CHEVELLE CHASSIS, BARRY GRANT

We'll install a high tech new drive train in our classic old chassis here and later on, we're gonna show you the best bolt ons for your books

today on horsepower TV. We'll drop a 350 small block in our Chevelle chassis backed up by an automatic overdrive trance. We'll also add the pulleys and the reverse water pump.

Then from the intake to the exhaust, we'll show you how to get the most horsepower on a limited budget

plus a profile on a racer who went on to put his name on some of the hottest parts in high performance.

So hang on for horsepower TV.

Hi, welcome to the horsepower shop a few weeks ago. We kick off our Chevelle chassis build up with a hotcha

suspension

and bear four wheel disc brakes. Then we added this 12 bolt rear end for Moser engineering.

Now we're gonna need all these heavy duty underpinnings once we drop in our drive train today.

Yeah, one of the most popular swaps today is updating an older car with a fuel injected engine and an overdrive transmission. Now, eventually that chassis is gonna find its way under my 65 Chevelle two door wagon, but the power

it's coming from the GM performance parts RA MG

350.

Now, while the name might be a throwback to Chevy's earliest fuel injection days. Well, the engine uses nothing but contemporary components. It uses a roller cam shaft like this one and a set of vortec heads that'll give us 9.4 to 1 compression.

Now, the real kicker though is the port fuel injection that's styled after the earlier version, but it mounts this compact computer right here on the engine.

The kit also comes with a complete wiring harness and hey, once you get the motor bolted in,

all you gotta do is give it fuel and 12 volts you're ready to rock.

Yeah, but you can't roll without a good transmission. This one's a modern match for that ram jet.

It's

a

700

r-gene clutch

and

band life. Oh, by the way, a high gear pack in a stock transmission has seven clutches. This one's got nine to handle high output engines like the ram jet.

The torque converter has been beefed up too with furnace bras, fins and Torrington bearings. Plus it's got a Corvette str for increased stall and oversized lock up clutch for extra torque capacity. Now, after you lube up the snout on this thing,

just slip it on

and push while you turn to fully engage that pump drive.

There we go

next, we're ready to both the trans to the engine

install the engine and trans

mounts

and drop both into our frame

using a B belt to drive your accessories is like playing a cassette in your stereo. It's just old technology,

but serpentine systems are a lot more efficient and that's why you're gonna find them under the hood of most modern cars. Now, we went ahead and ordered this billet aluminum serpentine system from Zos.

It contains all of the pulleys and brackets and hardware that you need to mount an alternator,

air conditioning compressor and even this cool miniature power steering pump. Of course, it uses a remote reservoir.

Now to make it all work, we need a reverse rotation water pump. We got this aluminum pump from Edelbrock and besides saving weight,

it uses a heavy duty bearing to withstand higher loads and RPM.

Plus it has AC NC machine impeller to flow 20% more coolant

with the water pump bolted up. We'll install the pulleys,

then the brackets for the alternator and AC compressor

followed by the power steering pump.

Hey, we wanna keep the wiring on the wagon pretty simple. So we're gonna use this one wire chrome alternator from summit.

Now, this thing cranks out 100 amps, which is gonna be more than enough power

to run the power windows, air conditioning

and even that high power stereo we got planned for later on.

Thank goodness. Breaking out the pipe bender won't be in our plans on this project.

That's because we ordered stainless steel, prebent fuel and brake lines from the right stuff, detailing. They've got kits for all stock applications, but since we got disc brakes all the way around and fuel injection, well, we had them bend up a custom set for our specs. For example, they've added this return line for our fuel injection

and the special ends on the brake lines so that they'll made up with the flex lines from our Bear brake kit.

Now, these lines go in the stock location along the frame rails and you can hold them in place with the original clips. Well, please hold your place because right after the break, we're gonna show you some of the best buys and Boltons

stick with us

later in the show, a drag racer who turned his passion into a hot performance business. Stay tuned.

