It really doesnt take alot to get SD cars to break 14 seconds. Especially lighter 4spd ones without A/C. Set 34 to 36 degrees total ignition timing, lighter advance springs to bring all in by around 2800rpms, tweaked secondary air door spring for quicker opening without bog, tune with appropriate primary and secondary metering rods, and smaller '75 and later floats to make room for more fuel in float bowl, set float at 1/4 ". Adjust accelerator pump rod to inner hole. All basic driveway tuning. These changes along with a very, very, mild hydraulic roller cam swap and a 2800 stall converter now has my car running 12.91 at 104.9 mph with a 3:08 gear with performance tranverse muffler, and 2.5" cast iron exhaust manifolds. 750rpm idle at 15" vacuum. These cars have great potential with a simple, streetable, approach
@@PistonTrendsSadly.....yes but 10spd transmissions, turbos, superchargers, and modern technology makes up for alot and faster cars. Even EVs are faster nowadays.
@davidbuddendorf991 Yes but I was able to break 14 seconds before the cam change with simple, well thought out fuel curve and ignition adjustments I outlined above.
My 73' 454 vette did 13.06 at 105mph at englishtown at Corvette challenge.Heads milled to 105 cc with 2.19 intake valves ,1.8 roller tip rockers 36 degrees of timing ,cold air door valve ty wrapped open air pump belt removed n spare tire n jack removed 3750 lbs at scale.
The 1973 Corvette and 1973 Camaro (Z28) had waivers from GM for their L82 350 engines to have a compression ratio higher than the 8.5:1 GM limit. Pontiac requested a compression ratio waiver for the 1973 455 Super Duty engine, but GM wouldn't allow it.
Interesting. I did not know that. You’d think they would allow the waiver for Pontiac as well since the brand was part of the GM company. Thanks for watching!
Even at only 8.4 to 1 compression ratio stock SD-455 Trans Ams and Formulas were faster than any stock NEW car for many years afterwards. The round port SD heads were all about airflow and not compression. The GNX and ZR-1 finally caught up with them in the late '80s and early '90s.
@@briansd2772 But no way they ran mid-13's in stock form. Too many road tests have them in the low-14 and even 15 flat. I remember a Motor Trend shootout had the 1973 SD at 15 flat. It was, however, the quickest car in the shootout. Of course, during these comparisons, they probably don't run a car over and over and over to get the best time, more than likely a pass or two. Interestingly, PistonTrends 1972 quickest video had the Formula 455 H.O. at 15.5 and that motor puts out similar power as the SD 455 (actually the H.O is rated 10 HP and 25 lb-ft more than the SD).
@@justme307 They did not run 13.54 stock. I know because I own one. Mine ran 14.00 at 100mph stock at Cordova Dragway. I believe the 13.54 time was run with the RA4 "T" camshaft that was never used in sold cars.
@@briansd2772 I've gone back and forth with some folks on that RAIV cam. It was a pre-production engine rated at 310 with that cam. Some folks will say the 310 engine made it to early 73s, but others folks, me included, say it never made it to production and the 73/74 SD were both rated at 290. Had an opportunity to buy a 73 SD TA back in the 80's but at $6k I couldn't afford it. Bought L75 instead for $4k.
Muscle cars dead by 1973 😅 the SD 455 Pontiac and 1974 too , was actually a real detuned race engine, if you knew which box to check 🧐 Put a set of headers on those Big Valve Ram air 4 style heads so they could breathe and you have a legit 12 second car up there with any stock LS6 or Hemi whatever "
I have a Corvette built by Zora Arkus Duntov and it's faster then that one because it's was the last car he made and it doesn't have any EPA on this car it has three inch exhaust pipes and they are dule exhaust and it has a big block engine and it goes from 0 to 6 in just 6 seconds and it was made for the 1977 year model it's the only one made it was to be destroyed by GM but thanks to my uncle and my grandpa who is related to Louis Chevrolet and my uncle who was vice president at GM at the time I got the car and I had it since I was 16 years old and it still looks brand new
@@PistonTrends only one time and that was back in in 2013 and that was appraised at 30.000 thousand dollars but the insurance company wants it reappraised because they said the one that did back when didn't see the car he did it though pictures only
@@PistonTrends yes I had some one from Hagtry see the car and he said it's worth 4.0000 million dollars and he said I need to get repaired by some one who knows this kind of car
I recall drooling over ALL of those back in the day:)
I especially loved the Firebird.
It really doesnt take alot to get SD cars to break 14 seconds. Especially lighter 4spd ones without A/C. Set 34 to 36 degrees total ignition timing, lighter advance springs to bring all in by around 2800rpms, tweaked secondary air door spring for quicker opening without bog, tune with appropriate primary and secondary metering rods, and smaller '75 and later floats to make room for more fuel in float bowl, set float at 1/4 ". Adjust accelerator pump rod to inner hole. All basic driveway tuning. These changes along with a very, very, mild hydraulic roller cam swap and a 2800 stall converter now has my car running 12.91 at 104.9 mph with a 3:08 gear with performance tranverse muffler, and 2.5" cast iron exhaust manifolds. 750rpm idle at 15" vacuum. These cars have great potential with a simple, streetable, approach
Basic driveway tuning is a lost art now!
