Could my stock 5.0 beat a '81 chevy monte carlo with a 350?

[red93gthatch]

I know this is kind of a dumb question and all, but I was wondering if I could beat a 350 with my pretty much bone stock engine. The monte carlo has 150,000 miles on it, and is bone stock too, less the exhaust. How much horsepower were these rated at. I was just wondering cause a guy near me wanted to race, and I didn't feel like losing any extra money. Thanks

 

[giddyup306]

Hard telling. I think the 350 monty's have 335 hp. Should be pretty close though...it's all in the driver. I think you have a weight advantage as well.

Peace

Mike

 

[SALAS331GT]

if his engine is completly stock and is of that model year, I'm pretty sure you'll beat him. I want to say that his engine is in the 150-180 hp range, but i could be wrong. at that time automakers were more concerned about emmisions/fuel economy and not so much about performance.

 

[giddyup306]

if his engine is completly stock and is of that model year, I'm pretty sure you'll beat him. I want to say that his engine is in the 150-180 hp range, but i could be wrong. at that time automakers were more concerned about emmisions/fuel economy and not so much about performance.

You could be right. I don't know a whole lot about GM cars. A friend of mines dad has a 78 (I think) monty and that thing is a total dog! If the 81 engines are anything like the previous years you have nothing to worrie about. Race him and find out

 

[red93gthatch]

thanks. I think he told me that his car only had about 185 hp or something like that. He was also with his friends and said that he got beat by 2 other 5.0's (one with a bad lifter) and has only beaten one. But this could also be a bunch of crap. Thanks for the help, I just wanted to make sure of what I was getting into before I actually did it. I don't exactly have a lot of money to be throwing around being 19 and all.

 

[Schlodes]

Uhhhhhh....

I could have swore the biggest V8 option for 1981 as far as the Monte Carlos went... was the 305 4 bubble. And if its the original 305, I highly doubt it even makes 180 HP as thats what the HO 305s in the SSs make. More like 150 HP. And if I am not mistaken the most powerful engine the Monte could have that year was, of all things, the carb'd 3.8L 4BBL turbos, borrowed from the Regal Sport Coupes, which made [a whopping] 170 HP and 280 ft lbs TQ. [not bad torque tho for such a stock, primitive turbo setup]

Whats the engine look like? There are ways you can tell a 305 from a 350.. I think its by the balancer, but he could be pulling your leg too, and have put a strong running junkyard 350 in it, and if he's thrown a gear in there too like a 3.55 or something..

What gears do you have in the GT? I think I read in yer sig its AOD?? If it were me.. with 3.08s or even 3.27s, and you have the little tweaks done like K&N and timing etc... i'd run him and be confident.

 

[SALAS331GT]

check this website out http://www.darklair.com/monte/production.html
it is a website on production numbers by years, and under engine availabilty for the '81, it has no 350 listed. I wonder how correct the info on it is, but check it out. race the guy and find out.

 

[red93gthatch]

Yeah, I'm not sure of the actual size of the engine. I heard one of his friends say a 350, but I might have misheard him or something. I was also just getting off of work and didn't even get a chance to look at his engine. I might see him again tomorrow, but I'm not sure, maybe I'll get a chance to actually see the engine. As for my car, I'm not sure of the gears in my car, believe it or not my speedo is fast by a whopping 10 mph. So I'm thinking the guy that had it before me got new gears. BTW would this mean I have a higher gear ratio or lower, been meaning to ask just forgot. Plus changing the speedo gear in an AOD is a PITA from what I heard.
Thanks

 

[SALAS331GT]

if your speedo reads faster, then it means that you have lower gears

 

[Schlodes]

If your speedo is reading faster than you are actually going, its very likely someone swapped in a better gear...

Jack the car up on stands so the rear tires spin freely.. put a mark [use magic marker or something] on the bottom of the rear part of the driveshaft, and a mark [straight line] on the rear end housing straight across from where you made the mark on the driveshaft.

Then mark a rear tire.. say.. at the very top, with something [I have used a dry bar of soap] going straight up and down, and then on the same rear fender lip, lining up exactly with the mark on the rear tire... make a mark.

