The motor will be coming out real soon and it'll be time to upgrade the HP and make it a reliable and predictable bracket motor...

What we have to work with is a 400 block that has been bored and stroked to 451..
B1 Originals (not ported)
Intake and 1050 Dominator..

Stroker crank (unknown make/age)
13:1 pistons (unknown make/age)
Aluminum rods (unknown make/age)
Aluminum mains (unknown make/age)
Comp roller lifters
small Comp Cam

My goal is 750-800ish HP and the total budget is in the neighborhood of $4000-ish, with me doing the final assembly..

What are your recommendations?

First, aluminum's lifespan is determined by cycles to failure at a given load. If the rods are unknown, I think it would be best to leave room in the budget for brand new replacements so that its not so much a roll of the dice every time you run the car.

you need more cubes! unless you going power adder or you going to REALLY turn some RPM.

Make it bigger, sell the unknown parts or use them as conversation pieces 4.300 stroke crankshaft, 6.535 rods, custom pistons, actual compression up 13.0 to 1 to but not over the fuel level for the compression your going to use IE race gas 12.5, Methanol 15 to 1 and so on Have a cam ground to meet your goals for ET and weight

521"...

Call Koffel..


Chris..

Will a stock block last with that sort of power ?.
I would sell the short block or keep it as a spare and build something aftermarket to meet your goals.
JMO Mick

Thanks for all your suggestions.. but it looks like upgrading to a larger stroker will quickly wipe out the budget amount... either that, or I have to open up the wallet a little larger..

I originally planned to do something less exotic.. new pistons, new rods, ported the heads and install a larger cam... But I wanted to run this past you all first to your opinions..

Ohoi Crankshaft Company 4.250, 4.300 or 4.375 crank costs $700.00 plus shipping, a set of RPM or CAT Steel H beam rods costs $400.00, $600.00 t0 $1000.00 for custom pistons, $350.00 to balance it and your in the higher HP output ballpark, depending on what compression, camshaft and so on. Keep the heads that way they are now and shift it at or below 7000 RPM, deadly bracket combination that will go faster than what you have now

You have a nice looking car, that runs pretty good numbers now, just have the heads ported and fit a bit bigger cam, that will probably pick you up another 3/10.
Mick

not going to get 700-800 with those parts. Not w/o boost and that's to much compression for boost. I'd be concerned about re-using used aluminum rods...

I have most of the part to make a 511CID you can have the pistons noched for a good valve relief and be almost there. I'll send you the parts for $1300.00 Shipped

Crankshaft - 440 Source 4.250" stroke for a 400 block

Rods - Eagle 6.535" w/L19 bolts good to 1500HP

Pistons - Icon forged 4.375" bore (w/stock valve reliefs)

The pistons can be notched for the B-1 valve reliefs.

You would still have a pretty good budget left for the small things.

Don the one thing you need to keep in mind is you need a custom piston period. There is not a shelf piston for a B1. However you can if they are still in good shape resue the current piston and go to a 4.25 stroke and new rod anbd have that solved. It does not have to be a break the bacnk thing. If those pistons are good that will save you some $$

IMO as suggested port the heads, freshen up the lower end throw a cam at it and let her eat. Otherwise open the wallet and do it once...BTW my little Valiant motor was a 511 with ported originals and it went 9.0's at 150 at 3470lbs with NO fancy parts at all.

Bob... I sent ya a PM..

I still have a long month before the motor comes out of the car, in that time I plan on doing a whole bunch of reading and learning to do..

Thanks for everyones suggestions and advise, feel free to offer more...

I know where there is a set of nicely ported Indy -1 heads with nice rockers and an intake Makes finding deals on pistons easier

IMHO, the shortblock is basically un-sellable as you describe it, at least to me anyways, unless your willing to virtually give it away. You've got good heads as is, Id personally spend a bit more than the amount you'd hoped and build a big shortblock with an aftermarket block that will last a long long time at 800+, then worry about having the heads ported/more cam in a year or 3 if necessary... If it goes mid-bottom 9's with a 540' or 572' with stockish B1's and a mild cam I bet you'll reap the benefits of easier maintenance, and room for growth in the future. But I always tend to build for the future, much more than the present.

If you trust the block, you could build a 512 to go with the B1 heads which should give you the lightest bob weight. Ideal situation is a center counter weight crank with the RB mains, machine the block to fit. That will let the block live longer. Then when it is time you can upgrade to a low deck after market block (KB?)with the same dimensions.
That should give you a torque peak around 6200 rpm and allow a shift point at or below 7200 rpm to help with the life of the motor. Converter will need to be loose enough to flash to 6500 in bad air, to make it consistent if you plan on bracket racing. No matter which way you go, the budget will have to increase IMHO. If you choose to stay with a MW port head, it limits you to around 8.80 at 3,000 lbs under IDEAL circumstances.
What ever you chose, be sure the way you go will have room to grow to your ultimate goal years down the road. My goal was to be able to run super comp, but the heads and weight of the car don't allow me to get competitive. If I set up the chassis to cut a light, I don't have the Hp to go 8.90 in the heat. If I set up the chassis for best ET, reaction times suffer and my lights will be poor. So the long term game plan is pretty important!
Maybe a post on your ultimate goal for the long term is in order, or we could look that over here.

Question for you all....

Given the two options I'm about to list.. which would be a better combination?

Freshen up existing short block with new rods, reuse existing pistons if possible, max port and valve job on the B1's and then match it with an appropriate sized cam??

or

Increase the CID to a 511/512 stroker, using existing pistons if possible, leave the B1's alone in stock ootb condition and then match it with an appropriate sized cam??