Project C4, 85 Corvette

[Steve85]

I'm still not sure what keeps going on here.....I know a lot of guys running 400+ HP smallblocks and driving them to work every day and getting 22mpg doing so. Are you shooting for way more than that?

Yeah, that's just it, it's not the "power" breaking things. And to Dave, I guess that would be my answer. The 434 was an oiling issue that ate up the bearings, a similar issue in a lawn mower would be disastrous. It's just stupid crap. Maybe that's why I keep going back for more, it's stuff that would kill any motor. Admittedly, I have been searching for the few parts I would need to put the stock motor back together. Or, maybe Mike is right.

And, when it comes down to it, while I may complain, I don't really mind working on it and trying new things.

I'm looking to be quite a bit over that (580-600) but not by doing anything radical (like a huge peaky cam with 8000rpm). Torque will be flat, cam overlap less than it is now, and all in by 6500rpm. And the HP isn't necessarily the goal, the heads will support over 700hp, it's taking a streetable cam putting it under killer heads with an rpm limit in mind and seeing what you get. The sim software says 580-600. The engine will be built, tested on a dyno, all quirks worked out, and then installed.

Short term project:
Add Sta Bil to the tank.