All this talk about 500-600 hp small blocks in "street legal" trucks...
Hello? For $5000? Not going to happen. At least not real numbers on a
real dyno. Stock block castings can't even stand up to those kind of
numbers. Most racers doubt 400hp for a the 360. Having a 425 hp perfectly
streetable 360, I can tell you that 425 is most assuredly possible for
under $5000 and can live comfortably on the street with premium pump gas.
Now to get past my 360 in performance, life gets ugly fast! Something
about diminishing returns... You're still stuck with that stock block,
that weak cast crank and those tiny little rods. Better than a chevy, but
never intended to see above 300hp. Toss in a decent crank and you've just
doubled the cost.
If you want nitrous, great, but at this level all the parts need to be
upgraded. It's not like boosting a stock engine from 200 hp to 300 hp
ANYBODY can do that. Going from 400 to 500 is much much tougher.
The cheapest way to the numbers you're talking about would be a stroked 400
B block. It is narrower and shorter than a 440, but can be stroked to 500
pretty easily. Now you've got a 500 incher that is MUCH easier to fit than
a Hemi of V10. MUCH cheaper. To get to build a 1-1.2 hp per square inch
motor is pretty straight forward and very streetable. A streetable 600hp
pump gas 500inch B block can probably be done for right about $10K. Look
up Muscle Motors for some Stroker pricing.
BTW-The 440-6 listed below puts out nearly 650hp (no NOS, no Boost).
Haven't figured out a way to put it in my Dak though!
Steve Ekstrand, Pasadena, CA Driver: '00 Dakota CC SLT+ 4.7L 3.92SG 255's
Stacey's Driver: '00 Inferno Red Intrepid ES-3.2L-24V Autostick w/Leather
Race Car: 69 1/2 Road Runner 440-6 (ex-NHRA SS/GA future B or C/SA???)
Project Car: 69 Barracuda Notchback (Orig. 318, now 360w/Edelbrock Heads)
Homepage: http://sites.netscape.net/professormopar/homepage
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:49:00 EDT