Im B'ville dreaming again. Any thoughts?

[Beck]

F is 123.00 to 183.99 cubes.

4 cyl

4.030 x 3.48 = 177.5

4.155 x 3.25 = 176.2
(400 block + 327 crank)

4.155 x 3.48 = 188.7
Just slightly too big.


Destroke a 377 crank down to 3 3/8 gives you 183 cubes.
4.155 x 3.375 = 183

I think the 400 block gives lots of room for valves.
And a 4 cyl makes power at a lower rpm, than the same size V8.

interesting , I would think you need to buzz the 4 cyl a bit more RPM.

Camshaft design as well  would be real important to keep the engine in a power band after a shift so the engine can recover quicker from the RPM drop

:T)

The SBC has been pretty much dialed in. There shouldn't need to be any changes in technology to just drop to 4 cyl other than to get things rebalanced. Same bore and stroke of a .030 over 350. It should turn out to make slightly less than half the power of a 350. Still have to overcome the same friction as the full V8 minus ring friction of the 4 open cylinders. RPM should be the same as the V8. Same limits to head flow and valve train. The cheapest way to do one half of a V8 would be to find a wounded race motor with one bank or hole hurt.

[unklian]

Yes, I think the 1/2 V8 would be least expensive/best bang for the buck.

If you were real lucky. you could find an obsolete NASCAR motor.
Just use one side.  Save the other as a spare.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

there has been some discussion at Landracing.com about V8 engines with missing cylinders to reduce CID

[unklian]

http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,4368.msg58248.html#msg58248

http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,12001.0.html

Probably more.

[unklian]

Most of the Nascar stuff is SB2.2 or newer. In the Classic classes the motor type has to have been available in the vehicle which has to be
'81 or older. That lets out all of those cranks.

[

I think the SB2.2 heads fit on the earlier blocks.

As long as the bolt pattern remains the same as stock,
just about any head should be legal.

[Beck]

//[url]http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,12001.0.html

There is a 180 deg 1/2 of a SBC crank available on the 2nd page of this link. I have sent the owner a PM. It sounds like balancing is a big issue with these. Why would it be worse than any other inline 4?

[unklian]

//[url]http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,12001.0.html

There is a 180 deg 1/2 of a SBC crank available on the 2nd page of this link. I have sent the owner a PM. It sounds like balancing is a big issue with these. Why would it be worse than any other inline 4?

Small 4 cyl are easy to balance.

As they get bigger, they are tougher to balance.

[Beck]

I found another 180 degree crank for sale. This is a nice Crower piece but only has  a 3.125 stroke. In a .030 over 400 SBC block it would only have 169 ci if used as a 4 cylinder. On the plus side one poster on the landspeed site stated that that is the max stroke that doesn't shake things to pieces. I would think the 3.125 stroke would lead to some weird rod/piston setups. This crank is priced right.-
The available crank on the landspeed site has 3.48 stroke which makes the engine the right size with standard 350 parts. Waiting for contact from the owner.

[unklian]

How much extra stroke could you get,
by offset grinding 3.125 down to "honda" size ?

[unklian]

4 cyl
4.03 x 3.48 = 178
4.06 x 3.48 = 180

4.155 x 3.125 = 169
4.185 x 3.125 = 172
4.155 x 3.25 = 176
4.185 x 3.25 = 179
4.155 x 3.375 = 183
4.185 x 3.375 = 185

Another consideration, is the camshaft.
Using a V8 crank, allows a standard V8 cam.
I'm guessing a flat crank, requires a special cam ($$$$).

[unklian]

Don't know if there is an aftermarket block,
that will allow larger overbores.

[unklian]

4.25 bore.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/113_0307_454_small_block_crate_engine/viewall.html

4.25 x 3.125 = 177

[GPster]

You could look at this side-ways. Look at a body style that looks swoopy and see what power plants were available How about an early Plymouth Baracuda running on half a 340. GPster

[Beck]

GPster - That is where I started. I was looking at the Monza. I did look at the early Baracuda but it is more expensive. There was a 2 for 1 on fleebay. Using both there would have been most of a car. It would have still needed the grill, bumper, and lots of time. I like the lines and think it would be competitive. Building a mopar is more expensive than the SBC. I would prefer to use a 2nd gen Camaro because parts are so available, but they need to punch a bigger hole in the air.

unklian - I saw that block. I think it would be better to offset grind the crank to the Honda journal size and use a more common block.

[unklian]

... and use a more common block.

Common is good.

Someone of Speedtalk could advise on
balancing/flat crank vs conventional.

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=1