SB 2 Questions

[Hombre259]

Had a bunch of early Hemi stuff in the shop I was getting rid of. Feller answered my ad and came over to take a look at some of the stuff I had. After talking for awhile he mentioned that he had severeal SB 2 engines he wanted to sell. Turns out he raced a few years ago in one of the Nascar series I don't remember which but he was talking about ARCO (?) and a couple of the other series. Said he wanted to sell these and asked if I might be interested. His storage place wasn't too far so we ran over there to take a look. Well he does have 5 of these engines complete from the carb to the pan including the oil pump for the dry sump system.

Trouble is I don't have a clue what they might be good for. I realize they are race ready and prepared engines. We managed to get two of the five started and while they are a little lumpy, they sure do sound good. He does not have the oil Tanks for 3 of these engines and as it holds like 20 gals of oil I see that running one of these on the street might be a bit much. So I guess the question I have is -- Could these be street motors?? He has offered me these engines at what seems to be a fantastic price. Any advice from you Motor Guys ??

RS

[kennyd]

yes you can tame one down for the street , we had a sb2 we put in a chevelle and ran on the street . with the heads and intake it made alot of power up in the upper rpm range . go for it .

[Itoldyouso]

Ok, I'm dumb. What's an sb2???????

Don

[rspears]

Ok, I'm dumb. What's an sb2???????

Don

(LOL)Don,
I was SOOOO glad to see you post this!! I had the same question and Googled to find that Chevy came out with a modified head design to cant the intake valves like a big block for better high RPM performance, specifically for sprint car and NASCAR applications (small block, second generation). When developed, the heads were the only thing special (as I understand), but later GM started looking at some internal mods to make room for bigger cam bearings, etc. Bottom line, it seems to be a derivation of the SBC, built for racing.
http://www.musclemotorparts.com/chevyheads.htm

[Hombre259]

Someone corrct me if I am wrong here, but I believe the SB2 was devolped on the SBC basic engine. Dont know if any parts will interchange but the feller that has these has all of the Dyno Sheets and if I remember correctly the Dyno Sheet I looked at using a 780 Holley the number was 825 HP at high RPM. Sounds good anyways. Here a picture of one of these..

[Itoldyouso]

Thanks guys. Now I feel so much smarter.


Don

[robot]

Is it a Cup motor, a Busch motor, or an ARCA motor? ARCA used to allow a roller cam while Nascar did not. In Nascar, the Cup motors have higher compression than do Busch motors.

mike in tucson

[kennyd]

be carefull if you decide to use one, because 825 hp thats at 8500 rpm and probally 300 at 5000 rpm and how much do you think you will be at 8500rpm ? these engines he has are for wfo racing not street car driving .

[pat mccarthy]

you could build one for street use .but it would be like using a race horse to pull a beer wagon

[Hombre259]

OK Pat, I hoped you would lend your experiance to this question. I simply do not know if it could be made streetable. I have no problem with the heritage of this engine, nor do I care if it was intended as a race engine. I like a beer every once in a while and to tell you the truth I don't really care if its delivered in a International Delivery Truck or a Ferrari. If it can be made streetable I'm going to buy at least one of these, and put it in a mild street car.

This guy is dead serious about moving these engines and for what ever reason doesn't seem to mind that is is selling them at a small fraction of what they cost him, I didn't ask and he didn't offer an explanation.

They are all flat tappet cam-ed motors, so I guess that means they were not for ARCO from these posts here. Maybe they are Sprint Cup motors I just don't know.

But at $2,500 each it seems just to good a deal to pass up. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong.

RS

[pat mccarthy]

it would be a good deal .a de tune can work with lower cr pistons and a smaller cam all the other parts are time tested in many forum s of racing .parts sell for sb2 on e bay for pennys on the dollar .long as its not over worked stuff every one has a time limit on parts has to how long as the parts are used then taken out. long as they are not at the end of there life. blocks .rods .crank. get stress cracks to detune one can cost some $$ the parts are top line parts rings could be $400+ a 55mm? if a roller bearing cam. would be a custom core and grind $$ the dry sump oil tank i would run a smaller tank for street use .i would move up to the jesel dog bone roller lifter with a roller cam less you can find the SB2 cam core that can be tamed down

[Hombre259]

Pat, Don't want to bother you, but would you be willing to talk with me about this engine? Maybe even take a street rebuild on ? If that would be possible and something you would consider let me know...

RS

[gassersrule_196]

2500 ? damn id buy all of them for that price.

[Hombre259]

gasser, well he has 5 of the things. All you got to is holler and you too can be the proud owner of one of these fine example's of GM art. Might even may be able to beat that price for more than one of them.

RS

[Dave Severson]

I used to buy some of Roush's leftovers from NASCAR.... Never did try any of them on the street, but they sure did work good on Saturday nights at the dirt track.... The SB2's are a high rpm horsepressure engine, but IMO with the right guy (Pat McCarthy) selecting the parts, seems it would make one heck of a fun street engine!!!!!

Hmmmmmm. Now where did I put them C3 Yates heads, Hombre gonna need somebody to race!!!!!!!!!!!

Just having one on the street would really be a unique setup! When I was using the Roush parts, a lot of the stuff had one race on it, then time changed for new stuff. Had the rods and cranks checked and resized, couple sets of heads I got both needed the usual work, guides were loose, replace a few valves, and some lower pressure springs and they were good to go!!!! Chances are these chebbie engines probably have about the same history... At that price, I'd say go for it!!!! As for kewl, they'll win the show hands down!!!!!