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I can run premium pump gas, but my engine is happy with 100 octane rocket ruel, too. I mainly keep the toluene mix for the strip, though.

[quote="GlassWolf"]the belief that higher octane fuel automatically makes any car run better.
octanes are supposed to match compression ratios. more isn't always better.[/quote]
Whoa, this is a biggy. You know how many idoits are out there right now running 93 octane in a completely stock vehicle. It is amazing. They can't even here the fuel pings. IMO this all goes back to the small block and big block days of the past. Newer vehicles are not made to burn off the carbon deposits from higher octanes. I dunno, this is why I drive a chevy truck with an old school 400 small block that will smoke pretty much any import on the road.

note if you really want a full, clean burn, use an MSD style ignition box. 2 or 3 firings per power stroke as opposed to the conventional single fire per stroke guarantees a better burn of anything in the cylinder.

If the car is older, going to an MSD ignition system and a stronger coil with electronic distribution is a major improvement as well over the older style magnetic distributors.

You use a colder plug with higher compression/Forced induction, not a hotter one

Heat range refers to how much heat the plug removes from the chamber, not how hot the spark is. Colder plugs have shorter insulators, meaning a shorter path for heat to travel to the water journals in the head and more heat dissipated from the chamber. This makes the plug itself operate at a lower internal temperature, which is why it's called a "cold" plug.

Hot plugs are made to have a higher internal temperature in order to burn off oil and carbon deposits, it has nothing to do with spark quality or intensity

Too hot and the center electrode blisters and you melt the electrodes, and the overheating of the plug will cause detonation/pre-ignition. Too cold and the plugs will foul and the engine will likely misfire. There is an optimum heat range to keep a plug in (tip temp should be between 450C and 850C), and that range will be determined by the specific application. Advance the timing, up the compression, add boost, things along those lines will mean going to a colder plug down the road. But general rule of thumb-if the plugs are fouled, you need a hotter plug. If they've been overheating, you need a colder plug. Of course that's assuming that everything else is in proper tune.

[quote="Worst Nightmare"]DUDE - are you thinking INTAKE? No throttle body I've EVER seen has coolant run thru.
You MUST be thinking intake.....[/quote]

I was thinking intake manifold, too.

[quote="Worst Nightmare"]A heated TB. Okkkkkkkk......
Let me explain. On Turbo-diesel, all the normal "bolt-ons" make MAJOR gains due to the fact that they increase the BOOST of the turbo.
Not so on normally aspirated vehicles....[/quote]

just for the record, a lot of them also monkey more importantly with the fuel/air mixture, which also allows for more boost.
This also often leads to upgrades in fuel injectors, fuel rails, and intake/exhaust, as well as transmission upgrades just to handle the added torque and HP gains.

I've seen trucks done with "bolt ons" mostly that put out over 600HP and 1000lb-ft of torque from big diesels. Those things are insane for moving things.. like the random house or building.

[quote="Worst Nightmare"]I just want to explain a little further......
To be exact: I have a Dodge Ram 5.9 (360ci) V8.
Glasswolf - stick to things you know (maybe car audio?) but definitely not new car/truck performance.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but ALLLLLLLLL new transmissions have OVERDRIVE, or 5 speed, which negates your gas mileage because of overgearing theory.
Check out 4.56 gear reviews on dodgetalk.com.
Ok, now I understand, you have a diesel. diff animal. planning on one myself shortly.....
and ceramic coating not even relevent! My JBA titanium ceramic only controls under hood temps. (they claim!)[/quote]

overdrive is just a sub -1:1 gear ratio. usually about .69 to .78 to one.
If you change the gearing in the rear diff, it will alter gas mileage with or without overdrive. The extent it affects mileage will vary based on that ratio.

I don't have a diesel. I used them as examples. I have a 66 Charger (3 actually) with a stroked 440 (496) the entire car I built from the ground up. I have an A727 trans with a GV OD unit. 4.11 gears, 3.23 with OD. If I went to a 3.91 or 3.55 rear end and engaged the OD, the top OD gear would drop correspondingly.

Ceramic coating serves two purposes if it's done right actually. Aside from reducing heat in the engine compartment, thereby increasing efficiency, it also prevents the headers from rusting out from the inside within a matter of a few years, as non coated stel ones are prone to do. I recommended ceramics so they'd last. Not to improve performance, aside from reducing temperatures in the engine bay which helps. I prefer tuned, full length headers. Not shorties, block huggers, or cheap ones with crappy poorly engineered collectors. Not everyone wants to blow $700 on a set of headers though.

In regards to gearing, it's also not just about the final gear ratio. It's also a matter of how closely the car is geared. Some cars have a very steep first gear so the car leaps off the line, then it hits second and lurches out of it's powerband. Others are close-ratio and do better at longer runs, but aren't as quick off the line. It's a matter of deciding what you want the car to do. There are always trade-offs to everything. Including gear ratios and acceleration versus top end.

I run 10.20s in the quarter. I'm fairly confident I have a fair knowledge of what I'm doing, but by no means do I know everything there is to know about anything. I think my 0-60 is probably in the twos somewhere but never timed it. 60' is 1.6s.

[quote="zero808"]hotter plugs are only used for high comp engines or Forced Induction engines. if any gas is left in the cylinder after combustion, detenation has a higher chance of occuring. 'hot' plugs burns off as much gas possible. [/quote]
mm hotter plugs aren't always better in every engine. I've seen just as many cases of poorer outcomes by running the wrong plugs for an engine based on compression, fuel octane, etc.. as I have of improving anything by doing so.
Know what you're doing before taking the more is better approach to any situation. That's general advice. Not directed to anyone specifically.

