Best engine??

General engine tech -- Drag Racing to Circle Track

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Powertrip
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Re: Best engine??

Post by Powertrip »

bigblockmopar wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 2:56 pm
CGT wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 12:54 pm I'd take LS under those rules.
I would use a Limited Slip too at Bonneville and Dragstrip racing...
The LS wins pound for pound, but does it win in NA HP?
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Re: Best engine??

Post by CGT »

Powertrip wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:44 pm
bigblockmopar wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 2:56 pm
CGT wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 12:54 pm I'd take LS under those rules.
I would use a Limited Slip too at Bonneville and Dragstrip racing...
The LS wins pound for pound, but does it win in NA HP?
No, I don't think so. It would win for small block using the most factory parts maybe.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by user-17438 »

Spice this thread up, and use stock eliminator rules.
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Re: Best Chevy engine??

Post by BigBlockMopar »

I once won over a '74 454ci ElCamino on the strip with my '62 413ci Chrysler NY wagon. Close race but I beat him on reaction.
Also once dusted a '67 350ci Nova with my '62 413ci Chrysler NY wagon. He did have some ignition problems.
Also once put some shame on the owner of a '70/80s Chevy Pickup with a cammed 350ci and a blue bottle with my '62 413ci Chrysler NY wagon. His bottle ran out during the race. No Juice, no Glory.
I barely lost a race once in my '67 cammed 440ci Chrysler Newport from a '70s 350ci Corvette, who needed spray to accomplish that.
I once left a '70 Chevelle in the dust with my '60 496" Chrysler NewYorker sedan.

Simple conclusion;
In my little world, Chrysler engines are way better then Chevy engines... And, Chevy's are usually only fast when they're heavily on drugs!

But ofcourse I might be biased :wink:
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Re: Best Chevy engine??

Post by user-17438 »

bigblockmopar wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:34 pm I once won over a '74 454ci ElCamino on the strip with my '62 413ci Chrysler NY wagon. Close race but I beat him on reaction.
Also once dusted a '67 350ci Nova with my '62 413ci Chrysler NY wagon. He did have some ignition problems.
Also once put some shame on the owner of a '70/80s Chevy Pickup with a cammed 350ci and a blue bottle with my '62 413ci Chrysler NY wagon. His bottle ran out during the race. No Juice, no Glory.
I barely lost a race once in my '67 cammed 440ci Chrysler Newport from a '70s 350ci Corvette, who needed spray to accomplish that.
I once left a '70 Chevelle in the dust with my '60 496" Chrysler NewYorker sedan.

Simple conclusion;
In my little world, Chrysler engines are way better then Chevy engines... And, Chevy's are usually only fast when they're heavily on drugs!

But ofcourse I might be biased :wink:
I beat a top fuel car by foot.. sure they were unloading it from the trailer still, but a race is a race.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by PackardV8 »

Just scanning this thread, a couple of IIRCs:
1. The Allison is a V12.
2. The Crosley OHC 4-cyl is 750cc (45")
3. The Ford Boss 429" was never a factory assembly-line build. The engines were hand built and then the engine compartments were shop-modified so as to make room.
4. If betting on horsepower-per-dollar, wouldn't the Gen 1 SBC always be the winner? Some days, I could build one out of parts passing over the scale in the scrap yard.
5. For true, there's no comparing today's with yesterday's. I only do the obsolete and they're often a lump of grease, rust and mud; just getting one disassembled and clean enough to evaluate condition can take a full day. If a 20th-century engine made it 100Kmi, literally every wear part has to be remachined/replaced. Then, I see current designs come through with 250Kmi and they are spotless inside and out; could be given a bench rebuild with valves, rings, bearings and sent back around again.
6. Again, for true, most 20th-century engine designers must have learned their trade as blacksmiths. Actually, it's amazing they work as well as they did, given their cost targets. Once the Gen 1 SBC line was up and running, Chevrolet calculated a complete ready to install 1955 engine cost $52.
7. Let's limit it to factory head, intake and block castings with a 1955-or-earlier production date. My Packard V8 will be ready!
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Re: Best engine??

