Vintage 302 chevy.

if your looking to build a serious high horse power engine I would STRONGLY consider ditching the OEM block and starting with a DART BLOCK, and SCAT forged crank,
and 6" connecting rods with 7/16" arp rod bolts and forged pistons, and Id then very strongly consider investing some effort into researching the best aluminum aftermarket heads you could afford.
no OEM, block or rotating assembly comes close to what the, currently available , better aftermarket components in strength.
the manufacturers have learned a great deal in the last 60 years and theres very few original components from the muscle car years that can keep up with current strength or power potential.
 
Grumpy said:
if your looking to build a serious high horse power engine I would STRONGLY consider ditching the OEM block and starting with a DART BLOCK, and SCAT forged crank,
and 6" connecting rods with 7/16" arp rod bolts and forged pistons, and Id then very strongly consider investing some effort into researching the best aluminum aftermarket heads you could afford.
no OEM, block or rotating assembly comes close to what the, currently available , better aftermarket components in strength.
the manufacturers have learned a great deal in the last 60 years and theres very few original components from the muscle car years that can keep up with current strength or power potential.
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Only problem is with his project 302 Full Vintage is it will not be like it was back in the day.
True Chevy Heritage Lost.
How I see it with Pontiac V8 too.

No Small Main Journal SBC 283-302-327 made new aftermarket.

Looking to ditch his entire 302 project with an aftermarket block.
 
All aftermarket does not stand out at show meets.
Unless it 9 or 8 seconds Fast.

Surrounded by LS today.

Vintage original Race does stand out Grumpy.
 
it always comes down to several factors
are you more concerned with looking original, and having a matching numbers period correct engine?
or
would you rather make considerably more power, have far fewer parts break, and , yeah, not be period correct?
theres easily MORE THAN,100 plus hp advantage potential in the latter choice
personally ID rather have more power, fewer broken parts and not deal with idiots pointing out some components date codes or part number might not be period correct.
 
Grumpy said:
it always comes down to several factors
are you more concerned with looking original, and having a matching numbers period correct engine?
or
would you rather make considerably more power, have far fewer parts break, and , yeah, not be period correct?
theres easily MORE THAN,100 plus hp advantage potential in the latter choice
personally ID rather have more power, fewer broken parts and not deal with idiots pointing out some components date codes or part number might not be period correct.
Click to expand...
I remember it's not going to Flogged that hard.
Kinda of a show cruiser.
 
look at that engine linked above for $30K
you could very easily build an engine with aftermarket components that looked similar
for well under $16K that made 100 -150 plus more hp and was far less likely to break parts.
especially if you were not all than concerned with duplicating exact,
displacement, compression cam timing and period correct style components
 
If you find a Nice Mint 302 Chevy Block with a good line bore I would not hesitate to buy for your project.

Been there with bad machine work.
That Line bore is more important than any area on a performance engine.
I had to junk a 455 4-bolt block in the past.
Almost made me crazy.

Buy another.
Move on.
 
Grumpy said:
look at that engine linked above for $30K
you could very easily build an engine with aftermarket components that looked similar
for well under $16K that made 100 -150 plus more hp and was far less likely to break parts.
especially if you were not all than concerned with duplicating exact,
displacement, compression cam timing and period correct style components
Click to expand...
Still Nostalgia Factor Grumpy.
Important to some.

Just not there all aftermarket.
 
Less important but all OEM It bolts together no issues.

Aftermarket tolerances all over.

