How about MONSTROUS 2.30 intake/1.90 valves? How abut 2 1/8 tube headers. How about rectangle port heads that have opennings like a garage door. Weight? How about an aluminum block anmd heads with the above equipment. How about a 396/425 HP factory Vette engine and start from there?
Cubic inch is cubic inch...but when you are saddled with dime-sized valves and ports the size of a keyhole, the rat looks more and more attractive.

Dep

 

Back to Apples and Oranges again

You can't compare BBC head port CC volume & valve size to Small block port volume and valve size. The reason is: Just look at the casting size!

So you have to compare CFM of flow. That is what matters when your looking at peak power "Potential" not the valve size or big lazy gas sucking rectangular ports.

The best BBC iron heads with porting work could be made to flow @300 CFM. Any good 220 + cc small block head exceeds that 300 flow number at .600 lift.

Then if you go to the next level of small block race heads in the 245cc-275 cc with 12- 18 degree valves. It takes aftermarket aluminum 320 - 340 cc big block heads to exceed the SBC race head flow numbers.

The car shows had lots of 396 and 427/435hp vettes. Or the bad chevelles with up to 454. I don't really car which manufacturer of muscle car - I'd just Whip them. Lets do the slolam, road course, and my favorite the 0 - 150 - 0 mph or the one mile drag race.

I've heard it over and over about under rated HP cars back then the 396 really made 500 or some of these other monster 426 & 427 made 600. Well I have that much also. Maybe i should put some better heads on like Monty and get nearly 700 hp and 600 foot pounds out of his small block 427 and really whip up on the old cars. I also run 91 octane and get highway mileages in the 17 + range driving over our local 75 mph speed limit.

 

 

George: I don't recognize any of the racing types you mention

Funny, I don't see any of the Pro Stocks using a small block, even though they can. Are you saying you have NO RESPECT for the L-88 or ZL-1?!?!?!?!?! That is BLASPHEMY and will bring down the big block gods to wreak havoc and destruction on the mice, or is it mouses or meeses? (I hate those meeses to pieces).


Dep

 

That would be interesting to see a small block, naturally asperated, make the 1,600 hp. that a 500 ci. bb pro-stock engine makes....

 

945 hp / 358 ci = 2.626 hp per cube

1410 hp / 500 ci = 2.82 hp per cubic inch.

These are only talked about figures on the older NHRA prostock trucks and the modern prostock cars. They weighed the same and simular wheel base etc.

The 358 ci small blocks were about 4/10th down in the 1/4 mile. The edge goes to the 500 ci prostocks in hp per cube, So it appears that with a much bigger bore size that they figured out how to get more CFM of head flow.

Dep, I don't really consider one of a kind cars or even one of 20 cars to be a true muscle car.

It's head flow and ci - not big block VS small block. If you want to get technical. I don't have a chevy small block. I have something that shares the same bore centers and journal size that stock chevy parts fit on.

 

Hey, no offense. I have nothing but respect for your car-IT'S SICK!! I guess some guys like rpm's and some like torque. What was your reasoning for staying with a smaller C.I. motor since you already had the block? As I get further along in my build, I'm changing a little from huge torque down low to more mid to upper hp. I would have loved to get an aftermarket block, but my divorce forces me to be a little more frugal and a 396 is still a bad little machine. thanks to George for offering alot of advice on my build-the man knows his big small blocks and I'm stoked about mine. It should be a freak.

Quote:
How about MONSTROUS 2.30 intake/1.90 valves? How abut 2 1/8 tube headers. How about rectangle port heads that have opennings like a garage door. Weight? How about an aluminum block anmd heads with the above equipment. How about a 396/425 HP factory Vette engine and start from there?
Cubic inch is cubic inch...but when you are saddled with dime-sized valves and ports the size of a keyhole, the rat looks more and more attractive.

Aren't you "building" a really small, small block?

I agree with George, these days, with very little money, you can hammer the snot out of a big block with a properly prepared small block and still have a much more fun car in terms of fuel economy, parts cost and ease of maintenance.

 

I'll keep this short and sweet as I don't want to hijack. I am NOT building the 302 because I CAN'T get the crankshaft for it. So it will be a 350" or 355".

George: You know darn well TRUE muscle cars haven't been built since the last 455SD Firebird was made back in the early 70s.
A history lesson...

383=Big Block MOPAR Wedge
396=Big Block Chevy ratmotor
406=Big Block Ford FE
427=Big Block Ford FE & Chevy ratmotor
454=Big Block Chevy ratmotor

Anything else...IMPOSTERS!!!

Dep

 

Thanks I liked the idea of building an engine that takes advantage of less internal frictional losses. Ex. My 388 is all small journal so the bearings all have a smaller surface area making for less frictional area; also with the longer rods and shorter stroke, I have less side loading with the pistons against the cylinder wall, again less friction and wear. Of course this is all theoritical being that I don't have the equipment or the $ to test these things, but Nascar seems to believe in it or they wouldn't all be running the big bore/ short stroke combos The larger bores also give additional surface area to draw more air into and out of the cylinders.

Why did I go with the smaller ci ? Well for one, I had great power with the 355 I had before building this engine, so I felt the extra CI going from the 355 to the 388 would net me even more additional torque than I could already affectively use. Then, the fact that I got a killer deal on my billet crank made the choice of going with a custom combo even more attractive (BTW custom made pistons didn't really cost me any more than regular off the shelf units).

I've riden in a friends 440 Mopar and I must say, while the thing could pull pretty decent, I felt that my quick revving small block is easily as fast (like Gkull has also been saying in this post) yet seems like more fun. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to build a BBC that has equally the quality parts of my SBC, I just can't afford it. The guys on here with the 540's and 632's would eat my (mouse) alive , I have nothing but respect and envy towards them