how much HP

[ByronRACE]

The only saving grace of my "eyes bigger than stomach" combo is that the power is tunable. NA, the engine will probably make close to 450-500rwhp. With timing retard, probably 400-450. So, with pulley changes and changes to the blow-off valve I can tune it to that level if so desired. Had I built a 1000hp NA engine, my options would have been far more limited.

One mistake I did make was cam. It's too big to cruise nicely under 2400rpm, and I find myself in 4th gear to stay there when I have a double overdrive 6spd available...so it's a bit of a waste. I'll be changing from a 242/256@.050 duration cam with .680 lift to something with about 10deg less duration and .080" less lift. It'll lose some lope and make peak power sooner (and less power) but will allow me to cruise under 2400rpm smoothly. I'll then tailor the power with boost once again until I'm at that traction limit. I like to be able to come out of corner exit, get it straight, mat it...and have it stick.

So, if you want something that has a real wide span of tunable power ranges without having to dig into the mill too deeply, you might want to consider a power adder EFI combo. You can do a lot with the keyboard instead of a wrench, and your option to change power further with easy to access surface parts (like pulleys) makes life easier.

That said, this entire exercise taught me that I probably would have been just as happy with the way the car drives had I put a 514 crate motor in it...and I would have been driving it 6+ years earlier. (I'm slow). One thing my car does have is additional wow factor when the hood is open. People just don't see that every day and for those that understand what they're looking at, it's a real conversation starter.

Byron