How many dollars worth of power do you have at your disposal to spend?
500 horse NA from a 400 block can be achieved with the right rebuild combo and heads. I feel it would be wiser to stroke it into a 455 or more if you want it halfway streetable. But for racing you can leave it shorter stroke down toward 400 ci if you're willing to rev it up like a buzz saw every time you run it.
You building yourself or hiring someone to build it? If hiring someone, talk to the builder and be brutally honest (mostly to yourself) about your goals and objectives...
Ok, this [pic] is just the beginning of what it cost, and takes, to get 500HP. Add another 75% on that, throw in machining, and I did all the work. Add ??? for labour. You can get 500 HP and more out of a 400, but it costs $$$$ and may not be good on the street. But if that's what you want, go for it. I don't want to be the only one with more in the engine than the car will ever be worth. Fun though!
Ok, this [pic] is just the beginning of what it cost, and takes, to get 500HP. Add another 75% on that, throw in machining, and I did all the work. Add ??? for labour. You can get 500 HP and more out of a 400, but it costs $$$$ and may not be good on the street. But if that's what you want, go for it. I don't want to be the only one with more in the engine than the car will ever be worth. Fun though!
omg ... lol Good Lord that right there is a TON of money and work.
It is alot of money but everything is expensive now a days...so wat u guys recommend I do hp and torque? Somehing that I wont be outrun by street muscle cars
It is alot of money but everything is expensive now a days...so wat u guys recommend I do hp and torque? Somehing that I wont be outrun by street muscle cars
I'm seeing a lot of new muscle cars that have 800 + hp and a lot of new motors being built with 800 + hp. They are sinking 10-12 thousand in engines to ride on the street.
My thinking would be if you don't want to be out ran by street muscle cars you will need to get more then 500+. I would think you would want 800+ HP with close to 800 torque.
But I would say we are talking about new create engine, tran, rear end if you don't want to be out ran.
That's correct, not just the engine. More HP means stronger clutch, U-joints, rear, axles, suspension, tranny, etc. You won't outrun anyone with 500HP under the hood and a twisted driveshaft beating the hell out of the bottom of your car. Why not just match gears with what you have, enjoy the ride and take the racing off the street and onto the track?
I think most Pontiac engines can be woke-up with moderate changes for a more enjoyable ride without going hog wild. Why not contact one of the crate engine guys and tell himm what you are looking for and get some recommendations? I've found one guy just as helpful when I needed a distributor gear as another when I needed a rotating assembly. I didn't plan on making more power and spending all the money, it started as a rear seal change and the guts were so trashed I had to re-build. I was happy with the car 150HP ago. But, [censored] happens.
You won't outrun anyone with 500HP under the hood and a twisted driveshaft beating the hell out of the bottom of your car.
Well, this would be amusing for the rest of us on a certain level.
1968 400 Coupe, verdoro green, black vinyl top 1968 400 Convertible, verdoro green, black top 1971 Trans Am, cameo white, auto 1970 Buick Skylark Custom Convertible 350-4(driver)
I'm seeing a lot of new muscle cars that have 800 + hp and a lot of new motors being built with 800 + hp. They are sinking 10-12 thousand in engines to ride on the street.
800+ HP for the street? There is a saying about money and its fool...
1968 400 Coupe, verdoro green, black vinyl top 1968 400 Convertible, verdoro green, black top 1971 Trans Am, cameo white, auto 1970 Buick Skylark Custom Convertible 350-4(driver)
Something that I wont be outrun by street muscle cars
I would suggest something that goes vertical before going forward. It being more practical than an airplane, less landing area required.
Last edited by wovenweb; 08/21/1311:39 PM.
1968 400 Coupe, verdoro green, black vinyl top 1968 400 Convertible, verdoro green, black top 1971 Trans Am, cameo white, auto 1970 Buick Skylark Custom Convertible 350-4(driver)
Well, this would be amusing for the rest of us on a certain level. [/quote]
Well maybe but I don't think I'd get too much enjoyment seeing a FGF member on the side of the road with a trashed driveshaft. Then again if he just blew my doors off?
Cali, Here's the thing, no matter how much money you spend you will never be the fastest car. There will always be someone with more money to go faster. It's just a reality of life. Just be content with having a nice looking,nice sounding piece of muscle car history.
Having a 400 HP motor built for the street is MUCH different than these guys paying big money for 800 HP. They reach their power at 7000 rpm. At 2500 rpm they have nothing. Think about how you are realistically going to drive. I have a 4 speed, I want my grunt at 1500-2500 rpm and die out at 5200-5600 rpm. I'm at that high range for a split second until I shift. Why build a drag motor for the street. 800 HP is great for bragging rights, but your cruising at 30 mph next to them, mash it, leave them in the rear view mirror, they're still reving to find their sweet spot. Good night nurse.