Real All Made in the USA Cost 4-10 times more than China.
 
even back in the early 1970s most of the guys I knew that owned z28 camaros,
were replacing the original engines with larger displacement,
327 ,350, 377, and eventually 406 sbc engines
most still swore the engines were 100% stock...
I know I did a constant business ," back in the day" building hot 327,331 and , 350, 377, 383, and 406 SBC engines
and we certainly used brownfield, canfield, dart and similar heads
crane , crower and isky, solid lifter cams
and the offy or Z28 cross ram were popular options
 
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Grumpy said:
even back in the early 1970s most of the guys I knew that owned z28 camaros,
were replacing the original engines with larger displacement,
327 ,350, 377, and eventually 406 sbc engines
most still swore the engines were 100% stock...
I know I did a constant business ," back in the day" building hot 327,331 and , 350, 377, 383, and 406 SBC engines
and we certainly used brownfield, canfield, dart and similar heads
crane , crower and isky, solid lifter cams
and the offy or Z28 cross ram were popular options
Click to expand...
Very few of those Vintage Stroker Small Block Chevy Engines Survived.
Guys blew them up.
Or needed money and parted out.

Love to buy a set of original unmolested Warren Brownfield SBC cylinder heads.
Everyone I find low on cash $.
 
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Grumpy said:
even back in the early 1970s most of the guys I knew that owned z28 camaros,
were replacing the original engines with larger displacement,
327 ,350, 377, and eventually 406 sbc engines
most still swore the engines were 100% stock...
I know I did a constant business ," back in the day" building hot 327,331 and , 350, 377, 383, and 406 SBC engines
and we certainly used brownfield, canfield, dart and similar heads
crane , crower and isky, solid lifter cams
and the offy or Z28 cross ram were popular options
Click to expand...
Asking price on ebay so so.
Not best way to buy as you know also.

SD455 Pontiac bare block is $10k.

1970 RAIV 400 block is $5-10k also.
 
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Wow that escalated quickly. Just to clear it up im going to take the block to a different shop too get it finished. My main goal with this engine is to keep it as original as physically possible. Somethings just cant be kept the same i.e. the rods, pistons. I've kinda been pushed in a different direction with the overall car but the engine will remain the same. I've got plenty of life left to build more engines. I like the idea of a 377 and did some searching on that for a possible future build.
 
rjs89ia said:
Wow that escalated quickly. Just to clear it up im going to take the block to a different shop too get it finished. My main goal with this engine is to keep it as original as physically possible. Somethings just cant be kept the same i.e. the rods, pistons. I've kinda been pushed in a different direction with the overall car but the engine will remain the same. I've got plenty of life left to build more engines. I like the idea of a 377 and did some searching on that for a possible future build.
Click to expand...
Grumpy Never has liked a Chevy 302 turning 8,000 -11,000 rmps like done back in the day.
Prefers Low revs 5,000-6,000.
383 sbc.
496 BBC.

Get used to it here.

Its street performance here.

Not True Drag Race.
That is on Facebook on Closed Groups.
Hundreds of them now.
 
if two otherwise identical cars, that are properly geared, and the properly set up suspension,
that weight the same,are matched, the one with a 302 sbc vs a properly built 377, -383-406 SBC
will be at a DIS-advantage!
theres zero question a 302 sbc can produce impressive power per cubic inch of displacement,
but you can,t dispute physics
more displacement tends to result in more torque and as a result potentially more power.
if a 302 makes 1.5 hp per cubic inch, thats roughly 450 hp
if a 383 only makes 1.3 hp cubic inch, thats roughly 500 hp
Id also point out that with current after market components,
the 383-406 can make exceptional power.
and the 383 will generally have 60-80 ft lbs more torque over most of the rpm range
put both engines in a 1969 camaro and the larger displacement engine tends to show the 302 tail lights...
been there done that , proven that dozens of times.


Im certainly not the only one that noticed the results
currently theres hundreds of kits to build 383-406 SBC,
very few places still sell 302-327 kits because most experienced engine builders acknowledge,
the power per dollar spent advantage of the larger displacement SBC
ESPECIALLY if limited to pump octane gas being used

given a choice Id build a 327 or a 350, or 377 displacement engine, vs a 302, if you want to exceed 7500 rpm
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...sbc-vs-383-sbc-dyno-results.10210/#post-52630
 
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