sb vs BB

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gipperco

gipperco

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So I know that they old saying is that there is no replacement for displacement. But is the weight difference between a SB and BB worth the difference in replacing a SB with a BB? I know that a 360 can be built to run tough. Not sure on HP or ET on a built 360 or the dollar amount to get about 500 HP out of it without juice. I know that is a doable number with a 440 or 383 fairly easily to not too much money. What is the feelings of the Gallery out there on this subject. The car is for the track only and weighs about 2800# now with the 318/727 combo it has now.
 
i love small blocks and have a ton of parts...

but dollar for dollar...a stroked 400/440 is the best choice...
 
gipperco said:
So I know that they old saying is that there is no replacement for displacement. But is the weight difference between a SB and BB worth the difference in replacing a SB with a BB? I know that a 360 can be built to run tough. Not sure on HP or ET on a built 360 or the dollar amount to get about 500 HP out of it without juice. I know that is a doable number with a 440 or 383 fairly easily to not too much money. What is the feelings of the Gallery out there on this subject. The car is for the track only and weighs about 2800# now with the 318/727 combo it has now.
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Stroke a small block with a good set of heads and you have 500 hp, what sort of ETs are you looking for.
 
THE 360 IS A GOOD CHOISE BUT, A LOT LESS EXPENSIVE TO BUILD,AND YOU NEED TO PUT A 904 BEHIND IT THIS IS WORTH 100 LBS. ALMOST A .10 OF A SECOND. 5OO HP. IS FAIRLY EASY.WONT EVEN NEED TO STROCK ENG. GOOD SET OF J HEADS BUILT RIGHT WILL GET CLOSE. MY DART RUNS 6.9 WITH THIS COMBO IN 1/8 MILE. ON PUMP GAS WITH BOOSTER , AND 6.10 ON 175 SHOT. MY CAR WEIGHT IS 3250 LBS. I DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEM STAYING WITH THE BIG BLOCKS DARTS. :toothy10:
 
Whats with the caps? My ears are ringing. LOL!

JKing Jking....

A pumped up small block is nice and easier to do if you have the basics on hand to start with, but a 500 incher makes 500 hp @ 1 hp per cid which equals alot less stress and long life.

For a track only car.....that equals lots of races without braking stuff due to stress.

Beileve me, I'm a big small block fan for alot of reasons, but if I was doing a track only car with power levels of which you seek and long life..........

A 500 HP small block is alot of work and hi stress.
 
400 block with a 4.15 stroker kit is a low maintenance long life bracket combo. This set up can hit the 500 HP mark without even breathing hard.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Whats with the caps? My ears are ringing. LOL!

JKing Jking....

A pumped up small block is nice and easier to do if you have the basics on hand to start with, but a 500 incher makes 500 hp @ 1 hp per cid which equals alot less stress and long life.

For a track only car.....that equals lots of races without braking stuff due to stress.

Beileve me, I'm a big small block fan for alot of reasons, but if I was doing a track only car with power levels of which you seek and long life..........

A 500 HP small block is alot of work and hi stress.
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So whats you opinion of the 340 R3 retro block, hinesite now since I'm just about done my build and spent the bank doing so, I'm expecting 650 hp on engine only, just curios
 
Gotta go with the 400 block for real high h.p. Some of them will go 8 900 h.p.
500 h.p mark is where there's lots of cross cover from the big and small block. About 550 is where I'd start thinking big block.
 
scampman416 said:
So whats you opinion of the 340 R3 retro block, hinesite now since I'm just about done my build and spent the bank doing so, I'm expecting 650 hp on engine only, just curios
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The deal is that with lots of cubes you can have big power with a mild build, run crap gas and simply let the torque move you down the track…. Think of an engine that yawns and scratches its self as it cranks out low ETs.

To do the same with a small block, you are talking more compression, more aggressive cam, more rpm all at the cost of longevity and reliability.

Now for a street car I do prefer a hot small block for the overall improved balance of the car.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
The deal is that with lots of cubes you can have big power with a mild build, run crap gas and simply let the torque move you down the track…. Think of an engine that yawns and scratches its self as it cranks out low ETs.

To do the same with a small block, you are talking more compression, more aggressive cam, more rpm all at the cost of longevity and reliability.

Now for a street car I do prefer a hot small block for the overall improved balance of the car.
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I am in agreeance, My question was more off topic asking what people think of the R3 combo,s, they are a tuff block and potentially big cubs.
 
Quote" Think of an engine that yawns and scratches its self as it cranks out low ETs.


Can I use that quote next time this question comes up. That's a good one, yea I like that. :toothy10:
 
demon seed said:
Quote" Think of an engine that yawns and scratches its self as it cranks out low ETs.


Can I use that quote next time this question comes up. That's a good one, yea I like that. :toothy10:
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Yup,overbuild and then detune to the next bracket up is an old trick.Helps the motor last as well.
 
