Thread: Which is better 350,383,400,400 plus?

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Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

You can get each to reach the same maximum HP.If they were all made to make 1000 horses, will one be better than the other on a 1/8 mile dragstrip,1/4 mile dragsrip?

It really comes down to cycles.
If you are bracket racing and you want to run a 10.90 in the Super Street class.
If you can build a large 434+ cube sbc say that makes max. hp at 6,800 and you can build with less valve spring in other words a cam with less lift and duration it will mean more run time,less time running the valves less times you have to re-ring,re-bearing etc.
In other word why build a 350 that you have to twist to 8,000+ rpm's to do the same thing.
If you want to see an engine that lasts along time look at the 540/565 BBC that last a long time look at the guys that run the "throttle stop" rail dragster.
He will run the valves every month and you might find a few that
I built a "throttle stop" engine for a customer over 3 years ago.
All I ever do is re-ring and re-bearing and install new valve springs every year.
The engine still has the same rotating assembly in it.
This guy bracket races it every Saturday.

Yeah, what Erik said. My 512 is on a stand in the garage, has 5 years on it. Built it with all good parts the first time. It's been in different cars and different classes. Has had new rings and bearings twice and one new set of valve springs, keepers, and retainers. The rebuilds were done as regular maintenance and not for broken parts. If I decide to to go play with the kids again next summer, all it will need is a quick freshening.....

PS..... I run a rev limiter on it. It's never been past 6300 RPM and ran 10.90's Super Street Class with a throttle stop.....