Hi. Welcome back.

You know, everybody wants to get the most bang for their buck these days and when that bang is horsepower and the buck is part of your paycheck. You wanna consider your best options. You bet. Now you also need to consider whether you wanna run a carburetor or fuel injection

because that choice is gonna have an impact on what you pay for your parts. Now, let's say that we've got a budget of $1200.

What are the first parts that you buy?

Well, one of the best ways to hike your horsepower is to improve both the intake and exhaust paths.

Yes. And if you're running a carburetor, especially a two barrel boating on a new intake and four barrel carb will add about 25 horsepower.

Now, this dual plane intake from Wan

will meet the needs of most street cruisers. It makes power off idle to 5000 RPM.

While the single plane intake is better suited for street strip applications. Its power band is 1500 to 6000 RPM.

Now, before you choose your carb, you first need to define its duties. If you're building a street stomper, well, then you might be interested in the 625 CFM Road demon. It's got vacuum secondaries and this single feed engines up to about 350 cubic inches.

Of course, if you're building a big block, you're gonna need a bigger car like this 750 CFM Speed demon.

They're both modular. So tuning them is easy and their looks are gonna let everyone know that you're serious about performance.

Well, on the average, a good intake is gonna set you back about $200 about 300 up for the carbon. Well, that's $500 a good chunk of our budget. But now let's look at some fuel injected parts.

One of the best ways to open up the intake tract on an injected motor is by adding a cold air kit that gets rid of the stock baffles and restrictions and uses high flow filtration.

We ordered this one from S LP.

Now, it uses dual mandrel Bent tubes to smooth out the air flow and a pair of K and N filters.

Now, this thing is gonna set you back about $200 whether you've got a carb or fuel injection. We think a high flow exhaust is your next best bet. After all, deep breathing involves

exhaling as well as inhaling.

Now, having a muffler shop, install a dual exhaust for you will cost you $400 and up or you can get a kit like this one from Summit for about 100 25 and do the work yourself. Either way you'll pick up about 10 horsepower,

not to mention that healthy exhaust note.

Well, if you're fuel injected, chances are you're gonna need a cat back system like this one from Edelbrock. Now it bolts right up to your catalytic converter. And well, if you have the choice, a single three inch pipe will outflow a pair of 2.5.

Now you can expect to lay out about $300 for an extra 10 to 15 horsepower.

You can enhance the exhaust flow even more by swapping out your cast iron manifolds for a set of headers.

Now, if you're running a car, you've got some options here too. From these long style headers to shorty style, we got these from headman and well, these will add about 15 to 20 horsepower

since slam rides are the rage. Now shorty headers will give you the extra ground clearance you need, but they'll cost you a few of those horses. Uh Speaking of cost expect to dish out about 100 50 bucks for a set of headers on the average and

double that if you pop for the ceramic coating,

well, you fuel injected guys will pick up a few ponies too with a set of headers. Although dealing with a Cali

converter is gonna eliminate the option for long tube headers. Now, this pe S system from Edelbrock is 50 state smog legal and uses this crossover tube to connect to the Cadillac

converter. Now, a set of these will set you back about 350 bucks and you're gonna pick up about 10 to 15 horsepower,

man. It looks like we're blowing our budget pretty quick. Yeah, it's too bad. We can't earn it as fast as we can burn it. Well, that's right. But we've earned a little bit of break. We'll be back to finish up our horsepower shopping spree after this.

Hey, welcome back to the shop and our horsepower shopping spree as we try to get the most bang for our imaginary 1200 bucks.

Well, so far we've spent about 775 on our carbureted engine

and about 850 on our fuel injected engine. Now, for that kind of money, you should have about 40 to 50 more horsepower than what you started with.

Well, we're still looking for more power. So what do you say we spend some more money?

The camshaft is the brains of any engine. So, it's not surprising you'll see some significant gains by swapping it out.

