This engine came with a recent purchase and is a fresh rebuild with receipts.Here is what i have CKO 375 HP block,solid cam 294-300 Dur.,517-532 lift The heads are the newer 14097088 Rec port open chamber castings. Intake is a Winters 3963569 I have no idea on the compression ratio as no numbers were listed in the receipts. The big ? is will this thing run and perform well or will it be a slug with those heads and intake????Hate to put it in and not be happy.
True but those giant runners in the heads and and that ancient Winters in take have me a bit worried for a street engine.Just seems those heads arent much of a low rpm head?
Do a search for b/stock nova.......granted they're a hotter stock lift cam, and blueprinted ....but they are fairly quick..... we"re getting ready to start on one for a 68 Chevelle stocker.
Not just yet,i like to do a little homework 1st.Just trying to get a few more opinons than just the Appletree lane know it all.
Friend of mine, back around the '70's, ran a '69 Chevelle called Indian Summer. B/SA, it ran 11:70's and the only thing allowed was a blue printed cam.
In 1965, everybody thought they were pretty badass. Of course, if the combination of small motor and large chamber heads has the usual interaction, you might not have enough compression for really impressive performance.
I bought a NEW 1969 Nova Super Sport ... 396/375 HP with a 4 speed. It had a 4.10 posi rear end. The Nova crossed the scales @ 3420 lbs ( with out driver ). It ran 13.30 the first day I took it to the dragstrip. With a little tuning and " driver experience " ... it ran 12.90. I finally got it down to 12.50 ... before I pulled it and installed a 427/425 ... then a LS-6 454/450 HP. Lots of FUN on the streets back then. It was streetable ... noisy and FAST for 1969/1970. Most HAMB friendly vehicles weigh less than the Nova ... so it should be quicker and more FUN.
I agree with the dyno idea. You will know immediately what kind of low end performance you will have.
Those open chamber heads are '91 and up 454/502 118cc LS6 heads are open chamber, 118 cc (450 hp in '70, 425 in '71) From '69-'71 118 cc open chamber heads were used in 396, 402, 427, 454 (375 hp L-89, 430 hp L-88 & ZL-1, 425hp and 465 hp LS6, LS7) Source of my info: http://www.minuit10.net/EngineCode/chevy/BBChevyCylinderHead.htm Seems to me it would perform well.
I actually have a real 70 SS396 Nova where it will reside eventually.I know its off topic but he engine isnt. Still wanting to know how it will behave on the street.Its easier to change things now before its in the car.
Most everything I heard is 396s were dogs compared to most other GM configurations, I love GM and any wrong can be righted but if worried DYNO could be the right cfm carb, fuel pump, intake, lots of little stuff, any number of things can make a turd out of a diamond. Good luck and send 57ford home on the trailer 1st round.
402, stock pistons, 1966 small port heads, torker intake manifold, L88 1st design solid lifter cam, 650 DP holley, street headers, recurved distributor, 3400 lb O/T car, 373 rear, 4 spd, would pull wheels on a hard launch.......
My research for my own 350 hp 396 (402) shows closed chamber heads in 69 and 70 with volumes of 97 or 98 cc. If you use 118 cc chambers you should lose 1.5 points of compression, which would drop you from say 10.5 to 9.0. The winters manifold is a dual plane which should be ok on the street. I would think the cam in your engine would make it lazy at 9.0 CR. I've been thinking about Edelbrock Performer heads with a small Lunati hyd roller for my 396.
I guess if you think 375 horsepower is a slug, then it's a slug. You can have a lot of fun with that much power
Absolutely NOTHING wrong with a 396-325 hp engine. I had two, both outstanding engines. Ask Val Hedworth. Super stock record holder with a nova and quadrajet. Lippy
A friend of mine who is a local high performance engine builder uses close chamber oval port heads on most of his own race engines . Those engines are producing something in the order of 550 to 600 horse and they rev like a wild thing. Its all in the velocity as he explained to me . Rob.
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