Im going to race my friend 454 vette today, puts out near 270HP, and like 395 Torque, I hear the 69+ vettes arnt very fast, atthe track he ran in the 14.8's. It is a manual, completely stock. Im pretty confident I will take him, is it best to race him from a stop or roll? 395 torque seems like it would kill down low, but then again the thing weight 3950Lbs even w/ the fiberglass body. I will get back to you guys later on tonight after I race him.

Where is the sweet spot on the LT1?

A 69 454 Vette is a low 13/high 12 second car. It sounds like the hp that a 74 Vette would have had. That was the last year of the 454 in the Vette.

There was a guy at the track I got to last year in a rough looking 70 vette with a 350.He said it had a different cam and it had headers.But was stock otherwise.He ran 13.20's.

RESULTS:

On a corn field strip, from a stop. First race I killed it from the start, I got like 2 cars on him from the start and kept pulling maby to 3 cars, got up to around 100 and shut it down. Second race from a stop, (first race he blamed it on traction problems, which was a little evident as his car did squirm a little), this time same results, I pulled like crazy throught 1st gear, just slightly power breaking it. Got like 3-4 cars again.

Next we raced maby 3-4 times from a roll, everytime form the initial punch it would be even, up until my car would shift...then he would pull hard, for about a car length, then it would go even, until my car hit 4th and fell on its face.

Now here is the scary part. Afterwards, me, the guy in the vette, and my other friend who video taped it, went to a gas station to refil our guzzlers, and we finished, paid for out gas...then my friend w/ the vette started his car and we were all outside of it looking at it as it ideled, and we began to noticed some smoke coming from the front fender, then we saw huge puddles of oil under the car. Popped the hood, and it was all over the drivers side of the car. Shut the car off, and the puddle got huge, almost the whole bottom of the car. I hope he didnt blow his engine, hope its a valve cover seal or something not serious. Its such a classic car!

The 69 vettes were the fast ones, After like 70'sthey put all the smog junk on, and pretty much killed the engine's power. Like I said he ran 14.8's in 1/4 mile, and his vette only has 13,000 miles on it! Orignal, found it in a barn and restored it! Thats why I feel soo bad about his engine.

His car is also almost completely gutted, no passengers seat, pratically no dash.

A friend of mine has white convertible 454. He ran it at the track once, ran really low 12's, but that was in the late 60's. It only has 150 miles on it, all original. He hasnt take it out of temperature controlled storage since. He pays roughly $500.00/month for the storage space.

My dad had a 69 454 and it ran in the low 13's bone stock!

a 1973 like you raced was built in St. Louis and weighed 3,416 lbs the 454 had 275 HP. They were not that fast.

Doug

Dummy me.I never even noticed it was a 73. Where did I get a 69 at? It would still be a good kill to beat a 454 anything as far as bragging rights are concerned.

Ill be at his house over the weekend. I will ask him in more detail everything about the car. I am just going off of memory as to what I wrote above. I wasnt there.

Now now! Thats smog stock
Tangle with a built 454

I agree a built 454 is a dangerous TORQUE monster. I have seen 600HP out of them no problem with no power adders.

BUT a 73 is not that fast. IN 1973 it was but not by todays or even 1993 standards. a stock 93 would beat it.

a low HP 275 454 still had more torque than an LT1 so I guess a 275 Formula would be a decent race but the tires, fuel injection all makes a difference.

You can easily build even a smog legal 73 454 for serious power. I have been involved in build of many early 70's vettes. I had a 74 for a while and it went good.

With mods it could keep up with a early 4th gen.

Doug

I'm hopeing my 400 will too.

I second that, but It just felt good to shut him down and his corvette ego. He follows the moto of "I drive a corvette therfore I am the fastest thing on the road" not to say they are no fast, but some of the drivers......god help them. Funny thing was he wwanted to bet 10 bucks on the second race but I chickened out, mainly cuz I didnt have 10 bucks and I thought he had something up his sleeve or maby he had missed a gear the first race and I was in for a pounding, but same results.

Also, searching on specs for the 454 73' I found that it had I belive 385 or 395 torque, so it was pretty beefy. But when racing him it seemed like a dog from a dead stop, from a roll it got me by a car or to, which i am goign to blame on my a4.

I am going to go to the track again sometime this year. I went back in May with my '79. It has a slightly built up 350 with a 3.70 rear end. I ran a 15.1 the first run and a 15.06 the second. First time I beat a mid-90's mustang gt. Yes, I realize I come nowhere close to any of you newer gen guys but my car looks better. J/K Anyway, my dad wants to take his '72 vette to the track the next ime I go. It originally had a 454 but now has a 402. My car should run in the mid to high 14's. I'm hoping I can turn better times than him. I'm at least hopingI can stay close. If the vettes were lighter, it would make a big difference. They may be made of fiberglass but the doors just about take two people to lift.