Don't fall into the "I have to have the biggest,baddest thing they make" trap!

I see an alarming trend in all the buff magazines lately. The stroker engine craze-"Bigger is Better" has really gotten out of hand in my opinion. For example Hot Rod dyno-tested a bunch of headers on a big-block Chevy. They concluded that the 2 1/4 inch headers made the most power. Except their test mule was a 650 hp 540 incher!!  Honestly-how many people actually have a 540 inch Rat Motor in their car? So the average joe reads that article and puts these huge headers on his car or truck and wonders why they killed his low-end and mid-range performance. Maybe because your 9:1 454 with a stock cam and heads doesn't breathe nearly as well as the 12:1 solid-roller cammed, Brodix-headed monster test mule?  Even if someone had a VERY HOT 454-they'd get more power and torque all through the range with 1 7/8 or 2 inch headers. Most people who had a streetable 427 / 454 or especially a 396 / 402 would be better served by even smaller 1 3/4 headers. Especially if it was a street machine or tow rig that never sees the high side of 6,000 rpm. GMPP, Blueprint Engines, Smeding, and a bunch of other companies are selling 496 inch, 540 inch or even 572 inch Big-block Chevys. These engines all cost 12 or 15 grand. For $5995 GMPP will sell you a complete ZZ454 engine. That has 440 hp and 500 lbs ft of torque. Super Chevy magazine  tested one, and with only a cam change and swapping the GMPP intake for an Edelbrock Performer RPM-they pulled 521 hp and 530 lbs of torque. Now honestly-who in the hell needs more power than that in anything but a full-on race car? Magazine writers spout numbers flippantly-but believe me an engine with 520 honest hp will turn any street car into a rocket. If you had the tires and suspension to handle it-that would put you solidly in the 11s, at over 115 mph in the 1/4 mile. How many people have actually driven an honest-to-goodness 11 second car? ( I mean with a timeslip from the strip; not what your buddy "thinks" his car can run )  If you "Need" to go faster than that then you need a Pro Stock drag car, a competent therapist, or a cage. It's the same with small-blocks. Dart offers a 427 inch small-block Chevy short-block assembly ( That can further stroked to 454 inches if you want ). For $5599. Then you still have to add a flywheel and balancer, all the tin, and heads, cam,intake, exhaust, carburator and distributor. By the time your done the price tag has easily topped 10 grand. Why? for $5599 you can buy a Complete ZZ383 engine from Scoggin-Dickey or Summit that has 425 hp and 449 lbs of torque. For $4399 you can buy the famous ZZ4 350 crate motor. Or for $2600 you can buy a ZZ4 short block-with 4-bolr mains, a steel crank, LT1 / "Pink" rods and Keith Black pistons. Add another $2600 for a Trick Flow top-end kit-heads, cam, rockers, springs timing chain and intake-and you've got 500 hp and 450 lbs of torque for $5200!! That's $400 bucks less than Dart wanted for the 427 SHORT-BLOCK!!!  Now, doubtless the stroker will make more power than a 350-Blueprint's 454 Small-block stroker claims 575 hp-but costs 11 grand!! In my mind 75 hp isn't worth another 5 grand!! Seriously-if you want or need more power than a 350 or 383 can deliver-then-like I said-you can get over 500 hp from a 454-Big Block for a lot less than 10 grand. It's not just Chevy people either. Ford Racing offers 351-based 427 inch strokers with 500+ hp for $12,999!!!  Mopar performance offers 505 inch 440 based motors and 472 and 528 inch Hemis-for $15,000 on up!!  The hot setup now for Pontiacs is to put an aftermarket crank and rotating assembly in a 400 block to get 461-477 ci. Kauffman Racing and Butler Performance will build you a "Real" Pontiac with 500-600 hp on pump gas-but again your looking at a $10,000 engine. Whatever your restoring-or "Restifying"  you can have plenty of power without a mega-buck, mega-inch $15,000 engine. A 350 Chevy or a 396 or 454, or a 400 Pontiac or a 383 Mopar or 351 or 390 Ford or whatever will make more than enough power. Again forget the magazine writer's flippantly spouting numbers-any of these engines can make 400 hp or more reliably and cheaply-and 400 hp will make any street car into a rock-n-roller. If you can afford one of these mega-buck monsters good for you. But if you can't-don't despair. $5,000 will allow you to buy or build a VERY Strong powerplant. You don't need to spend 10 or 15 or 20K to have a badass ride. Mastermind