Affordable power: how'd you do it?!?

I know I'm going to get the guys quoting 'speed costs money, how fast do you want to go' so I'll do it now to get it over with.

That aside, how did *you* make power affordably? Let's call affordable under 5 grand, the less the better as I'm on a budget.

I'm frozen in Ohio and been thinking about different engine combinations in between shoveling snow or scraping ice off the windows of my car.

So how'd you do it, what parts did you use, any idea the HP, etc?

Thanks!

 

they will probably first want to yell at you.. as i do. then you will get questions like

-what car
- what motor
- what skills do you have

this is really one of them posts that will get you no help

 

I was building a "drag pack" clone of a '65 Biscayne since an original was $75K. I thought about finding a used bbc and rebuilding it or a crate motor. I priced various parts in the P.A.W. catalog. I could get under the $5K mark. Then I remembered a company from my youth called Speedomotive. I wondered if they still exists, so I did a web search. Lo and behold, they were still in business. I checked out the prices and was very pleased. They had a 500 hp long block 454 for $4800. It was balanced and blueprinted. I ordered the motor built which took 3 months. It was a great motor for me. This was in 2003 so prices have gone up, but I would order a motor from them again.

 

used junkyard v-8..................$400

600 h.p. wet plate nitrous...................$1000

engine carnage video on youtube....................priceless

 

LS 5.3 chevy, single turbo, boost box on a carb. simple, fast. You can't beat the LS series for cheap power these days. Truck 5.3 is pretty cheap.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2430509

I should say, this is not my car, but it is an example of simplicity and power.

 

1971 472 or 500 caddy!from experience... I know you'll smile!
i just would try to put it in something that it would fit the style/type of car-build!
?duramax? cummins? lil newer but under 5K salvaged not period but???

 

You are a little vague, so more details please. What are you doing, street performance, weekend drag racing? Affordable power comes in many different packages these days. It's hard to beat a gen 3 chevy 6.0L truck engine. With very little work the can make over 450 hp easy!! Old school?? big block truck engines or 472-500 Caddy engines are a great place to start. Remember though, that's just the beginning, getting all that power to the ground is another story. Is that tranny and rear end gonna hold up? Just things to think about! The more you can actually do yourself or have experienced friends help you with keep costs down too..Good Luck!!! ;-)

 

Big motor will make more power with less work than a small motor. I started with a 1969 Linclon 460. Came with small chamber heads and screw in rocker studs from the factory. Rebuilt it with flat top pistons for a later open chamber 460=high compresion. Friend cut the heads for 429 CJ valves and I ported it at home. Crower flat tappet cam. Used Offy four barrell intake modified to accept a dominator and 125 HP plate. BBC roller rockers. Traded a 302 GMC I bought for for $300 for the machine shop block and crank work. Mallory distributer. Home made headser. Went 197 mph in my Vega at a total cost of $1100. Pretty cheap speed I thought.

 

The engine is just part of the cost.You can burn up a lot of money getting the engine to move the car.....clutch set up or auto tranny stuff,a tranmission to handle the power,adapters if it's an older less common engine,cooling system,exhaust system can be a lot of work on a street car.

 

Damn good offer if ya ask me
Rod

 

Agreed! I have my 5.3 running NA right now, but unless i buy a house soon it will have a 70mm turbo, corvette z06 cam/springs/pr, and push around 550-600 to the wheels on pump gas.

As for price, i got a lower mileage[56k] 5.3 for 750. Cam/springs/pr were about 200. Acc for the motor were about 200-250[some new, some refurb and some used] turbo setup will run me about 1k for the turbo/bov/wg. about another 400-500 in tubing, flanges, couplers, ect. Then 500 in a dyno tune.

Im not running an intercooler[about 100-150 for ebay core], since i barely have room in the front of my 33 for a radiator, so im going to add water/meth to the mix for low intake temps, so add another 200-300 depending on kit.

So im around the 3k mark for 550-600 rwhp. What trans you run is a different story.


An ls 6.0 with an agressive cam can make great power as well. You can get one of those for around 1200 depending on your area and millage, and they can put down 400rwhp pretty easily.

 

Dropping stock '69-'71 big block 400's or 455's in GM sub-compacts with nothing but a tweeked Q-jet and playing with the timing... And a home built twin snorkle ram-air setup.... Them are fun and easy to make..

 

I second the 472-500 Cad with a 400 trans. You can find the whole car for under $1000. The 1970 472 made 375 HP in stock form, with about 500 ft lbs of torque.

 

DISCLAIMER: i am not an engine person(this should be obvious) so please analyze my opinions accordingly.

1) One thing i'm kicking around is searching for used 3/4 and 1 ton trucks with chevy big block. They sell cheap for some reason(?). Like under $2000. About 375ish torque stock. So, i'm thinking just with headers 400tq should be reachable. Then, either sell the truck and get some money back or drop a stock 305 in it and you have a decent errand truck.

2) Also, and in agreement with, and as noted below, the other GM large cube engines B.O.P.C., (mostly olds, pontiac and cadillac) offer some pretty good torque and relatively low prices----these cars also, perplexingly, sell cheap. I.e., 73 olds 88/98, 74 cutlass, 76 eldorado etc.
Again, sell the car----the donker crowd LOVES these body styles and possibly recoup most or even all your money.

3) The u-haul 6500 trucks sell for about 2grand and they have the 366 tall deck big-block engine which i know most people say not to bother with. But again with just headers and induction changes i'm thinking 375ish torque should be obtainable which is no slouch on the street. Again, the question was affordable power.

