302 power help

[v8quest]

here is my car
Running a 1969 mustang 302 and 84 AOD with shift kit
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2238862
my problem:
I put her on the dyno in Atlanta.They got the car up to 3rd gear and let it loose.he asked before hand what RPM to take it to.I told him 5k....never been over 5k before....wasn't even sure in 3rd gear it would pull 5k.Closest I ever came was going all out in 3rd gear and hit about 127 mph when the tranny starts to slip and I have to let off to get into OD.The tach was at 4900.
ok,on the dyno I pulled 189.4 hp and 238.6 torque....i was very embarrased cause I was at a Conquest meet and I pulled one of the lowest hp/tq rating there...and i have a v8 to their 4cylinders
The chart had me at 238 tq at 3600 rpm and my 189 hp was at 4800 rpm.at 4800 rpm,my tq was falling off to 200.
to my question,from my mods listed in my cardomain,does this sound right for the car?Couple of guys thought the car sounded like it wanted to do more but was straining trying to get there.
I know from a stand still,the car feels stronger than 190hp.I have beat up on cars in the 1/8 who have the same to more HP than what I thought I had.Looking at this,I cannot see how my car can outrun other cars with twice the hp.
anyone who can,post up.Tell me what you think.Anyone want to look at it,let me know.
I know my 3rd gear is the weakest link on my drivetrain.She is a cruiser,not a race car but the 190 hp was way lower than I thought she would pull.
dyno:

 

[bnickel]

assuming a 20% drivetrain loss that 190hp equates to around 240 at the flywheel. according to the mods listed on your cardomain site basically the only thing you've done was add the e'brock performer cam and intake and a 650 holley, so 240 at the flywheel sounds about right. you could possibly pull a little more by ditching the hi-vol. oil pump and changing to a performer rpm or stealth intake. with the mild mods you've done the hi-vol. oil pump is way overkill and causing a lot of parasitic drag on the motor a standard vol. pump will probably free up maybe 4-6 hp and possibly as much as 10 hp. the intake is likely what's really killing you, a performer intake isn't much better than a stock cast iron 4v intake. one of the best sbf intakes is the old cobra intake from the 65-66 shelby, you can still buy the same basic intake from ford racing parts i can't remember the part number though. also a torker II might be a good choice in a light little car like the starion if hood clearance is a problem with any of the other intakes i've suggested as it's a little lower.

you're cardomain site doesn't list your exhaust size but i would suggest at least 2.25" or better yet 2.5" if it will fit. the stock mustang shorty headers aren't very good either, i'd upgrade those to something with a bigger primary tube, flowtech makes a pretty decent shorty header that will bolt right up in place of the stockers you have and they are fairly cheap, around 100 bucks or so.


swapping the intake, oil pump, headers and exhaust should probably bump you up by at least 15-20 hp maybe more so that's my recommendations

 

[zookeeper]

That's nothing to be embarrassed over, a mild small block isn't going to melt the dyno, nor should you expect it to. Think about it this way: my '88 GT was rated at something like 225 HP if I remember right. I'd bet money it never came close to that in the real world, but it's still a stout-feeling street car, so who cares what a dyno would show. But you have a good starting point and now you know what you have if you decide to swap heads, cam or whatever at least you can measure the difference, right? Here's one last bit of info to think over: do you remember the Hemi 'Cuda that was on the cover of Hot Rod magazine a couple issues ago? I think it was the April issue. Anyway, they claimed the car made 650hp on some engine dyno. Anyway that car was built locally for some rich guy in Canada and sounded naaaassstty. But when they took it to a local chassis dyno, the thing cranked out something like 245 rwhp. Why? Who knows, but the dyno is 100% right, since several local circle track cars have cranked out 400 rwhp with 2 barrel small blocks. The dyno is like the dragstrip, you may not like what it tells you but a smart person knows it ain't what you start with but what you end up with.

 

[v8quest]

thanks guys.the guy who built said the speed shop who done the work claimed 350hp.car does run good,more of a cruiser car than anything.
guess i have alot of things i could do to get the HP up on it huh?
weird that it would have so little HP.I ran a twin turbo AWD stealth right after i got it and beat it in the 1/8 and lost by 1/2 car length in the 1/4.

 

[2nd Mustang]

Your rearend ratio might also affect the hp/torque values. I have a mild build up on a 302 and first gear on my top loader is nothing to speak of off the line, but second and third gear really wakes the car up.

 

[v8quest]

my quest has a 3.55 ratio.

car pulls real nice in first and second but once i hit 3rd,that is like a cruising gear and it just winds up till about 125 when i have to lift to get the tranny to atke 4th gear.
Car will actually yank itself a little sideways shifting from 1st to 2nd.

 

[redhotcomet]

Also, remember that its not just about peak HP numbers, avg numbers count for a lot too.

I would also suggest a better intake and exhaust, it looks like it starts to nose over around 4400 rpm.

 

[v8quest]

yeah,I have thought about upgrading to one that will push the engine to a higher rpm line,maybe around 6500.
may change the intake,carb and lifters.
I am stuck with the headers i have.Nothing else fits,space is to tight.only way to get anything to fit is custom headers and noone around me will do it or knows anyone that does it.

 

[57fairlane]

I wouldn't be worried about the numbers.

The major thing left out is that you have an AOD. Just by swapping to a manual you could "see" anywhere from 40-50 rwhp more.

I only put down 260/253 with my c-4 but I have beat quite a few stick cars that put down 300-330 rwhp.

Basically a dyno should only be used to tune a car, let the track times do the talking.

 

[v8quest]

yeah,i figured if i went to a built c4,that would bump the HP up nicely.But I like the gas mileage i get with my AOD(25mpg)I can cruise at 70 mph at 2000 rpms

 

[bnickel]

well there is probably an aftermarket set of shorty headers that will fit well, but i think the main thing you need to change is the intake.

 

[v8quest]

oh yeah,someone above mentioned the car weing light?
It weighs 3400 lbs without me in it and that was with the factory rims that are very light.

 

[Max Power]

Heads, heads, heads.......