I know this is a 3rd gen forum but maybe you guys will still like this. After rebuilding the engine with some magic tweaks, I finally got the car back on the dyno for some pulls. To say the least we were all blown away by how much power this beast put down. The build specs are in the description of the video. Enjoy

 

That 396 sounds amazing. Is it one you put together or Ellwein? The results of your 396 make me feel even dumber for not going to a 415 in a Dart SHP block when I built my 383. The difference was minimal in $$. ~$800 would have gotten me an aftermarket block 415 rather than a GM 880 block 383. Then again, my 383 as it sits has enough power to smack the speed limiter in not all that much distance in a 6,500lbs vehicle.

 

First let me say I’ve been following your threads for years and you do great work bro keep it going. Yes I built this engine myself if you have instagram check out my videos and follow me please This car has come a long ways…when I first built this 396ci ten years ago it was only able to turn out 411whp…after many many tweaks and mods we finally broke the 500 mark…after all the blood sweat and tears I couldn’t be happier

 

You have a sweet car and a really engine. Adding over 100 hp to the tires has to feel great.

I am sure some of my stuff could make alot more power if it were in something lightweight where I had freedom to really up the cam and induction sides.

 

I just think it’s so much more impressive to build big power with what you got…everyone now a days just does LS swaps cuz it’s easy to make power…even the ford guys just gave up and do LS swaps it’s sad. Years back I built up a 355 TBI for my buddies 91 RS. We were able to crack 320whp but the factory computer would make the engine hit a brick wall. I’m still looking for a 3rd gen to build the TPI I’ve always wanted…396ci with a Super Ram intake

 

Engine sounds great. What exhaust are you running and do I hear boost? Or is that sound coming from something else?

 

True dual with Borlas….All Motor pump gas 10.7 static compression…I think it’s the rollers you hear

 

Excellent. I figured that was the case. What size duals? 3"? How is the drone inside the car when cruising?

Didn't mean to edit your reply. Fat fingers on my phone.

 

I know that one too. Try making power out of this intake setup, lol.

 

Dual 3” the drone is not bad at all and the sound it makes when its screaming past 6k is unmatched

fast355
Late 90s vortech intake YES! I love it
What’s that in?

 

Hmm, i make the same power and have 3" duals as well and the drone makes my bones vibrate. Are your Borlas the bullet style?

 

My 1997 Express 1-ton swapped conversion van. I did recently swap it back to the marine version of the same intake. I cannot tell that it did much if anything power wise though. Using the same MAF the frequency it is reading roughly the same all the up to nearly 6,000 rpm. I ported that stock base and the marine base. Both had a BBK TB matched to the plenum opening. I had a 48 lb/hr AUS spider in it that I swapped for the 41# Ford 6.2L injectors that are in it now used in the 2011-2014 Raptors as well as the heavy duty gas trucks. I am re-using that spider on another L31 that I just put together that I ported another base for use with aftermarket cast iron Vortecs. The base on the Express was ported out to match the ~210cc ports in the heads and that base would have had a bad mismatch on the other engine.

I had 3" duals on my Hemi Ram with a X-pipe. It sounded awesome up toward 7K. Sounded wicked with open cut outs too.

 

very cool! i have the 396 from the thunderchicken firebird that was in gmhitech performance. it made a little over 500 whp rattling the moly off the rings on pump gas. (there was a miscalculation when the pistons were ordered, and compression was at least a full point higher than expected)
i recently rebuilt it but have not made use of it yet.

 

Must be nice to have 15% or so driveline loss rather than ~25%. 415 cubes would have equaled that out a bit for me. Then again I think I could pull the body off, put a seat on the frame and it would still weigh close to what a F-car weighs. My rear end alone is nearly 600 lbs with the drums. 4L85E is over 250 lbs. Puts my driveline at like 1,400 lbs.

 

I can’t tell you how many times I watched the Thunderchicken videos…just day dreaming building my car that fast lol…the most impressive thing about that build is it was making that power with the Optispark hahaha

 

You need that off idle low end torque to move that big boy…have you ever considered dropping the rear gears a little? Maybe 3.23…I know it’ll hurt freeway mileage but……🤷🏻‍♂️

 

My 97 has 3.73s but has a 30.5" tall tire. I have considered 4.10s or 4.56s. 3rd gear at 70 mph and 2,900 rpm is a real sweet gear for towing. If I do anything in the future it will be a 6L90E swap. That 4.03 first gear would give me more torque multiplication than even a 5.13 rear gear with the 4L85E. I would swap the trans before I regeared again. 6L90E in 6th would also put me just over 1,900 rpm at 70 mph and 2,200 rpm at 80 mph. The current 4L85E with a 3.73 gear has a ratio spread of 9.25 to 2.80. The 6L90E with 3.73s has a ratio spread from 15.02 to 2.49. A 4L85E with a 5.13s has a ratio spread of 12.72 to 3.85. What that means is a 6L90E with 3.73s has more torque to get rolling in 1st gear than a 4L85E with 5.13s yet cruises lower rpm on the highway than a 4L85E with 3.73s. It is a win almost everything except perhaps absolute strength, which the 4L85E is a bit stronger when it comes to handling torque. I know I have seen it claimed by GM that the 6L transmissions gave a nearly 10% overall fuel economy boost on the trucks that had them and something like 7% quicker acceleration 0-60. Most of the 6spd trucks were also geared taller than their 4spd counterparts. A regular 5.3L Silverado for example came with 3.08s unless it had the 3.42s of the max-tow package. Keeping the same axle ratio, I have now with the 6L90E in theory should show less in the way of fuel economy but more acceleration gains than GM saw. I would put money on being able to nearly directly bolt in a 6L90E from a Duramax van, reflash the TCM, add the external interface controller and bolt in the driveshaft from a 6L90E van. My hesitation on the 6L90E is implementing torque management with the DBC P59. I do not know if the controller interface has a way to read the request from the TCM. I could switch to 58x CNP and DBW using an E38/E40 which would eliminate the need for a $1000 controller but that greatly complicates things.

 

Nice numbers. AI heads and cam are no joke, they got the sbc lt1 figured out well

those are similar numbers to my buddys old 406 miniram t56 build with old ported afr 210’s and a 242/248 solid roller

 

AI and Lloyd Elliot both have them figured out. My 383 build is loosely based off an Ellwein build using Lloyds heads and cam. The Ellwein build made 510 hp and 520 tq at the crank with peak torque about 3,500.

 

i did away with the opti and put a 24x setup on it. plan was to swap it into my '93 z28 that i swapped an LS1 into back in 2001. hahahaha!!
new setup will be 398", Trick flow 212cc 21 deg. heads, 24x/25x hydro roller with solid lifters, 14:1, single plane on e85.

 

I thought about going with solid lifters also…didn’t go through with it but maybe I’ll try it when I swap intake manifolds…I have an Edelbrock RPM LT4 that I need to port and swap

 

only reason i am going solid lifters is i had a brand new set of morel drop ins that i never used that were sitting around for years. when i got this engine, it was missing the lifters, so i just went with the morels i had instead of buying a new set of fancy hydro ones. i am still tossing around the idea of putting the original ported LT1 intake/monoblade back on it... i know who has it and i might be able to sweet talk them out of it...