This may sound nuts, but has anyone ever run a SBC as a 4 cylinder race engine (dry lakes...small displacement)??? AND IF SO ..HOW DO YOU DO IT?? thanks...UD
If I remember correctly ,Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazine did a feature on one turned into a V four.It was either in the late seventies or early eighties ,(the ole brain is leaning towards the eighties)maybe that might steer someone who has collection of SS&DI for a specific date and issue. Cheers RM
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvilleother/page 5.html Larson "I wanted 120 inches. After building the 180, I knew I couldn’t get a Chevy that small and still get valves in it, so I built a 240 and left half the pistons out. I staggered them; every other one in the firing order was left out—two center pistons on one side and two outer pistons on the other." Here's a deal on aluminum Scat V4 http://www.americansandassociation....p=220350&sid=5da67eadb39f3703ecb81c6b54534f94 If I wasn't planning on grad school I'd pair this with my $2K coupon on an FED chassis.
Most of the variations of cutting chevy v8's have been tried. Cut the front four cylinders off for a v4, Chet Wilson or son from Kansas for a midget engine. Bruce Larson and Cummings of Bonneville fame made bob weights and eliminated pistons. Sesco midget engines cut the whole side off to make a inline four cylinder. In the early 1960's Pontiac and International both cut one side or bank off to make inline four cylinders. So yes it has been done.
There is a guy that lives around here that has a V-2 he made out of a BB Chevy that runs it on a motorcycle. I think his screen name here is Dr. Frankensickle. I know it's not a four cylinder but I'm sure he could give you some pointers.
The Larson & Cummings streamliner is the baddest hotrod that ever lived. Sorry to stray off topic, kinda.
Contact Russ Eyres at ETA Specialties, 858-228-6256. Russ built the SBC that runs one bank as an overhead and blocks the other bank with a flathead that is mentioned in this thread. Something like 30 records over the years with the same block in different cars. DW
In the mid to late 70's Crower offered a kit to convert SBC's to 4 cyl,it consisted of a crank and special no-compression pistons for 4 of the cylinders.I am thinking this was around 1976-77 if someone has an old Crower catalog,check it out.
Well Warner beat me to the Rus Eyres info, but the Chet Wilson engines were V-4's and used in midgets. Scatt Enterprises also used to build Chevy V-4's, but sold all the tooling to Arlen Ness several years ago. I was looking into one for one of my Fiat Sedan Delivery's as the answer to a very small engine compartment.
Check out Open Wheel Marketplace, there is a complete midget motor for sale right now.... was on ebay also, but not sold...
Here is a thought from left field, any chance the crank out of a 181 Mercruiser marine would fit in with what you are doing? This assumes you would run it as an inline and not a V4. Charlie Stephens
If this is for LSR racing, where weight isn't a issue, you would probably be time and money ahead just pulling pistons out of a v-8. In oval track racing weight is everything which is why they cut the engines down. Here's some of what it takes to make a v-4:
I'm so in love with this concept...it would be much simpler for me to run half the pistons on a Pontiac 400 rather than my plans of stroking a 170 slant six or de-stroking a 225 slant six...hmmm...
In the early 60's I Tuned and My buddy drove John Moore's FED,(MorDrop Axles) !/2 pontiac`V8 I believe that was built as 1/2 of a 421. We Ran nitro and ALGON injectors. consistently 130=MPH and 11 flat.
In 1959 we cut the right bank off a 283 Chev block and made a single plane crank for it to run in a midget. We made dry sump oil system and modified a set of Hilborn injectors for it. It was very successful project except for one thing..The loss of block strength caused cylinder wall deflection and rings would only last one or 2 race programs.
-------------------------------------- No....but you could use a complete 181 Mercruiser (nee 153 Chevy II) shortblock and adapt a SBC head to it. That's been done before. Mart3406 ======================
Are you wanting to race or be vintage? Toyota makes a STOUT 3RZ-FE DOHC 2.7-liter 4-cylinder and I have seen them pumped up to 7-800 hp in race trim.
------------------------- Rather than messing around and removing half the pistons from a Pontiac 400 block, just get yourself an early '60's Pontiac Tempest 194 "Slant 4" That was latterly half of a Pontiac 389 and used a standard V8 cylinder head.. The 194 Pontiac was considered big and heavy as far as most four bangers go, but it'd still be a heck of lot lighter than using a full Pontiac V8 block and only filling half the holes! Mickey Thompson ran a few 'slant 4s' at Bonneville and at the drags. At least one with a 3 or 4-71 GMC blower and another (or others) with a M/T Pontiac Crossram, with one side cut away so to fit the single cylinder head. Mart3406 =================
Well, I have a couple 400's sitting around, and weight is your friend in LSR racing, so the extra weight of the block isn't an issue, plus running a V4 would be better balanced than half a V8 not only internally, but the weight distribution in the vehicle is symmetrical as well without requiring counter ballast on the other side of the car...it would be much less expensive to modify one of my current 400 motors that need to be rebuilt anyway, than tracking down a semi-rare Pontiac slant 4...and then rebuilding that anyway...that's just how I feel about it...
Yup, they run this engine with a crazy turbo set up in their #131 modified roadster when they run it at El Mirage. The cover plate for the empty side of the block is a finned aluminaum flathead head complete with spark plugs and wires, that really gets folks to scratchin' their melons.
There is a company called SCAT that made V-4 engines for midgets. They were chevy based if I remember correct. I think they are still around, I belive they make crankshafts for v-8's. Bob
"I need some education..... why would you want a v8 that only runs on 4?" To meet a displacement class.
The Jalopy Journal
