what if ? engine builds .

[chimp koose]

Again hoping to keep GPster entertained ! If it was not particular cars that kept me awake at night it would have to be different engine combinations that I would dream up and wonder about . I probably lost more sleep to engine combinations than to dream car builds . What kind of "what if" motors have you ever dreamed up ?  Currently I can not get my head around a 283 block with a turned down 400 crank to make a lower cubic inch combo with the likelihood of making good torque from a nearly square (bore to stroke ) engine. With EFI , vortec heads and a very mild hydraulic roller cam it could be a pretty stout low RPM performer with nice manners . My theory is based on fords 2 engines , the 300 -6 and the 400 -8 ( both 4''bore x 4" stroke) that seemed to have good torque . Once did a 400 W/boss cleveland heads that was a BEAST. What types of engine combo's have you guys wondered about in the past ?

[enjenjo]

307 block with a cut down 400 crank. 3.875" bore with a 3.75" stroke. Somewhere I found pistons that would work by cutting the crown by .050" No idea what they were for.

[kb426]

One of the items in the future of the F6 project may be a 4.125" bore block 3.4" stroker combo. Years ago when I was helping one of my customers with his alky dragster, his engine combo was a 351 cleveland head deal. It had a big bore combo that made way more hp. than a 4" bore. Ford sells a crate engine such as this that makes about 80 more hp. than a 4" bore engine. This would require an aftermarket block that is around $2600 to start with.

[idrivejunk]

Sims show that a .060 over 400 Pontiac is capable of 100%+ V.E. and I always wondered what thats like.

At one point I started to plan a Dart SHP build for my Camino. Then reality reared it's ugly head.

[jaybee]

I think a Ford 400M with aftermarket Cleveland heads and fuel injection would be fun. It would be a more expensive engine to build than a Windsor so I probably wouldn't do it, but it would be interesting and different.

[chimp koose]

A buddy of mine is building a 351 Cleveland right now . I have built entire cars for less than he will have in his motor. The neatest part so far has been an intake made in Australia that makes WAY more torque than even the edelbrock performer at lower RPM and still gets more on the top end . Back in the 80's we retired a boss351 C  that had 5 sleeves already . We built a 400M with those heads on it and it was more motor than we expected and made power at a much lower rpm with the same heads,cam (solid roller) induction and headers . I had to make intake spacers to fit the intake to the greater deck height . It wanted more carb as a borrowed 1050 dominator with no tuning time equalled the best we could get out of an 850. John Kaase has won a lot of engine masters contests with a 400 / cleveland based combination

[jaybee]

Here's an idea that's really exotic. The last couple of generations of NASCAR engines run the cam so high in the block they can tie the sides of the block together both below and above the camshaft. The Fords and Chevys both do it, so I assume the Toyotas do as well. I'm sure builders of 302/5.0 Fords would love to have that, since they're infamous for splitting the blocks in half somewhere between 500-600hp and up. That seems to be a bit of a black art, with some builders able to make them live up to almost 700hp supercharged while others seem to turn the blocks to glass at anything above 500.

I highly doubt if the NASCAR builders do it for block integrity, I just mention it because it has to make the block stronger. The real reason these engines place the cam so high is to move the pushrods into a position which gets them out of the way of the ports. Dodge did it first when they returned to NASCAR some years ago with the late model Hemi. A further advantage, though, is management of heat and friction. The camshafts and the bottom of the roller lifters run in an oil bath, allowable by the presence of a bulkhead between the cam and crank. To reduce friction to an absolute minimum the cams even run in needle bearings in the Chevys. As oil wells up out of the oil bath it's sucked out of the lifter valley by the dry sump system.

[chimp koose]

Jaybee I believe it makes the pushrods shorter/stronger to have the cam so high as well. I may have an interesting build soon . Our school just got 2 Karts with 5.5 hp ohv engines . One is to be converted to electric the other raced on gas . I have yet to see the rule book on allowable modifications but if it is vague I am going to go a little crazy on the gas one . Different rocker ratio for sure and head/chamber mods as well . If they do not specify fuel , it will be swilling methanol . Maybe about a 20% load of nitro  8)as well