grumpyvette

with a (Z) weighing about 2600lbs 475 hp ought to get you close to 11.1 at 124mph the engine can be built for $3500-$5500 if you have a good 350 block,(plan on spending about $4200-$4700 average) depending on deals you get on the parts (think EBAY for intake/carb)but buy cams/heads,ETC NEW because theres just too much chance of getting used junk any other way and who does the work.(you or an engine builder) has a big effect on total cost too.

400 ci 280z I build pontiacs fairly often heres just a few from the data base http://members.tripod.com/futom/id113.htm http://www.classicalpontiac.com./ http://www.performanceyears.com/ubb/Forum19/HTML/000486-2.html http://members.tripod.com/futom/id59.htm http://www.pontiacwarriors.com/ http://www.wedge.org/69bird/docs/455build.txt http://www.chiefmanyhorses.com/iacatalog/indian_adventures_catalog.htm http://www.krepower.com/ http://krepower.com/Heads.htm http://www.wauknet.com/douthitt/ http://www.pontiacpower.com/ http://www.execpc.com/~lewenz/

for a performance build up its not a good choice but for a daily driver with about 300-350 hp its fine!

get the DART IRON EAGLE HEADS/older block combo, BUT GET AT LEAST THE 200cc size and the 215 cc size is better,now I know what your thinking..I used to worry that useing the 215cc-230cc iron eagle heads on street strip car engine builds,because they would have too big a port for the street even on a 383- 400 sbc but then I stopped and thought about it... a bbc has oval port heads known for huge torque on a 396 and those posts are between 267-290 cc and they get ported even larger and still have super torque. now a sbc with 230cc heads is actually restricted by those smaller port sizes of less than 200cc in comparison. a sbc 383 would need to run a 258cc port to be at an equal port to cylinder ratio so useing the larger heads is really not a problem, yes I know thats what youve always been told that bigger ports loose low end torque but its got more to do with cylinder dia., compression ratio, valve sizes and cam timeing than port size.

cant find the cam timeing points on a cam? http://www.crower.com/misc/valve_timing_chart.html#top

javv look here this site will let you figure displacement, http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~don_s/enginespecs.htm this will let you figure cpr http://cochise.uia.net/pkelley2/crc.htm keep the cpr at or below 10.2/1 with aluminum heads or 9.5/1 with steel for street use, buy a good quality 383 stroker kit, that has 6" (h) beam 7/16" cap screw forged rods and forged flat top pistons, A CAST STEEL CRANK WILL WORK BUT IF YOU EVER THINK YOU MIGHT USE NITRIOUS GET FORGED, make sure its INTERNALLY BALLANCED,COMES WITH RINGS, BEARINGS, FLEX PLATE AND HARMONIC DAMPER http://www.scatcrankshafts.com/smblckrotatingkits02.html http://www.flatlanderracing.com/index.html SKC3837 $1399 now add a good roller cam,(the comp cams 08-433-08 or the 12-771-8 or the crane#118611) and the canfield heads a victor jr intake and a 750 cfm carb and youll have over 450+hp in a 350 and over 475+ in a 383 read this http://www.carcraft.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=4503 http://www.speedomotive.com/building%20tips.htm

javv yes you can get the same power with the same parts but if you use CANFIELD 223cc heads or AFR 210cc heads and stroke your engine to 383 the power will jump to about 500hp and 467ft lbs

thats a great combo! youll have about 475hp/440 tq which is about the max possiable with those heads, I doubt theres much you can do to improve it.

why work that hard,hook up the battery and gas, motor mounts and trans, follow a few simple instructions and your driveing http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=120&pid=463 http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=120&pid=466 http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=120&pid=693

read this, http://www.babcox.com/editorial/us/uhs89734.htm http://www.babcox.com/editorial/cm/cm99828.htm http://www.ahooga.com/archive/messages2/6273.shtml http://www.dragnbreath.com/Clevite/TN%2022.html http://www.dragnbreath.com/Clevite/TN%2016.html http://www.aera.org/Tech/tb1465r.htm http://www.topracer.com/wizzgc.html http://www.cranecams.com/master/lube.htm http://www.chevytalk.org/forums/Forum64/HTML/005908.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOST BUT NOT ALL THIS INFO IS VERY HELPFUL FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT TO DO! http://www.hotrod.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=869 http://www.grapeaperacing.com/GrapeApeRacing/tech/blockprep.cfm http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/PICS/detonation/detonation.html http://www.zianet.com/v8monza/engine.htm http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1185/n8_v32/21148174/p1/ar ticle.jhtml?term=chevy+%2Bcombustion+%2Bchamber+design http://www.speedomotive.com/building%20tips.htm http://www.airflowresearch.com/Articles/A3-P1.htm http://www.aros.net/~rbuck/chp/Welcome.html http://www.airflowresearch.com/Articles/A2-P1.htm http://mysite.directlink.net/ldodd/EngineBuild.htm

