B2 Motorsports - Gary Bowman 445 SBF Build

[PCW]

Nice Brent, but I have a question, for the folks that are less knowledgeable like myself, what is the difference between HP in a small block vs a BB or FE. Before reading this thread, I would have thought that 651 HP in a SB would have concerned me for longevity. I live in CA, so the highest octane we get here is 91, could this motor work in those conditions? I'm impressed with the way your builds are thought of "Out of the box", great job!

pcw

[blykins]

Chas, yes it is.

It would have been about 10 hp more with the carb sucking sans air cleaner. We did make a pull like that when sorting out A/F ratios. I don't know what the alternator pulls, but I'm sure it an't much....3-4 ponies.

PCW, this isn't the average SBF. Callies crank, Oliver rods, Jesel belt drive, stud girdle, Dart block, etc, etc. It will live.

I'm standing on the fence of giving away too many details before the magazine article, but you won't find many FE heads that flow what these TW-R heads flowed, and that is the FE's weak spot. However, with the FE, you have the possibility for a lot more cubes, which brings the torque up and helps with making the horsepower with the correct camshaft.

This motor was right at 10.5-10.6:1, so it was very mild. If it needed to run on a lower octane rating, it could be done.