Most older engines came with flat tab at cam. So there are quite a few choices out there when it's time for an upgrade. Plus most CAM companies have tech lines to help you make the right choice for your combination. Now, because

because of their low maintenance, we like to stick with hydraulic pieces. Now, this bracket master cam and lifter kit comes from Leno

and while the grind is more aggressive than stock, it's still treatable. Now, horsepower numbers are kind of tough to nail down since there's so many variables, but 20 to 30 horsepower at 200 bucks is a pretty safe bet.

Late model fuel injected engines typically come with roller cam shafts that snap the valves open quicker than hold them at max lift longer before slamming them shut.

Now, for that reason, you're gonna see greater horsepower gains than you would with a flat tap at CAM. Plus there are fewer frictional losses. Now, this roller setup is from comp cams and of course, a high tech part is gonna carry a higher price tag too.

You can expect to lay out about 300 bucks and you're gonna pick up 30 to 40 horsepower.

Well, guess what? We've still got money left over in our carbureted engines budget So what do you say we throw in this ignition upgrade?

It won't add much horsepower but will ensure that the ones we've already added will be there when we need them. Now, this Unite distributor from Mallory is electronic. So there are no points to worry about. Plus it'll handle the extra voltage generated by this pro master coil.

Adding these two items will add about 250 to our tab.

Well, you ought to be just about done over there. But hey, I've got one more power part on my shopping list

under drive pulleys free up a few more horsepower by slowing down your accessories. Of course, we've tested them here in the shop and,

well, they've always given us 5 to 8 horsepower, which isn't bad when you consider how easy they are to install and the fact that they cost about $100 for a set. Now this set came from BBK. Well, all right, right now it's time to total up the tabs and see how much bang we got for the buck.

Well, it looks like we busted our budgets a little bit for both engines, but we should be 70 to 80 horsepower stronger than when we started.

Well, that's probably a pretty conservative number. But tell you what, I'd gladly brown bag it for a couple of weeks to make up the difference in the budget. We'll pack an extra bologna sandwich for me too. Ok. Don't you pack it up though. We ain't done yet. There's more horsepower TV ahead.

Next. A special look at high-performance race ready Hardware in the making. Don't go away.

Horsepower happenings is brought to you by Wyotech. The nation's premier technical training school

here in the pits of a racetrack. Drivers can learn a lot about the hardware that makes them go faster

and sometimes the experience of competition leads to a career building a better race park.

Barry Grant's name is synonymous with high performance race proven carburetors and other fuel delivery parts.

But in a way, his rise to a performance industry leader was a tough track that began as a skinny troubled youngster growing up in New York City. I had a kind of an abusive dad and,

and uh didn't behave well in school and

uh

cars became my passion

and that gave me some direction that,

ok, this is what I'm gonna do for a living. Barry eventually bought a Chevelle to race, studied auto

mechanics with a Newfound Seal and eventually landed a job as a mechanic

before serious medical problems with his feet forced him off the floor. Carburetors became a natural when I could no longer stand on my feet to do the heavy truck mechanics and heavy truck work that I was doing.

But all that hydraulic experience gave me experience on fuel delivery because that's still fluid handling.

So the two things kind of worked hand in hand.

Yeah,

after decades of struggle hard work and relentless devotion to his high performance dreams. This is the payoff for that once troubled skinny kid from New York.

Barry Grant Incorporated in

Dahlonega, Georgia manufactures carbs fuel systems,

nitrous kits

and now air filters for an ever growing market of enthusiasts. Well, like himself, I bought a lot of shoddy parts in my time

and my whole goal is to always make sure that I've built parts

that I would be proud to buy.

Here's where Barry's ideas start to become a reality in the computer using 3D solid modeling C

ad software.

This ensures optimum performance and products like his famous demon carbs. If you look right here,

you can see that there is no casting ridge

in our carburetors and this is not a modified carburetor. This carburetor is cast like this

with a perfect venturi right from the factory because of the way we designed our tooling.

