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Alright you hotrods...

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65er:
For all of you guys with street driven 500+ hp cars, I want to know how much of that horsepower you actually get to enjoy on a more or less daily basis.  I'm still kind of trying to sort this out in my head but it's difficult since I don't have any experience to draw from in this area.  On one hand I feel like my car SHOULD have 500 hp because it has 500 written in chrome letter right on the fenders!  But on the other hand I already run into traction issues.  It's an open 3.0:1 gear 255/60-15 TA Radials, which I know aren't the stickiest things but they get me to work and back every day in style (IMO at least, lol).  Werbyford's gonkulator estimate is 375 hp and 425 tq.

Now the plan is to install a TKO 600 in place of the dying cruiseomatic, and 4.30 gears with a true-track or some form of limited slip diff.  I also have 28 spline axles so I'm thinking I'd probably need to upgrade those if I thought I might put slicks on some day.

Here are my major concerns about spending the cash to make the 500 hp daydream come true:
 1) the car still won't run 12's unless I buy a second set of wheels and tires and change them out at the track
 2) I'll put slicks on and still won't run 12's because the suspension doesn't want to go there
 3) the car WILL run 12's but wants to do a donut every time I try to make turn from a stop sign.
 4) maybe after carrying extra tires around, changing them in the dirt and fooling with tech inspections and safety equipment I won't enjoy driving on the dragstrip! (not expecting this, but possible)

I'm kind of afraid of taking more fun OUT of the car by overdoing a good thing.  If I go with 400 hp then I won't worry about the 31 spline axles, or slicks, or going to the track, and it's only a small step up from what I have now.  But with the gear and transmission changes it's going to be an entirely different car than it is now.  So how many horsepower can a big ole Galaxie actually put to good use on a daily basis?

66FAIRLANE:
My advice would be if its a daily, stick to around 400ish. If its a toy tip as much as you want in. Big grins both ways.

jayb:
I think you might be able to use up to 600 HP with the right suspension and street tires, but it won't be as friendly in traffic as it is now.  You will also lose some low RPM grunt once you go by 500 HP.  But as long as you go with big cubes to make your 500 HP engine, I think you would be perfectly satisfied with the street performance across the RPM band.

For my part I've gone way beyond that horsepower level because I'm not all that interested in racing around on the street.  Some of my friends say I drive like a grandma  ;D  However, I do enjoy going to the track, and with a 6000 stall converter and slicks, I can use all the power available in the upper RPM ranges.

It all depends on the end purpose of the car...

65er:
If I decide to shoot for the 400 range it'll be a 390 and I'll need to buy a cam but otherwise I can pretty much build that from parts I have laying around at home already.   Beyond that it would be the 445 kit, professional head and intake porting job and hydraulic roller cam.  The funny thing is, if I go for more HP and lose some low end grunt maybe the tires stand a bit better chance of hanging on.  Wonder if I can even purposely "over do it" to kill some bottom as a favor to my tires.  Probably a piss poor plan but I know I'm not going to get excited about changing tires every time I want to enjoy my car.  I might decide it's time to blow out the carbon on the way to work sometimes...

Also Jay, you got me curious about the suspension.  I've got the stock 3 link setup with a 7/8 sway bar and air shocks in there.  The system has both shocks plumbed to a single valve but  I figured I can split them and run a few more PSI on the right side.  Beyond that I don't know what to do to improve traction for the strip. Is there stuff that can be done to my setup without a bunch of heavy duty mods? 

And when my grandma got behind the wheel she meant business!  So when you say you drive like a grandma I'll assume you mean absolutely nobody is going to pass you and your passengers won't open their eyes  ;)

My427stang:
I run a pretty hot 489 and can obliterate the tires at will.  However, I can also enjoy the car in every gear without doing so too.  It's not uncontrollable or driving on ice, your foot determines the madness.

If I were you, I'd reduce variables with changes as well as phase changes in with the budget.

- Get the TKO-600 in and drive it.  Be sure to measure the current crank centerline angle (use any measurement, carb pad, fan blades, whatever) and when you get the new tranny in, make sure its the same.  Then make sure it drives nice

- Do the gears, and play some more, see the beauty of your changes and pay close attention to the RPM range you enjoy the car in the most

- Determine how much power you want after that.  I see a nice 397 matched to the RPM range you want as being a ton of fun, add more head, add more stroke, and cam accordingly to meet that RPM range if you want more.  Building a daily driver is different than building a strip terror.  You need to figure out a wider RPM range and varying conditions.

Honestly, a good breathing 397 would be a ton of fun for an interim motor after the tranny and gears are done

However, I'd focus on a little less cam but more head/intake/exhaust flow to get RPM, regardless of displacement, in the end as a daily driver you'll be a little more happy at a stoplight with the a/c on. 

I do expect you'll get the bug and eventually build a stroker, but it doesn't have to be right away.

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