heres some GENERAL TIPS on engine planing
things to keep in mind!

READ THIS
http://www.carcraft.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=868
HERES A BUNCH OF SBC COMBOS
http://www.ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos1.html
(1) your normally limited to makeing about 1.25hp per cubic inch of displacement unless expensive high rpm parts are used or power adders like nitrous are used the larger the engines displacement ,the easier it will be to make any power level, starting with a 283 or a 307 puts your at a distinct DISADVANTAGE compared to a 350 or 383, 400 size engine

(2)hp= torque x rpm/5252 so.....
400 ft lbs at 3000rpm=228hp
400 ft lbs at 5000rpm=380hp

get the IDEA, the higher in the rpm range you make max torque the higher your hp will average!

(3)looking at cylinder head flow numbers
((.257 x cfm at max cam lift x number of cylinders = hp POTENTIAL))
so...you can normally make ABOUT a MAX POTENTIAL HP of
411hp with heads that flow 200cfm
514hp with heads that flow 250cfm
617hp with heads that flow 300 cfm

(4)all parts in an engine MUST be matched as to the ONE rpm range that your trying to make max hp in..... if you mis-match the rpm range of the parts the results will be far lower than the lowest rpm level of the least effective parts!
(5) by far the most comon mistake is buying DEALS on parts that don,t match the rest of the parts in yout engines rpm range or not matching all the parts in the engine to a planned rpm range
(6) the cross over point between useing a dual plane intake and a single plane intake is approximately reached at 3500 rpm and 230 deg@.050 cam durration or put another way if your engine spends almost all its time below 3500rpm and your cam has less than 230@.050 durration a dual plane intake will work best, if you spend almost all your time with the engine spinning OVER 3500rpm and your cam has more than 230@.050 durration a single plane intake will be best. if your useing an EFI intake keep in mind that cams much over 220 duration will require engine changes like software tuning, headers and intake manifold changes to take full advantage of the increased airflow and that most EFI systems work best with cams having LSAs of at least 112 degrees, this of course assumes your smart enough to know that the cam durration must also MATCH the ENGINES intended RPM RANGE and youve matched all the parts to the cams rpm range(the cam is the brains of the engine and determines what rpm range all the other parts should match, so FIRST PICK the rpm range/hp goal,
pick heads that flow enough air to meet that goal,
pick a cam that matches that goal
and pick all the other parts to match the heads and cam

here this will give you new guys some basic info


cams

http://www.newcovenant.com/speedcraf...camshaft/1.htm
(theres 10 lessons ., read them all)

http://www.howstuffworks.com/camshaft1.htm
intakes
http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/intake-tech-c.htm

compression,
http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/cam-tech.htm

oil
http://www.micapeak.com/info/oiled.html

pistons/rods
http://www.babcox.com/editorial/us/us20114.htm

http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/rod-tech-c.htm

http://www.engr.rutgers.edu/~llongo/8K.html

headers
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/T...92/vizard.html

http://www.ssheaders.com/header.htm

hp/torque
http://www.carcraft.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=868

basics
An internal combustion engine burns a mixture of fuel and air in an enclosed space. This space is formed by a cylinder that's sealed at one end and a piston that slides in and out of that cylinder. Two or more valves allow the fuel and air to enter the cylinder and for the gases that form when the fuel and air burn to leave the cylinder. As the piston slides in and out of the cylinder, the enclosed space within the cylinder changes its volume. The engine uses this changing volume to extract energy from the burning mixture.

The process begins when the engine pulls the piston out of the cylinder, expanding the enclosed space and allowing fuel and air to flow into that space through a valve. This motion is called the intake stroke. Next, the engine squeezes the fuel and air mixture tightly together by pushing the piston into the cylinder in what is called the compression stroke. At the end of the compression stroke, with the fuel and air mixture squeezed as tightly as possible, the spark plug at the sealed end of the cylinder fires and ignites the mixture. The hot burning fuel has an enormous pressure and it pushes the piston strongly out of the cylinder. This power stroke is what provides power to the car that's attached to the engine. Finally, the engine squeezes the burned gas out of the cylinder through another valve in the exhaust stroke. These four strokes repeat over and over again to power the car. To provide more steady power, and to make sure that there is enough energy to carry the piston through the intake, compression, and exhaust strokes, most internal combustion engines have at least four cylinders (and pistons). That way, there is always at least one cylinder going through the power stroke and it can carry the other cylinders through the non-power strokes.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm





[Modified by grumpyvette, 12:13 PM 10/5/2002]

 

grumpyvette, what a GREAT post :cheers:

This'll be high on my list of favorites :cool: , thanks for your work!

 

Perfect timing Grumpy :yesnod:

I'm just in the planning stages of a buildup now and was looking for some general info. This should help me out a bunch. :)

 

Thanks, good links.

The vizard links are NG, at least for me. Any other sources you know of?

Pete

 

Thanks Grump

 

Great post grump,but guys keep in mind THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL IS A COMBINATION OF EQUALLY MATCHED COMPONANTS. You will not make 617hp with any motor that just has a set of heads that flow 300cfm at (pretend).670 lift and a .670lift cam. The rest of the engine has to be built to match the heads and camshaft. Formulas are great, but generally very misleading or should I say misunderstood. Keep the entire package in mind once you have your goal set. :cheers:

 

how does one know exactly what are equally matched components?
take my build for example
i have a late model roller block goin in for .030, decking, and clearanceing to accomodate my 6.0" HBeam 4340 rods, forged JE pistons 4340 eagle crank 3.75" stroke and so far that's all i got!!!! so what do those match?
i have been swayed to the dark side and am going to get the stealth ram as opposed to the super ram, figuring that i could save a few bucks and put that money elsewhere in the motor! how do i know what heads that stealth ram will bolt to effortlessly, as well as grumpy's info on the distributor having to be changed thus changing the wiring plug! ARGHHHHHH this is soooo confusing!!!!!

 

Another great Grumpy article!!!! Keep them coming!!!