Another manufacturing secret if you will involves the extensive use of billet in everything from nitrous plates to carburetor metering blocks. When we build a base plate out of billet, we know the guy's not going to crack the ear off of it. When we build metering blocks out of billet

instead of cast, we know that we've got a metering block. That's a great metering block.

CNC machining is an expensive but essential part of the process to guarantee consistency in every billet plate and every fuel pump body.

This is where the demon carbs BG, fuel pumps and regulators are a civil by hand. Before, thorough in house testing. We test every carburetor, every fuel pump, every regulator before shipment.

Uh They're tested to a narrow set of parameters

so that when the customer gets the product in the field, we know that it's to our baseline.

Another frequent phase of testing here at BG is in the

dyno

Room

where all fuel delivery components are put through the paces

684 horsepower at the average. And then we had 704 at 6800.

That's not too bad for a mule motor. We probably have 500 dyno

bolt ons

hot

rods and racing. Drew Barry into the business and they're still part of his life.

He races this Trans AM on the N Hr A Pro Stock circuit

and for Commer cruises, well, he's got Barney a 1948 Chevy sedan delivery. If there's a drag race, I

rather be behind the wheel of this one.

If there's not a drag race, then I'm behind the wheel of that one. From a troubled childhood down an often rocky road to success, overcoming obstacles at every turn.

You could say Barry Grant is now living the American dream.

Although even today, there's little time to stop and rest on any Laurels.

I love racing. I love hot rods and, and for

to live in a country that lets me do the things that I love I guess if you call that the American Dream, I guess that, uh

that'd be it, but it's, the American dream is hard work. It's not given to you.

Yeah.

Horsepower TV

S hot parts. A close up. Look at the latest in high performance hardware.

Hey, it's tough to get a break these days, especially when it comes to replacing your original rotors.

Well, now these are at of speed rotors from Behr, are a high tech solution at an affordable price. They come cross drilled and slotted plus the hubs are made of aluminum to reduce rotating mass. Now, they're designed to work with your original calipers and mounting brackets and you can get them for most popular performance cars including Mustangs, Camaros Corvettes. Oh, and even muscle cars like GTO

and

Chevelle.

Now the price shouldn't stop you though. They start at 495 a pair

if you're towing your race car or your show car in a trailer. Well, chances are the leaf springs in your tow vehicle could use a little bit of help.

Now, this suspension kit from Roadmaster

will help keep the original curvature in your leaf springs to increase your load carrying capacity while decreasing your chances of bottoming out. Now, they also eliminate sway for a safer, more comfortable ride.

Now, they got them to fit most pickups suvs minivans and even tow trucks up to one ton.

Now you won't have to lay out a ton of money to pick up a pair of these though prices start at $200.

K and N is well known for its air filters, but they're in the oil filter business too. In fact, they claim this performance gold filter has twice the burst strength and captures more harmful debris than other filters.

Plus it's unaffected by race fuels. Now, here's a cool feature. This hex nut on the bottom allows you to remove the filter with a standard one inch socket that is after you remove about 14 bucks to get one.

Well, that's a pretty slick filter. How's this for a look at a slick show next week?

It's out with the old in with the new nine inch rear end that is in our 65 Pro touring pony

that is before we upgrade the suspension and vote on new disc brakes.

Our race of the week takes us to Cordova Illinois for some hot street car racing

in the Heartland of America.

And remember high performance fun is what this show is all about.

What's next for us. Shabelle chassis.

Well, wheels and tires for starters. But hey, we got to get the drive shaft in fuel tank.

Oh, jeez. I don't know. Finish up the wiring. A radiator, radiator.

We're about starting it up.

Oh,

that'd be pretty cool. Start it before we even get the body on it. That'd be really cool. Oh, we gotta do the exhaust first or it'll run us out

here.

That's true

for information about the products used in today's show and more. Check us out online at Horsepower tv.com

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