All that horsepower is useless if you can't get it to the ground. I have about 5k in my motor and it makes somewhere around 400hp. The rearend in my car is a chebby 10 bolt with 3.42 gears. Not bragging but in my 56 years I have only driven one car that was substantially quicker. Right now with the redline radials on the rear most of the hp goes up in smoke when I jump on it anyway.
As my wife says "It makes my eyes get wide when you hammer it". LOL
Friend had a 400 with #48 heads and factory ram air 3 cam and used a performer RPM intake. Car ran like a beast and was very driveable, actually was his daily driver. Ran mid to low 12's at the track.
All that horsepower is useless if you can't get it to the ground. I have about 5k in my motor and it makes somewhere around 400hp. The rearend in my car is a chebby 10 bolt with 3.42 gears. Not bragging but in my 56 years I have only driven one car that was substantially quicker. Right now with the redline radials on the rear most of the hp goes up in smoke when I jump on it anyway.
As my wife says "It makes my eyes get wide when you hammer it". LOL
My car has almost the same setup as Larry's car. I would be happy to race any "real world" street car.... It may not be the fastest car on the road but wouldn't give up without a fight!!!! Put together a good running engine with a good transmission, nice posi 3.42,3.55,3.90 go find you a ford to play with.... JOE
Gears in the rear is the key!!! A $10k motor goes nowhere fast with 2.56 gears. spend $5k on motor and throw $1,000 into a decent rear end build. Can you do any of the work properly by yourself? Will save you a good bit of money.
All that horsepower is useless if you can't get it to the ground. I have about 5k in my motor and it makes somewhere around 400hp. The rearend in my car is a chebby 10 bolt with 3.42 gears. Not bragging but in my 56 years I have only driven one car that was substantially quicker. Right now with the redline radials on the rear most of the hp goes up in smoke when I jump on it anyway.
As my wife says "It makes my eyes get wide when you hammer it". LOL
My car has almost the same setup as Larry's car. I would be happy to race any "real world" street car.... It may not be the fastest car on the road but wouldn't give up without a fight!!!! Put together a good running engine with a good transmission, nice posi 3.42,3.55,3.90 go find you a ford to play with.... JOE
I agree. I am sure there are faster cars out there but there sure aren't many. An none that are as sexy!
You ask some very simplistic questions with complex answers...we need MUCH more info than you've provided to really help you out here...
Whether a "rebuilt 455" is cheaper depends on whether you buy a 455 that's built to be fast...or one that's built to be slow. The smog era 455's of 1975/1976 were rated at a whopping 200 hp...about the same as many 4 cylinder Hondas built today. So you could very well get a "rebuilt 455" with those specs, and end up with a slower car than your current 400 already is. So would you rather be challenged to a race with your 1969 400 which is likely rated near 330 hp (if original), or a 1975 455 which is rated at 200 hp?
There are a WHOLE lotta 455's out there that are slow as dogs. And there are also a bunch that have been built to put out 500 or 800 hp or more and will pucker yer bunghole real fastlike...
Recognize that a 455 is nothing but a stroked 400. Same basic block and even the same basic cylinder bore sizes. In fact many 400 blocks (not all) are arguably better bases to start with than 455's for higher HP builds...400s are stronger than the 455 due to smaller crank journals/more meat & webbing around the crank area. 400's are easily stroked out to 455 or larger on a routine basis.
So 400 or 455 makes no difference in speed. It's all about $$$$$$$$$$ invested in the motor.
We still don't even know what you already have here. Presumably a 400 engine. Original or replacement? Which heads are on it? Compression ratio? What carb/intake/exhaust? Which trans? What is your rear end ratio? What kind of condition/state of tune is your current ride in?
A WHOLE lotta vintage muscle cars are running around on the road today with extremely poor and slow tuneups for today's pump gas. Yours might be one of them. You might gain 50 to 100 hp out of what you currently have under the hood by giving $400 to a knowledgeable tuner/dyno operator and letting him fix the problems you don't even realize you have. And then again you might have an engine in very poor condition that needs a rebuild anyway, or a driveline that is mismatched to whatever engine you have. Or maybe your particular 400 was been gutted out of a 1975/1976-ish car, and is rated at 185 hp instead of 330 of the original 1969???
And maybe your car is just running on 6 cylinders?
Determine your objectives, know what you have to start with, set a budget, and find someone knowledgeable who can tell you exactly what they can provide you within your budget, given whatever you have to start with.
Thats true.. but right now its slow extremely slow thats y I say I want 500 hp car but im sure ill be happy with something less but since im never rode any other muscle car I dont know whats good for me but ofcourse I wouldnt mind a faster car...ithink its a nin posi not sure of the gears.....ima get a posi but not sure when
