I want a blower and I want it now.

[PotvinGuy]

Are those valve covers clear ???

No, they are cast aluminum and chromed. B&M sold them back in the day as "smoothies." When I was building my car I saw an ad and called B&M, but they had stopped making them and had no stock. But I found a pair on a display motor in a speed shop. Never seen another set. Couldn't bear to cut a hole on top for breathers, so put road draft hoses on the backsides.

 

[PotvinGuy]

If you're using carb(s), try to get blower carbs, which have the power valve referenced to manifold vacuum. Regular carbs on a blower won't operate the power valve, so the motor can go lean when you punch it. Lazy shops just jet the carbs rich to compensate. Or better yet, use EFI.

 

[Island Girl]

Just clears the 900 mark with 93 octane pump gas and ~ 30% underdrive on the blower, (about 5psi boost) .

It's a torque monster built for a river racer flat bottom K boat. 496 inch with a retired pro-mod 14-71 blower and all the best stuff.

It's way too much for a streetable T project, so while my 27 T is getting a big block, . . . . the plan is to skip the blower this time

Darlene




Note to self: . . . Must stick to the plan . . . . Must stick to the plan . . . . Must stick to the plan . . . .

 

[Jim B]

My plan is for it to be a cruiser, steetable and dependable. BUT, if some smart alec Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Big Corvette pulls up next to me at a stoplight, I would like to be able to hold my own. Not that I would ever break the law and actually race on the street. My budget is enough that I can build something that should stay together with ponies between 450 and 500. I plan to put a built 700R4 trannie in it. I already have a new 9-inch posi rear end with 4.11 gears for it. At least one trip to the strip is required.

Actually, here in Naples, Florida, the Lambos or Ferrari's mostly putter along at the speed limit. The Vettes and Porsches race all the time but the exotics are just for show.

 

[Island Girl]

Engine building is a personal thing with most hot rodders,
Having come up around race boats, I tend to be more cautions, as a rod or other piece of shrapnel out the bottom can sink your high dollar boat fast.

If it were me . . . . I'd build a nice 383 which can give you 450 to 500HP all day long, and it'll do it with basically stock internals and a 2 bolt mains block, especially if you run closer to 450 than 500.

If it's a 4 bolt main, then I'd look at a Scat, (or similar) forged rotating assembly with some decent 8:1 forged pistons, aftermarket aluminum heads, and a 6-71 blower kit. You can easily hit your 500 target, probably closer to 550 and still be very streetable.

Either way, you'll want aluminum heads, hydraulic roller cam, and quality roller rockers. . . . Get good stuff, avoid the Chinese crap wherever you can, . . . If you're going to spend good money on a nice project, why would you want to bottle neck performance or take chances with reliability . . .

 

[Kurt64]

I'm planning on a roots blower next year...a 177. I want mine to stay extremely streetable but a bit more power. I just love the way a blower looks and sounds.

 

[Indycars]

.
I would be hesitant to put a stock block to the stresses of anything over 500 HP. You just don't
know how thick the cylinder walls are going to be, unless your prepared to spend the money
and time to sonic test several blocks. Yes I got things in the wrong order, I should have sonic
tested before boring .060 over. Better to back out now and spend the money on a aftermarket
block like the Dart SHP. Beside, by the time you spend enough in machine work to make a stock
block acceptable, you have almost bought a Dart SHP and it still will not be as strong.

Below are the results of my sonic test for cylinder wall thickness and cylinder #4 is down to just
.064 inches thick, about 1/2 of what you would like to see.



I have a 400 cuin SBC, but it not too much more money for a rotating assembly and
you can have a 427 cuin SBC.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...=Ascending&autoview=SKU&keyword=dart shp&ar=1
.

 

[Island Girl]

Absolutely agree, especially if your stock block isn't cherry . . .

If you have a good stock bore, you should only need a few thousandths off to get the right clearance for forged pistons.

With a good stock bore, the SHP is more optional, but a very good recommendation if you can go the extra $, especially if you plan to add the blower, have to overbore, or have any bearing journals that aren't meeting stock spec. . . . It has so many plusses over the stock block

 

[RPM]

I spent right at $600 in machine work on just the bare block, for a blower motor. That was 12 years ago. Be sure to align hone the block after you install ARP studs. The studs will distort the main bores, then the crank won't last long. I used a Eagle blower crank, eagle rods and SRP blower pistons. I did not want the bottom end to come apart. A new set of aluminum heads, a Weiand blower kit, and 2 Edelbrock carbs. I used a hydraulic lift cam. MSD ignition with a boost retard box. It made 10-12 lbs of boost on pump gas. I ran a lot of initial timing and thing ran great. The MSD would retard when the boost came on. I had a little over $10,000 in the motor.

10 lbs of boost will make about 2hp per cubic inch.