[64speed]

Mine makes more power than I could ask for. I am pretty sure I asked this question before but only as a fun topic. My machinist and Paul Carter did my building. All I know is its impossible to put that power to the pavement on street tires.

[mgarblik]

I think it's just a fun exercise for many people and harmless. It's the total drivetrain package that makes for a really nice street car. Bragging rites are fun I guess, but in my case at least, I want an engine that has great response, some idle quality, won't overheat, can run on pump gas, starts easily hot, and can roast the tires at will cruising in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gear. With a stock chassis, and drum brakes, that's about 500 HP in my estimation. Much more than that, your breaking stuff all the time.

[hgiv]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I think it's just a fun exercise for many people and harmless. It's the total drivetrain package that makes for a really nice street car. Bragging rites are fun I guess, but in my case at least, I want an engine that has great response, some idle quality, won't overheat, can run on pump gas, starts easily hot, and can roast the tires at will cruising in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gear. With a stock chassis, and drum brakes, that's about 500 HP in my estimation. Much more than that, your breaking stuff all the time.

I agree with all that but... You can do all that with WAY less than 500hp! That's a lot of ponies. THink about how many 350 pontiacs are out there. A well built and geared 4bbl dual exhaust 350 with any thing above stock cam will do all that. OK maybe not 3rd gear. And be lots of fun stop light to stop light.

But 500hp sounds like a lot of fun!!

[mgarblik]

Probably true of your talking wheel HP. I should have said 500 flywheel HP. Also should have mentioned my car is right at 2 tons. (62 Catalina). With the big 11" 8 lug drum brakes, I should be OK for a few stops before they are overheated. The 9.3" ring gear stock rear will be fine. The weak link in my deal will be the Muncie 4-speed. That's the item that will blow to pieces when really overloaded. Once I destroy that, I will move on to a much stronger 5-speed if funds are available.

[Steve C.]

As Ken Crocie stated about making 500HP, "It's like falling off a log".


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[70geeteeohh]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

As Ken Crocie stated about making 500HP, "It's like falling off a log".


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What does that even mean.

[TCSGTO]

Originally Posted by 70geeteeohh

What does that even mean.

It means with the parts available today, any 16 year old kid can walk into Summit with his parents credit card and walk out with a shopping cart of bolts ons that’ll make 500HP on just about anything. It used to be a lot tougher, especially if you didn’t have a big block Chevy.

[70geeteeohh]

Originally Posted by TCSGTO

It means with the parts available today, any 16 year old kid can walk into Summit with his parents credit card and walk out with a shopping cart of bolts ons that’ll make 500HP on just about anything. It used to be a lot tougher, especially if you didn’t have a big block Chevy.

Got it.

People should build cars to their own liking. There is no comparison in drivability and horsepower against the newer vehicles especially with AWD in the mix.

If 400hp makes their build adequate that's great.... 600hp congratulations.

I own 3 cars.

1930 ford, 1000whp<<<complete waste and mistake
2002 z06 vette, 700whp<<< fast reliable, daily driven but scared to break something even though it's fully built.
And My 70 GTO which I will just shoot for 450ish hp when the time comes. I honestly have more fun and enjoyment out of lower hp vehicles

[mchell]

[QUOTE=TCSGTO;6359051]It means with the parts available today, any 16 year old kid can walk into Summit with his parents credit card and walk out with a shopping cart of bolts ons that’ll make 500HP on just about anything. It used to be a lot tougher, especially if you didn’t have a big block Chevy.[/QUOTE

TCS,
Damn, you got that thing pulling!

That a road paver grind?

[Formulajones]

Running them on a dyno is always a good idea anyway. Why guess. Not really for bragging rights but for many other reasons. Dial in a timing curve that works, check for leaks, break in camshafts and ring packages properly while monitoring everything in a controlled environment. If there is a problem it's a hell of a lot easier to deal with now before it goes in the car. Especially if it requires machine work, you're already at the shop!!

