I have been looking through the site, and havent found much talk about this, so I figured I would put it out there. I am going to be building a drag car, and I will be going with a small block setup. I know a lot of the cosmetic differences pre 87 and older blocks, and the post 87 blocks, but with the post blocks, you have the option on the vortec heads, which I know can bolt onto the older blocks, as well as a lot of the post blocks are roller blocks, etc etc. But my question is, from more of a money stand point, would it be better to go with a post 87 block to build up for some easy horses? Generally, you can go to a junkyard and find a vortec engine pretty easily, but then again the older blocks arent THAT hard to come by... I was thinking I would go with a 355, maybe a 360 ci engine. All I have to do is hit 10.90 in the 1/4, but wouldnt mind being able to run a 10.60 or so, just to know I can adjust the engine for altitude adjustments and such. I plan on running a 5.14 rear gear, so I know I will be able to turn the rear tires with something that deep, and push it with a 3 spd such as a T350 or T400. Any pros/cons/guidance?
Engine Options
- Thread starter novadragr
- Start date
the older blocks are stronger imo. the one piece rear main blocks are a little more expensive to rebuild. and with the older blocks you can use retro fit rollers.
I would think if your starting from scratch you should go with a 1 piece seal, 4 bolt main factory roller cam block. This has the best of everything in a sbc.
Brian
Brian
I'm afraid I would have to agree with "bowtie"-- in that the early blocks are a lot stronger, have a higher nickel and tin content, and have less core shift in them, than the newer lightweight 1 pc blocks. If ur talking about a 10.60- 10.90 motor, especially in a 355 cu in size, ur going to have to put a lot of squeeze in it, really good heads, a pretty stout solid roller cam, and a good intake on that kind of combo. The 5:14 gears is going to buzz the motor pretty hard, probably in the 7200-7800 rpm range, so u will want a really lightweight 4340 rotating assy. I am presently building a motor for a good friend, it's a 383, with the Callies 4340 lightweight rotating assy, w/ 6" Compstar rods, and the Mahle Motorsport lightweight coated pistons. I'm shooting for a 10.90-11.0 combination. For heads, the Dart Pro-1-- AFR-220 , or Brodix Track 1,220 CC would work pretty good . I think you will find that ur going to spend a chunk of change, to build a mid 10 sec machine. You might want to consider a 406, or bigger S/B, 415-421-427-434-- combination, that would give you a lot more motor, about the same expense, will make a lot more torque, and not need to buzz it so hard, to get into the mid 10's. Just my $.02-- Good luck with ur project-- Dean 8)
I would have to agree with deanz, a 434 would net mid 10's much eaiser than a 355 on the juice... Spraying the crap out of a 355 that will spin over 7500 is a really nice way to build a hand grenade :-k
Similar threads
