Stock engine basics

[Larry Hill]

Dan you can do all of your list and pick up power, remember hard smart work is what it takes. OR.....................

You can do what Mr. Bill did and get Shelby to change all the spec. 20 years later.

Most S/SS racers work very hard to use the power they make to turn the wheels.

[Alan Roehrich]

Dan,
Stock cams not only have a lot more duration and overlap than you'd want, but also a lot more aggressive lobe profile than you'd want in a street flat tappet cam.

Attention to detail is what makes Stock engines run.

Honestly, using a set of aftermarket heads with modern ports and combustion chambers will get you years ahead of what we're working with to make these older heaps go fast. The same thing with pistons, more efficient dish/dome profiles, better skirts, and better ring packages will be a lot cheaper and work better than what we run.

What you need to take away from the typical Stock program is the attention to detail and the blueprinting that allows us to make the most of the limited stuff we have. The use of torque plates, the perfect hone finish, the blueprinted locations of the deck, the main bearing bores, the lifter bores, the cylinder bores, and the exacting tolerances and clearances.

[Richard Grant]

Good answer, Alan

[KingReptile]

Terry's right enhanced is the word when I started racing in 96 my motor was a stock motor no stainless valves etc it made 280 horsepower.I have been asked the same question many times about how did i get that 283 to run so fast.One thing u have to consider is we have slicks and a lot of rear gear and spin these motors very high in RPM.For a stick car we have clutches u wouldnt want to run on the street,if you run an automatic u will have 3-4 torque convertors at $2000 a pop.

[Danpa]

Originally Posted by KingReptile

Terry's right enhanced is the word when I started racing in 96 my motor was a stock motor no stainless valves etc it made 280 horsepower.I have been asked the same question many times about how did i get that 283 to run so fast.One thing u have to consider is we have slicks and a lot of rear gear and spin these motors very high in RPM.For a stick car we have clutches u wouldnt want to run on the street,if you run an automatic u will have 3-4 torque convertors at $2000 a pop.

I must be mistaken, but I thought most stock cams wouldn't let the motor rev very high, or at least make any power while doing it. Don't they kind of fall on their face above 5 or 6 grand? Am I wrong?

[Tim H]

"Stocker" cams are far different than a stock production camshaft. They typically have 50 or more degrees of duration @ .050. than an OEM cam would. Many of these stocker engines turn rpm in excess of 7500,don't try that with most OE cam profiles.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Danpa

I must be mistaken, but I thought most stock cams wouldn't let the motor rev very high, or at least make any power while doing it. Don't they kind of fall on their face above 5 or 6 grand? Am I wrong?

Even before the lifter rule, valve spring rule, and camshaft duration rule were all rescinded, the "cheater" camshafts for Stock were fairly "square" with regards to lobe design. These days the only thing stock about a Stock camshaft is the tappet lift.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

Even before the lifter rule, valve spring rule, and camshaft duration rule were all rescinded, the "cheater" camshafts for Stock were fairly "square" with regards to lobe design. These days the only thing stock about a Stock camshaft is the tappet lift.

The General Kinetics cam in my '56 Chevy in the early/mid '70s. The lobes were almost square. Killed valve springs in three or four races. It was the 2X4 bl 225 hp Corvette engine, solid lifter deal, valves set at .003"/.003" (stock was .012" - .018"?) hot. Was faster than anything else I tried. Looked flaky but always past Red Anderson's tear downs. Red would check it, look at me and shake his head, but he always passed it.

[Chris Barnes]

Drag racing engines in general conform to a different set of standards than street motors. We had a stocker style bracket motor (440) that went through at least three different cars and four seasons of abuse. It was one of those "built in the dirt" motors that just refuse to die. It was running mid elevens in a 3600 pound car the day that it spit out a rod bearing. We were amazed and a little proud of that thing. Then I started thinking, if it had been in a street car it would have died before it got started on it's fifth tank of gas! Granted, you aren't going to shift at 5500 rpm in your street car but still I like the idea of using current state of the art stuff like heads, pistons, and a roller cam and painting it up to look old.

Also, I totally agree that the motor is but one piece of the stocker equation. Weight distribution, suspension set up, alignment, chassis reinforcement etc are equally important.

Good luck!

Chris Barnes
Wagons of Steel
Stock 6621