Biggest Traditional V-8??

Which of the tradional (pre-1964) V-8s could be bored and stroked to give the most cubic inches.??

Factory blocks only for this discussion, and the 1964 model year cut off takes the Chevy Mark IV 396/427/454 big block and the Ford 385 series 429/460 big block engines out of the discussion.

Biggest that I recall is the the 503 inch Pontiac that Mickey Thompson had built for his Assault car that broke the standing start kilometer and mile records.

Piper106

 

I saw an artical in '62 taking a sbc up to 460 cubes, dunno if it ever ran or not. Someone on here has a 500+ inch 409 as i recall. But my vote would probaly be for an olds, I dont know much about them myself but they were big cubes stock

 

427 Small Block

 

I believe the MEL 430 was bored and stroked in excess of 500 c.i. on occasion.

 

392 mopar?

 

Back in the early 70's I had a 409 in my 62 Impala. It was bored .060 and had a 1/8" stroker crank in it. Worked out to 435 CI.

 

500 in. Caddy, 1970. Largest commercially produced passenger car engine. Bar none.

John

Sorry, didn't see the "traditional" stipulation.

 

Early 60's lincoln 462? Should go over 500 inches easy.

 

x2..

I think 462 was a later year, but same family..

There are Fellas going beyond 500 cubes with the MEL..

 

Rodeck made an engine back in the 60's (not exactly sure of the date) that was a 481 c.i. That is pretty big, but they were mostly drag engines in their time.

 

Maybe not *the* hugest, but Packard in 55/56 could be done large. The 374 could be bored in excess of .250", & stroked like crazy. Can't find the specs I'd read about, but rather large...

Marcus...

 

if it didnt say v-8 i'd have to say the marmon v-16, it was a monster

 

And the 56 pacard had more HP than any other american production car that year exept mabey the chrysler 300

 

I have to agree that the 430 MEL engine is probably the biggest traditional engine.

 

X2, its a monster, second heavest production engine, 800 plus pounds.Gaserkid will have one in his 30 A highboy roadster

 

Probably wasn't the biggest, but I remember HRM building a 265 out to an impressive size - over 450cu in IIR. Bored out the cylinders until there was nothing separating them, then installed sleeves that had flats machined on the mating side(s), then bored those again a little bit. Stroked the bejabbers out of it. They assembled it and it ran, but I think the obvious cooling problems (no water jacket between the cylinders) doomed it to quick spurts down the track.

 

534ci Ford 1958.
Drove one in a 1965 Ford semi hauling steel.
Lots of torque.
Lots of gas.
Would walk away from the diesels of the time.

 

805 Roline?

 

You can always take a 427 Ford and put in the later 428 crank. About 460 cubes without machining anything.

 

Largest Stock is the 430 MEL, 4.3 in bore, 3.7 in stroke, 1958 to 1965.
The 462 MEL came out in 1966. Using a good stroker crank, I would think you could get up to 550 ci with the large bore and bore spacing of the MEL.

Largest potential using aftermarket components of a pre '64 engine may be the 427 FE Ford. Using aftermarket cranks and sleeves, one could conceivably get it to 585 ci. (4.5" bore and 4.6" stroke = 585 ci) However, it wouldn't be cheap.

Maybe the big Pontiacs or Mopars could go bigger, but I am not very well informed on those brands.

 

You didn't specify that it had to be originally from a CAR:

"Ford's first overhead cam, 4 valve, aluminum engine was designed for Sherman tanks in WW2. The 1100 ci engine is an all aluminum 60 degree V-8 with dual overhead cams, 4 valves per cylinder, dual carbs, dual magnetos, and hemispherical combustion chambers."

 

Nother vote for MEL

 

I read once that the Packard V8 was engineered with an eye toward an eventual displacement of 500ci, but I think 374 was the biggest they got before the company folded into Studebaker.

-Dave

 

Don't remember the exact numbers but I seem to remember something about putting a stroker crank in an olds 394 (a modified 455 crank maybe??) to get you rather large displacement.

 

So you missed the whole pre 64 thing too?

 

Come on Rich, I know you know exactly how big a Packard that could be built !

 

You'll never punch a Ford 427 out to 4.5". The FE/FT engine only had a 4.63" bore spacing. About the biggest you will bore a 427 is 4.27" and then you had better start sonic checking the block. NOW, a Ford 429 adn early 460 with their 4.9" bore spacing is a whole nuther animal. You can punch those out to 4.44" without much concern and a 4.5" stroker crank will drop in with only minor work. Ford designed the 385 Series motor to displace 500+ cubes....they just never got that big before the gas wars and insurance companies killed all the fun.

 

The biggist Packard I know of belongs to Jack Vines who is here on the board. I think his is 414 from a 374. The passenger car cranks are hollow and can't really be stroked much. Jack has somew forged cranks from marine engines that can be offset ground. The two cylinder banks are not very well tied togeather and so I would think you would need to build some sort of bolt in bridge if you were planning on serious hoursepower. And then you get to the heads. There is a reason that Packards never became popular race motors. To bat because they are neat.

 

The late top fuel racer Archie Ary from Colton CA once got a 392 to something over 500 inches, just called it "the Big Inch" -- no kidding!

 

Small point - Studebaker was purchased by Packard, not the other way 'round.

Cosmo