i was wondering what the biggest engine possible is for a 3rd gen camaro. without heavy mods. all generally stock mounts and keeping the bay somewhat normal. what engine would you guys recomend for getting big horsepower and good 1/4mi. will an ls1 go into a 3rd gen easily? can a 427 be shoved in there?

 

That depends
If you thinks that to put a Big Block you have to modify a lot of things (I think its pretty difficult) but can be done you should put the biggest engine ( a 670 I think is the bigest crate motor I have seen)

If you are talking about the Bigest Small Block Chevy. That also depend if you whant a stock block or a tall deck one.

The thing is (And Im shure you will get this from someone else) you need to know how fast you want to the 1/4 mile, then you chosse how many HP-Torque you will need (I have seen some calculators that du just that) and then consider how much money you will need to make that power, the modifications you wil need to put it to the ground, If you want to keep your car legal, It will be a race only car or It will be used on the street.

You will need to be shure of those things and then make a plan on how you will make all the upgrades (all at one time, or gradually).

Ex. You want an engine with 600hp to make the 1/4 at about 11-10 sec (That depends a lot on the traction, chasis, how is the torque curve) or you want a engine with 600hp potential like a 400 (or more Small Block) and then add a supercharger, or you will try and make it with a 383, there is a lot of variables. So I recomend you put some goals on paper and try to stick to those (If you cant´s couse of time, money, then you will make a compromise and end with possible diferent results)

 

Plan??? We are supposed to have a plan???
Thats where I messed up! Was gonna do a simple engine switch, 400 Poncho in 87 Camaro... Sorta went to "Pro Stock". Oh well... So much for putting plates on her...lol.

 

434 SBC is usually the biggest small block built. It's not cheap to make.

540 BBC is the biggest BBC that's still considered a simple drop in. Bigger BBC engines are out the but they're based on tall deck blocks that will cause more interferance problems.

Going to either requires modifications such as hood clearance and large headers to make them work their best.

A 600hp engine won't run 12's if you can't get the power to the ground. You need to build the rest of the car up to handle the extra HP also.

 

540 thats huge displacement!

 

4.500" bore, 4.25" stroke

 

in Jegs that have the 632ci bbc with like 925hp. and in this issue of chevy i was reading there was a page that had nothing but crate motors and there was a 555ci with like 955hp. looks pretty sweet

 

Anything bigger than 540 is done with a tall deck block. That extra .400" length to the cylinder makes a lot more CID.

555 = 4.560" x 4.250"
572 = 4.500" x 4.500"
632 = 4.600" x 4.750"

These are all tall deck, big bore, special aftermarket blocks. It's possible to even make an engine around 700 CID. It's probably around $50,000 just for the aluminum block.

 

yea Pat Musie (sp) has a 700ci alum. bbc making over 2000hp on 3 stages of nitrous. i think its 3 stages

 

I have seen a 468 small block. Not very reliable, but cool as hell...

 

Hmm...Not sure about the biggest, I've seen a 638 in a Nova. Although, if you wanna make a lot of power but still be streetable, a 406sbc is always a good choice, as far as bbc goes, how about a 540??? :rockon:


Tim:rockon:

 

The only reason I didn't put a stroker crank into this new engine and make a 496 is that the heads will be on the small end of what I would need and so will the tiny Hooker Supercomp headers. The 1 7/8" tubes and 3" collectors will be just enough for the 468.

Going to a full race 540 requires parts that I just can't afford at this time. Pretty well nothing I have now could be used on a 540 including my block.

 

how many inches larger in length and width is a big block 454 vs. a say a 350? just trying to gauge the sizes here

 

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/T...62/engine.html

 

If your bracket racing and want all the addvantages you could build a 525-550 inch small block. Big blocks are nice with gobbs of torque. I've priced out a 496 for 2,800 short block with nitrided crank. I imagine you woant something that would fit with the least amount of modifications (and thats still alot), I would go 419 or 427 small block (you could go 434 but who wants to spend all that money making that when for the same price you could have a 525 small blcok). 419's aren't that much more expensive than 383's but they have awesome torque. Which is enough to give any car on the street a run for its money. I've seen them in the 9's but you probably want something more streetable.

 

my 406 was a very easy engine to put together other than minor rod/cam clearances. I love it so far tons of power, cant wait until i get my new heads. If you do decide to go with a 400 block there are a few things you must consider: the starter on 400's use a stager mount bolt pattern and if you are running a 5 speed with this you must use the smaller diameter flywheel and it has to be externally blanaced. So now you have a 153 tooth externally balanced flywheel, and you need a stagered mount bolt pattern starter good luck finding one. I ended up drilling and tapping my block to use my GM mini starter. As for why you need the 153 tooth flywheel~ the 168 tooth ones will not fit into a stock t5 bellhousing, so i got my 153 tooth 350 flywheel balanced to my motor. Just a few things you have to think about before hand but it is all worth it in the end. I can not really see putting a big block into our cars and driving it on the street, the amount of suspension work/rearend/transmission and all the other modifications really do not seem worth it. Althought there is no replacement for displacement

 

go with a zz 502 from GMPP. it's got all the pieces you need, makes 500 horsepower and will simply bolt in (unless you want to run headers, with which you must modify florrpans and such)

just make sure to put in a good cooling system.

and don't try to run an HEI unless you want to modify your firewall.