I'm thinking of going to a 396 ci pretty soon and I was wondering if you guys could tell me what the downfalls are, how many miles you've got on your, and if anything has borken.

 

Just do it! Mine has 5.85" rods. 6.00" rods are hard to use I hear. 5.85" are a nice choice for a 396. I only have about 2000 miles on mine with no problems.

Thanks,
Jason

 

I am and I can't wait, it is going to be over some time but it is going to be great

 

89vette,
did you have to do some combustion chamber work to keep the 10.8:1 compression ratio? 10.8:1 sounds really good for my N2O. Not to mention I can still use pump gas then :D

:rolleyes: Wait you've got AFR heads, what is your chamber size?


[Modified by mn_vette, 7:57 PM 7/2/2002]


[Modified by mn_vette, 7:57 PM 7/2/2002]

 

Denny,

Sorry to hear that you've been having so many problems. I'm taking my to a little speed shop in a little ho-dink town. There are two guys that do the speed shop part of the garage and from talking to them when I get my N2O bottle filled they've given me confidence in their abilities. One of them does some big time racing in his old stang(running 10's or lower) and he does all of his own engine work. They are also doing all of the part ordering for me so I shouldn't have to deal with vendors at all. I'm just hoping they can stay within my budget, or it's going to be a very long summer.


[Modified by mn_vette, 10:40 PM 7/2/2002]

 

Have 3,000 miles on my MTI 396. No problems so far. The car runs a little hotter than the 350 and my gas mileage average is down to about 10MPG
but its a alot of fun driving a 396.

 

Quite honestly, it really comes down to who does the work. I have seen so many high performance engines with all kinds of problems from all kinds of "name brand" shops. If you want it to be powerful AND reliable you really need to find an engine builder/machine shop that knows what they are doing. Some of the larger places have done excellent work but are not always consistant because the same folks are not doing the work on EVERY engine. Mr. Lingenfelter does NOT personally put together every engine he sells.......know what I mean (not a Lingenfelter flame , just an example).

My 396 will be done at HK Enterprises ....... I have known the owner/ operator for over 20 years and I KNOW he is a first class racer and the most knowledgable engine man I have ever met (he is racer7088 on this board FYI). His cheif engine builder has MANY years of experience building all kinds of racing engines including the fastest LS1 N/A fbody in the country (SAM school car).......

Anyway , the point I am making is to do as much research as you can about who you want to build your motor, its more important than all the parts you buy. Anyone can stick parts together....... there are alot of little things that go into the GOOD high perf engines.......

The other side of the coin is that you are not building a production engine.......ALL high performance engines are going to have their issues , big or small. They will cost more and they will require more of your time. That is why it is so much more impressive when manufacturers keep coming out with these totally docile, super reliable stock engines with more and more power......... :seeya

 

Hi. To answer your question, I run an SRP piston with a 14cc dish, .006 in the hole, .039" thinck head gasket and a 58cc combustion chamber. It works out to around 10.8-10.9:1. My 396 definately runs hotter than the 350. I have a Stewart pump and Griffin Radiator. With no AC its fine. AC on and 90+ degrees outside, its gets up over 220 in traffic. Never had any detonation problems or anything like that though. I'm happy with my car. If I had to do it over again, I'd have put different heads on or had my comp ported AFR's and Super Ram intake really opened up by a professional. 396's need alot of air.