@@PistonTrendsSadly.....yes but 10spd transmissions, turbos, superchargers, and modern technology makes up for alot and faster cars. Even EVs are faster nowadays.
@@briansd2772👍🏻
You added a cam that's not basic tuning
@davidbuddendorf991 Yes but I was able to break 14 seconds before the cam change with simple, well thought out fuel curve and ignition adjustments I outlined above.
1973 Mustang Mach 1 with a 351 Cleveland 4v and 4 speed should have made the list
👍🏻
Yeah, where is it?
I had one that ran low 15 seconds at 94 mph
@@hawkxr7😮
My 73' 454 vette did 13.06 at 105mph at englishtown at Corvette challenge.Heads milled to 105 cc with 2.19 intake valves ,1.8 roller tip rockers 36 degrees of timing ,cold air door valve ty wrapped open air pump belt removed n spare tire n jack removed 3750 lbs at scale.
That’s amazing. Do you still own it?
73 cuda
👍🏻
Muscle cars were dead by 73.😢
Pretty much!
I almost talked my Dad into buying a 73 Pontiac GTO with a 400 C.I. V8 engine in 1980. He didn't seem to care for muscle cars like me.
That would have been a sweet ride to have kept
The Corvette shown in the thumbnail is not a 73
Thanks for the heads up.
Where's the 340 Duster weighing in hundreds of pounds less than the CUDA?
There were a lot of great cars to narrow it down in 1970
@PistonTrends yeah, and a lot of them were humiliated by 340s in light weight A-bodies.
The 1973 Corvette and 1973 Camaro (Z28) had waivers from GM for their L82 350 engines to have a compression ratio higher than the 8.5:1 GM limit. Pontiac requested a compression ratio waiver for the 1973 455 Super Duty engine, but GM wouldn't allow it.
Interesting. I did not know that. You’d think they would allow the waiver for Pontiac as well since the brand was part of the GM company. Thanks for watching!
Even at only 8.4 to 1 compression ratio stock SD-455 Trans Ams and Formulas were faster than any stock NEW car for many years afterwards. The round port SD heads were all about airflow and not compression. The GNX and ZR-1 finally caught up with them in the late '80s and early '90s.
@@briansd2772 But no way they ran mid-13's in stock form. Too many road tests have them in the low-14 and even 15 flat. I remember a Motor Trend shootout had the 1973 SD at 15 flat. It was, however, the quickest car in the shootout. Of course, during these comparisons, they probably don't run a car over and over and over to get the best time, more than likely a pass or two. Interestingly, PistonTrends 1972 quickest video had the Formula 455 H.O. at 15.5 and that motor puts out similar power as the SD 455 (actually the H.O is rated 10 HP and 25 lb-ft more than the SD).
@@justme307 They did not run 13.54 stock. I know because I own one. Mine ran 14.00 at 100mph stock at Cordova Dragway. I believe the 13.54 time was run with the RA4 "T" camshaft that was never used in sold cars.
@@briansd2772 I've gone back and forth with some folks on that RAIV cam. It was a pre-production engine rated at 310 with that cam. Some folks will say the 310 engine made it to early 73s, but others folks, me included, say it never made it to production and the 73/74 SD were both rated at 290. Had an opportunity to buy a 73 SD TA back in the 80's but at $6k I couldn't afford it. Bought L75 instead for $4k.
the 73GTO was not available with the 4 speed as was stated only 400's could be had with a 4 speed
Thanks for watching and the comment.
I forgot how ugly these cars were - especially the front ends. What a change from 72 to 73. What were they thinking?
I agree. It’s because the DOT started mandating bumpers that could absorb an impact
Muscle cars dead by 1973 😅 the SD 455 Pontiac and 1974 too , was actually a real detuned race engine, if you knew which box to check 🧐 Put a set of headers on those Big Valve Ram air 4 style heads so they could breathe and you have a legit 12 second car up there with any stock LS6 or Hemi whatever "
Best looking cars for those years also!
I have a Corvette built by Zora Arkus Duntov and it's faster then that one because it's was the last car he made and it doesn't have any EPA on this car it has three inch exhaust pipes and they are dule exhaust and it has a big block engine and it goes from 0 to 6 in just 6 seconds and it was made for the 1977 year model it's the only one made it was to be destroyed by GM but thanks to my uncle and my grandpa who is related to Louis Chevrolet and my uncle who was vice president at GM at the time I got the car and I had it since I was 16 years old and it still looks brand new
Wow that is an extremely cool story. I bet that corvette is worth a lot. Have you ever had it appraised recently?
@@PistonTrends only one time and that was back in in 2013 and that was appraised at 30.000 thousand dollars but the insurance company wants it reappraised because they said the one that did back when didn't see the car he did it though pictures only
I would think given the history that it would be worth much much more now.
@@PistonTrends yes I had some one from Hagtry see the car and he said it's worth 4.0000 million dollars and he said I need to get repaired by some one who knows this kind of car
@@AlbertPendergraff-rp7jp👍🏻