The Best HP Rated Car.
 

With all the HP changes today, its hard to keep up.
What was the Best HP rated car of yester-year.
In other words, was low-rated by the factory and snuck in under the NHRA radar.
* Chevrolet 1967-1969 (Camaro's & Nova's) 396/375HP
PC

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

1974 ford 460 @ 170hp

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Maybe I missed something but that Ford 460 is NHRA factored at 300hp.


I think the most underrated engine is the 350 in the 1977 or 1978 Cadilac. It's factored at 188hp!

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

1. The 1957 Chevrolet 283" 270 hp dual quad combo....

2. The 1964 and up Chevelle 283" 220 hp combo, and the 327" 250 hp combo....all still capable of winning today.... opinion only. WJ

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

For years the 307 Olds in its many iterations, but now, anything the two Bob's are running! Also possibly the 265 Chev taxi motor

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

LS1 with a stick

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Dave -- You must be talking about the one that got HP this week and will more than likely get it again at years end .................

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

I'll go way back.
1962 Dodge/Plymouth 361/305HP
Pretty dominant from 62' thru 67'.

And of course the early 69' Chevy 350/255HP LM1 engine in the
Camaro's and Nova's.
PC

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

nhra rated at 300 not the factory

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

1974 factory rated was 190hp

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Yes, in the firebird it's still 15 less than the automatic.
Put the flat hood on and its 20 less than the automatic.

In the Camaro its 24 less than the automatic
In a Corvette is 33 less than the Camaro.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

350/255 your kidding, lol
There are some good 350's out there but the 255 rated @ 280 is not one... It's fair at best !

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

If you want the best HP rated car contact Bob Shaw. I'm sure he could put together some combo that would do the trick.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA not the best combo

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Dave, please explain the "flat hood" deal to me on the LS1 '98-02 Camaros and Firebirds....The hood scoops on the '98-'02 SS Camaros/TransAm Ram Air cars come non-functional, correct? Does NHRA let people running the SS or Ram Air-scooped cars make them functional? Flat hoods are Z-28 and non ram-air Firebird/Trans Am models, correct? I had 2, Camaro SS (scooped) cars, a '99, and a '02....Racing in bracket mode, I always used a stock, but modified air filter box and picked up ducted fresh air from lower air dam area of nose in front of radiator, directly into the air box assy.....That's probably not legal for NHRA stock class racing, correct? Just what DO they allow, as far as fresh air intake on these cars, and what they DON'T, and exactly what changes the hp ratings on these cars? ..Much thanks. WJ

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Ken, Paul DID say " of yesterday"
He might be looking for "ancient" combos like the blown 312 Fords, etc.

Overall though, I'd say it would have to the GM 1993 LT1 ,which is now + 71 HP over what it entered the books at.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

I would value the opinions of the four "gurus" of Stock - Mark Yac, Neil Smedley, Bob Shaw and Billy Nees. We've heard from Mark. I await hearing from the others. I know this much, my combo is definitely NOT the best - '86 305 165/249.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Firebird and Camaro are the same, flat hood is 349 and ram air or ss hood is 354 on both models. The difference is the shipping weight, you can run the firebird in A with ramair hood and the camaro in B with flat hood (highest). The shipping weight on these is backwards, the camaro ss hood is heavier than the firebird ram air hood, thats how you can run the firebird higher. The highest class for the camaro with ss hood is C/S. I am almost done with my camaro that will run B/S with the flat hood, hopefully the smart person that just got the ramair hood 12 HP (camaro ss and firebird raimair hood) will learn to keep his car from going that far under. This is a great combo that has been very well protected in the past years. However, the 99 firebird WS6 ram air with 1le option (stick only) didnt get the 12 hp, its still at 342, but falls as a C,D,E car.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

I'm still trying to understand the question! :confused:

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

what ever combo bob dennis was running yesteryear aka still :-x

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

I assume you are looking for one that hit the classification guide without a factor when it was first introduced. In yesteryear, it would have to be the 350-255. IIRC it was the first engine to receive a hp factor.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Mark and Dwight,
Thank You,
You understood what I meant, when I said 'yesteryear'.
Ken, I did not mean todays re-factored HP ratings. Your correct though, the 350/255 LM1 engine at 280HP (todays NHRA HP rating) is what it should have been.
Those early 1969 350/255HP LM1 engines (in the Camaro's and Nova's (12.00-12.49 wt/hp) and Chevelle's (12.50-12.99 wt/hp), did a number on everyone in J/S, K/S and L/S as well as SS/M and SS/N back-in-the-day 69' thru 73'.
They might not have won all the major events back then, but at local tracks those engine combo's in those cars were always in the "Top" of Stock Eliminator.
Looking back, for stock class that 255HP was way low by yesterdays standards. Properly rated at 275 or 280 horsepower, those 69' Camaro's and Nova's would still have been competitive in the 11.00-11.49 wth/hp bracket, (ie; H/S in 69' and I/S in 70'/71').
If you take a peak at the NHRA blueprint specs, you can see that the 350/255HP engine is closer to the 350/300HP engine specs than the 327/250HP engine specs (which it replaced as Chevrolet's base 4-barrel engine). A 275HP to 285HP rating is more in line.
PC

