You can go fast on a tight budget...If the old "But the numbers don't match" whine can be overlooked...

A lot of people gripe about how expensive it is to build a high-performance engine. Their half-right. If you copy magazine buildups and have to have the best of everything, yes it's going to be pricey. But you can make serious power with stock or even junkyard parts by picking the right combination of parts. In order to do that-you may not be able to keep everything numbers-matching. And on some cars it doesn't matter. A Boss 302, or Six-Pack Road Runner, it matters. Other stuff not so much.  Does anyone really care that a '74 Camaro has a 1980's GM "Targetmaster" replacement 350 under the hood?  Or that a '68 LeMans has a 400 out of a '73 Catalina in it?  Anyhow here's some tips to get big power for low bucks. The easiest way to big power for low bucks is increased breathing and compression. On many engines this is accomplished by swapping cylinder heads. Not Edelbrock or Brodix or Trick Flow aluminum heads. Low-budget, remember?  Here's a few great examples. # 1 Small-block Chevy. A lot of people don't know that the '81-86 305 "smog" heads have 58cc combustion chambers. ( Much smaller than the 76cc chambers on most 350s.) Putting a set of these on a 350 will bump the compression ratio from 8.2:1 to about 9.6:1 which is about the limit with iron heads on cheap gas. The 305 heads have smaller 1.72 intake valves, but the slight loss of airflow is more than offset by the big power and torque gain of the added compression. And any competent machine shop can put the 1.94 valves in the 305 heads for a nominal fee. Their are millions of these engines in junkyards so they will be cheap. The other way is a set of "Vortec" heads. Scoggin-Dickey will sell you a brand-new pair for $650. Many machine shops want $500 or more to re-furbish your old heads, so this is a deal. These breathe better than any stock head and many aftermarket ones. These have 64cc chambers which will still give you about 9.2:1 compression when replacing 76cc heads, and the improved breathing is worth 30-40 hp. You'll have to get a "Vortec" bolt pattern intake, but GMPP, Edelbrock, and Weiand sell performance "Vortec" intakes for about $200. # 2. Small-Block Mopar. '92 and later "Magnum" heads breathe better than any factory head and many aftermarket ones. There are millions of these engines in junkyards in Dodge Trucks and Vans and Jeep Cherokees. They will bolt up to '91 and earlier blocks, but you'll need a "magnum" style intake. Edelbrock sells Performer and Performer RPM "Magnum" intakes. # 3. 350 / 403 Olds. '73 and later small-block Olds engines have 83cc combustion chambers which gives them 8.0:1 compression. '68-'72 350 heads have 70cc chambers that will bump that up to about 9.2:1. On '75 and later models you'll have to re-tap the bolt holes for 1/2 inch bolts. ( '74 and earlier used 7/16 ) but that's relatively easy.  # 4 Pontiacs. '76-79 "6X" heads breathe better than any factory head except the vaunted RAIV's. Their 90cc chambers will give you about 9.2:1 compression on a 455 which is great. On a 400 you'll need to mill them .060 to bump the c.r. from 8.0:1 to 9.0:1. Don't forget to surface the intake sides too-so the manifold will fit. The other one is '68-69 #46 heads. These came on a lot of 350 V8s and 428s in the "big" cars. Their 72cc chambers will bump the compression on a '71-79 400 from 8.0:1 to about 9.7:1. They have 1.96 / 1.66 valves as opposed to the 6x's 2.11 / 1.77, but the slight loss of airflow will be more than offset by the big power and torque boost of the increased compression. And since stock Pontiac heads don't really breathe with valve lifts much over .480 inch and the bottom-ends should be redlined at 5,800 rpm-I wouldn't waste the time or money putting the bigger valves in. Spend that on a cam, gears, etc. You may have to change alternator brackets on '70 and later engines, but that's not a crisis. The other big power maker is more cubes. Eagle and other companies offer stroker crank kits to turn a 350 Chevy into a 383, a 302 Ford into a 347, a 360 Mopar into a 408, a 400 Pontiac into a 455 and a 400 Mopar into a 451. If your rebuilding the engine anyway-often these stroker crank, rod and piston kits aren't very much more than stock replacement stuff. And all other things being equal-a larger engine will always make more power and torque with the same equipment. Something to consider....Mastermind