Smallblock efficiency or How to have your cake and eat it too

So we can still address some things in the shortblock to help us in our quest. Things like the aforementioned 6.200" rod length go along ways to reducing rod angularity which in turn lessens piston thrust loading and also helps stabilise the rings which also helps sealing. Obviously you need a custom piston for the comp height or you need to take some stroke out of the crank which would also help efficiency with the reduced displacement. Get a really good line hone while youre there. I recommend narrowing the main bearings a little too. Use a standard volume oil pump here and shoot for 30-40 psi @ cruise rpm. Oil control is also worth some power and thus efficiency, a nice crank scraper can and should help. I'm also a believer in the PTFE coated cam bearings from Dura-Bond, the cam always seems to spin so nice with them. I 'll compose more on the cam in the next post. J.Rob