396 BB is 600HP possible for street / strip?

19Brookwood60 · Jun 17, 2018

I have searched most areas of the web and here but cant get any sort of confirmation if it is at all possible without having to take out a mortgage to pay for it.
What I am looking at is approximately 600hp for a 396 that I need to get to run a low 10 sec pass in a 3000lb 62 Nova? Currently the block has TRW 11.5 Forged pistons, Forged crank, Chet Herbet 0.586 lift Hydraulic flat tappet cam 298 dur.
Im looking at using AFR oval port 265
https://www.airflowresearch.com/265cc-bbc-oval-port-cylinder-head/
Also changing to a custom Hydraulic Roller cam to get the HP up there.
Anyone had success and reliable HP out of these little Rats?
And yes I know its easy to make HP with displacement and is cost effective, but I have an attachment to these small BB motors.

Grumpy · Jun 17, 2018

WHAT YOUR LOOKING TO DO, is too get approximately 1.5 horsepower per cubic inch of engine displacement.
thats easily done with nitrous, or a turbo or supercharger,or alternate fuels,
but N/A its a challenge.
as I'm sure you've calculated, too get close to running low 10s with a car that weights 3000 lbs,
and lets say a 230 lb driver you'll want that 600 hp you inquired about.
http://www.wallaceracing.com/et-hp-mph.php
a couple hours doing, the required research, doing the detailed calculations on well matched components, and comparing results will get you much closer,
too understanding the goal you have in mind and how the potential parts combo should work, and related component limitations
http://www.wallaceracing.com/Calculators.htm
can you tell me more about the cars engine, exhaust, and drive train combo,
and what your current 60 ft times and current e.t. and trap speeds are?
can you let me know what restrictions your working with.
you could certainly reach the goal, but you may not want too,
or easily afford, or be allowed too, use some options
we can,t logically play the game without knowing the rules,
and limitations, your dealing with, and to some extent budget.
the formula for hp is
torque x rpm/5252=hp

a well tuned N/A, 396 BBC could be expected to provide peak torque in the 1.25 ft lbs of torque per cubic inch range. lets say 500 ft lbs
the better the heads, and intake flow and exhaust scavenge in the higher rpm range the easier it will be to reach your goal, that of course requires a stable valve train, rock stable ignition curve and dependable fuel delivery.
Id sure try to find heads that flow in the 350 cfm MINIMUM,at 600 lift range.
this would be my choice
https://www.airflowresearch.com/300cc-bbc-oval-port-cylinder-head/
remember one of the keys to BBC power is starting with the best flowing heads you can afford
youll want to select the and cam the engine components too spin that engine up to about 7000 plus rpm to move the torque peak up where youll have the torque peak in the proper power band,
the math says ...your dealing with several limitations.
I would certainly be looking at a different set of heads with larger ports in the 3.7-3.9 sq inch range, and use of the larger valves a multi-angle valve job, port and bowl clean-up and doing research into the ideal single plane intake manifold with matched carb or ideally individual stack injection, and matching the solid roller cam with the correct lift and duration, and calculated matching, header primary length and diameter, and collector design to maximize cylinder scavenging, and resulting power in the 6700 rpm-7300 rpm power band
most likely a solid roller cam.
the quickest and least complicated or expensive route would be the use of a NITROUS WET PLATE

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nex-30040-10/overview/
powers available when racing without having to deal with crappy driving characteristics when its street driven and theres no real need to deal with the radical parts high rpm design operational problems if used in the normal for street use, 1500 rpm-4000 rpm power band

http://www.wallaceracing.com/runnertorquecalc.php port size

http://www.wallaceracing.com/header_length.php headers

http://www.wallaceracing.com/area-under-curve.php head flow

http://www.wallaceracing.com/calcafhp.php required head flow

http://www.wallaceracing.com/max-rpm.php rpm stress limitations

TRICKFLOW
http://www.trickflow.com/egnsearch.asp? ... 4294867081
http://www.trickflow.com/customerservice
1-330-630-1555 • 1-888-841-6556

BRODIX
http://www.brodix.com/heads/heads.html
479.394.1075

DART
http://www.dartheads.com/products/cylinder-heads
Dart Machinery; 248/362-1188; DartHeads.com

AIR FLOW RESEARCH
http://www.airflowresearch.com/
toll free: 877-892-8844
tel: 661-257-8124

Patriot Performance
Patriot Performance; 888/462-8276; Patriot-Performance.com

TRJ
http://trjperformance.com/cylinder-heads-top-end-kits-components/complete-heads/

RHS
http://www.racingheadservice.com/rhs/cylinder-headshtml
Toll Free: 877-776-4323
Local: 901-259-1134

EDELBROCK
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new ... main.shtml
Edelbrock; 310/781-2222; Edelbrock.com

BMP (world products)
http://www.theengineshop.com/products/cylinder-heads
Tel: 631-737-0372
Fax: 631-737-0467

BUTLER PERFORMANCE
http://www.butlerperformance.com/products/cylinder_heads/cylinder_head_labor.html
866-762-7527

BLUE PRINT ENGINES
http://www.blueprintengines.com/ind...sb-chevy-aluminum-cylinder-heads-cnc-machined
1800-483-4263

TRJ
http://trjperformance.com/cylinder-heads-top-end-kits-components/complete-heads/

PRO-FILER
https://www.profilerperformance.com/
937‐846‐1333

19Brookwood60 · Jun 18, 2018

Thanks for the reply,

I would like to keep the rpm down a bit for reliability sake.
Im running Cast iron open chamber Oval port heads, ported, bowls done, 3 angle valve job, standard valve size. Fenderwell Headers 2 in primary, 3 1/2 in collectors, TH400, 4.11 gears, 29 inch tyres. In my old car 25 years ago it ran 11.5 @ 118 mph. havent raced it since but want to give it a make over first before it goes into the new car.
Would have been quicker if I had the money to have the rear suspension setup properly to get better 60ft times. But I was still on crap wages back then.....

I use Wallace racing alot to get a game plan happening but it leaves the page open to quite a few choices for Hp and Tq.
I've considered Nitrous to make things interesting and its temping indeed. But a challenge for N/A keeps me interested in possibilities.
I ve seen plenty of S/B singing in the 600-700 hp range so I cant see why a BB of that size with alot better heads and block architecture so shouldn't struggle too much.?

Grumpy · Jun 18, 2018

theres little question that you can potentially exceed the 600 hp goal, but it will take decent head flow, good exhaust scavenging and a decent cam, preferably a roller lifter cam.
and ideally a compression ratio that will require higher octane fuel.
obviously if you were to reduce the cars weight and use the largest tire diam. that would fit and a few suspension mods to increase traction it would also help a good deal.
not reading through the linked info would , in the long term be a mistake as theres a great deal of related useful info contained in the links and sub-links

https://www.airflowresearch.com/300cc-bbc-oval-port-cylinder-head/

396 BB is 600HP possible for street / strip?

19Brookwood60

Member

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

19Brookwood60

Member

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.