Any interest in cams?

[SportsterDoc]

Question for the hp junkies. After you spend thousands of dollars and countless hours of your time in the garage to increase the power of a stocker, where will you go to race your bike? The local drag strip?

PowerDubs is having fun (most of the time).
It may be a lot of work for only a few HP, but I can appreciate the challenge.

In 1982 I installed a new Chevrolet 350 ci V8 in a 1973 Datsun PL620 pickup, replacing a 1600 cc 4 cylinder.

Before the exchange, with few mods (Weber 2 barrel carb), the 1.6 L would pull Interstate 5 near Gorman at 80 MPH in third, hauling two dirt bikes. It was running great with 100,500 miles on the clock...and a neighbor bought the used engine and trans. I already added a 20 gallon auxiliary fuel tank where the spare tire originally mounted. With the 11.8 stock tank, pulling a trailer (minimum 18 MPG) after the conversion, it had a 572 mile range.

The conversion ended up being around $6,000 (I think the truck new was about $2,800)...nowhere near a practical "investment", but fulfillment of a dream. A friend had a 1970 Datsun with a 327, 2 speed Powerglide and performance was impressive.

My conversion included:
Edelbrock SP2P torque intake manifold
500 CFM Carter AFB 4 barrel carb
Hooker headers, dual exhausts
Hooker motor mounts and fiberglass firewall
New alternator, without a core
New starter, without a core
New water pump
New fuel pump
350 turbo 3 speed auto trans, rebuilt, with shift kit, without a core
Floor mount cable shifter
New drive shaft
Shortened and resplined 2.92:1 differential from a Ford van (tall gearing to reduce tire spin)
Two new rear wheels and tires to match the differential
New rear brakes
New flex fan
Used Corvette radiator, which did not cool below about 30 MPH
New Opticore 4 row radiator, which did not cool below about 30 MPH
New electric fan with auto/off/manual on switch, which solved the low speed cooling issue

It was a dead heat off the line with a new Corvette, up to about 60 MPH (only tested it that far)...but otherwise never raced it.

It was actually a family vehicle...as well as a fun commuter.
It had a camper shell, with 4 rear facing bucket seats, seat belts and carpet, for our 4 kids. Also had a matching Datsun pick up bed utility trailer, with a camper shell. By the time I sold it in 1985, the kids were outgrowing the back, so I removed the shell, seats, belts, carpet, removed the cargo hooks and repainted the bed.

I removed the downshift cable from the carb linkage to the trans, to avoid breaking loose when throttle applied.

Good trip down memory lane.