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The gen 1 came in a variety of sizes from 262" to 400" and everything in between. Off the top of my head I can think of 10 variants 262, 265, 267, 283, 302, 305, 307, 327, 350, 400.
What size do you wanna talk about....some where awesome and some where awful.
For some reason I wanna recall a few outlaw sprint car motors back in the late 80's early 90's that where near 450-460 inches using a production 400 block. The mother ******* were time bombs, but the "true" World of Outlaw days (no rules) bred some pretty wild ****.
I don't recall if it was an actual World of Outlaws class build or not, but I remember we cut 1" off the decks of one motor and installed them on top of a production block using counter sunk bolts and 8 sleeves to hold the **** together just to gain an 1" of deck height. The rule book stated production blocks only....but didn't really say anything about limitations of mods......so some stuff was just taken way out there to the extreme. Some of it successful, some of it not. I'll never forget standing next to that car in the pits before hot laps. The pushed it off and got it back to the pit to get some heat in the motor. When whacking the throttle on that thing it didn't sound like it rev'd up.......it sounded like a bomb going off it rev'd so quick. It was hilarious watching it just drag mother ******* down the straights when the track was tight.
For some reason I wanna recall a few outlaw sprint car motors back in the late 80's early 90's that where near 450-460 inches using a production 400 block. The mother ******* were time bombs, but the "true" World of Outlaw days (no rules) bred some pretty wild ****.
I don't recall if it was an actual World of Outlaws class build or not, but I remember we cut 1" off the decks of one motor and installed them on top of a production block using counter sunk bolts and 8 sleeves to hold the **** together just to gain an 1" of deck height. The rule book stated production blocks only....but didn't really say anything about limitations of mods......so some stuff was just taken way out there to the extreme. Some of it successful, some of it not. I'll never forget standing next to that car in the pits before hot laps. The pushed it off and got it back to the pit to get some heat in the motor. When whacking the throttle on that thing it didn't sound like it rev'd up.......it sounded like a bomb going off it rev'd so quick. It was hilarious watching it just drag mother ******* down the straights when the track was tight.
I talked to some guys and got a little clarification. The engine that we added 1" of deck height to was after the rule change to 410 inches. I also believe I was wrong about the 450-460+ inch builds using production blocks. That was during the true "outlaw" days when there where no rules and I'm hearing now that 470" was not that uncommon back then.
Right before I left working at that particular machine shop I tore down a motor for a freshen up that came out of a 410 outlaw car and the thing was just a work of art. The entire block and every component inside was cnc'd (including the entire outside of it to save weight) in some fashion in the goal of saving weightl Every single fastener was titanium and if I remember right the ****** con rods where actually hollow in some spots. That class of racing bred some of the coolest innovation in motor racing (and I'm a drag racing fan).
I often wonder what the World of Outlaws class would be like today if the rules (or lack thereof) never changed. It would likely be similar to driving a winged go cart that weighed 900lbs with over 1000 horsepower. I personally was sad when rule changes started coming into effect, but it is what sanctioning bodies do when they see costs skyrocketing and car counts going down.
I'm typing all this in an effort to get some good discussion going on here. So others chime in if you have some wild gen 1 stories.
My opinion, the 400 block is the way to go if you can find a good one, but they are pretty much getting impossible to find in rebuildable condition. Those piles of **** came from the factory with cracks in the deck surface from those stupid little steam holes. Those are typically easy to fix, but these days it is just so much easier and cost effective to get into a new aftermarket block that is 10x stronger. The 4.125" bore of the 400 block was bad *** for sure. That aside, it is pretty hard to argue that of all the gen 1 engines, the 350 is the king. Good blocks with little core shift could be built 396 inches (most strokers ended up at 383 inches though).
Depending on how you look at it, the dawn of the ls platform pretty much ended the days building a bad *** small block chevy.
For me, I'm not real into the whole ls swap everything camp. It is great in some platforms/situations, but for me, there is just something nostalgic and cool about a 50's 60's 70's era hot rod with an era correct motor. I typically throw up when I see people pulling LS5/LS6 454's out of late 60's/early 70's hot rods and swapping in an ls motor. I get awfully close to slitting my wrist every time I see a factory big block corvette that has been swapped. I've been fortunate enough to see some real L88 vettes in my life and those easily make the top 5 list for me when talking about factory hot rods of the era. ****, an original 1967 L88 car would easy bring a price tag of 7 digits these days.
Far from performance but its a stock long block 305 V8 from a '79 GMC. It has a double roller chain, Edelbrock EPS intake, 1 inch phenolic spacer, and a Holley 4160. It's got headers, high flow cats, and Cherry Bomb Extremes. It's mated to the original T4. My plan was to eventually switch to a 383 or 400 later on but now I'm not sure. Could go 292 or 454 . I just want to drive it again.
Just a complete guess but I'm guessing between 3,200 and 3,500 pounds. Stock with a soft half top is a little under 3,000 I think. I used a 305 for the swap because it basically free and still had much more power than the original 151. All that's needed for the swap was a radiator and mounts. The bell housing is the same with the 151, just use the Chevy 153 tooth flywheel. With everything I bought for the engine and exhaust plus the swap parts I have around $1200 in the engine and its plenty powerful. But I don't like to leave well enough alone. After my J10 is on the road I'm going to swap engines on the Scrambler. I do like the idea of an LS swap but I don't want to use a computer. But after a lot of research I believe they are best left to efi unless its an all out race engine. An iron head 6.0L would be the setup for the class I raced in though. Throw in a 4 inch stoke and a Super Victor and I'd be the winner. But that engine seems more suited for my GMC. I think a big block is in the Scrambler's future. Screw class rules. All I'd need for the modified class is a 6 point cage. This Jeep isn't for racing though, just for fun. Brodix Race-Rite heads, smallish solid roller cam, and maybe a single plane would be a good setup. I'd like to switch to a one piece front clip at the same type and winch rope, those with the aluminum heads should keep the weight to where it is now. If I go with big block I want to use a narrowed and shaved 14 bolt in the rear and use RCV shafts up front. If these tires wear out I'd like to go with 33x15.50s instead of the 13.50s Ii have now. Then get a get a more street friendlier tire for regular use on my other set of rims. When my son is a little older we are taking it on the Hot Rod Power Tour hopefully.
Does 3/4 of a GEN 1 count? I have a TBI 4.3L truck as well. It's got a Jegs air tube, V8 air cleaner, Hypertech base, K&N filter, pod spacer, throttle body spacer, advanced the timing 4 degrees, and dual exhaust.
This is the heaviest confirmed load its hauled, 2600 pounds, although I believe I've had it close to two tons at one time. This was 2400 pounds of gravel and 200 pounds of sand, plus had 3 people in the cab.
08-23-2016, 12:51 AM
Anyone got any performance gen 1 small blocks ?
