Iron Block choices

Cheap Fun!!!!

Dave,you hit the nail right on the head! I to have a similar set up in another door car i've pieced together from leftover parts from projects.It to has a "street 8-71" on a weiand manifold with a vertex and bird hat,blah-blah-blah! And i'll tell you one thing,when i ran this exact combination in my other door car really,really fat,(i mean it was nearly blowin' fuel out the pipes!)that basic combo ran 9.00 @ 160MPH! Now that may not seem anything special but,it was reliable,low maintenance,and one other thing,FUN!!!!! Obviously i could have lent on it a bunch and swept it up afterwards! but for a vehicle you take out with your buddy's every few weeks for a blast it was perfect.One other thing,for someone who has never steered a blown alky car at all,something of this level is perfect to learn in.Correct everyone? Jason.

 

If you were in my area, I'd tell you to get some kind, any kind of beater and take it to my friend's unsanctioned 1/8 mile track on a Saturday where his test and tune sessions run from 2 PM till 11 for $15. Start learning basics about staging, reaction time, and all the things that will change 60 ft, E.T. and MPH.

Do that at least for a day, then go back on a Friday night and give him what I think is around 20 bucks entry for footbrake class. Get your feet wet doing something affordable. If you learn to be good at it, you might even make a few bucks. ( The first time you go up to a payout window and collect round money is cool! ) Learn all the basics firsthand.

Instead of wasting years WANTING to do something, you'll BE doing what you can afford to. You'll also be mingling with other racers. When you're ready to move up, you might be let in on good deals by friends before some things get advertised.

You'll also get started down the road of learning proper humility by committing more mistakes along the way than you ever would have imagined were possible!

THAT could be a thread all on it's own. What mistakes have you made at the dragstrip? How many can say "Forgetting to fuel the car"? How about bumping a delay box with your knee while climbing in and changing it so that you either sit there forever or launch about the time you release? I know this is too much bracket racing for this board but, how about crossing over with your delay box, then forgetting and going off of your own lights, anyway?

 

William, don't listen to the nay-sayers and do listen to Dave.

You can do it and not break the bank, it will take a lot of patience, intense scrutinizing of your needs, skillful shopping, and probably going have to learn to make things for yourself.

Many in the racing community think to race is to buy everything, but if you do it old school, you do it yourself and save the cash plus you expand you own capabilities.

Follow YOUR dream, not someone else's. People will try to discourage you, don't let them, it's your life not theirs!

 

Paul,well said!!to have the latest and greatest stuff isn't always everything.I think William should get out to a local track, and if a Blown car is a definate then look at some small block sedans and have a talk to the guys that own,tune and race them! coz this thread could go on forever with pro's and cons of this, that and the other.I say a reasonable SBC with even a healthy 6-71 on it (as William already stated!)is a bunch of fun in a light car.Hell i know guys over here with worn out old 6's on small blocks, in altereds that have gone as quick as 7.60 at over 180!!! Surely thats a pretty stout "entry level" combination to learn with? Jason.

 

William, Try And Find Some Info On A Guy Named Brendan Murray.
I Was Just Reading An OLD Magazine Article On Him, Ran 6.88@197
In A FED On Alcohol Story Goes He Used An Old BBC Truck Block
Heads, And Crank. Used To Last 80 Passes! I'd Say Running Pretty Hard
He Now Has The Fastest BBC Try Racecarparts.com I Would Say Thats
The Way To Go, If Your Not Going To Run It Hard Should Last Forever>
Goodluck. Drew

 

cheap as you can go

Default Re: Cheap Blown Alky BBC
This if from an article I found a while back.... Should give you all the info you need.

Brendan Murry at Performance Motorsports has provided this information. Anybody, who uses any part of this information or just reads it should go and visit his web site. If you want to buy parts and pieces for a motor of this type, consider buying from him. This kind of information to this detail is very hard if not impossible to find let alone share. His web site is www.racecarparts.com for those who can't wait. I would recommend waiting and reading this article through a couple of times before deciding on a racing direction. -- Jim Burke

There are many ways to skin a cat; this is how we do it at Performance Motorsports:

Block:
Start with a tall deck Chevrolet 4 bolt-main truck block. This block has the following advantages:
Truck block has thicker cylinder walls Almost always comes with a steel crankshaft Block is fairly inexpensive The first two items come in handy for this project.

Block Machine work:
Deck the block and bore it to .030 over size to make sure the bores are straight. Finish hone it to a smooth finish with 320 grit and plateau brush the bores this makes for a very even, clean bore.

Next o-ring the block and install the o-ring wire.

Wash everything with plenty of hot water and soap. When thoroughly dry, install Milodon main studs, and oil restrictors. We use the Donovan gear drive front cover (RCD makes a very fine piece too, very similar in design in all billet aluminum.

Crankshaft:
The crankshaft is sent to the crankshaft shop, to be turned .010/.010 under sized on the main and rod journals. We usually run our motors on the loose side, .004 rod and main clearance.

This is a good time to cut the crankshaft for two keyways on the snout to better hold the blower pulley. While it is at the crankshaft shop be sure to have it checked for straightness.

Have all the oil holes chamfered and the crankshaft polished.