Post by Circlotron »

I’d say the more stickers on the side of the car, the more factory parts that weren’t up to scratch and were replaced by aftermarket stuff. Less stickers = better engine.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by fordified »

Powertrip wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:38 pm
fordified wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:10 pm National Record:

SS/A 8.53 155.58 10/09/16 Ray Paquet - Holt, MI '64 Fairlane

Considering that he's one of a select few who has run that combination I'd say the 427 is the killer.

The hemi's are awesome no question about it but they've had a ton of R&D work done on them and they run on the jagged edge. There have been a lot of cars in that class and the motors are timebombs so my vote is still 427 Ford.
I have to admit, don't know a whole lot about the 427 Ford, except we called the side oiler the track oiler. :lol:
So, let's discuss what makes the 427 Ford better than the 426 Hemi.
Just going by some of the criteria of the original post it has a good block, steel crank and a solid lifter cam. The hi riser heads have big inline valves, good ports and chamber and shaft rocker arms. The intake was a dual quad like the hemi with two holleys. You can get the engine with lemans rods and put in a 428 factory crank for 454 cubic inches.

I don't know if I can say its a better engine than the hemi but it has its pluses and makes a ton of power for an over 50 year old design. They won there share of races back in the day.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by Frankshaft »

fordified wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:31 pm
Powertrip wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:38 pm
fordified wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:10 pm National Record:

SS/A 8.53 155.58 10/09/16 Ray Paquet - Holt, MI '64 Fairlane

Considering that he's one of a select few who has run that combination I'd say the 427 is the killer.

The hemi's are awesome no question about it but they've had a ton of R&D work done on them and they run on the jagged edge. There have been a lot of cars in that class and the motors are timebombs so my vote is still 427 Ford.
I have to admit, don't know a whole lot about the 427 Ford, except we called the side oiler the track oiler. :lol:
So, let's discuss what makes the 427 Ford better than the 426 Hemi.
Just going by some of the criteria of the original post it has a good block, steel crank and a solid lifter cam. The hi riser heads have big inline valves, good ports and chamber and shaft rocker arms. The intake was a dual quad like the hemi with two holleys. You can get the engine with lemans rods and put in a 428 factory crank for 454 cubic inches.

I don't know if I can say its a better engine than the hemi but it has its pluses and makes a ton of power for an over 50 year old design. They won there share of races back in the day.
What Chevy with a big block would run SS/A? I remember back in highschool, my buddies dad had, still has it, a 1969 mustang fastback, with what he called a better idea, 427 side oiler block, 428 crank and LeMans rods. I think it had medium riser heads on it too. It had 4 ida Weber's on an ir intake. He had a sign for car shows, and he listed the bore and stroke, I calculated the cubic inch, remember, no internet in the late 80's early 90's, so, you had to do some research to figure stuff out like that. Anyhow, he claimed it to be 462 cubic inch. I broke it to him it was in fact, a 454. He was stunned I knew that. He just said, " yes, I know, I can't have a Chevy number on my Ford" Thing was actually a pooch.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by rfoll »

Most horsepower, most horsepower per dollar, or most horsepower/cid? the former 2 are likely SBC and LS. For most horsepower we need to talk stock displacement or what can be made to fit in the case. Chevrolet sells a 572 over the counter.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by fordified »

Frankshaft wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:46 pm

What Chevy with a big block would run SS/A? I remember back in highschool, my buddies dad had, still has it, a 1969 mustang fastback, with what he called a better idea, 427 side oiler block, 428 crank and LeMans rods. I think it had medium riser heads on it too. It had 4 ida Weber's on an ir intake. He had a sign for car shows, and he listed the bore and stroke, I calculated the cubic inch, remember, no internet in the late 80's early 90's, so, you had to do some research to figure stuff out like that. Anyhow, he claimed it to be 462 cubic inch. I broke it to him it was in fact, a 454. He was stunned I knew that. He just said, " yes, I know, I can't have a Chevy number on my Ford" Thing was actually a pooch.
An L88 Vette. Bad ass car.