What is your ET goal, thats the main question, does the car weigh 2800 lbs. with YOU or without, IMO, you'd be better off with a stroked 360, i'm a BB guy at heart, any engine you drag race will be stressed, i think a 408 would be the ticket with some aluminum heads, a nice hyd. or solid cam, & around 11.1 comp. with good quench, it'll run all day on pump premium & get you in the 10s easy with that weight, don't get me wrong, BBs are very cool in an A body, but your limited on good header fitment, more weight, you can only run a 727 trans, there heavier, things just get cramped, believe me, i've done enough of them, & there will be that SB that will still stomp your ***, there are 318s out there running 11s, so my vote goes to a nicely though out 408 stroker that runs on pump gas & tuned well.
 
Well my wife is going to be the driver of the car. HER dream is to have a straight axle and a blower in it to compete with the A/FX cars at our local track. I have told her that the 74 isn't the right year car for that era of car/set up. She says that she just wants to be able to race them and have a chance of competing. They are in the mid 8's. I would be happy with the car in there too. Realistically probably no blower and in the low to mid 9's
 
From experience go with a 416/408 small block stroker,naturally aspirated and built RIGHT you WON'T need spray to laugh at big blocks..although there maybe some big blocks that will need to spray to keep up with you..lol......
 
gipperco said:
Well my wife is going to be the driver of the car. HER dream is to have a straight axle and a blower in it to compete with the A/FX cars at our local track. I have told her that the 74 isn't the right year car for that era of car/set up. She says that she just wants to be able to race them and have a chance of competing. They are in the mid 8's. I would be happy with the car in there too. Realistically probably no blower and in the low to mid 9's
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I like how your wife thinks

I had a 440 and auto for my car and then decided that it would be easier to put ps on a SB car and it would drive better than the BB.

So I built my 340 instead of the 440....................WHAT A DAMN MISTAKE............excuse the caps. The 440 would have had better power and easier to do. And if I didn't mind throwing away all the stuff I have already done I would put tube front end, coil overs, R&P and either a new hemi or a BB. But I did this starting in the mid 90's and there wasn't as much in aftermarket parts for A bodies then

If you want a reliable race car I would suggest the BB. If you are building a street strip car and want a better driver maybe a SB.

My 2 Cents
 
I would much rather run a SB than a BB just to the fact that when you beat a BB and they find out you have a SB I just like to see their facial expressions.I build my engine to turn 8000-8400rpm but shift at 7100-7300rpm and still can run 5.80's in the 90* days.Just put a good breathing cylinder head especialy if you run a big cube SB that is the key..

DSC_3666wtmk.jpg
 
When I bought my Duster it was complete with a good running 340 in it. I had a 500 hp 440 and my intention was to swap in the bb. After much pondering, measuring, and research I decided to sell the 440 and build the 340. Mostly because many people were telling me I couldn't run 10's with the sb so I had to do it then. This was back in the early 90's though when there wasn't really a lot available for them.
 
WildCat said:
I like how your wife thinks

I had a 440 and auto for my car and then decided that it would be easier to put ps on a SB car and it would drive better than the BB.

So I built my 340 instead of the 440....................WHAT A DAMN MISTAKE............excuse the caps. The 440 would have had better power and easier to do. And if I didn't mind throwing away all the stuff I have already done I would put tube front end, coil overs, R&P and either a new hemi or a BB. But I did this starting in the mid 90's and there wasn't as much in aftermarket parts for A bodies then

If you want a reliable race car I would suggest the BB. If you are building a street strip car and want a better driver maybe a SB.

My 2 Cents
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No offense but, if you were really that disapointed in your SB, then it wasn't built or tuned right, i've just got through installing a low budget magnum 360 in my dart, it gets my attention, this is after being used to a 10 second BB i had in my duster & raced it for 2 yrs., even back then when i was raceing my duster, i hopped in a buddies 70 dart with a no thrills 360, that car too got my attention, tuneing is key, i've gotten my *** stomped at the track by SBs, most were chevy's because there wasn't many mopars where i raced, heck, even some of the BB chevy's weren't impressive. I've built both (mostly A bodies), what i've found is if you keep the weight down, you'll be way better off with a SB, i don't know where you went wrong to be so disapointed, but don't blame it on the SB.
 
Hey you guys havent been reading Mopar Action They ran a big block challenge The winners were getting 550plus HP out of the 400, Ive been thinking maybe my 440was the wrong engine to build.
 
Any engine will work for you. You need to determine what you have, what you have to spend, and then how fast you can go for it. Running 8s or 9s is not an easy bracket car. 11s is. 10's requires more safety stuff, more chassis, etc. 9s require the competition license and chassis certs. So be realistic in your answers and post your answers.
 
gipperco said:
So I know that they old saying is that there is no replacement for displacement. But is the weight difference between a SB and BB worth the difference in replacing a SB with a BB? I know that a 360 can be built to run tough. Not sure on HP or ET on a built 360 or the dollar amount to get about 500 HP out of it without juice. I know that is a doable number with a 440 or 383 fairly easily to not too much money. What is the feelings of the Gallery out there on this subject. The car is for the track only and weighs about 2800# now with the 318/727 combo it has now.
Click to expand...
The info was from mopar muscle not mopar action April 2010 had the two top builds. sorry for the mistake.
 
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