A big, light, 5.0 Ford engine.

[travis]

Many years ago I was given a free chevette when it's engine locked up, and I also had a free late 70's 305 laying around...
I physically got the engine in, without the distributor, and the tip of the factory long water pump was just a little out on the wrong side of the core support. A short water pump, and some firewall surgery, it might have been possible.

With its stock engine in the rear trunk area, and the 305 yanked out, I think it weighed 1820 pounds when I hauled it off for scrap

[mk e]

Can I choose any "Yugo" engine I want? Fiat made some really kick ass versions of that engine in the 1970s and 1980s. The 500+hp Delta S4 engine may have been from that engine family.

The Chevette had a chassis to be reckoned with internationally, as well. Personally I'd drop an Ecotec engine in one, or a Lotus engine if I had a lot of money and wanted to make an HSR replica, but everyone's going to see their "canvas" differently.

Yeah they did, this one ended up right around 500hp

And I was driving a Chevette while I was building it!

The fiadillac was basically undriveable....unless you enjoyed driving with the front wheels in the air.

[Krooser]

That sort of unholy vivisection would send a person straight to hell... Its enough people putting LS engines into everything there for a while.

Ok then... a Yugo engine in a Chevette...

Can I choose any "Yugo" engine I want? Fiat made some really kick ass versions of that engine in the 1970s and 1980s. The 500+hp Delta S4 engine may have been from that engine family.

The Chevette had a chassis to be reckoned with internationally, as well. Personally I'd drop an Ecotec engine in one, or a Lotus engine if I had a lot of money and wanted to make an HSR replica, but everyone's going to see their "canvas" differently.

KInda funny... I had a '30 Chevy sedan project that had a Chevette front suspension. It actually worked pretty good...

And NO, you can't choose any of thos fancy Fiat/Yugo engines... darn cheaters!

[289nate]

Offset grind an off the shelf 3.47" stroke "347" crank. 3.55" is easy. 3.6" stroke in a 8.2 deck block isn't anything new. Also, a few 400"+ 8.2 deck Fords have been done that aren't dyno queens.

A 429 385 series Ford is only 3.59" stroke. A 460 is only 3.85" stroke. Yeah, I know the bore difference. I'll take a 400 cube 8.2 deck over a 400 cube 9.2-9.5 deck any day for a drag racing street strip guy like myself. Just depends how much you're willing to spend. Reality makes a stroked 9.5" deck 351w the easy choice.

[piston guy]

I have a 374 4.125x3.500 in an old Ford Racing aluminum 8.2 deck block.

Curious as to your rod length, big end size, compression height, and how much skirt (or even pin) is coming out the bottom? 3.4's are so common, I always wondered why not make it an even 3.5. Thanks in advance.

The rod is 5.400 from Carrillo. 2" journal size. Piston is short overall height. Still comes .350 out of the bottom of the cylinder on an RDI aluminum block. 1.050 C/H. The second ring land is a little bigger to reduce piston rock.

Going bigger like 289nate suggests is not as simple as he makes it sound. Honda rod journal , small diameter pins , thin rings. If it was easy , there would be kits to do it.

[DaveMcLain]

About 10 years ago I freshened up an engine for a customer that was a 355 built in a 302 block. It was used as a circle track engine in a pavement modified with a two barrel and it did very well. They ran it because it was about 65lbs lighter than a 350 Chevy or a 351 Windsor. That engine was built using a kit from Probe made from a cut down 351C crank. I think it had a 5.500 long rod but it might have been a 5.565 400 Chevy length piece. Pistons were flat tops from Probe. Making that crank fit looked like a lot of work but it did a good job.

[piston guy]

Modified Cleveland cranks were what started the 347 "revolution". Nowak and Co out here in California were among the first to do it on a volume basis. Lots of machining on the C crank to make it fit . If those guys who would only use a "standard" crank knew the mains were cut .500 and the rods .211, they would never have used one , " cuz everyone knows a .030 crank will break" LOL

[machinedave]

At SEMA last year I got a close up look at the DSS all aluminum SBF block. It weighs in at 87 pounds. That's about as light as it gets. I'm not sure how much power it would hold up to with the aluminum 6 bolt main caps. Anybody ever use one?

[DaveMcLain]

Modified Cleveland cranks were what started the 347 "revolution". Nowak and Co out here in California were among the first to do it on a volume basis. Lots of machining on the C crank to make it fit . If those guys who would only use a "standard" crank knew the mains were cut .500 and the rods .211, they would never have used one , " cuz everyone knows a .030 crank will break" LOL

Yes. It sort of reminded me of another engine that came through one time with a 400 crank turned down to fit into a 351 Windsor block and offset ground to I think a 4.095 stroke with a "Chevy" rod. That one had also been used for years in a mild bracket racing application. I wonder if the same shop did that one too? I think both came from Probe way back when.

Standard rods, .010 mains, good to go!

[rfoll]

Years ago one of the car mags put a huge GM engine and trans in a Chevette. I think they had to drive from the back seat area.

[289nate]

Going bigger like 289nate suggests is not as simple as he makes it sound. Honda rod journal , small diameter pins , thin rings. If it was easy , there would be kits to do it.

3.47" stroke off the shelf crank off set ground. Some heavy off the self H beams. Take the top off some thick deck factory pistons. 3.55" stroke is EASY. Looked into this years back. Lunati even had a kit ages ago.

[pdq67]

Years ago one of the car mags put a huge GM engine and trans in a Chevette. I think they had to drive from the back seat area.

I think Dave F. installed a Cad 500" engine in the little car just because... For big inches, you can't get much lighter stock-wise.

pdq67

[dwilliams]

Making that crank fit looked like a lot of work

The 3.6" crank I balanced wound up with very oddly shaped counterweights to clear the pistons at BDC. Then I welded and bolted blocks of steel to the sides of the counterweights to bring the overall imbalance more or less in the middle of the end weights, and finally added a *lot* of heavy metal. Not just the ends; all the counterweights got swiss-cheesed with heavy metal.

It just barely made it; the customer was willing to pay to maintain the stock external balance instead of adding weight to the damper and flywheel. I had a 289 HP front add-on weight and was ready to make a sheet metal rear weight like some 3.75" stroke Chevrolets use, but I didn't have to.

I was just as glad not to have another one come into the shop...

[dwilliams]

Years ago one of the car mags put a huge GM engine and trans in a Chevette. I think they had to drive from the back seat area.

I always figured the most reasonable thing to so would be to use an Audi transaxle, a Kennedy adapter plate, and put the engine midships. You'd have to fabricate a rear suspension, but you'd retain the firewall, heater, wipers, dash, steering, and normal seating position. Add some wheelie bars and you might actually go somewhere instead of just sitting there making tire smoke.

[pdq67]

Years ago one of the car mags put a huge GM engine and trans in a Chevette. I think they had to drive from the back seat area.

I always figured the most reasonable thing to so would be to use an Audi transaxle, a Kennedy adapter plate, and put the engine midships. You'd have to fabricate a rear suspension, but you'd retain the firewall, heater, wipers, dash, steering, and normal seating position. Add some wheelie bars and you might actually go somewhere instead of just sitting there making tire smoke.

They put the big Cad 500 engine in through the 2-dr Chevette's doors and like said, had to drive it pretty-much from the back seat.

pdq67