heres some reading for you guys http://www.carrun.com/teck8.html http://www.stahlheaders.com/Lit_Rod%20Length.htm http://www.lifenet.com/patrick/rodlength.htm http://www.aros.net/~rbuck/rick/rodstudy.htm http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/rod-tech-c.htm

http://www.centuryperformance.com/timing.htm

ever wonder what the numbers on a spark plug mean? http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/partnumberkey.pdf www.acdelco.com/html/pi_plugs_ident.htm

if your haveing trouble tuneing that carb read this http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm http://www.shockley.net/holley-jets.asp http://www.bgsoflex.com/holley.html http://www.vtr.org/maintain/carbs.html http://www.mortec.com/carbs.htm http://www.mortec.com/carbtip1.htm http://www.concentric.net/~Jjlee/boats/DualCarbTuning.html http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/eps_sect2.html http://www.nastyz28.com/perftune.html

just got my stealth ram delivered and after very carefull measurement its about .7-.8" too tall for the hood to close on my 1985 L98 the stealth ram is 10" tall over its intire plenum length while my TPI is about an inch shorter, and lower in the front near the throttle body(just over 9" tall ) so with a little machine work too the intake or a hood scoop your fine but if everythings left totally stock it won,t quite fit because at least on my vette theres about 1/3" of space between the top of the tpi intake and the closed hood (two large lumps of clay and a closed hood prove that!! OK guys I got out the tape measure and the runners in the stealth ram are just a little over 6" long from the face of the cylinder head to the plenum floor, what holley did was adapt their tunnel ram intake base(known for great airflow and good power)too take fuel rails and replaced the normal top with a plenum to fit the forward faceing G.M. throttle body. the stealth ram is well designed and has a strait shot into the intake ports like a tunnel ram with bigger runners, it will obviously out flow a super ram and this intake will obviously flow more air than a TPI intake by at least double. now if you can get it under your hood this thing should haul butt, Im very happy with it so far btw I have run the big mouth/slp combo and accell super ram intakes before so Im aware of how they work/run and this looks like the best intake yet as the mini ram has almost no runner length like the LT1 intake while the stealth ram should give the ram tuneing effect of the TPI without the air flow restrictions when I called HOLLEYS tech # said they should be shipping them (stripped intakes)shortly(30-40 days) but total systems will be first to ship out so get your order in now before theres a big backorder list to fill!) the stealth RAM is a huge jump in air flow capacity over the other intakes I have seen or used and the 6" plus intake runner length will put the torque curve on the EFI intake just where it needs to be for great power, look here, http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~allan/fluids/page7/PipeLength/pipe.html http://webphysics.ph.msstate.edu/units/index.html btw60 degs F=290 degsK 100 degs F=311degs K and 200 degs F= 366 degs K now figureing that theres another 5 inches between the cylinder port entrance and the far edge of the intake valve thats about a tuned length of 11.5 inches of intake port or about 1/2 way between the super victor intake and the super ram in length so the tuned rpm band will be lower than a super victor intake but slightly higher than a super ram intake with about 30% better flow so in theory the STEALTH RAM should work from about the same rpms as the super ram to about 1500 rpm higher in the rpm range than a super ram or 3500-7500+ rpm by looking at the figures. Oh btw its easy to see why HOLLEY made the plenum taller it to get the best and straitest air flow into the ports.

just got my stealth ram delivered and after very carefull measurement its about .7-.8" too tall for the hood to close on my 1985 L98 the stealth ram is 10" tall over its intire plenum length while my TPI is about an inch shorter, and lower in the front near the throttle body(just over 9" tall ) so with a little machine work too the intake or a hood scoop your fine but if everythings left totally stock it won,t quite fit because at least on my vette theres about 1/3" of space between the top of the tpi intake and the closed hood (two large lumps of clay and a closed hood prove that!! OK guys I got out the tape measure and the runners in the stealth ram are just a little over 6" long from the face of the cylinder head to the plenum floor, what holley did was adapt their tunnel ram intake base(known for great airflow and good power)too take fuel rails and replaced the normal top with a plenum to fit the forward faceing G.M. throttle body. the stealth ram is well designed and has a strait shot into the intake ports like a tunnel ram with bigger runners, it will obviously out flow a super ram and this intake will obviously flow more air than a TPI intake by at least double. now if you can get it under your hood this thing should haul butt, Im very happy with it so far btw I have run the big mouth/slp combo and accell super ram intakes before so Im aware of how they work/run and this looks like the best intake yet as the mini ram has almost no runner length like the LT1 intake while the stealth ram should give the ram tuneing effect of the TPI without the air flow restrictions when I called HOLLEYS tech # said they should be shipping them (stripped intakes)shortly(30-40 days) but total systems will be first to ship out so get your order in now before theres a big backorder list to fill!) the stealth RAM is a huge jump in air flow capacity over the other intakes I have seen or used and the 6" plus intake runner length will put the torque curve on the EFI intake just where it needs to be for great power, look here, http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~allan/fluids/page7/PipeLength/pipe.html http://webphysics.ph.msstate.edu/units/index.html btw60 degs F=290 degsK 100 degs F=311degs K and 200 degs F= 366 degs K now figureing that theres another 5 inches between the cylinder port entrance and the far edge of the intake valve thats about a tuned length of 11.5 inches of intake port or about 1/2 way between the super victor intake and the super ram in length so the tuned rpm band will be lower than a super victor intake but slightly higher than a super ram intake with about 30% better flow so in theory the STEALTH RAM should work from about the same rpms as the super ram to about 1500 rpm higher in the rpm range than a super ram or 3500-7500+ rpm by looking at the figures. Oh btw its easy to see why HOLLEY made the plenum taller it to get the best and straitest air flow into the ports.