Get under the car, and have a buddy slowly spin the tire one full rotation, while you are under the car counting how many revolutions the driveshaft has made... and thats your gear ratio.

What speed is it off by 10 MPH..? Mine... the faster I go the worse its off [mine's 5 speed car & went from 3.08s to 3.73s]. If I am going 80 MPH, mines off by about 20 MPH.

Maybe you had 3.08s and someone prolly went to 3.55s.

 

[red93gthatch]

I never really trully tested the speed when I go fast. I've checked it going through town with one of those portable mph stands (or whatever you call them). It is only 10 mph off when I'm going through town at 35. I usually drive on the highway at 65, with it reading 75 on the speedo. But like you said it might be off and could be as much as 20 mph off too. I know you have a 5 speed and all, but do you know how hard it would be to change the speedo gear in my AOD. It doesn't really matter to me, I'm thinking of doing a 5 speed swap later on anyways.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[autoXr1]

The '81 Monte's were pigs. A late '80's-present 5-oh could waste a '81 vette without trouble...the Monte isn't going to be a problem. Different era cars.

 

[giddyup306]

Whats the engine look like? There are ways you can tell a 305 from a 350.. I think its by the balancer, but he could be pulling your leg too, and have put a strong running junkyard 350 in it, and if he's thrown a gear in there too like a 3.55 or something..

Yes the 305/350 engines when balanced, have weight taken off the balancer BUT I know a dude that does IMCA racing that has balanced sb 400s by using the 350 tecnique...dunno how he did it though (he's a whiz at that kinna stuff). That's how he ran a 400 CID small block in a 360 CID class . My point is you'll never know for sure because gm uses the same block for 283/305/350/400 engines. It is very possible that the OEM 305 (or whatever was in it) crapped out and someone did a 350 swap. IMCA has a tool that is screwed into the spark plug hole and can tell the CID of an engine within 4% of the actual displacement...once again don't ask me how it works (it's NOT a pressure gague)....


JMO

Mike

 

[HistoricMustang]

Oh year, that Monty has got to weigh at least 10 tons.............

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

 

[89MustangGX]

Oh year, that Monty has got to weigh at least 10 tons.............

More like, under 3500 pounds with average driver. I had one that was an A/C delete car (this was an 86 SS BTW), and it came in at just over 3400 pounds with driver.

 

[yosh]

I would race him and be confident that I would win. Whats the worst that could happen?

 

[MinionII]

that guy is feeding you complete bullchit.

He says he can't beat a stock mustang, and yet he wants to race for money.

think about that.


If the car actually was stock, you would kick his ass.

 

[Notchrat]

I'd be a little carefull here. Like mentioned the biggest stock V-8 option for a 81 monte carlo is the 150 Horse LG-4 305 which if lucky will break into the 17's

A "stock" 350 will range from the wimpy L-65 145 HP 2 barrel, 165 - 175 HP LM1 (same motor but 4 barrel carb) up to the mighty 370 HP LT-1 with a few stops inbetween. A stock looking motor can be much higher, edelbrock can be ground off and painted orange etc..

The only external clues about a Chevy small block is the casting # and the suffix code stamping. Only the 400 Small block uses the special balancer, and you may not be able to tell if it's a aftermarket one.

This dude could be sandbagging with a hot 383 or 400 pushing over 350 HP at the wheels, or could have a wheezey stock 175 hp model pushing less than 150 at the wheels. Or he could be talking total crap and has the lamo stock 305. No way to know unless you run the dude at the track.

Giddyup, you are talking about a Pump gauge. You screw into the sparkplug and crank the motor, this gauges how much volume the cyl pumps, multiply by 8 you get the displacment. A quick way to spot cheaters, this is fairly accurate.

 

[SmockDoiley]

335 horses from a stock 80's car, your an idiot. Those things are dogs and weigh a ton. Listen to its idle, and check it for a NOS bottle. He could sandbagging you. If its stock you'll waste him. Those things are ridiculously slow. You should have no problem. Even if you lose hes still white trash driving a monte carlo, lol.

 

[mustangcoupe]

this may help, i raced a 87 montie the kid said it had a 350 roasted him pretty bad with my stock aod 5.0.