Installing the Crankshaft:
We install the crankshaft seal (the gray one) and use our special mixture of 50 weight Kendall and assembly lube on the bearing surfaces of the CHILDS and ALBERT bearings. Carefully lay the crankshaft in place after installing the crankshaft gear.

You can check the clearance with plastic gauge, this should be done dry before final assembly (plastic gauge is an easy way to check clearances and very easy to use even at the track).

Torque the mains to 110 Lbs. and back off 3 times, this will pre-stress the hardware.

Next, install the camshaft and the camshaft thrust plate.

Install one ARIAS 11.1 piston and rings combo and a .500 long Brooks aluminum rod in #1 cylinder. (Long rods makes less stress on the cylinder wall ------less stress =longer life).

We will find TDC and install a RCD crank hub, mark top dead center and proceed to degree the camshaft.

Camshaft:
We usually run 2-4 degrees advance with a 701/320/114 Howard's cam and Crower roller lifters.

701/320/114 Cam means:
701 = Valve lift
320 = duration
114 = lobe centers

Connecting Rods & Pistons:
Install the other 7 piston-rod combos with the ring end clearance set. The rule is looser is better than tighter. We add .005 to whatever the manufacturer recommends.

Torque the rod bolts to 75# loosen and re-torque three separate times, this will help in the long run. Check the rod clearance for .030-050 side clearance.

Button up the cam cover and the fuel pump drive extension.

Oil system:
Install the TITAN sportsman oil pump and shaft and install the MILODON 8 quart dragster style oil pan. We run KENDALL 50-weight oil and with the TITAN sportsman oil pump we run with 85 lbs. of oil pressure.

Cylinder Heads & Valve Train:
Install Milodon head studs hand tight in the block. As for cylinder heads, there are many ways to go. I prefer the Chevrolet iron 990 casting. We do a little port matching and bowl blending with our Standard Abrasives porting kit.

We use the iron heads because:
We are shooting for 1000-1200 horsepower They are readily available They flow well The iron is especially durable and holds heat well They run $200-$450.00 and since you don't run water sometimes finding a crack can be a bargaining tool.

We install Milodon stainless exhaust valves and intake valves and add .002 to your valve guide clearance. Install K-Motion kr1000 valve springs and titanium retainers and keepers set. Use 235-lb. spring pressure @1.950- and a good 3-angle valve job.

We bolt on the heads and torque to 80 lb. with a SCE .060 head gaskets. 060 gives you a softer hit and something to tune with at altitude where you can change this to .043 gaskets for more compression.

We install Crower push rods and rockers. Norris stainless rockers are very durable, but are a little heavy. Next, install your favorite brand of stud girdle. Mine is the Moroso's I've had since 83'. We use the B&B valve covers or the Billet Fabrication valve covers. I install the quick release breather 1" tube to a puke tank.

Blower & Fuel system:
For an intake manifold I prefer the Littlefield tall deck manifold and a 6-71 Littlefield alcohol Teflon lined blower turning 25% over drive. We use an Enderle bug catcher and the Nitro barrel valve at .009 (69 % Leak on the barrel valve).

An Enderle 110 pump and a high speed set at 65 lbs. with an 85 jet. Use a 140 -170 main jet and 52 jet for the injectors.

Ignition:
We use the Mallory Super Mag III with Mallory wires and NGK #9 spark plugs.

Overview:
This combo is a proven setup, not real fancy with trick of the week gizmos, but a reliable setup with which we have won six world championships. You can update or change this recipe to suit your tastes, but it should give you a baseline with a minimum of headaches.

Brendan Murry
www.racecarparts.com
Your Online Supermarket of Race Car Parts
1520 Minnesota Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125
408-266-3324

 

hey william did you check this combo out, hope this fits your budget.

 

thanks for the usefull information , I am sure it will help .

 

Cheap Fun

I was in a similar position years ago and i built a VW bug with a stock 460 ford,(in the front)The engine cost me £450, i put a tunnel ram and two 600s on it ,did a bit of porting ,built my own chassis and 9" and had a road legal 11 second street car that i would drive to the track (75 miles to Santa Pod) race all weekend and drive home again, and this was probably the most fun car i've ever had and as it was pretty much stock i just serviced it once a year ( we used to pretend to do stuff to it between rounds to make the other racers feel better!) so you can go racing on the cheap , Good luck dude!

 

This is only a question out of curiosity only a question . I am going to highly consider building up something along the lines of an iron block combination but in saying as my savings increase I will keep my eyes open for a budget cheap alloy block and was wondering in hemi terms what is considered cheap for alloy blocks ?

 

Maybe I missed it but did you ever mention having a car? If you start from scratch, start building you car at the back and move forward as you have the money. Having a blown motor wont do you a lick of good if you cant get the power to stick to the track.

I learned a lot and made a bunch of mistakes after I bought a 12 sec Camaro and trailer. We moved up to a dragster bought from a widow. I didnt build it like I wanted but I cant tell you how many times Ive turned down people wanting to buy it. Right now its got a broken trans. Business and economy has been slow and I cant afford to fix it. You think youre nuts to go racing now, wait till youve been racing and are stuck watching from behind the fence!