Demon 340 vs Camaro 396 (400)

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Too many variables ..still a friend has 396 camaro and a 408 dart.Nearly identical camshafts and gears. He is a mopar guy and said when he races the two together the 408 Dart quickly puts real estate on the Camaro but at 80 mph up the Camaro catches and easily passes his Dart. The 408 is no match quicker revving short stroke of the 396 at medium and high rpm. But there are so many different ways of building the engines and drivetrain that just one example doesn't mean a lot..
 
ir3333 said:
Too many variables ..still a friend has 396 camaro and a 408 dart.Nearly identical camshafts and gears. He is a mopar guy and said when he races the two together the 408 Dart quickly puts real estate on the Camaro but at 80 mph up the Camaro catches and easily passes his Dart. The 408 is no match quicker revving short stroke of the 396 at medium and high rpm. But there are so many different ways of building the engines and drivetrain that just one example doesn't mean a lot..
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The 396/402 came in so MANY different variables people get them confused. From 300HP all the way to 425HP so there's lots of room for error.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The 396/402 came in so MANY different variables people get them confused. From 300HP all the way to 425HP so there's lots of room for error.
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I don't know much about all the 396 combos, but I do know the 375 hp version was one mean combo. I don't think the 340 was even a close match.
 
Depending on the suspension and gears an early 340 warmed up could compete with the 375 hp 396.
 
fishmens67 said:
I don't know much about all the 396 combos, but I do know the 375 hp version was one mean combo. I don't think the 340 was even a close match.
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I agree....and those combos I listed were only the four barrel versions. There were two barrel versions, so that's even more confusion.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I agree....and those combos I listed were only the four barrel versions. There were two barrel versions, so that's even more confusion.
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A close friend of mine bought a 1969 nova 396 375 hp square alm heads close ratio 4 speed brand new. It would rev like crazy to over 8000, raced a brand new 340 gts auto, the dart jumped him every time out of the hole and he beat the nova every time they raced. He even put a set of 488 gears in the nova, but he would run out of rpm's because he had such small dia tires on it. I have owned 402's, 427's and several 454's the shorter stroke would rev quicker with the same cam.
 
That's quite a coincidence. A local here in 1969 also had a 375 hp Nova and try as he may he could never beat the local 340 GTS. I think that happened in a lot of small towns back in the 60's.
Don't forget we were " tire challenged" in the 60's and the darts components were very well balanced.
 
My buddy has a '69 chevelle 396 4.56 gears, I have a '71 duster 340 3.73 ratio.
We run 1/8 mile,we run very close, last year I beat heads up.
He put new roller cam,intake, carb. He is a little faster than me now. It won't take much to catch up to him. We have fun competition between us.
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GTX JOHN said:
Our Demons have out run some of the fastest
396 Camaro om the country heads up in class for
the last 30+ years.

Google: John Irving Drag Racer

And my boy: Jon Irving Drag Racer
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I probably watched you at least five or six times at Pomona and didn't realize it.
Who knows.
I remember the 340 going 10.60- 10.80 to a 11 something 396 in the 1/4
 
fishmens67 said:
I don't know much about all the 396 combos, but I do know the 375 hp version was one mean combo. I don't think the 340 was even a close match.
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Strongly held convictions make for Big Money Drag Races on the street!


Quote from:
GTX John Vice President LA Street Racers 1966 to 2022
Circa 1966
 
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1970 and later- if you ordered a chevy car with a 400 you got a small block with "400" badges.

If you ordered a chevy truck with a 400 you got a big block.

I don't recall ever seeing "400" badges on trucks.
 
It's all about power to weight and traction.

...and useable power at the right RPM.
 
YY1 said:
1970 and later- if you ordered a chevy car with a 400 you got a small block with "400" badges.

If you ordered a chevy truck with a 400 you got a big block.

I don't recall ever seeing "400" badges on trucks.
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I have. Seen 400 badges on trucks, that is. (Yep, 402s).
 
I'm not saying there weren't any, just that I don't remember them.

I do remember tons of 350 badged trucks, early 396 badges and 454 badges on the square body.
 
Also, weren't most if not all of the small block 400's 2 barrels?
 
Those two cars are in FAST in the Factory stock class. The rules are very strict, but there is some allowances that one car could have while the other doesn’t take advantage of that can skew the results. Plus stick car with the little tire is challenging to say the least! Love Cars and Zebra’s video’s!
 
YY1 said:
Also, weren't most if not all of the small block 400's 2 barrels?
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A lot of them were, yes, but they did also come with the Queerdrajet.
 
The Fast Class has very few rules on engines.
I have sold engines and stuff to guys that run them.
Many of them go 10/11 Seconds in 1/4.

Rules are WAY more liberal on engines than NHRA Stock Eliminator.
Especially on Cylinder heads = Even way more than Superstock (If I
could run heads that only needed to look Stock on the outside = Our
340 Superstock 9 Sec. Duster would be WAY faster}
Tires are the biggest problem and I know how to "work" with intake/exhaust
manifolds (I will not elaborate on that).

It is not popular on the West Coast and does not pay much of anything
as I understand. If those can = We will field a couple of them with 340's
and I believe we would be very competitive against all the Big Blocks.
 
Yes, but those cars are Factory Stock class under the Fast umbrella. No strokers, no porting, no roller cams, no MSD boxes. The two big area’s of leeway as I see it are 2 points of compression from advertised and oxygenated fuels.
 
Paul Petcou's 71 340 Duster is the quickest A-body at PSMCDR and has been low 12's@110ish. Tim clary's 69 Chevelle L-89 is the quickest 396 there and has been 11.50's@118ish. Both cars on polyglas reproduction tires. Race is Sept 16-17 Stanton,MI, very cool to see.
 
I think Paul has been in the 11’s. I believe he ran 11’s at Norwalk a couple of weeks ago. IIRC.
 
I thought FAST was "anything goes" but has to be Factory appearance with stock tires?
Most big blocks are 700 plus HP.
 
Nope, qualified at 12.23, I’m old! Memory is shot!
 
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