Engine build- need advice

[Elmo89]

Hi all! I am getting ready to start on an engine for my 69 r/t. First and foremost, it is NOT a race car so I won’t be revving to the moon.That being said, I am shooting for high horsepower. Would love to hit the 700 mark, but willing to sacrifice hp for manners.
Plan consists of a 440 stroked to a 520, trickflow heads (240 or 270?), roller cam( hydraulic preferably) a good intake and good headers.
My questions are:
What is maximum compression using the trickflow heads and pump gas. 11:1?

I understand hood clearance is an issue. Intake suggestions? Max wedge for the 270’s

Thank you everyone!

 

[4mulas]

If it’s not a ‘race car’ why are you arbitrarily shooting for a specific 700 horsepower mark. One horse per cube will give you plenty of power and lots of torque that will give the good street manners yours looking for, and cost you a pile less.
Many will chime in here and start telling you what to do to achieve your goal km sure, but don’t forget to ask yourself what you really want out of your car and how you want to use it, then build to that.

 

[IQ52]

I suggest you sacrifice about 250 horsepower.

 

[vintage chromoly]

Have you ever driven / maintained a 700 HP street car?

 

[70chall440]

One word "Hemi"... if you are shooting for 700hp cubic inches are your friend, but that said if you are not racing it you are going down the wrong path. Making the 700 is one thing (not a cheap thing) but then there is the trans, body stiffening, drive shaft, rear end and bigger brakes. A lot of work to say "I have 700hp" for no real good reason. A good built engine with the right components should net you around 500hp, put a supercharger on and get around 650, throw some NOS at it and you are there...

 

[66Satellite47]

I also think if you get 500 HP you will need a real good working suspension and real good tires, real good exhaust system. A 500" motor can easily get 500HP with a fairly moderate cam in the low/mid .500 range. My 500/440" motor with low .500 lift solid cam, EDE Performer, Torker/850DP, 4.10 gear was hard on the 325/50 BFG Street/Drag radials.

 

[PRHeads]

For a car that, from the sounds of it, will never see the race track.......let the way the car will be used, the rear gear ratio, converter stall speed you can live with, etc...... guide you in your parts selections.
Not some arbitrary hp figure.

Old school N/A builds making 700+/- hp aren’t all that pleasant if you plan on actually putting some miles on the car.

Making 700hp the old school way isn’t that hard with what’s available these days........just make sure you really understand what that type of build actually behaves like.

700hp with total street civility is Hellcrate territory.

 

[diesel_lv]

No, 11:1 is not pump gas compatible. 10.5:1 barely is on 91 octane. Is 700hp at the crank or tires? I've got 610 crank out of 496". Will idle at 850, no lope purs n great street manners. To get that at the tires.... I'm sure I'd be sacrificing a lot of streetability. Now, if you have room for turbos, go down in compression and a 400 hp motor w 14lbs of boost will be about 800hp and extremely streetable.

 

[SlinktRR]

Brakes! Don't forget those.

I think 550-600hp is easier/cheaper goal. Stroker, some sort of alum heads and .600 lift. I manage 12" of vac with solid flat tappet and can go mild/wild with a gear change in 8 3/4. If you have a 727 that will need to be upgraded internally.

 

[wagonman]

Go to 440 Source and look at their stroker kits. Lots of info on Compression ratios with different CC heads and piston choices. I would shoot for 10-1 with as much quench as you can get. My 470 with Trick flow 240s and a fairly mild solid cam got 550 HP and 565 Tourque that started at 2500 and fell off at 4500. Lots of grunt is what I would shoot for. It runs on pump swill too and is very streetable. Not that you have to buy from them but it is a good place for info.

 

[Elmo89]

That is my logic behind it, a build similar to yours, yet bigger(520). I am a firm believer that if you are not making at least 1hp per cube, something is wrong. In your case, you are doing 1.17, which is great! Multiply that by 520.. =608. I would totally sacrifice the 92 hp from my goal for manners. To answer some questions, I have had radical street cars before, including an old mustang with a 393 stroker pushing 550. Super radical… and after about 5 minutes of driving, I’d be over it. It wanted you to either be on it hard or idle… no in between. Combine that with a ceramic clutch…
I know going it “old school” such as dual double pumpers on a tunnel Ram etc etc may do great at a track, but try driving it in traffic or a parking lot… no thank you! However, I know technology has changed quite a bit. Better heads, better valve train, efi… This is one the reasons for going with a larger stroker. Make more power out of the sheer cubes vs over camming and revving to the moon.
That said, the charger will have extensive brake and suspension upgrades.

 

[Hemirunner]

One way to have your cake and eat it too is with power adders. I know the “old school only” contingent shun them but a 500hp build with manners can be an animal at the touch of a button. A Hellcat engine would just be a Housecat without that blower!

 

[66Satellite47]

You sure can add a blower/turbo or NOX & get power. Hope you know what you are doing with those. Again the rest of the car package needs to be thought out.
A pretty mild 500" motor with a fairly mild cam gives you plenty of torque and power to do most anything you want on the street. Where can you use the Hellcat power?

 

[rikkitik]

You sure can add a blower/turbo or NOX & get power. Hope you know what you are doing with those. Again the rest of the car package needs to be thought out.
A pretty mild 500" motor with a fairly mild cam gives you plenty of torque and power to do most anything you want on the street. Where can you use the Hellcat power?

Sitting next to my '71 Challenger is a vehicle that, more or less, fits the "well thought out" description (IMHO).
'02 Z06, Vortech supercharger 628rwhp/536tq. 3100lbs, with "pretty decent" handling & brakes. Is it a fun ride? Hell yes!
Where can you use it? Almost nowhere.
Would I want that kind of power in a "street" B/E body? Hell no. Not without MAJOR upgrades. And as someone mentioned, getting that kind of power to "hook", IS a serious issue in itself.
A nicely built 6 Pack (TF240's, SFT, 10.3 comp) is plenty of fun too. Even that "lowly" combo needs DOT's to hook decently. And, about high horsepower, "hooking", and the "uni-body" platform.......
Not saying you shouldn't "go for it", but give a bit of thought to some of the opinions offered, and to the overall "package" you want to end up with.

 

[Moms68]

 

[Cojohnso1]

700 HP? It needs to be driven as 700 HP. That means flexing it. You can get away with extended mild running with a turbo'd 700 HP. But N/A? I might consider a 550 HP build? But that's me?

 

[SlinktRR]

I wouldn't bother with 11:1 on pump 93 for a street engine. I have TF240 making 600hp/625lbft on 499ci, 10:1 compression. I recently got bad gas from Exxon of all places and started detonating so bad even backing off the timing didn't help. Had to put octane boost in the bowls/tank and then blended shell 93. I can't imagine how it would have faired with 11:1. The engine builders on the board can comment but me personally I would stay at 10:1 static and just get the cam and cylinder pressures right if you are at the mercy of pump gas. Again, 500-600 hp is the sweet spot.

 

[Cojohnso1]

I wouldn't bother with 11:1 on pump 93 for a street engine. I have TF240 making 600hp/625lbft on 499ci, 10:1 compression. I recently got bad gas from Exxon of all places and started detonating so bad even backing off the timing didn't help. Had to put octane boost in the bowls/tank and then blended shell 93. I can't imagine how it would have faired with 11:1. The engine builders on the board can comment but me personally I would stay at 10:1 static and just get the cam and cylinder pressures right if you are at the mercy of pump gas. Again, 500-600 hp is the sweet spot.

At 11:1 you certainly need some quench support. Which is too late if heads and pistons are already in hand? (Unless one has some serious machining skills) That is well beyond my skillset.