The better the heads and intake are... the easier it is to make the numbers. Once more, the better the induction... the less camshaft you need to get there too.

So my advice to anyone looking for 500+, from someone who's been there with a couple of builds is.... put your money in the parts that really matter. Heads, intake, cam & valvetrain. Not quite that simple but it's a good start.

-Mindgame

 

i would say turbo it, as it gives you much more room to grow, and the car will have much more longevity.

by longevity, i mean the cam will probably be quite large, and valve springs will probably need changing every 10-15k or so. might not be as streetable as you would like, but again, streetable is a relative term.

with a 355 setup, mild cam, stock ported heads/intake, and an appropriate sized turbo, 500rwhp would not be a problem IMO.

 

That's why they pay ya the BIG bucks.

 

If you're looking for a streetable car with 500HP on demand, there's no substitute for nitrous. The problem that I see with streetable turbo F-bodies is underhood heat. When my motor finally lets go, I 'm considering replacing it with an LS-2 motor and Squire turbo in the rear. That should help keep the temperature down under the hood.

 

Well these are all great posts. I already had 500rwhp with my builtt 353 stock ported heads and my 218/230 cam with my S-trim.

I just wanted to be able to say the car was all motor. I also, love the way an n/a car sounds at idle. My biggest thing is since I've already had 500 rwhp at my disposal I'm not sure I'd be happy if it didn't run as well.

As far as the TFS heads not being good enough. I believe they would be. The largest port may flow more air and it will probably dyno more but the car with largest head that flows the most air and dynos the most won't always be the quickest. I feel that the TFS heads by AI will actually make the car more streetable.

My stock ported heads still have the stock valves in them. They only flow 236cfm and .550 and on 10psi I made 500rwhp and 465 rwtq with them.

At any rate you guys have really given me some good points to kick around and I thank all or you.

Justin

 

You'll need a lot better head than Trick Flows. You might even want to consider going SBC and get some nice 15* heads.

 

Kain,

Actually if you know what you are doing you don't. Period

You might want to look at it from the stand point of....

"I want to go high 10's on motor"

Rather than I want 500rwhp...

Getting the car to run that fast doesnt take that much HP, just the car to cut the short times and the power to get it the rest of the way down the track.

Bret

 

Way back when I first started coming here I remember that Chuck Riddeck and a few other guys were in the 500rwhp range. Chuck in particular was using stock LT4 castings with a lot of work (one can only imagine) and a stock ported intake manifold. Camshaft wasn't as gargantuan as some others I've seen either. So it's been done.

Taking it to that next level isn't so easy though.

-Mindgame

 

268CFM ~ 164 g/s - how it can support 600 FWHP?

 

With awesome low and midlift numbers that has much more impact on power than peak flow numbers. In addition, a much better intake than the LT1/LT4, I'm guessing.

 

I assume he was referring to the head flow per port, meaning per cylinder. So multiply by 8.

 

268cfm, a single plane intake, 750 race carb and a decent solid roller .630" lift.

I've seen 350 Super Stock motors make 600hp on 258cfm and stock valves in a 165cc port. That takes some talent, and about $4K in head porting on a stock GM cast iron head from the 60's.

Look up MaxRaceSoftware's posts on Flow Factors and you will get a better grasp of what I am talking about.

Bret

 

I know the guys at More Performance and they've built some nice stuff, BUT...I'm surprised they dont know any better than that. You'd think they would know SOMETHING about DCR?!

 

There are always exceptions to the rule. I would not set a 270cfm head making 2.22hp per cfm as "the rule". Can be done... has been done.... but won't be done by 90% of the people trying to get there.

So... an exception to the rule. Just like my car I guess... got an email from a guy who says it should not run high 9's with the power I'm putting down. Well it does and there are guys going faster with less hp so there ya have it.

-Mindgame

 

Marshall, you won't find many builders that do.

I've been around this stuff for years and I can tell you the first time I heard anything about DCR. It was the first time I talked to Chuck Riddeck about building my engine. It was never mentioned around here before a post by him. More so... I think some guys "knew" about it but probably weren't talking but even amongst some of the best engine guys I've ever associated with... it was an "unknown". Most are more than knowledgable about race-only engines but not so much when it comes to getting every last ounce from a street build.

-Mindgame