Anyone know of any awesome engine combo's for a SBC 350/355/383 ect, I'm talking atleast 450HP and still streetable, Car weighs approx 2750 pounds tranny is undecided at this time, anyone know of the "ultimate" combo?
on a street machine, I wouldn`t waste my time trying to make horsepower. Torque is what moves all that sheet metal around, not horsepower. a high torque engine is what makes a car fun to drive, a hole shot that slams you back in the seat, the feeling of how hard it`s pulling under acceleration, how the engine seems to move the car effortlessly, the sensitivity when you just tap the pedal is all by torque. so for the ultimate combo, the most cubic inches is always best. a 383 or a 400 since were talking small blocks, both will make lots of torque, instead of shooting for 450 horse power, why not shoot for 450 ft/lbs of torque? good heads, valve train, a decent compression ratio, a tight quench clearence, a good intake, ignition, exhaust system with decent rear gears all work together to make a good street machine. it`ll also make good horsepower as well. it won`t be near as hard on the engine because you won`t have to rev it to hel* to make power.
Ditto DV.... Build for low end and midrange torque. Something that will pull from 1500 to 5500 RPM. 383 or 406c.i. Built 700R4 for two reasons. 3.06 1st gear and 0.7 Overdrive in 4th. Run a set of 3.90 or 4.10 gears with some ET Streets and I guarantee you will have a tuff to beat combo on the street and it will still be very drivable on the highway. And don't be suprised if it pulls some decent milage numbers also.
Mark
Also your intake and exhaust makes alot of difference. Set up your exhause for good scavaging.
Depending on your setup, if it is going to have really high tourque numbers you may wanna put on a single plane to help out in the upper end so you don't have to shift early.
If you need MORE bottom end tourque, go dual plane.
If you need something in between, air gap or a tall dual plane will work.
There's no replacement for displacement. Or something like that.... what is your purpose for the car? You're looking for the ultimate, but that could be a lot of different things... ultimate tire smoker, top speed king, 1/4 mile monster, reliable daily driver. Once you know what you want the car to do it should be easy to figure out how to get there.
With a street / strip car you will always be compromising some amount of each. Be honest with yourself about what that ratio should be, and your choices for cam/intake/carb/etc will be a lot easier.
From what I have seen, Your best bet for heads is AFR. As long as you match the parts well, any CNC ported AFR head will make great hp. The most important thing when building a motor is to get the right combonation of parts. You can have the best heads in the world, and if the other parts dont match, the motor wont run good.
Build a 400 if you want the fastest streetable SBC.
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