Thread: 379 small block set-up check

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I am building a 379 engine for my street strip 77 nova. It is the 3rd engine I will built and I know that many people here had done more than me.

So what do you think of this set-up for my 3,300 pounds car:


SCAT 4340 FORGED CRANK 3.480 STROKE
H BEAM 4340 FORGED ROD ARP 2000 6.250-2.100
MILODON 4 BOLTS MAIN CAP
CLEVITE 77 MAIN BEARING
PROBE SRS PISTON FORGED –FAT TOP 1.125 400g
SPEED PRO MOLY PLASMA RING
MELLING HV OIL PUMP
SFI DAMPER + FLEXPLATE

TOP ENGINE

RHS PRO ACTION CAST IRON HEAD
235cc INTAKE RUNNER
64cc 2.08 INT. 1.6 EXH
ARP HEAD STUD - FEL PRO HP 1003 GASKET

VICTOR TUNNEL RAM INTAKE
CUSTOMIZED TOP WITH IN LINE PAIR OF HOLLEY 600 CFM VAC.SEC.
FEL PRO 1206 GASKET

COMP CAMS SOLID CAMSHAFT
DURATION 310/320
DURATION @ .050 270/280
LIFT .563/.563
LOBE CENTER 114°

COMP CAMS SOLID LIFTERS
COMP CAMS HI-TECH S/S ROLLER ROCKER 7/16-1.7 RATIO INT.
COMP CAMS HI-TECH S/S ROLLER ROCKER 7/16-1.6 RATIO EXH.
COMP CAMS STUD GIRDLES

CLOYES HEX A JUST DOUBLE ROLLER TIMING CHAIN

IGNITION
MSD PRO BILLET DISTRIBUTOR
MSD SS COIL
MSD 6 PLUS DIGITAL CONTROL BOX
MOROSO ULTRA RACE 40 PLUG WIRE

FUEL DELIVERY

HOLLEY 140 GPH ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP

COOLING

ELECTRIC PUMP
DRIVETRAIN

TH 350 MANUAL AUTO BODY VALVE TCI STALL 4500 RPM

12 BOLTS GM STRANGE 33 SPLINE AXLE WITH SPOOL
RICHMOND GEAR 4.10


How much rear wheel hp I can anticipate ?

Thanks !

Couple questions. A tunnel ram works best at high RPM, say from 4,000 to 8500..... Are you planning on having a dual purpose car that you have to rev that high to get into your peak power.???? A street/strip car IMO is better suited for a single four barrell on a medium height intake. The Air Gap intakes come to mind....Same thing with the cam, with that long of duration it's going to have to be waaaaayyy up there in the RPM to make decent power.....And again on the heads, that's a huge runner capable of supporting a small block to 9,000 RPM and IMO is waaaaayyy to big, maybe more in the range of 180 to 190 runners....

A 4500 stall converter is going to build a ton of heat, again on a dual purpose car maybe a bit more reasonable converter in the range of 2500 to 2800 stall might be more practical...

A 3300 pound car is heavy and would do better with more cubes and high torque numbers at lower rpm. A bigger cube engine with more streetable components will make a bunch more torque and have it all in at a much lower RPM. Contrary to all the stories we here about 9,000 RPM, 9.0 second street machines it's much more practical to build a mid 11 second street car with a 6500 RPM engine, or when cammed correctly even lower... Bigger isn't always better on cams, heads, intakes, and carbs unless you are building a track only small block and can afford to zing the heck out of it every pass......

Originally Posted by STREETNOVA

I am building a 379 engine for my street strip 77 nova. It is the 3rd engine I will built and I know that many people here had done more than me.

So what do you think of this set-up for my 3,300 pounds car:


SCAT 4340 FORGED CRANK 3.480 STROKE
H BEAM 4340 FORGED ROD ARP 2000 6.250-2.100
MILODON 4 BOLTS MAIN CAP
CLEVITE 77 MAIN BEARING
PROBE SRS PISTON FORGED –FAT TOP 1.125 400g
SPEED PRO MOLY PLASMA RING
MELLING HV OIL PUMP
SFI DAMPER + FLEXPLATE