just make sure your useing a good high performance intake to match the heads like a edelbrock super victor and at least a 700cfm carb and headers ETC. if you try and stick a performer(non rpm)or stock exhaust manifolds on those heads It will strangle the air flow and the ports may even be so small they dont cover the ports in the cylinder heads, putting a low performance intake on those heads will be like tapeing your mouth and one nostril shut and trying to run the mile in record time breathing through your 1/2 of your nose, youll do just fine for about 50 ft (running or driveing)

thats true , if you are interested about detonation read this, http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/PICS/detonation/detonation.html http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/cam-tech-c.htm http://www.rolexhaust.com/Technical/Analysis/Detonation.htm

you have got to be jokeing? heres the flow numbers performer rpm............canfield 223 cc .200......130/108..........145/105 .300......183/144..........206/146 .400......226/169..........252/184 .500......229/175..........288/203 .600......232/182..........301/219 http://www.canfieldheads.com/sbc_2600.html http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/head_flowdata.html now the formula for figureing potential hp from head flow is flow at max cam lift x .257 x #cylinders= max hp ) so the edelbrock rpms top out at 232 x .257 x 8 = 477hp without port work but the CANFIELDS are 301 x .257 x 8 =619 hp potentially its not a fair comparison because the edelbrocks are for hot street/strip use on a 350 chevy but the canfields , while they can be used on the street are really racing type heads, now canfield does also make a street/strip head,but even that head has a 50hp advantage over the rpm heads. http://www.canfieldheads.com/sbc_2500.html but thats almost the same price as the race type and it still seriously out flows the edelbrock heads, 259 x .257 x8=533hp potentially so either way the canfields win no contest. Id get the larger canfields, true youll lose some low rpm torque with the larger ports lower air velocity at low rpms but they more than make up the differance in high rpm power by having over 140hp more potential. and just for your info a 383 spinning 6500rpm will need a head flowing about 280 cfm to fill the cylinders completely at that rpm so you can see a small head kills high rpm power.

utvolman99 what you said about the static compression ratio and detonation is on the surface correct but its the DYNAMIC COMPRESSION RATIO not the static compression ratio that determines when or if youll have detonation problems,remember that piston is not compressing anything untill both valves are closed, now the main things that effect the DYNAMIC COMPRESSION RATIO are stroke, bore, rod length,and cam timeing.and yes iron heads are slightly more prone to detonation problems because they hold heat better in the combustion chamber.look this over and down load the program. http://cochise.uia.net/pkelley2/DynamicCR.html

you still did not give enough info to make valid guesses on what you have now but lets start from scratch heres how to figure displacement (engine size in cubic inches) http://www.smokemup.com/utilities/calc/displacement.cfm compression http://www.smokemup.com/utilities/calc/compression_ratio.cfm other usefull stuff http://members.aol.com/fastnuf1/calc.html now horsepower is mostly about air flow and effectively useing it so a great set of cylinder heads is mandatory,these are about the best for money spent, http://www.canfieldheads.com/sbc_2600.html get a good rotateing assembly put together if you don,t have a good one now, http://www.scatcrankshafts.com/smblckrotatingkits02.html e-mail me for more questions, prlangevin@hotmail.com

OK so IM slow to catch on sometimes

ever wonder what the numbers on a spark plug mean http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/partnumberkey.pdf

ljohnson READ IT AGAIN"BUT WHAT EVER YOU DO... DON,T DO WHAT I SAW ONE GUY DOING.....heating the rods with a torch and then putting the shank of the rod bolt on dry ice so it just pops out of the rod as that DESTROYS THE BOLTS HEAT TREATMENT/WEAKENS THE BOLTS BIG TIME!!! pparaska IF you don,t have a rod vise you can get by with that aluminum jaw vise but I would use two 1/8" thick lead sheets to cushion the jaws and to be very sure not to mark the rods as I worked on them changing the rod bolts.