More on the path of least resistance......

Had some people say that I'm against anything out of the ordinary or new. Huh?  Didn't I suggest in the last post transplanting a Supercharged, Fuel-Injected 3.8 Liter V6 into an old Buick instead of trying to rebuild an obsolete, under-powered 49 year old 300 inch V8 that has limited parts availability and performance potential?  Haven't I said many times how much I like Tuned Port Injection, and that if I could find an '85-'92 Z/28 or Trans-Am that I'd swap in my ZZ4 crate engine or a 383 and use the TPI instead of a carburator? Don't I always recommend using Electronic distributors instead of points on everything, be it GM, Ford or Mopar?  If you have a 2010 Camaro SS or SRT8 Charger I don't advocate ripping off the fuel-injection system and putting a carburator on it! ( Although Edelbrock sells 4bbl intakes for LS motors with the MSD box to run the ignition attached to the intake, and 4 bbl intakes for 5.7 and 6.1 Hemis. ) . Here I have to again ask- "Why?" If I was going to swap an LS engine or modern Hemi into an older car-I would certainly get the wiring harness out of the donor car or buy one from Painless-so I could have the benefits of the electronic fuel-injection and ignition management. Why would I spend umpteen thousands of dollars transplanting a state of the art modern powertrain, and then put a leaking, power valve blowing, bleeding over 750 Holley on it??!!!  I have voiced my disgust at people putting modern fuelie engines in vintage Iron-but I think I'm misunderstood on that too. If you have a generic '68 Malibu or '75 Firebird or '71 Satellite that you want to slap an LS motor or SRT8 Hemi into-I think that's a great idea-more power to you. What drives me up the wall is it's never a beater '73 Duster or a '71 Tempest-in these magazines-it's always a pristine for-real, numbers-matching, 4-speed SS396, or a 455HO Trans-Am, or a ( formerly ) 440 powered Challenger R/T or GTX. You want to slap the fuel-injected 302 and T5 five-speed out of a wrecked '91 Mustang into one of the 600,000 plus 1966 Mustangs out there-go ahead-it makes a hell of a nice driver out of them. Just don't do it to a Shelby GT350H!!!  That's all I'm saying. As for other "innovations"-yes hot rodders are always tinkering looking for more power. But just because something is POSSIBLE doesn't mean it's the greatest thing since sliced bread or that everyone should do it. We know manned space flight is possible; it's just not economically feasible to send people on pleasure trips to the moon!!  As it applies to cars-Dart and Blueprint engines sell 427 and 454 inch stroker Small-Block Chevys. I'm not impressed, and I'd never buy one, or recommend anyone buying one. The reasons being- 1st off-they cost $11,000!!!  Secondly-they only make 540  or 575 hp respectively-and that's with 11.4:1 compression and a lumpy cam with 248 duration ( @ .050 lift ). If you want a 454 inch Chevy crate engine-then buy a ZZ454 / 440. These cost $5999 through Scoggin-Dickey and are rated at 440 hp and 500 lbs of torque by GMPP with a pump-gas-friendly 9.6:1 compression. Hot Rod had one, and with only the addition of a Performer RPM intake ( $249 ) and a Comp Cams XR282H cam-( $299 ) they made 534 hp and 558 lbs of torque, and had a glass-smooth idle and 15 inches of vacuum at idle, and made 488 lbs of torque as low as 2,500 rpm!!  So for $6,500 you have the same amount of power, with better idle quality, on 89 octane pump gas, a broader torque range and better drivability. Tell me again why you should spend $11,000 for the stroker small-block that has a rough idle, 10 inches of vacuum at idle, a  peakier powerband, and requires 100 octane gas to run properly?  Which one is the better deal?  Now there are circumstances where installing a big-block isn't feasible-a '32 Ford, a Cobra Replica, a '64 Nova-and so forth. However-if you need a 550 hp small-block you can buy or build a 383 with that much power for a lot less than 11 grand. The same goes for other stroker combinations. Why spend a ton of money turning a 302 Ford into a 347 or a 363 when you could just build a 351W?  And the money you would have spent on a custom crank, rods and pistons, flywheel and balancer, and machine work-can now go towards heads, cam, carb and intake, exhaust, gears etc. Stuff that offers the most bang for the buck. Another popular one I don't get is turning a 400 Chrysler into a 451. Why? The process requires a custom crank, rods and pistons, and cutting and RELIEVING the block to make the rotating assembly fit!!  Just build a 440. In fact-besides musclecars-440s were used in millions of "Big" cars-Chrysler Newports and Imperials, Dodge Monacos and Polaras, Plymouth Grand Furys, countless Cop cars and millions of light and medium-duty trucks and vans from 1967-78. The 400 was only used from 1972-78. So in reality-in a junkyard or swap meet it's probably easier to find a 440 than it is a 400. Just like it's easier to find a 454 Chevy instead of a 396. Again-the money saved on the extensive machine work and custom rotating assembly can go towards heads, cam, intake, ignition, etc-and build a Thumpin' 440 for way less money than the custom 451. And honestly-Is 11 cubic inches really going to make that much difference?  And Mopar "B" ( 361-383-400 ) and "RB" ( 413-426-440 ) engines are externally identical except for the deck height. The only thing that doesn't interchange is the intake manifolds.                     So there's no space / size advantage to starting with the smaller engine. At least with the Chevys  a mega-inch small-block will fit many places where a Rat won't. Not so with the B / RB engines. If a 383 / 400 will fit, a 440 will fit. So what's the advantage?  I don't see it. Now some of you hard-core racers are going to write in to "educate" me about rod to stroke ratios, and side-to side piston loads etc. I know all that. A 6 inch rod runs smoother, with less vibration and makes more power in a small-block Chevy than a 5.7 inch rod. However, all other things being equal the difference in peak power is only 6%. On a NASCAR NEXTEL CUP engine that makes 850 hp and has to turn 8,000 rpm for 500 miles at Daytona-that 6% could definitely be the difference between a win or top 5 finish and being an also-ran in mid-pack. But on a street engine-even a very hot one-it's not going to make an ounce of difference in real-world performance. Because of various factors-air quality, wind, gearing, tuning,converter stall speed, traction, track condition, driver skill, etc.- In a street / strip car you are not going to notice in the seat of your pants or on a 1/4 mile time slip the difference between 400 hp and 424 hp, or even 500 hp and 530 hp!!  Your not. So don't waste the extra money on the custom rods and pistons. I'm all for something new and trick if it works and offers a performance increase that justifies it's cost. But if it costs substantially more than something time and competition and street-proven, yet offers very little if any performance improvement-then Why use it?  Just to be able to say you have the latest and greatest thing under your hood whether it works or not?  Not me. Mastermind