think" may work, but this method is best suited to those who have been tinkering with what works and doesn't for quite awhile. Yes, this method works as well, but keep in mind that your failures will, at first, outweigh your successes.

As I said before, if you really want a managable, stout motor, try something that is proven to work together such as the RPM package.

Do you recommend any certain brand for cam/lifters ?Also what I want is my friend just biught 69 1/2 superbee with a 440 6-pack w/a 4:10 gear and a automatic who I know will want to race me at the track this summer I don't that to happen.

What I meant to say is that I don't want to lose to him.

I have a blown 780 HP 428 you can drop in for a few days..

Have to charge you for two rear tires though.