There are many good reasons to dyno an engine. These days with the cost of a good proper engine build surpassing as much as $10,000 for moderate stuff, it really makes a dyno session a no brainer.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by TCSGTO

It means with the parts available today, any 16 year old kid can walk into Summit with his parents credit card and walk out with a shopping cart of bolts ons that’ll make 500HP on just about anything. It used to be a lot tougher, especially if you didn’t have a big block Chevy.

True, You can even do it with stock parts (meaning OEM heads and intakes)

[OCMDGTO]

I'm always interested in hearing real world results from any pump gas build. Timeslip or dyno with no BS speculation. Gives a great starting point for people shooting for a similar level of power

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

As Ken Crocie stated about making 500HP, "It's like falling off a log".


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I would more or less agree with Ken on this with a few little modifications. Yes it is certainly MUCH easier to make MUCH more HP with LESS effort if your willing to change cylinder heads on our old V-8's. The heads were the choke point on most, and Pontiac's were far from the worst. I oversee a wide variety of engine builds in my class every year. My observation, rather than a HP number is HP per inch since many different platforms are used. Making less than 1 HP per cubic inch is a failure IMO, unless using stock un-touched heads and doing a restoration type rebuild. The 1 HP per inch used to be a Detroit goal, and the handful of engines that made or exceeded it were revered as "super engines". 327-375 HP, 454-450 HP 421 SD, 426 Hemi, 350-370 HP are a few examples. Almost any iron head V-8 can get there with mild head work and the right cam and a decent induction system. 1.25 HP per inch is pretty easy with a modern aluminum replacement head and little else.

[besserspat]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I think it's just a fun exercise for many people and harmless. It's the total drivetrain package that makes for a really nice street car. Bragging rites are fun I guess, but in my case at least, I want an engine that has great response, some idle quality, won't overheat, can run on pump gas, starts easily hot, and can roast the tires at will cruising in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gear. With a stock chassis, and drum brakes, that's about 500 HP in my estimation. Much more than that, your breaking stuff all the time.

Thats pretty much my definition of fun too, I dont spend much time at the dragstrip anymore because its a big dollar game that I am not willing to play anymore.

After going full circle, I came to the conclusion that I have the most fun with stick shifted 200-500hp cars in the streets...

On a motorcycle? anything with two wheels and an engine no matter the HP, im a happy camper.

Its funny how when I was 20 I wasn't happy until my ride was entirely built of go fast and machined/fabricated aluminum parts...

...Now I get excited by a decently quick stock looking old car/motorcycle with a nice patina...!

Must be wisdom or age .

Peter

[Steve C.]

"...any 16 year old kid can walk into Summit with his parents credit card and walk out with a shopping cart of bolts ons that’ll make 500HP"

That brought a smile to my face. Fun story, about 22 years ago I befriended a young kid that was 15 years old working at McDonalds. At 16 he bought his first car, a Firebird and then went to work part time for my engine builder. His first engine was 4.250" stroke, un-ported Edelbrock heads, Crower 236 degree hyd flat tappet cam, Performer RPM intake, 750 vac. sec Holley carb and headers. On the dyno it made 509.2 HP at 5200 rpm. And his mother paid for the dyno session as a HS graduation present. No parents credit card though.... he paid for it working at the engine shop.

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[ekancler]

Are there any engine analyzer programs for Macs?

[Stan Weiss]

Originally Posted by ekancler

Are there any engine analyzer programs for Macs?

I don't know a lot about Macs. But I do know that I have people running my Windows software of a Macs using / through parallels desktop (virtual machine).

Stan

[Steve C.]

In addition to the points Formulajones brings up in post #16 the engine dyno sheet is also helpful with a custom torque converter built for your specific combination. My first was about 25 years ago when I called Marv Ripes at A-1 Automatic Transmissions, he was well known in the industry. As a consultant the first thing he asked was if I had a dyno sheet. I bought two from him. Similar situation with custom units at Hughes Performance, Continental and most recently at UCC.
All found the dyno sheet helpful.


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