4) How to find and obtain cheap HP/torque:

One thing i've noticed is that older folks, and i would define "older folks" as anyone around during WW2. And i don't mean infant, i mean anyone who was a teenager or adult during WW2. Older folks tend to:

a.01) Have these types of cars.

a) Take very good care of their cars. Have you ever been pissed off when you have to follow an older person going below the speed limit? Now is where this pays off; They don't strain their cars.

b) They have enough sense and cents ($$$) so they have no problem getting things repaired when it needs to be repaired and even when stuff doesn't need to be repaired.

c) Ties in with "b". When it comes time to sell they aren't trying to get every last penny out of the transaction; They just want to get rid of it while getting a fair price----because they already got lots of money. Also, i think when they see a younger person trying to buy a car, sometimes they want to give you a break.

ALWAYS TRY TO BUY CARS FROM OLDER PEOPLE.


Agree! :

 

Big ,used, but good running 70's motor. Modern high lift cam, advanced 4 degrees, (torque), 1 inch spacer plate under the carb, 2 1/2 inch exhaust pipes.
Play with the distibutor timing.

 

TMI

The absolute most affordable power comes from getting your hands dirty and shoping.

I built the mill that is currently on its 4th or 5th body for less than 3K. it is totally streetable amd makes a ton the old way. But it is only affordable because I did literaly everything myself. Some ot the things I did I have known how to do for over 40 years and others took me 40 years to learn.

Remember if you learn nothing in your entire lifetime but this to learn this," If it don't make you dirty it is not yours."

Happy holidays,
Benno

 

Are you living in Ohio now homie?

 

my cad had a transdapt plate for a chevy 400 or 350 th or you could use the stock cad 400th???sheet metal valve covers,shaft rockers,bee hive comp springs,retainers,locks,1pc. push rods,lunati voodoo cam,edelbrock intake,750 dbl pumper,stock HEI,stainless block huggers,sounded badd azz revved greatquick throttle response,tourque monster & fun as hell!and yes it was under 5K 1971 junk yard stock bottom end,hand lapped valve job,and all! look up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJxrmnDunGY
buddy of mine!

 

This is on the higher end of your 5K cap. (Aluminum Pontiac heads are spendy, you can do iron and save 2 grand.)

389 Pontiac, 8.0:1, 244* @ .050, 2 bolt block, stock rods. 6-71 @6-10#. This little motor has been my daily for almost 5 years, (my kid in the pic is 13 now..) has 60+K miles on her and has been to the HAMB Drags 4 times. Never even so much as a hiccup.



You can go lots faster for way cheaper, but this old pile is damn near bulletproof and has perfect street manners.

Good luck, -Abone.

 

Hey man! Nah not living here full time or anything just chilling till christmas. literally. hah!

 

post the link!!!

 

I am another one of those caddy fans. Only problem is it is a pain to get a super charger set up for one. At least under any budget. The older ones from 70 or 71 back to 1968 have higher compression. The mid 70s are worse, something like 8 to 1. The ratio on the pontiac 400 in a 76 trans am I used to own was like 7.6 to 1 I believe. So you will need to do some work on those later motors to make decent power. But the parts are out there these days.

 

all I can say is-too kool!

 

Real simple! Switch to a set of earlier heads... That would be a great start..

 

You could pick up a mid 70's Olds 455 smogger, cheap, they are far more abundant than the Pontiac / Buick / Caddy BB's. Leave the bottom end stock except for new pistons to get the CR up to 9.5 to 1, ebrock heads with associated rockers and pushrods, cam of your choice, ebrock performer intake, rebuild the Q jet, freshen up the HEI, headers, balancing, and your in the 450 HP range for under 5K.
And that would be about 550 ft/lbs torque

 

forged bb pistons and a nitrous fogger kit & the sky is the limit on h.p.!

 

Affordable power is a relative term.
Someone like me who has only driven 6 cylinder 235 powered chevies forever I was familiar with 60 MPH, wide open. I installed a good used 305 small block chevy into my 50 Ford coupe and it feels like a race car.
I went from having the slowest car in the club to leading the pack.
305 SBC, auto trans, 4 barrel carb, HEI dizzy and duel exhaust and all the little parts for way under 3K using new components. ( used motor )
I might not win a drag race against a real race car but I have taken a few mini vans off the light and its plenty fast for me.

 

Here is the price tag for the 352 I just finished rebuilding building.

Car and motor: $800
Engine Machine and Long Block Assembly: $1700
Intake, Carb, Distributor: $700
Headers: $300

Total: About $3500 into a FE Ford that should put out 360+ Hp and 400+ lb-ft of torque. That leaves $1500 in your hypothetical budget for a stroker crank, nitrous, etc to boost power even further.

I would think you could spend $5000 and get 450+ Reliable Hp without too much trouble on any American V8.

On the flip side of the coin. I have about $1800 into the 300 six in my avatar. That motor is running about 250+ Hp and 300+ ft-lbs. Compared to the 120 hp and 250 ft-lbs stock.

Good Luck.

 

So is this a daily or a purpose built race car? Makes a difference.

 

The key to cheap HP is patience! If you get in a hurry it will cost you way more!
I was checking out Craigslist and asking around when I noticed my neighbor's son had no late 60's pickup any more. Asked him what happened and he said he sold it, but the buyer didn't want to pay the price "with engine".
After some discussion and negotiations I got a 327 Chevy that had about $3500 worth of engine work done to it for only $1200. That's what I call cheap HP.