Projects Switched from 750 Holley to 600 Edelbrock

George, I have two 660's laying around. Unfortunately they were off a big block boat and have that coating (epoxy?) that a lot of marine use carbs had back in the day to protect them from the salt. Send a PM if interested and I can take some pics. You can have them for what you think they are worth.

 

pm sent!

 

Aw geez... Now you're giving away all the secrets. Though I kind of learned about that from working with AVS Carters. Damn, now I'm giving away secrets...

 

I would like to hear more about this combination you are running ... That's seriously impressive!

 

Well, a 2210lb car has a lot to do with it, as does a 700R4 setup to lock the converter in both 3rd and 4th. Properly matched rear gears and radial tires help too.

The whole plan was to build a small V8, with a lightweight rotating assembly, and tweak it for more efficiency. Performance was not a primary concern. It also had to be fairly cheap.

The engine started life as a lowly L03 305, from a 1989 Camaro. It was a low-mileage replacement engine, from a wrecked car, that I got for free.

I have a couple sets of aluminum heads that I could have used, but I decided not to (had to sell them to pay bills). I wanted to keep the ports relatively small, for best velocity at lower RPM's. I ported and polished the stock heads, cc'ing the combustion chambers in the process. I port-matched it to the Edelbrock intake ($40 at the swap meet). I had my machinist take 0.020" off the mating surface.

Up top are self-aligning full roller 1.6:1 rockers (traded for a 24-pack with a buddy who bought the wrong ones), with roller lifters below. I ran single roller timing chain to reduce drag. The rotating assembly has been balanced to within a gram.

I kept the stock pressure, stock volume oil pump, to keep parasitic loss down. That is pumping, if you can believe it, Mobil 1 0w-20.

The cam is my own brew. The kind folks over at Clay Smith Cams were nice enough to hear me out, and then grind me what I wanted. The lift and duration is not what would impress anyone on this board. Suffice to say, it is just under the maximum that stock valve springs can handle. What makes the difference is the LSA. Most SBC cams are ground at 110-113º. I had my bumpstick ground at 108º. It has also been installed 4º advanced in relationship to the crank. The idle is just a little chunky-style. Hot rod enough.

Feeding the mix is an Edelbrock 1403 (500cfm, electric choke, $50 at the swap meet), relentlessly tuned to within a gnat's ass hair of too lean, via a wideband O2 sensor. Spark is from a 1969 vintage Delco window distributor, rebuilt, with a Pertronix Ignitor II. I messed around with spark plug heat range for so long that I cannot remember where I stopped. I think that they are 2 levels colder that stock. This was an attempt to draw some heat out of the chambers, from the very lean mixture. It does run at about 205º.

I even removed the casting marks and ID that would give away what the engine is. The valve covers are repro Corvette, over adapters painted the same color as the heads. Nobody has been able to ID it yet in the wild. It's just another SBC.

Exhaust is a set of baffled lakester headers, but they may go away in favor of something less deafening, should I ever have this vehicle in the sun again.

How much power does it make? Don't know, don't care. I have already lost my license a few times. I am over going stupid fast. I did go 90 in it once. It will do a decent burnout, even with the TruTrac.