More "Gotta Haves" that you don't really need.....

Here's some more tips on getting the most bang for your buck. Like I said in the last post the buff magazines have their way of doing things and often they are giving good advice-if your building an all-out race engine. If your building a street machine that might go to the drags one weekend a month you don't need 3/4 of the "Gotta Haves." Here's a perfect example-a while back one of the major mags-I think it was Hot Rod was chronicling a small-block Chevy buildup. They went down the list-you "gotta have" a 4-bolt main block, a forged steel crank,forged "pink" rods, forged pistons, screw in studs in the heads etc, etc. Their half-right. Yes, if your building a NASCAR Nextel Cup engine that has to go 7,800 rpm for 500 miles at Daytona, you need all the beef you can get. But if your building a street engine that will never see the high side of 6,000 rpm you don't need any of that. In fact-even if your building a circle track "Hobby" stock or "Street Stock" car that won't go over 6,500-your good with standard stuff. Two-bolt main blocks and cast cranks are fine for this kind of use. I would only recommend forged pistons if your were planning to run a blower or nitrous. And then my question would be-if you have that much money and need to go that fast-why aren't you building a 454 instead of a 350?  I know people that have run small-block Chevys in circle track and 1/4 mile drag cars for 20 years that have NEVER had a stud pull out of a head. Hot Rod tested some Trick Flow aluminum heads on a ZZ4 crate engine. If you don't know-the ZZ4 is a 350 V8 rated at 355 hp and 405 lbs feet of torque. What makes it such an awesome street rod or hot rod engine is it makes over 350 ft lbs of torque from 1,800 to 5,200 rpm. They also added a bigger cam and a different intake in the search for more power. Here's the funny thing. The Trick Flow heads cost $1,400, and did net a 40 hp gain-at 6,100 rpm. Now if it's a drag racer or a circle-track car thats run wide-open all the time-that's a worthwhile gain.  However-on the dyno test the "antiquated" factory L98 heads were within 5 hp and 5 lbs ft of torque at every rpm up to 4,700. Now in a daily driver or a street / strip machine how often are you going to be above 4,800 rpm?  And for $1,400 you could buy a carb and intake, a cam kit, a higher-stall converter,some gears-a variety of things that will gain a lot more than 40 hp in a 1,400 rpm window from 4,700-6,100 rpm!! This is not an isolated example. Car Craft tested identical 454 Chevy engines with standard oval port heads and high-performance rectangular port heads. The rectangular port heads did not show a noticeable gain until 6,300 rpm. Now how often are you going to be above 6,200 rpm??  Here's another one-Edelbrock has been very successfull with their Performer and Performer RPM power packages-i.e.-heads, intake and cam. The Performer Pontiac package tested on a 400 makes 387 hp and 439 lbs ft of torque and has 15 inches of vacuum at idle. A perfect street combo-glass-smooth idle and 400 lbs of torque from idle on up. The Performer RPM package-which is basically a replica of the factory RAIV package. It makes 422 hp and 441 lbs ft of torque. However, it only has 10 inches of vacuum at idle and most of the power gain is above 4,500 rpm. Your trading quite a bit of idle quality and low-end  and mid-range torque for top-end rush. Honestly-is a car with 422 hp really going to be that much faster than a car with 387 hp?  Does 35 hp really do that much? Especially when you consider traction,gearing, etc. Before you spend your hard earned dollars just look carefully at how much bang for your buck your getting.  Mastermind