SS/AA 8.67 153.68 05/24/08 John Armstrong - Kingston, NS '69 Chevy
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Re: Best engine??

Post by Frankshaft »

fordified wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:21 pm
Frankshaft wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:46 pm

What Chevy with a big block would run SS/A? I remember back in highschool, my buddies dad had, still has it, a 1969 mustang fastback, with what he called a better idea, 427 side oiler block, 428 crank and LeMans rods. I think it had medium riser heads on it too. It had 4 ida Weber's on an ir intake. He had a sign for car shows, and he listed the bore and stroke, I calculated the cubic inch, remember, no internet in the late 80's early 90's, so, you had to do some research to figure stuff out like that. Anyhow, he claimed it to be 462 cubic inch. I broke it to him it was in fact, a 454. He was stunned I knew that. He just said, " yes, I know, I can't have a Chevy number on my Ford" Thing was actually a pooch.
An L88 Vette. Bad ass car.

SS/AA 8.67 153.68 05/24/08 John Armstrong - Kingston, NS '69 Chevy
Add another carb and a sheet metal intake to the Corvette. Might change things. But still, no doubt that Ford boogies.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by fordified »

Frankshaft wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:42 pm
fordified wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:21 pm
Frankshaft wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:46 pm

What Chevy with a big block would run SS/A? I remember back in highschool, my buddies dad had, still has it, a 1969 mustang fastback, with what he called a better idea, 427 side oiler block, 428 crank and LeMans rods. I think it had medium riser heads on it too. It had 4 ida Weber's on an ir intake. He had a sign for car shows, and he listed the bore and stroke, I calculated the cubic inch, remember, no internet in the late 80's early 90's, so, you had to do some research to figure stuff out like that. Anyhow, he claimed it to be 462 cubic inch. I broke it to him it was in fact, a 454. He was stunned I knew that. He just said, " yes, I know, I can't have a Chevy number on my Ford" Thing was actually a pooch.
An L88 Vette. Bad ass car.

SS/AA 8.67 153.68 05/24/08 John Armstrong - Kingston, NS '69 Chevy
Add another carb and a sheet metal intake to the Corvette. Might change things. But still, no doubt that Ford boogies.
I'm not sure that he needs it. I almost positive that car had been faster since 2008. Armstrongs race an opel in comp that crazy fast with a four banger I think.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by Geoff2 »

I don't know if a 'ton of R&D' was done on the 426 Hemi. If that really was the case, then that would be SMART, not dumb.
Since the word 'Go' was given by Chrysler Head Office in July 1963 to design the Hemi & have it ready & running for the Feb 1964 Daytona 500, where it won the first 4 places, I'd say Chrysler did a fantastic engineering job in a short lead time to make the engine reliable and....a winner! The rest is history...

I did read that the Hemis were 'loafing' along at 6800 rpm while the 427 Fords had to be spun to 7200 rpm to be competitive.
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Re: Best engine??

Post by MichaelThompson »

Okay I admit it, I'm biased but I think I can make a case for the Lima 385 series Ford engine.

Introduced in 1968, with work having started in about 1965 the big Fords incorporated much of what Ford was learning during the "Total Performance" era. Not the least of which were its tunnel ports and shallow angle canted valves.

The big Ford has the architecture that others only dream about. Wide crankcase, ample deck height, big diameter camshaft up higher in the block.

Even the 10 headbolt system is good since Ford did it right b spacing them in such a way as to provide maximum clamping force with a minimum of bore distortion.

Even the large conn rod journals are begging to be offset ground to give you 500 easy cubic inches.

I'm not even talking about the fancy Cobra Jet or Boss stuff, I'm referring to run of the mill 429-460 stuff that when rubbed on can take you to 700 horsepower.

Try that with any other engine you can buy for 125 bucks.
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