Yep, finalized the deal today, got the check in the mail....Gonna take about 6wks or so for it to get built. After spending several days searching and reading the threads/responses about Mark engines at Team Chevelle and every other forum I could find, I called him twice and we talked a couple hours....I was sold on him. He is building it to suit my intended usage and hopefully it will make some serious power in a good street package. Shooting for 630hp with iron heads, hyd roller and a dual plane.



The next 6 wks will be the longest of my life...







Shoot'n to get this thing in the 10s with AC and stock appearance.

 

Good to see you pulled the trigger you'll love the big block.

A similar powered big inch small block can cost mucho denaro, I could have a bought a half decent C5 for what I have invested under my hood

 

Yeah no sh*t man....When I finished planning out my 427 SBC build with all the goodies similar to yours, I was at $12,800...that was just the bulk of it....not even everything...I would have liked the big small block for the weight reduction etc but.... Cost wise, I just couldn't swing it... this BB shipped to my door, carb to pan and dyno tuned is $7800...thats with all forged internals also.(Incase I want to throw some dope on it later on... )

 

Do you have a link to your builders web site? I would like to have it for future reference as I don't know what I want to put in my 73 project.

 

No you made the right move. When your at near $13,000 added up before you even start you can be sure it's gonna be a few large ones more when it got done

 

He doesn't have a website but he does sell quite a few on ebay. He has a 100% trader rating.

His name is Mark Jones, he has a pretty big following on the Team Chevelle and Team Camaro forums...quite a few people running his motors and EVERYONE gives him great praise, especially for after the sale support and follow up. We'll see, I am rolling the dice on this one as well.

Some contact info for ya:

email:
vortecpro@gmail.com
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53...Q5fAccessories



Ofcourse mine will be painted Chevy orange and have stock GM chrome valve covers. Mark is going to use stock GM LS6 rocker arms on mine instead of rollers so I can easily get the stock covers on it. Mine is gonna basically look like a stocker with an RPM intake and headers.

 

Welcome to the Dark Side as Jim (427Hotrod) says. But wow, what a change....from a lightweight SBC to a heavy iron headed BBC! Those iron heads are HEAVY. Any chance you could step up to aluminum heads? Would also allow a little more compression all else being equal.

Let me give you some perspective....my car was originally a small block car. My current 427 with all the accessories is somewhere around the weight of what was originally in the car (now have aluminum heads, alum rad, alum intake, alum electric water pump, no accesories besides alternator). Maybe 50lbs more. But I kept the small block springs and and the stance is killer. Little low in the front, stock in back and it has a mean rake. So far I've not had any problems with it but I've not pulled the front wheels off the ground on a launch either so maybe some stiffer springs in the future would help if I got this thing to hook.

 

If you put an L88 hood on it we will be twins. Hard to tell from this pic but mine is a dark green as well. I actually bought it in League City in 1999.


OK, thread hijack over....back to your regularly scheduled programming....

 

wow super price, the wait is killer lol keep us posted

 

Yeah my preference would be aluminum heads but once you add the cost of the heads and ofcourse working them, it would easily add another $2k to the bill....Not bad...but thats enough to put me over budget. Besides that, Mark at Vortecpro specializes in GM casting port work....Here is what he advertises for the worked 049s:

.200 171 .300 242 .400 292 .500 319 .550 323

If all that is accurate, thats pretty damn good for a stock small port casting. Look at the mid lift level(.400) air flow...

Ofcourse thats IF that is what they are really flowing on every set that he does. My car completely stock weighed 3380lbs with half tank, 3560lbs with me in it. I am getting rid of the factory AC and that heavy *** A6 compressor, the new BB will have an aluminum intake, water pump, and Vintage Air w/ smaller Sanden compressor. I figure the car will end up about 200lbs heavier at the most. I figure 3740lbs with me in it.

I am gonna try it with the stock springs also and see what it does. My springs are still very heavy and tight. I can sit on the fender and the car not even budge on one side and I'm 180lbs....ofcourse its different when the suspension is actually working but....I will try it and see what it does. I figure it will take about 40hp to make up for the additional weight....That just made my 620hp engine a 580hp engine theoretically... Should still be enough for 10.80s@120+ in good air if its hooking. At least I would think so.

A buddy of mine has a 70 Chevelle that weighs 3700+lbs with him in it, he has a 560hp SBC and it runs 10.90s@120 with low 1.5 60's.

 

BTW your car is GORGEOUS!

Mine is actually ready for a paint job...the paint is about 20 yrs old All in all, the paint is still pretty damn decent over 90% of the car, just the rear deck area is starting to bubble up...

It will get painted eventually....AFTER everything else is done and its running 10s in air conditioned comfort.

 

There ya go! I am glad you decided to make the jump over to the BBC's. If you have never drove one before, then you are in for a real treat! Congrats! and keep us updated!

 

Yeah I have driven quite a few.....My dad recently owned a 69' 427/390 4spd coupe and a 67 427/390 4spd coupe. Honestly, I wasn't impressed by either one at all but they were both completely stock cars. We still have a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix with a 461" BBC thats is real mild, MAYBE 425hp at the crank, its real torquey though and with a 4psd and 3.90s, it will burn the tires to the cords any time in 1st and sometimes bottom of 2nd... Its a fun car, not fast really, but does great burn outs....LOL


I am hoping that mine runs the numbers at the strip....

 

Travis....now that we've got him.....we can go to work on him! We've got plenty of time to change all his original plans and I can call Mark Jones and help kick the power ante up a little!!

You know...Comp or Crower rockers will fit under stock covers too.....



JIM

 

When Mark mentioned about using the LS6 rockers, I wasn't real thrilled as I have always used rollers rockers or at least roller tips. Mark said there is no real detectable HP difference on a 6k rpm engine and the reliability and quietness of the LS6 rockers make them a good long term choice. I still may talk him into at least throwing comp roller tips on it, I know they fit under stock valve covers as I have a set on a 461" right now with stock chrome valve covers.


But feel free to call Mark and tell him to up the ante on power. I think that 238/248 cam he is wanting to use is a little mild for a 496 but he swears by it.....he says its just one of those combos that just works...

 

Allan,
Just send Jim your cc information and he'll take of it all for you.

 

ajrothm - Haven't seen you posting much lately. Glad to see that you're back with a vengeance. I'm real interested in this project. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

Yeah I have been out of the Vette game a little while. I really got into Land Speed racing with my turbo hayabusa....been doing that the last 2yrs or so... I also HAD been playing with my 99 Trans Am(mint condition, 39k miles) but I recently decided to sell it to fund my vette project....So I sold that sucker, got $15k and now thats all going into the vette... Seems crazy to sell a perfect condition, 12.30 car on motor, 11.20s on gas that gets 18mpgs primarily to build another car but.... I did it...only live once right?

Now its time to get the vette in the 10s and look mostly stock...

 

For the cam he's looking at using they will work fine. I have a buddy with a genuine L-88 that has an upgraded cam in the low .600's lift and he regularly spins it 7000+ RPM using factory GM long slot rockers and 7/16" pushrods.

Now....is we upgrade just a little.............



JIM

 

hey,interested in big inch small blocks? check out www.waltersengines.com he has a 396 that produces 600+hp.give them a call their good people and they will build anything you want