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Very good point Dwight. And that was way before the AHFS.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

CC'd,
The major difference between the 1969 #LM1 350/255HP engine and the #L48 350/300HP is the compression.
10.25-1 for the 300HP and 9.00-1 for the 255HP.
The 300HP had a 4-bolt main block, and the 255HP had a 2-bolt main.
The Rochester #203 carburetor (750cfm) and #184 spread-bore cast iron intake are the same.
The hydraulic camshafts .390/.410 lift and 258/269 duration, and valve train components are the same.
The cylinder head valves,1.94 intake and 1.50 exhaust valves are the same, but the #L48 350/300HP utilized #041 castings with (63 cc chambers), and the 255HP utilized #441 castings with (76 cc chambers).
Both used flat top pistons with notches.
The #LM1 engine could be ordered in a non-SS car only, the #L48 engine was a SS Package only.
WHEW!!

CC,
Come to think of it, your right. There were alot more guys running the 69' 350/255HP Camaro's with success in 69' thru 73', than the 69' Camaro SS350/300HP.
The 69' SS Camaro's got clobbered in G/S and G/SA (10.00-10.49 wt/hp).
A sneaky class, 69' Camaro 350/255HP convertible automatic in L/SA (70'/71') and/or (SS/NA 1972, National record 12.26; see John Lingenfelter)

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

And just for the record, the 350/255 Camaro was ONLY available with a FLAT hood!

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Paul....you don't have to go that far back, let's talk 305 ci combos, sleds on the street but killers on the strip and still got something left, both carb and injected...

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

I'm missing something...the 350/255 teched in today have the cowl hood, care to explain???

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Don he was only being facitious.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

The cowl hood was first seen on the Indy Pace cars , which were 300 hp , 350's or 396's. NHRA allows them on any 4bbl Camaro

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Can I have a cowl hood also ? PLEASE
From what I have been told the Nova should have 5 hp LESS .
Because the Camaro has the cowl hood..

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Not totally correct, Billy. The ZL2 option cowl hood was introduced in the salesman's option book in October 1968 shortly after the introduction of the 1969 model year. It was available on the Z28, which it was designed for, from the beginning. Starting in October, the ZL2 option could be checked if the car was also equipped with the Z29 Super Sport package. Then, central planning released the Pace Car package which was roughly equivalent to an SS and included the hood as part of the "recommended" options. Sales strategies and customer demand dictated that the Pace Car package not be a necessarily performance option, but a visual package that included items that promoted the performance image of the Camaro and the Indy 500, so the base required engine was a four barrel engine so the ZL2 hood could be installed. Hence the 350-255 was the base engine that had to be ordered if a Pace Car package equipped car was purchased. Many Pace Cars were sold with the 350-255. Since the 1969 production year was abnormally long due to the late introduction of the 1970 model and the immense popularity of the 1969 models, by late April of 1969 to the end of the production in September, the lines got really blurred about restrictions of option combinations. The ZL2 hood option became available on any four-barrel equipped Camaro by that time, so 350-255 cars did come with the hood.

As a personal note, I coached a friend of mine in optioning a 1969 Camaro he ordered. He was attending college at the time and was receiving some money from his dad who required "no hot rod". He ordered a base Camaro with an F41 suspension, 350-255, four speed, positraction, spoilers, ZL2 hood, disc brakes, HD rear axle, custom interior and several other comfort features. Nice car. Not too fast, but one that many would covet today.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

MY question was just answered. Think you could run one on a 2nnl 350? Or could you get away with it?

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

I don't think there is any documentation to support anything less than a 350/300 in a Pace Camaro. I once had one and did a lot of research on them.
Mine was a 350 /T350 w/ A/C.
Goes down as one of those I should have kept! :(

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Dwight, I wasn't thinking of the Z-28 cars. Part of the Pace Car package was the SS (Z-29) option and the base engine was a 350/300. As far as your friends car if you say it's so then I won't argue the issue with you as I've had a few really oddly optioned Camaros myself.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

No. Bad Todd.

Re: The Best HP Rated Car.
 

Cowl-Schmowl,
I think you could get a ZL-2 cowl hood on a 6-cylinder too, late in the production year (Maybe January). Good for 5 more HP, if you were going backwards:p

Dwight
I think that LM-1 package also came through with a 12-bolt 3.31 posi, and multi-leaf rear springs as standard.
I think the 4-speed M20 wide-ratio Muncie was an option, wasn't it?
The F41 suspension package, as you said, was optional on the LM1, but standard on the SS package.
I think too, the LM1 had a smaller exhaust system, while the SS 350/300HP had the bigger pipe N10 dual exhaust.
PC

Hey Don Whitmore,
I had an 80' Z-28 (bought brand new).
I'm Italian, so I had to get a "GUIDO" car.
Yes, white with blue Z-28 striping, and of course T-Tops (Yes, they leaked!)
I smartly ordered it with the better 350/190HP 4-barrel engine option (instead of the "DOG" 305/155HP). Radio delete and no a/c.
Your right, nothing special at all on the street. Not the greatest engine either. I babied it, and it still wiped the camshaft after 20,000 miles.
The heads cracked at 30,000 miles. The pistons and rings were shot at 40,000 miles.
Not Chevrolet's finest moment.
PCII