Thread: bbc build

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alright so i just built my first small block..but i really want some power and i keep hearing about how easy 500 hp is with a bb! so i thought it'd be fun to ask the experts! so heres what i would like to build. a newer style block so im wanting to do roller engine, roller cam, roller lifters, roller rockers. im wanting about 11 to 1 comp. ratio. i've picked out a cam. voodoo mechanical roller. lift:655/663 duration at .050 is 243/249. i havent picked out an intake yet. but for cylinder heads i was thinking about the dart pro 1 aluminum heads?? good choice? yay? or nay?? then i was thinking a 850 cfmish carb? or would ya'll suggest more carb? then to finish her off 1 3/4" headers.. my feeble mind thinks that this set up would put me over my 500 mark pretty easily but i thought i'd get some expert advice! i appreciate any suggestions on something i should do different! thanks in advance everyone!!

Street or strip? That compression and mechanical cam sound more strip to me.

Don

What are you going to put this engine in?

500HP is real "do-able" with a big block - but being able to use the HP is another issue. That cam could be problems for a street applications. You'll definitely have a rough idle and you'll probably need 2800 - 3000 stall speed with an automatic (with 3.90+/- rearend) Do you really want a mechanical valve train?

Give us some more particulars and I'm sure we'll be able to help you out. Pat is the BB master - listen very closely to anything he posts in reference to BB builds. He's forgotten more than most of us will ever know about building serious streetable and racing HP!

Regards,
Glenn

occasional drive during summer weeks.. but mostly for the weekends. im going to put this in a truck more than likely!!?? or possibly an old nova. i want it to have air and power steering so im not wanting a full strip car obviously. i just want to be able to have a little bit of fun no matter where im at.. along with a little reliability! haha.. and i was kinda wondering about that valve train glenn but like i said im feeble minded and dont know the pros and cons of the other?? sooo??... ive only built one engine so im obviously still new and dont know much! i know basics.. i think?? ha so let me know about the valve train along with maybe a suggestion for a cam? and then if you feel the urge feel free to throw in how the heck i get that power to the ground effectively! thanks

details on the truck are its an 88' short box chevy 700 r4 in it right now with 3:73 in the rear.

With A/C, power steering and other accessories on and functioning no reason to use the racing parts!!! At 11:1 compression, you'll have to run premium pump fuel, and probably an octane booster.....

You'd probably be a lot happier with a hydraulic roller cam. Mechanical cams are not designed for prolonged street usage, plus they require frequent adjustments... Compression ratio would be a lot more street friendly in the 9.5 to 10:1 area...too much compression on the street often means having to get out of the timing advance to keep it from detonating..without a decent amount of timing advance performance will suffer.

Rather then picking a cam that sounds neat, you might do better to use a program like "Cam Quest" to select a cam and accompanying valve train that will work right with the rest of the engine...Cam Quest is a free download at Comp Cams web site.

hey thanks for the heads up ... im running a hyd. roller in my sb now.. and from my understanding any roller cam was good. so thanks for the info! as for compression ill take your advice as well and go down to 10:1 ill run the highest octane the gas station will offer.. we actually have a station around here that his highest octane is about 98! and lowest is 91! anyways... thanks for the "cam quest" ill check it out!

DAVE!! dude you're the man!! i know that comp cams site doesnt have even close to the variations there are out there but i still love it! thanks for letting me know about it!! thats all i've been playing with since i downloaded it! its difficult to make under 500 hp.. ok its not difficult but it sure is easy to make over 500 with the big block! then on my small block i changed out the heads and the exhaust manifolds and made almost 470 horse with it!

Originally Posted by chevyguy350

DAVE!! dude you're the man!! i know that comp cams site doesnt have even close to the variations there are out there but i still love it! thanks for letting me know about it!! thats all i've been playing with since i downloaded it! its difficult to make under 500 hp.. ok its not difficult but it sure is easy to make over 500 with the big block! then on my small block i changed out the heads and the exhaust manifolds and made almost 470 horse with it!

You're most certainly welcome, Cam Quest takes a lot of the confusion and listening to friends' stories out of the cam selection process!!!

500 very streetable/pumpgas hp (the sort you want) is pretty easy to do. But what you really NEED is 500ft/lbs of torque from about 2000rpm up.

The Summit catalogue has top end kits - alloy heads, hydraulic cams, intake & gaskets etc from Edelbrock and from Brodix, so you can get a well matched set with them having done the thinking and R&D for you.

The other way to get good torque is to max out the size of the engine. So go get a stroker kit. The Edelbrock 502 kit advertises 611hp with a hydraulic
roller package.

One mans budget is another mans excess, but I reckon those Edelbrock kits are the way forward.

Down here, we are trying to get 850 streetable/pumpgas HP from a 540 Chev with a 671 on it, all for less than US$7,000. We are using a lot of second hand parts & reckon buying new it would go close to US$20,000.

So there are ways to avoid killing your budget. Just takes a bit longer to get there.

Good word on the budget - the best can be had for less, if time is aplenty and we become "creative" in our approach..

Well, actually I wanted the car running for our summer for cruising and a bit of drag racing, but those budget constraints meant that things have taken longer than expected.

But we went close on budget, and I would be surprised if we dont make 850hp on pumpgas, and the engine will be running again in the next few days.

Costs were like this (converted to USD):
540 block, rods, pistons, BRC crank etc $ 1500
Repairs to crank $ 600
Heads (bowties complete with girdle) $ 600
Roller cam 4-7 swap $ 400
SFI balancer $ 300
Twin 1150 Dominators & pump $2000
MSD dizzy & 7AL $ 600

I already had the 671 from the previous engine but that originally cost about $2000.
So it came to about $8000 in parts & machining.

Compression is about 7.5:1 so will work on our 98 gas, and run around in a street legal bucket.