[thejack96]

Hey is anyone daily driving or i guess i should say street driving there naturally aspirated big blocks ?
how much power?
what size cubes?
is it enjoyable or too much?
what sort of gearing ? transmission,rear end..etc
drag times? weight?
realible?
would you change anything?
what size heads? headers?
and if anyones willing cam specs?

im considering a 540 555 65or maybe 582 just wanted to here from people that drive these things and have a real opinion thanks everyone! have a good one!:thumbsup:

 

[62 NovaWagon]

Well, big blocks came from the factory in a variety of power and vehicles and of course they were enjoyable to drive, but they were all built to suit the vehicle/application, take any engine regardless of size and power built for one application and put it into a different application and it could be very disappointing. So with that said, before we could give any recommendations we need information, just for starters, what vehicle and what do you plan on doing with the vehicle??, with a 582 am I assuming right that you plan on a 9 second car??

 

[Big Dave]

One thing you left out is fuel. The BBC was designed to be a high compression race engine. Like the 409 before it the factory planed on killing compression on the truck application since horsepower is useless to a truck that needs axle breaking torque (why the BBC was replaced with diesel engines).

If you are going to be building a high octane pump the gas out of a 55 gallon drum you keep in your garage then power levels approach 1.7 to 2.1 horsepower per cube depending upon how high you want to spin it. If it is a pump gas motor then your horsepower will be limited to around 1.2 per cube, but because it is a BBC you are not limited to 400 cubes as you are in a SBC.

I mentioned RPMs because as everyone knows the higher you spin the motor the more power you will make (why the NHRA limited displacement to 500 cubes and no more than 10,500 RPM in the Pro classes). You will never twist to 12,000 RPM (the old standard for Pro Stock) with a hydraulic cam. It has to be a solid roller. Big cam numbers, big roller diameters (Mopar lifters) with three quarter inch diameter Manton push rods and triple wound PAC alloy springs closing Titanium valves. None of these parts are exactly reliable. I used to change my valve springs about every two to three thousand miles with a quick check of valve lash and spring pressure every time I took the car out were I knew I might encounter some one to run. This was in my 582 sleeper that I drove on the street for over eight years. IHRA by the way still uses mountain motors in their pro stock ranks with Pat Popeye Mussi building 907 cube hemi headed monsters that started life as a BBC but have no parts in common any more. They only twist those big boys to 8500 RPM but they do run heads up with smaller engines with Roots 14-71 blowers sticking four feet above the hood, or twin to four turbos or lots and lots of of giggle gas. But you said to only consider N/A motors.

Now let us talk about the 900 pound gorilla in the room. Only NASCAR or the Salt Flats give any thought to horsepower. Drag racing, track driving, or the street are all about acceleration. And that means torque. The bigger the motor's displacement the more torque you are going to make. People wax poetic about 5.3 liter LS engines. My 582 BBC started my dyno pull at 560 foot pounds of torque off idle. It climbed to 740 foot pounds and held it table flat through 5240.

Sounds impressive but think for a minute of how you are going to put that level of power to the ground. No tire you can run on the street will hold it. It takes a twelve inch slick and a lot of rubber cement on a concrete launch pad to keep it from going up in smoke at the hit of the throttle (and guess what happens to the front end if you stick the back end to the ground?).

I got rid of my engine and the car it sat in because it was no fun to drive after a while. Forget for a second what you were doing and the car would kill you (which is why I take apart old engines and crush my cars to save lives).

Big Dave

 

[thejack96]

i plan to drive it couple times a week on pump gas, its a 1974 nova 3320 lbs with me and the iron headed small block. i want to have good dependibilty be able to drive on the streets cruise but head to the track and hopefully get into 9s.. it would be nice if it handled fair and still fun on the streets ha any recomandiotns or do i need to give some more info thanks for the response

 

[thejack96]

also run on pump gas!!

 

[Big Dave]

Have you read an NHRA rule book yet?

If you are thinking about running below 9.999 then you need at a minimum a certified Full Roll Cage that comes with an expiration date (not just a bolt in roll bar). This is why you never see old race cars. It has to be blown apart and a new cage built every two years to compete. That means it is cheaper to build a new car with a new body than fix the old car. Hence the lack of old race cars at the track.

On the motor you need a SFI damper, a diaper for motor oil, as well as a SFI flexplate/ fly wheel, and pressure plate, SFI explosion proof bell housing if running a manual trans, or a SFI scatter shield covering the converter as well as a SFI blanket/diaper surrounding the transmission.

On you you need a double layer fire suit with gloves shoes, and a SFI rated helmet with face mask. Not to mention you need a competition license to run faster than 10.00. A parachute becomes manadtory as soon as your trap speed hits 150 mph. And that's just a few of the many things you are going to need to cruise down the strip in the nines. There are many items required by the rule book if you run under 11 seconds (SFI, Seat Belts, Ignition kill switch, and more just for starters).

Big Dave

 

[thejack96]

to my understanding you don't have to re build the cage every 2 years just get it re checked? when did this rule come about.