Technical Inches why so important?

Nostalgia top fuel cars have rules to follow to keep the costs down. Most modern big inch pro mod cars are pretty much rules free.

 

Equal cubic inch Chevy SBC could be a couple hundred HP difference and look pretty similar externally. And sometimes the one that looks less impressive might be making a good deal more HP with the same cubic inches.
My Austin gasser runs around 375 HP, and looks like this:


My '39 Chev is the same SBC 350, but a late model roller motor, with more cam, and better heads than the old camel humps on my Austin's motor. Doesn't look intimidating, but makes around 420 HP, and 419 ft. lbs. torque.


Most guys look at my Austin and always assume it's the higher HP engine, as it just looks the part. No way to know what internals are in either.

 

Most of the time we like to mention "Cubic Horsepower" it is just normally considered easier to make a big mill move a small car without much effort.

I have target sizes for some motors. For example I have a soft spot for 396" Chebbys or 427s. That said I normally build small block Chebbys for me. Given my options I prefer small blocks that are over square, IE bore heavy. So 327, 302 are majic numbers for me. I do own a 355 that I call the Timex, that I like real well. I would punch it ton but I got a good combo so why bother?

Do I care if anyone knows what I am running? My go to when I am asked is, "I dunno just whatever they come with." No one ever presses me on it.

Fords? I like 390s for FE motors. I like 429s for the later block. SBF? I like two of them really well, a high winding 302 gets my juices moving and a stout 351 Cleveland works for me too.

I did not answer the question? Probably not. I guess we just want to show 'em and see if we measure up.

 

@1971BB427 I agree there are some engines that look like a lot of power but don't produce a lot.
I'm gathering parts for a bbc with 8-71 blower but not expecting much over 500 hp.
I want reliable and drivable.
Even so , the original question does it matter what size engine. Will I tell them 454 or 496 or 396. That doesn't matter unless rules for racing come into play.

 

Hay man... how many Cubic Horse Torques does that thang got ??

 

LOL we were at a party when we were kids and the young ladies were talking about men being such liars. 4"=16" was the common thread of the conversation. Mrs Pk'n'Beaner said that I was not a liar because I said mine was only 15".

I think the real reason that size matters is that you really cannot drive a fence post with a tack hammer.

 

It's a way for people to ask about your car. They may or may not understand the answer.
Agree that a nasty small block will outperform a smog era big block.

There's only a few people in this world who's opinion / approval that I want / value. I try not to dwell on what the rest of them say.

 

My experience, especially at the typical outdoor car shows is they ask about your engine and half way through the answer it has morphed into telling you all about their engine.

 

its funny. My 355 dynoed 406 at the wheels in '97. I am backward as hell I just consider it to be a healthy street motor. It is not fancy at all, I try to keep it clean.

I think its funny, lots of people seem to strive to be "cool" and for whatever reason they think that what they have make them that way. Now do not get me wrong here, there are some excellent cars in this thread. Several that I would be proud to own.

(note none of this is directed at @1971BB427 or anyone in particular) Cool has never been an issue to me, I am a dorque and I know that I am a dorque, nothing cool about me and I don't care. I am all about having fun, if I am having a good time what anyone thinks is just what they think.

 

Yeah, pretty common on any topic, people are generally self centered

 

Will it cost me a lot less rebuilding a 354 HEMI than a 392?

 

depends on the condition of either. Both being in the same condition cost should be about the same.

 

You'll never hear me utter in a positive tone that my 57 pickup has a 307, it's such a dismal combination of numbers

 

there was a time that a 307 was a respected a hot rod motor. A stroked 283. The stock ones have several hurtles, deck height and cam shaft being the worse offenders. They do not compete well these days but properly built they can be a good period motor. of course you have to assume that you are talking to someone who has a clue about our history. Not likely gonna happen at the local hot dog stand.

 

On the labor, no.

On the parts, probably, and that depends on your hunting and bargaining skills.

I cannot find a complete 392 to start with for under $3000.

I bought two complete 354's for $1200. That's an $1,800 savings, on the first engine, and there is a bonus engine too!

To add to the matter, I spent $600 to get a manifold, pair of heads, and a complete 354 rotating assembly, so I have about everything but a block to build a third 354, and I am in it for $1,800. If I can manage to find a block for less than $1,200 I will have three 354's to build, for less than the price of a 392.

BTW, does anyone have a 354 block?!

 

Brian was looking for one a few years ago and couldn't find much out there...

 

I could use a short-bell 331, if that's all I can get.

 

When the engine is in the early planning stages did the designer know what the C I Displacement was going to be? Chevy had a 350 and Ford had a 351 by design or just what happened when the pencils were put down?

 

I think Chevy made the 350 on purpose, they chose 3.48" stroke instead of 3.5". Ford 351 is really a 352, but they had to use a different number so folks wouldn't confuse it with the FE.

 

Ford didn't have a problem in late 67/68 when they grabbed GM's shirtails on the 302.

 

There was a lot of competition in the '60s and part of that was keeping up with the Jonses. Especially with Ford and GM. Each one tried to either one up the other or keep up with the other. They were forever trying to keep the public confused.

They were both still really active racing as well and sometimes engine design had to do with racing class then it trickled down to the public. So yes cubic inch displacement was not by accident.

 

I thought that 302 was a Trans Am requirement?

 

That’s exactly what it was, a max cubic inch of 305. No shirttails involved.

 

305 cubic inch limit but the Z/28 was there before the Boss.

 

It's bad enough that there was a 351W, a 351C, and a 351M. That was always fun working in a parts store in the '80s when all the customer could say was "It's a 351".

 

Ford had a 302 tunnel port before the Boss. The Boss 302 was a late 68 introduction.

 

so not only are the cubes important, but so is the first claim to the cubes

 

Back in my racecar days, early ‘70’s, it was imperative to paint the cubic inch displacement of the “Mill” on the hood in large enough script so someone sitting in the Uecker seats could read it in dim light.

My friend Kenny said it was an unwritten rule in the book of racing. He said it was also a psychological scare tactic for the competition when they saw that you had a lot of cubes. Kenny said the only thing that scared other racecar drivers was a lot of cubes and their wife. Maybe carnival workers too, he wasn’t sure.

Moselli

 

The drag racer's equivalent of a sock in your pants.