First post on this site, sorry if some of these aren’t relevant for here, I simply would like to get some answers for questions I’ve had for a while. Also sorry if some of these are stupid questions, im a 17 year old who has only recently gotten into trucks in general within the past year.
So, I own a single cab 98 c2500 Cheyenne, it’s 8lug, 8600 gvwr with the 4l80 trans and a 350 crate engine swap. It was designed to be just a heavy duty work truck and tow. I’ve done a ton of fix up and mechanical work on it and I love it, wouldnt trade it for anything in the world. But I’m not sure what I want the end goal to be. I’ve thought long and hard about it being built to drag race, which is where my questions start. 1. Would this truck even be worth building for a race as it weighs about 8000 lbs and being built mainly to haul? yes I know weight reduction is an option but could I even reduce the weight by a significant amount as I feel most of the weight comes from the frame and drivetrain. 2 How good can I build the engine? It’s a 350 vortec. I’ve heard Ls engines can be built for crazy power but I’m not aware of the differences between the 2 other than i know ls are made from aluminum and vortec from cast iron. It’s also ohv, would this be a roadblock? I’ve always been told pushrods struggle with valve timing, air flow in the cylinders, performance and things like valve float at high rpm’s. Would it be worth sinking money like a bigger cam into it? 3 how aerodynamic is the truck? I’ve also always heard obs trucks are not very aerodynamic, I feel like this combined with the weight would limit how quick the truck can run. If this is the case, is there a way to combat it besides lowering the truck?
So, I own a single cab 98 c2500 Cheyenne, it’s 8lug, 8600 gvwr with the 4l80 trans and a 350 crate engine swap. It was designed to be just a heavy duty work truck and tow. I’ve done a ton of fix up and mechanical work on it and I love it, wouldnt trade it for anything in the world. But I’m not sure what I want the end goal to be. I’ve thought long and hard about it being built to drag race, which is where my questions start. 1. Would this truck even be worth building for a race as it weighs about 8000 lbs and being built mainly to haul? yes I know weight reduction is an option but could I even reduce the weight by a significant amount as I feel most of the weight comes from the frame and drivetrain. 2 How good can I build the engine? It’s a 350 vortec. I’ve heard Ls engines can be built for crazy power but I’m not aware of the differences between the 2 other than i know ls are made from aluminum and vortec from cast iron. It’s also ohv, would this be a roadblock? I’ve always been told pushrods struggle with valve timing, air flow in the cylinders, performance and things like valve float at high rpm’s. Would it be worth sinking money like a bigger cam into it? 3 how aerodynamic is the truck? I’ve also always heard obs trucks are not very aerodynamic, I feel like this combined with the weight would limit how quick the truck can run. If this is the case, is there a way to combat it besides lowering the truck?