Any love for a 373 SB

66fs said
Do you realize that .040 is, the difference between a 360 and 340, almost nothing in a 4.000 bore. I am not interested in SBC engines, I rebuilt too many of them. How many Chevy parts are in those motors? My friend ran a 350 and I always teased him that he spent $10,000 to make his SBC into a stock SBM. Bore size is not where the power is, it is airflow through the heads. Why do Super Stock Class cars run almost the same times whether a 273, 340, or 360 using the same heads?

Large bore unshrouds the valves... most aftermarket blocks are cast to go 4.1 to 4.250 or more depending on application. That's where the HP comes from. Pistons are lighter than cranks... light pistons and light cranks.

My deal was originally built for the 1994 racing season. My cranks is 63LBS.!!! Yikes! I found a nice used set of Crower rods to replace the 340 rods that were in the engine. Just a little insurance. I could never afford a quality US made lightweight cranks so I'm sticking with my old MP crank.

All that rotating weight doesn't seem to bother the BBC's that run oval track so I am likely rebuilding this engine with a bit of overkill. But I have always been conservative with my RPM's. Small wallet if you know what I mean. But I did invest in lighter valves with 11/32 stems instead of our normal 3/8" things.

My heads flow a bit short of 300 CFM on the intake... I could spend another $1,200-2000 to open them up for more HP but, again, no $$$ in the till. New Brodix B1-BA-MC's could up my HP by 50-75. No cash for that stuff.

I'm shooting for 600-625HP. About what my other poverty goverened racers have in their SBC's. The well funded teams are running $40,000 bullets and spend $7-10K to refresh after 2000 laps. I can't afford that.

Right now I'm just hoping to stay upright in order to race... old age is a killer!