[quote="Worst Nightmare"]forgot underdrive pulleys. Didn't see a much gain. don't recommend, especially if you have a hi-power audio system!![/quote]

an underdrive pulley on an alternator will hurt for output of current, but for performance you can gain around 10-15HP on a typical 4.6L mustang GT with a simple pulley swap.
an underdrive pulley on a supercharger makes a huge difference :)

[quote="Worst Nightmare"]No way dude. It's all about the hobby. I don't care what folks have, Ford Lightning truck (which I HATE (or LOVE in some perverted way) or Dodge HEMI (I also HATE, even though I have a 1998 360ci model).
It's ALL ABOUT THE HOBBY!
Love you man![/quote]

When I picked up the 4.3 I had the intention on building it for decent power, but then after I got it I decided that I wanted to do a v8... BUT I already bought the motor and was in a hurry to get the truck finished so I gave her a quick freshin up and threw her in... Motor turn out peeeeeerrrrrrrrrrfect.. Basically I'm going to pick up a 350 here shortly and do a little work on it, maybe bore it to a 355, install the newer vortec heads, intake, tbi adapter, 454 thottle body, cam, etc... Nothing crazy, just wake it up a bit... But yeah, I want have it finished before next winter...

But it took me forever to find a 1st gen, 2dr, 2wd, 4.3, 5 speed blazer that didnt have any rust... I'm going with a sport truck theme, picture a gmc typhoon but a with n/a 350 and and 5 speed... Going to paint it black and switch the interior over to black with leather.... Should look pretty decent...

Now we're getting into the nasty stuff where we REALLY need to take the specific application in mind.

[quote="Worst Nightmare"]I just want to explain a little further......

To be exact: I have a Dodge Ram 5.9 (360ci) V8.

Glasswolf - stick to things you know (maybe car audio?) but definitely not new car/truck performance.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but ALLLLLLLLL new transmissions have OVERDRIVE, or 5 speed, which negates your gas mileage because of overgearing theory.[/quote]

It's still a lower gear, and will still eat away your mileage in your average application. In your case, you're talking about a heavy truck that will most likely benefit from the torque multiplication in a real world application (passing, steep hills, etc.). You've also added larger tires in the process, which makes the steep gear comparatively less aggressive. Plus you have to consider that trucks get crap for gas mileage to begin with, most people wouldn't even notice the drop in economy considering how much your mileage will already vary due to driving conditions.

With a lighter vehicle like a Mustang, Camaro, Charger, etc., I feel a 3.73 is about as steep as you need to go for a good all around combination of acceleration and fuel economy. You usually won't kill your top speed either since the extra torque multiplication lets you wind higher in OD.

Let's keep it civil here, though :teach :. He knows a lot about building performance in a wide variety of applications. Noone ever became a master of anything by believing that he/she knows more than those around him. Usually it results in getting your ass handed to you by your competition :) .


[quote="Worst Nightmare"]and ceramic coating not even relevent! My JBA titanium ceramic only controls under hood temps. (they claim!)[/quote]

Sure it's relevant. The exhaust system is responsible for removing half the heat of an engine. You'd much rather have that heat underneath the car than you would radiating to the rest of the engine, not just for power's sake, but also for the reliability of the electronics and "soft parts" like hoses, wires, belts, etc. You'll also have gains since the entire induction system is much cooler, but it's just not something most people are going to measure because it's a bit too "real world". I don't know of anyone that runs a car on a dyno with a hot engine bay, a closed hood, and having run the car for hours :D . All are trying to keep things nice and cool and pull the biggest power numbers they can, esp. considering that dyno runs aren't cheap.

Here's a link w/ me recent home:

[url]http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/garage.php?do=viewattachment&attachmentid=5384[/url]

Got more pics of the mods that claimed 5sec 0-60. Let me know......

[quote="MobileAudio219"]Oh wow, ok... Youre right, I dont know anything about cars... :banghead
Heres my project... [url]http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/2174205/1[/url]
I regret rebuilding the 4.3 tbi instead of dropping in a 350 tbi... As you know the 350 and 4.3 share the same bellhousing, as well as the same harnass, which means its all just plugs right in... Very little to change around...
Post a link to your truck, though its probably alot nicer then mine...[/quote]


No way dude. It's all about the hobby. I don't care what folks have, Ford Lightning truck (which I HATE (or LOVE in some perverted way) or Dodge HEMI (I also HATE, even though I have a 1998 360ci model).

It's ALL ABOUT THE HOBBY!

Love you man!

[quote="Worst Nightmare"]Ok, Jesus Christ dude, Is this a 2005 Charger Or a 1968 Charger
BIG DIFFERENCE!
Like I said, stick to what you know!
Ok , jesus. I don't want any drama either. I'll catch you guys on the car audio side.
L8ter/.[/quote]

Oh wow, ok... Youre right, I dont know anything about cars... :banghead

Heres my project... [url]http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/2174205/1[/url]

I regret rebuilding the 4.3 tbi instead of dropping in a 350 tbi... As you know the 350 and 4.3 share the same bellhousing, as well as the same harnass, which means its all just plugs right in... Very little to change around...

Post a link to your truck, though its probably alot nicer then mine...