TOP ENGINE

RHS PRO ACTION CAST IRON HEAD
235cc INTAKE RUNNER
64cc 2.08 INT. 1.6 EXH
ARP HEAD STUD - FEL PRO HP 1003 GASKET

VICTOR TUNNEL RAM INTAKE
CUSTOMIZED TOP WITH IN LINE PAIR OF HOLLEY 600 CFM VAC.SEC.
FEL PRO 1206 GASKET

COMP CAMS SOLID CAMSHAFT
DURATION 310/320
DURATION @ .050 270/280
LIFT .563/.563
LOBE CENTER 114°

COMP CAMS SOLID LIFTERS
COMP CAMS HI-TECH S/S ROLLER ROCKER 7/16-1.7 RATIO INT.
COMP CAMS HI-TECH S/S ROLLER ROCKER 7/16-1.6 RATIO EXH.
COMP CAMS STUD GIRDLES

CLOYES HEX A JUST DOUBLE ROLLER TIMING CHAIN

IGNITION
MSD PRO BILLET DISTRIBUTOR
MSD SS COIL
MSD 6 PLUS DIGITAL CONTROL BOX
MOROSO ULTRA RACE 40 PLUG WIRE

FUEL DELIVERY

HOLLEY 140 GPH ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP

COOLING

ELECTRIC PUMP
DRIVETRAIN

TH 350 MANUAL AUTO BODY VALVE TCI STALL 4500 RPM

12 BOLTS GM STRANGE 33 SPLINE AXLE WITH SPOOL
RICHMOND GEAR 4.10


How much rear wheel hp I can anticipate ?

Thanks !

O.K,first off love the long rods good idea.
You don't need the Milodon caps.Save your money.
If you want splayed caps the cheap import caps will hold 650 + hp plus they are less than $100 but you still have to have the block line bored and honed.
It really depends on how many rpm's you are going to turn but I would say the heads are to large un-less you plan on going to 8,000+ rpm's.
Why are you using two carbs?
When all you need is a flowed 750/850 depending on the rpm's.
Your compression ratio is not high enough to use a cam like this.
You would need a min. of 12.5 to 1 to make it work.
Why a solid lift cam?
Why such a wide l/s?
Are you going to use n20?
Why not go full roller or hyd. roller ?
Why are you using such a high rocker arm ratio?
Also I think you would be better off with a 3.75 stoke in a 350 block instead of this 377/380.

sounds like a winston cup engine! lol. Your heads are a bit big, i would go 190 200cc intake port, you'll make more power, that 230cc port is big enough to feed a 454 mouse! what erik said, go with 750-850cfm carb with mechancal secondaries.why a tunnelram? why not a victor jr? your bottom end (block,crank,rods,) seems all good. the cam seems also a little big for street/strip duty.i would use 250-260 duration cam.this combo seems like a allout drag strip brawler,i would think about your combo a bit more before ordering these parts.this motor may not apreciate town driving, ask yourself how much town driving are your planning on doing. is there a specific horsepower mark your trying to acheive? or a quartermile time? tell us more about the car like gears, tranny,tire size, ever thought of building big cube small block like a 406-422-427-434-454, your combo will be just as exspensive and may not be as street worthy as a big cube mouse, i know your can build 550hp 500tq 406 for the same price of this engine, and have 10.5 with pump gas, just something to think about

Thank you very much for your interest to my project.
maybe it would help us if I clarify a bit more my intention.

In my mind this engine is more for the track than for the street (track is just 4-5 miles from home). the engine is expected to support 9,000 rpm and I,m planning to use 8000-8500 top. The reason why (maybe by misknowledge)
I think that it would be easier to lauch the the car with 10" wide slicks if I don't push too much torque. Once the car is out of the box I was expecting good radical hp curve to do the job. For the stall 4500, I know it is a bit high for street but I hope that my trans oil cooler will help me cruise to the track.
The cam specs choice was the most uncertain thing in this set-up, It has been suggested to me by a race engine builder that have a fairly good reputation at the track. (by the way it is 1/8 mile track). I wanted to try it, and if it doesn't fit , it won't cost a lot to change.

Originally Posted by STREETNOVA

Thank you very much for your interest to my project.
maybe it would help us if I clarify a bit more my intention.

