I could use your opinion
I would drive it right now with the 170 in it while I get a 225 ready. It sounds like you have a cylinder head being prepared right now and that's usually the most difficult part. The 225 should provide a lot more torque at low rpms which not only makes the car a bit faster but also more tractable, much easier and much more pleasant to drive especially on a cruise.
Good advice, and makes a ton of sense.
HOWEVER, I have become a BIG fan of forced induction over the last three years, and slant sixes are the best candidates because they have a lousy cylinder head for a 225 (works great on a 170, but is downright asthmatic on a 225) AND they are the closest thing to indestructible ever to come out of Detroit, IMHO. That doesn't mean that you can't build a reasonably fast 225 car without a blower or turbo, it just means that if you have BOOST, it's a lot easier to go fast.
The good thing here, is, you haven't spent a bunch of money yet, and your choices are, at this point, pretty much unlimited.
I know you're not interested in turning Victoria into a race car, so we'll leave the 500+ horsepower shenanigans to guys like Ryan and Tom Wolfe. Their cars run on the far side of 120 mph in the quarter but getting a slant 6 to that point requires some compromises that you won't need to make.
How does 12.55 @ 106 mph sound to you? According to Wallace Racing Calculators, that's how fast Victoria would run with 300 horsepower.
I believe that you could EASILY achieve that level of performance in Victoria with a stock 225 that has been treated to EITHER a 2bbl blow thru setup and a Vortech , Paxton, or Procharger setup, OR a simple, no intercooler turbo setup based on a Buick GN. turbo mated to a stock exhaust manifold. This could blow through a 500cfm (or, smaller) 2 bbl Holley carb, and run on "pump premium gas."
Since the cam would be stock, so would the idle. Plenty of vacuum, if you would ever want to treat Victoria to some power brakes.
A 904 transmission could use the stock torque converter, or you could run a manual trans, if you'd prefer.
The only "hi-tech" piece you might consider is a $300.00, Snowperformance "Boost Cooler" water or meth injector to keep on the safe side of detonation.
Driveability should be like a stocker, with no "primary/secondary" worries to deal with, and a stock cam.
Stock pistons and rods should live forever in this engine since 7-10 pounds of boost should be all you'd need to make 300 HP.
So, a stock shortblock with a ported head; I think you said Victoria was getting one), a Buick junkyard turbo and a Holley 2bbl, would be the recipe for a turbo setup or a belt-driven centrifugal blower such as a Vortech, ProCharger, or a Paxton if you wanted to go that route.
All of the engine specs would be stock parts for both; they don't seem to like lots of rpm nor radical cams; all the boost goes out the exhaust valves, or so they say... a lot of cam duration just isn't necessary.
I'd bet that getting 300 horsepower with a turbo or a centrifugal blower, would be easier than putting together an engine normally-aspirated, that makes 200...
I could be wrong; I was wrong back in 1966.... (and a multitude of times, since!!!)
Whatever you do, HAVE FUN!!!:cheers:
That's what this is all about!!!
