[Caballerokid]

If your looking for an 11 sec. car in a heavy "G" body trust me, I have a Caballero "G" body car. They can do it but need a solid suspension (rear) for all the hard launching and whatever motor you decide to build go full roller. If it's going to be beat on regularly and run at high rpms, a full roller will handle the abuse better and be more precise with less loss of power in the higher rpm ranges. FYI...

[cobalt327]

IMO, the best of all scenarios is a BBC built only as "stout" as is needed to get the required HP to run the numbers you want to run.

Take the weight of the vehicle, and go from there. Using the various calculators, you can get a pretty good idea of the requirements for whatever ET you want to run. Be realistic, and remember the chassis is just as important- if not MORE so- than the HP.

CALCULATORS (there are literally hundreds on the interweb):

http://www.wallaceracing.com/Calculators.htm

http://hotrodworks.net/hotrodmath/quarter.html

http://chevymania.com/

http://www.idavette.net/tech/ratioc.htm

http://www.wheelspin.net/main/main.html

http://www.csgnetwork.com/automotiveconverters.html

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/comprAdvHD.htm

http://www.hotrodpitstop.com/tools.html

http://www.empirenet.com/pkelley2/DynamicCR.html

http://chevyasylum.com/tech/automath.html

http://www.musclemotorparts.com/InTheKnow.htm

http://www.smokemup.com/

[roach4047]

Originally Posted by bigdog7373

Yes, you could build a 383, but in my opinion it's not necessary. A well-built 350 could definitely turn out an 11 second 1/4 mile. It will need to be able to turn at high rpms though. You'll need a steel crank, steel rods, forged aluminum or hypereutectic pistons, high flowing aluminum heads with small chambers, and a fuller roller valve train to start. You should also consider using nitrous and/or forced induction to really bump up power output. If you go the forced induction rout you will steel need forged crank and rods also.

If I'm going through all the trouble of replacing the crank it would be down right dumb to not increase the diplacement of the motor while at it. I'm just wondering how to go about choosing the right combo of crank and rods to get to the most displacement that I can without the need of having to do too much more than simply swapping the crank and rods and maybe grinding a little here and there to ensure clearance of the new rotating assembly.
Roach

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by roach4047

If I'm going through all the trouble of replacing the crank it would be silly to not build a 383. The motor is already bored for a 4.0" piston so I wouldn't need to worry about machining it for a bigger piston and from what I hear about this particular block it doesn't really have enough to have the pistons bored much bigger than what they already are any how.

Roach

You can go 0.060" over on most any SBC w/a nominal 4" bore.

BTW, a 4" bore x 3.75" stroke isn't a "383"- it's a 377.

[oldbogie]

Originally Posted by roach4047

If I'm going through all the trouble of replacing the crank it would be down right dumb to not increase the diplacement of the motor while at it. I'm just wondering how to go about choosing the right combo of crank and rods to get to the most displacement that I can without the need of having to do too much more than simply swapping the crank and rods and maybe grinding a little here and there to ensure clearance of the new rotating assembly.
Roach

Without the thirty over cut you'd have a 377; close enough and keeps the wall for any future rebuild. All the same clearancing needs to be done as on a 383, which is what ever grinding on the block and rods to provide .050 inch clearance between the big end and the pan rail, cylinder extensions and cam shaft proves to be necessary.

Bogie

[roach4047]

After some more research I've came to the conclusion that a stroker motor simply isn't in my future for this build. Until the rear end and tranny are addressed I simply can't justify allocating the extra amount of money that a stroker would require. So this motor is going to have to rely on the stock lower internals (Crank,rods,pistons) as they currently are. Which also means that I will have a bit more breathing room financially to make sure that I obtain the correct Intake,Carb,heads,cam,and valve train to reach my goals.

Knowing that I'll be utilizing the stock bottom end I'm now charged with putting together the top end of the motor to include heads, intake, carb, valve train, and a cam that will produce an adequate amount of power to do the job yet not so much that the bottom can't hold up to the job either.


Roach

[roach4047]

Originally Posted by roach4047

After some more research I've came to the conclusion that a stroker motor simply isn't in my future for this build. Until the rear end and tranny are addressed I simply can't justify allocating the extra amount of money that a stroker would require. So this motor is going to have to rely on the stock lower internals (Crank,rods,pistons) as they currently are. Which also means that I will have a bit more breathing room financially to make sure that I obtain the correct Intake,Carb,heads,cam,and valve train to reach my goals.

Knowing that I'll be utilizing the stock bottom end I'm now charged with putting together the top end of the motor to include heads, intake, carb, valve train, and a cam that will produce an adequate amount of power to do the job yet not so much that the bottom can't hold up to the job either.


Roach

How much power can the stock bottom end of the GM Goodwrecnch reliably hold up well to??? 450? 500?


Roach

[ericnova72]

The crank and rods will do 450+, but the stock cast pistons are the weak link, pushing them up over 400 is getting risky. I'd budget for new pistons, rings, and a hone job. Forged would be best if you are serious about seeking 11 second timeslips.

[roach4047]

Originally Posted by ericnova72

The crank and rods will do 450+, but the stock cast pistons are the weak link, pushing them up over 400 is getting risky. I'd budget for new pistons, rings, and a hone job. Forged would be best if you are serious about seeking 11 second timeslips.

Any suggestions as to which specific brand/model piston and rings to go with? Say something economical yet proven. I obviously don't require the ultimate forged set up, just something that will get the job done. I was thinking along the line of a hypereutectic piston but noticed that you recommended forged instead. I admit I know very little when it comes to making these type of decisions. Which is exactly why I asked for you to recommend a decent economical specific brand/model of piston.

Your thoughts?

Roach

[Caballerokid]

If you want an 11 sec. car go forged pistons that way you will be able to run bigger shots of nitrous and the pistons will hold up better to the abuse. The hyperutectics pistons are just a performance piston with a friction modifying coating on the skirts. Also a set of moly rings would be your best choice but if you run any kind of boost or nitrous you need to clearance the ring end gaps to account for the expansion from using the power adders (nitrous/boost). Otherwise the rings will expand and close the gap pushing you cylinder pressures to the moon and making the motor go BOOM! Don't cut corners because you will never reach your goal. Then even if you get close you won't be there for long... building engines isn't as easy as just throwing parts together and bang you have a 10/11 sec car. There is lots of engineering and basic trial and error with some things. Again I just stress the fact, don't cut corners!

[cobalt327]

Just for the record, not all hyper slugs have a coating on the skirts.

Now, I don't use nitrous, so be sure to check w/the ring manufacturers for THEIR recommendations, but a few things concerning rings and nitrous:

Rings for heavy nitrous use won't be any ordinary "moly" ring- not the inlay type, especially. They will have problems shedding the inlay under severe conditions of N2O and/or detonation. The plasma type will fare better for moderate nitrous, but heavy nitrous use requires a ring dedicated to the proposition, as it were.

You can do worse than Hell Fire for a nitrous ring if this is going to be an ongoing thing. Hopefully someone w/a lot of nitrous experience will chime in here, like ericnova.

[ericnova72]

Qrdinary moly rings will be fine up to a 175-200 shot, plasma moly to 275-ish, anything more than that should have a nitrous ring like the Hellfire.

As far as pistons, hypers don't like you pushing there limits, they fracture and explode with out much warning, before you even realize there is a problem. If you never miss the tune-up or feed it bad gas, so that it never sees detonation, they are fine. I just believe them to be false economy in a performance engine, not a good place to save $150.

The KB/ICON line of forged pistons is real good for the money, PROBE also makes some good inexpensive forged for certain engines.