Killer street/strip 406 ci

ok hp/tq gurus! Im building a 406 ci sbc stage II block from j&r motorsports with 4340 forged crank, 4340 forged H beam rods, and wiseco forged flattop pistons running 10:1 compression. AFR 195 street eliminator heads, edelbrock RMP Air Gap intake, Holley 750 HP street carb, 1 3/4" headers, 1.6 roller rockers, and either Comp Cams hydraulic roller XE288HR-10 (.52 int/.54 exh lift , 236 int /242 ehx duration @.50) or Comp Cams hyd roller XE294HR-10 (.54 int/.562 exh lift, 242 int/248 exh duration @ .50) AFR claims about 515 hp/530 ftlb and recommends the 195 heads over the bigger (what i thought better) 210 heads. What hp/tq numbers do you think this monster will pull? Also which cam would you recommend? The 406 will be dropped in a weekday driver, weekend stripper 70 Nova (3500lb, 3.31 gears, M20 transmission) Any 1/4 mile E.T. guesses would be great too (@3500 ft above sea level)
Thanks!!!! Eric

To much camshaft . And You don't need 1.6 rockers . The 195 heads will work better with a smaller camshaft . And your rear gear is way to small . Not a real good set up for a weekday driver .

rear gear will be changed once trial pass is done, probably to some 3.91 or 4.10 gears. Ill also have limited street use and more drag use out of it. What cam would you recommend? (hp/tq)?

The camshaft that I would run in that 406 for street/strip is . The Comp camc XR282HR it's 230/236 dur and 510/520 Lift with a 110 L/S . Also run 1.52 rocker arms . with your other parts it should make 538 hp and 552.1 ft-lbs of Torque . And you will be able to drive that car on the street with this camshaft . And with this set up the 3.91 gear will be ok . But the 4.10 will give a litlle better E.T . Your 3500 lbs car should run 11.90s with that build . :cool:

nice build for sure

that grind does sound a bit more street friendly. Now its just a matter of seein how long my muncie will hold up to 550 ft/lb of torque!!! Thanks tango! Any other recommendations?

Step up the tranny. M-20's are great for everyday 307 and 350 builds. It's a light weight wide ratio tranny and will give a few (at best) passes but not enough toughness for what you are trying to achieve.

i hear you! Im considering a Tremec 600 transmission. They claim the tranny can take 650 ft/lb constant torque and 900 peak. A little pricey but worth the insurance i think! (not to mention the overdrive)

Go with a B/W super T-10 with the 2.88 First gear and the 3.91 rear end . You can find good used ones in 1976 to 1980 Corvette Z-28s and T/As . Man I want that Nova now . That will be one Bad Street car . COOL

I'll second the st-10 trans idea. Oddly enough, I had a st-10 2.88 ratio with a 3.91 posi rear in a 69 Firebird with a milder 406sbc build (D-dish hypers,9.7:1, ported 461 feulie heads, Air gap intake, 1 3/4" headers, XE274H cam and I loved it:D . It ran great. You wouldn't enjoy highway driving much, but otherwise a great combo. And fairly inexpensive to put together!

to bad saginaws are weak id sure like to use the one in the vega with that 3:11 1st gear and my 4:88's :D

i can get my hands on a super t-10 that has seems in good shape but has the 2.33 1st gear and aluminum case. Do they sell gear kits to convert to the 2.88 set up? Do you think the stock gears and aluminum case would hold up to drag racing or would it be better to order a super/iron case with the nickel gears?

IMVHO, as far as super t-10s go an old GM over the counter "power brute" ST-10 is the strongest out there. Iron case, iron midplate, high nickel gears, good stuff. I spent quite a few months locating mine (2.88 first version) that I will use for my new project. As for what you should do, I suppose that it depends on how much you are willing to spend. If you want the best ST-10 you can get, I'd give the guys a call at SK speed in long island. Tell them you want you want, and they will build it for you. You can have them do all kinds of custom modifications as well. Top of the line, but not cheap.

Richmond ST-10s have the high nickel gears but aluminum main cases and midplates(their weak point). They are pretty strong as is, but for major abuse on slicks, the iron main case and midplate would be stronger.

I managed to pick up my Power Brute for just under 800 bucks. I could probably use it as is considering that it is in fantastic shape but I will have it stripped and freshened up before using it, just in case. I figure that I will have another 4-600 bucks into it before it will be ready for worry free abuse. So say 1200-1400 bucks, similar to a new aluminum case Richmond trans, but with the piece of mind of the iron case and midplate.

FWIW, I've seen bare iron main cases for ST-10 go for around 80-100 bucks or so and iron midplates go for 60 bucks or so, but you have to keep an eye out for them on E-bay, etc. Tranny shops will almost certainly charge more for them as they are hard to come by. If you had these two pieces and a Richmond ST-10 to freshen up, you could have a shop swap in the iron main case and midplate with the Richmond internals and tailhousing and you would have about as strong a ST-10 as you are going to get:) .


Hope this helps...

for around 1800 i belive u can get into a jerico 4 speed.

Here's a brand new super T-10 with the 2.88 First gear you can Buy them from Summit For $1,479.00 . I still think you can find one out of a Z/28 T/A or Corvette on your Local Craigs List . You need to Look at Least once a Week on there . I had to stop I bought a Lot of SB Chevy's in a very short Time From there :LOL: COOL

also int he more expesnive 2800$ jericos u can get the clutchless shifting option :D

Ill look into finding one locally that i can upgrade with the iron case and iron midplate. It seems totally worth the extra cash. Being that im still building my 406, it should give me some time to hopefully find one that i can beef up. Ill keep you posted as to when my muncie decides to grenade on me!! :LOL: Thanks for the very helpful posts all!