Just rambling....

[inkjunkie]

love reading these post gives me ideas for the 400 that i have sitting in the corner like the big torque, but i would like to be able to run power sterring and ac in what ever car i find. and with gas prices the way they are a little gas milage would be great. yes i know i can't have both

No reason you can not have reasonable fuel economy. Will never be that of a new ride but with the use of some of today's technology, namely efi and od, if you stay away from the gazillion hp build reasonable mileage should be a possibility. Ricj Nedbal got 14 out of his 725 hp 572" HEMI.....

 

[273]

Mild 500 would make a perfect street engine most cars rarely see above 4000 rpm anyways
9:1, 850, dual plane, stock exhaust manifolds and mufflers, 268 cam
340hp @ 4000
536TQ @ 2000

 

[273]

love reading these post gives me ideas for the 400 that i have sitting in the corner like the big torque, but i would like to be able to run power sterring and ac in what ever car i find. and with gas prices the way they are a little gas milage would be great. yes i know i can't have both

Bigger engine doesn't necessary mean worse gas mileage.
If you build a 360 the make the same Hp (340hp) as the 500 I did above it would probably make around 380lb-ft of torque, if you ran a 2.94 gear on the 500 and the 360 would need 4.11 to put the same amount of torque to the ground, which is a 72% difference in gear size and cruising rpm and a 360 is 72% smaller than a 500 and so it would have similar fuel consumption. Of course you could run the same gear for both but you wouldn't have similar performance.

 

[moper]

One of "my" 422s is mild. hydraulic flat tappet, factory ported heads, factory rods, even the Eagle cast (the last one I used...).Going by the weight and MPH it makes around 460hp at the crank, runs on pump 89, and in the same car gets over 17mpg on the highway (3.23 gears). And that's in a heavy E body (3900lbs) with a 727 in it.
With every build - big, small, 8 cylinder, 6 cylinder, 4 cylinder - it's about the combination. Not size. Examples:
Naturally aspirated my Neon 2.0L (my porting on the head, minor milling, intake, exh manifold, and throttle body cleaned up/ported, cam timing optimized) makes about 180hp from 122 cubic inches or 1.48hp/cu inch and with the 5sp gets about 34mpg on pump 93 driven stingy.
Naturally aspirated that 422 makes about 460hp from 422 ci, or 1.09hp/cu inch and makes 17mpg.
Naturally aspirated 505 ci, makes about 580hp or 1.15hp/cu inch and gets about 14mpg with 3.54s and a 4sp (no OD) with a 6bbl again - in a heavy E body rag top (4000lbs)
Choose your poison.

 

[inkjunkie]

One of "my" 422s is mild. hydraulic flat tappet, factory ported heads, factory rods, even the Eagle cast (the last one I used...).Going by the weight and MPH it makes around 460hp at the crank, runs on pump 89, and in the same car gets over 17mpg on the highway (3.23 gears). And that's in a heavy E body (3900lbs) with a 727 in it.
With every build - big, small, 8 cylinder, 6 cylinder, 4 cylinder - it's about the combination. Not size. Examples:
Naturally aspirated my Neon 2.0L (my porting on the head, minor milling, intake, exh manifold, and throttle body cleaned up/ported, cam timing optimized) makes about 180hp from 122 cubic inches or 1.48hp/cu inch and with the 5sp gets about 34mpg on pump 93 driven stingy.
Naturally aspirated that 422 makes about 460hp from 422 ci, or 1.09hp/cu inch and makes 17mpg.
Naturally aspirated 505 ci, makes about 580hp or 1.15hp/cu inch and gets about 14mpg with 3.54s and a 4sp (no OD) with a 6bbl again - in a heavy E body rag top (4000lbs)
Choose your poison.

The 422 you mention is intriguing. My car is setup for a 4l80e, so I will have an od. And if I don't build something that needs the strength of it I will probably put a 4l60e in it as it is a good deal lighter and as less parasitic (?) drag.....