First of all, the question was about a $6000 engine to get him there, he stated clearly in an earlier post that that did not include the car mods. Second of all, a thousand dollars for block prep is extremely high, at least in my area. and lastly the idea that a 390 stroker motor with indy LA-X heads fully ported and polished BY THEM, with the proper cam, intake, exhaust and yes ignition would only be a 400hp mill I think is silly. Not to mention that that also didn't include the 400hp Edelbrock dual stage nitrous setup. The only fault that I found in my example is that Eagle uses a cast crank for their stroker kits and I don't know if it would holed up to that much abuse.
Everyone knows the now famous junkyard jewl article where a well preped (by hand) set of swirl port heads a cam and basic USED bolt ons propelled a well used 318 to 406HP.
I think you guys are being way to closed minded about the idea building a 318. Any time some one asks about a 318 or 273 build everyoe tells them to junk it and go 360. There is a lot of knoweledge on here and I think that if people tried using they're knoweledge to come up with some non traditional ideas, and actually answer the questions, that we could come up with some really great ideas.
You said "Let me have it guys!!! Where did I screw up?" I was just replying to your post. No one is saying that it can't be done. Me and everyone else here would love to see the guy accomplish his goals and let us in on how he did it.
Not many guys stroke a 318 because it's the same or less money to build an engine with 40 more cubes. Even if you start with a stock stroke 360 vs. a stock stroke 318 you're still cubes ahead. Why start with less? It's so much easier to make power if you can get more air into the engine, that's simple physics.
I am one of the club that believe 360s grow on trees and guys are giving them away. I myself just bought a complete mid-80's 360 shortblock for $75. This way on May 8, 2010. How do you pass that up? I had been thinking of ways to hop up my own 318 and the farther I got into it, the less financial sense it made. $75 is a pretty small entry fee, I would think most guys should be able to swing that, all other things being equal.
Besides, a 390 is an undersquare engine, which is generally designed for low speed torque. The Slant 6 is an undersquare engine, think how hard it is to hot rod them without a power adder. Conversely, the 340 is an oversquare engine, larger bore than stroke, think how much power they can make in basically stock form. The ubiquitous SBC is the prime example of an oversquare engine.
Plus as everyone knows, the car needs to be set up to run properly - ET is not just engine power, it's just as much in chassis tuning. Not adding in "Car mods' like you say is unrealistic. 318s (like most small block engines) need a ton of gear and converter. Was a custom converter factored in? Regardless, money adds up quickly wherever you look.
Bottom line though, no way ANYONE is going 10s with a 318/390 with an engine budget of $6K, just ain't gonna happen no matter what parts you throw at it.
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