In my mind this engine is more for the track than for the street (track is just 4-5 miles from home). the engine is expected to support 9,000 rpm and I,m planning to use 8000-8500 top. The reason why (maybe by misknowledge)
I think that it would be easier to lauch the the car with 10" wide slicks if I don't push too much torque. Once the car is out of the box I was expecting good radical hp curve to do the job. For the stall 4500, I know it is a bit high for street but I hope that my trans oil cooler will help me cruise to the track.
The cam specs choice was the most uncertain thing in this set-up, It has been suggested to me by a race engine builder that have a fairly good reputation at the track. (by the way it is 1/8 mile track). I wanted to try it, and if it doesn't fit , it won't cost a lot to change.

You don't have enough compression to support that cam.
Does your engine builder know you have flat top pistons?
This engine has very bad mis-matched parts.
You either need to cut 20 degree's of duration off your cam at .050 or raise your comp. ratio to 12.5 to 1 as a min.
Also you don't have enough gear for the 1/8 mile.
With what you have planned you would need a 5.43 gear or more.

Agreed, I can't see this combo spinning the tires in the water box. The heads, cam, and CR will never let the car get to the pulling range without a 6500 stall and the deepest gear you can get along with a short tire.

This combo might work on a 1500lb go kart.

Here is an example of a max. effort pro-street 383 sbc.
This engine will make over 515 hp on pump gas along with 500+ lbs. of torque.
4340 crank,4340 h-beam rods, SRP pistons with a comp. ratio of 10 .5 to 1 on pump gas,comp. cam,#12-444-8 hyd. roller cam and lifters specs. are .562/.580 lift. duration at .050 is 248 intake,254 exhaust ground on 110 l/sI would be half tempted to try the same cam ground on 106 l/s,fully CNC'D AFR heads 180 cc heads acutal port volume is 190 cc's with 2.055/1.6 valves.Victor intake, flowed 750 double pumper.

Thanks for your help,
This last season engine in the nova was a 383 and it was not so bad 7.44 sec with 3.73 gear. I owned and drived 5 big blocks and 2 355 in the past. As a new thrill I want to try high rpm small block. You've convinced to change cam style but i'll have to live (budget matter) with rhs heads because I already have them on my 383. Hoping that next summer engine will be a bit faster.

I know this had began last year but I finally tried the car at the track last sunday
engine setup is as the above except for the rods that are 6.125. I also installed a enderle mechanical fuel injection Bugcatcher that I ran 94 oct gas with little of octane booster.
stall converter is a ati 8" treemaster 5800 rpm

At the third pass I did 7.08 at the 1/8 at 105mph shifting at 7500-7600.
throttle response with the injection is very nice and crisp. The only problem I had is that I forgot to shut the threeway valve of the gas before cutting the ignition and i flood the engine. I prefered return at home and change the oil to prevent any dammage.
I will also change my 26 10 15 slicks for some 28 10.5 15 because i felt some traction problem as the rpm is climbing and when there is less glue on the track.
As a trick for the mechanical injection tuning, I installed 2 oxygen sensor , one on each headers so I can monitor my air/fuel ratio during the race. Results were ok except for higher rpm (rich side) so this way i'll be able to adjust the highspeed bypass. This type of system is also not friendly with the street riding but for me its ok because the track is not far from home.
Some said to me that with another high speed by pass and an electric valve , I may be able to lean the system a little bit for street driving.

Just to give you some input of that set up.

Originally Posted by STREETNOVA

I know this had began last year but I finally tried the car at the track last sunday
engine setup is as the above except for the rods that are 6.125. I also installed a enderle mechanical fuel injection Bugcatcher that I ran 94 oct gas with little of octane booster.
stall converter is a ati 8" treemaster 5800 rpm

At the third pass I did 7.08 at the 1/8 at 105mph shifting at 7500-7600.
throttle response with the injection is very nice and crisp. The only problem I had is that I forgot to shut the threeway valve of the gas before cutting the ignition and i flood the engine. I prefered return at home and change the oil to prevent any dammage.
I will also change my 26 10 15 slicks for some 28 10.5 15 because i felt some traction problem as the rpm is climbing and when there is less glue on the track.
As a trick for the mechanical injection tuning, I installed 2 oxygen sensor , one on each headers so I can monitor my air/fuel ratio during the race. Results were ok except for higher rpm (rich side) so this way i'll be able to adjust the highspeed bypass. This type of system is also not friendly with the street riding but for me its ok because the track is not far from home.
Some said to me that with another high speed by pass and an electric valve , I may be able to lean the system a little bit for street driving.

Just to give you some input of that set up.

If you had the 5.43 gear and the car would hook you would have a good 6.80 car.