I have been looking at R5P7 blocks, heads, valvetrain, cranks and etc. for sale lately. I will say that I am amazed at the prices these items are going for. I understand that the demand for these engines race wise is low but will they make a decent street engine? I know they are limited in cubic inches but I can't get over a billet crank for $ 500 bucks.

If someone were to build a car for street driving with an 833 tranny or equivalent, what problems would you guys percieve?

Are these prices too good to be true or what?

Thanks a million, HH

did you read Leon's post? Pretty informative on his "been there, done that" experiences.

No I didn't but I will do more research. Still if anyone has suggestions I am all ears.

had time to dig it up:

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...e=7&fpart=1

The first thing you need to do is find a complete motor to buy.Buying it piece by piece you will have a big mess on your hands each engine builder is completely different then the other

what you going to do with, i've gaot a xr2 ready to put together if interested,it's set up far oval track raceing, if interested call john @ 618-946-2640

I have been doodling with these heads for a few years. Was going to go the XR2 route. Decided against that. Went on and bought a put together deal mostly complete. You still have to be careful as I found 7 rocker arms that were .100" short.

There are some things I mentioned in the other thread that you would want to change for street use IMO. First would be to change the pistons out for some that run tighter clearance and a better ring package if you do not like an engine that smoke pretty hard when cold. You can block off the spring and piston oilers. But, these oilers can give you the same benefits on the street with cooling these parts. I have thought about these issues a lot. I now have a 440 EEI block with a tighter piston and ring pack. Does not smoke. One engine I have has two different piston oiler setups in it. I blocked one off that really helped the idle oil pressure. I also block off the spring oilers with no problems.

Here is the good news 15 MPG with 4.10 gears and a to loose for the street converter(7,200 RPM). And 800+ on tap is nothing short of a blast on the street. You can convert these engines to wet sump with some changes to the pan, a single stage pump, and some holes cut in the cam tunnel. I hear good results doing this. I plan to do one as soon as I find a buyer who want to do this.

Leon

I have a b-body ( 69) shell that I thought it would be fun to put a cup motor in. After looking at prices on the internet, blocks, heads, valve, and rockers, cranks and so on are very affordable. I have read your thread leon and am impressed with what you did.

A couple questions: What items are the pricey ones? Everything I have looked at I feel to be reasonable. I mean I just found stainless steel headers for $ 475!

Is there an intake low enough to keep the carb/air cleaner under the hood of say a coronet?

Find a complete motor the rings alone are 1500 like I said before all the engine builders did things different and they wont work they are a great motor I had one put it in the car and ran 9.50 all day long

The blocks are only 9.00" deck and some are less. Some of the intakes are shorter. I have a Mopar intake that is a lot shorter than the edelbroc I run now.

The blocks are expensive. I had trouble trying to find a replacement. New ones are $1,500 and up. And they require a lot of machine work. The other item is belt drives. I am in need of one and having trouble finding the one I want affordable. There was two I know about. One seals around the crank the other around the lower pulley.

My current engine has run 8.9's at 3000 lbs. It needs a lot of work and tuning. The 358 I ran was geared just a little short for the quarter but ran 5.8's in the eighth. That is 9.0 in the quarter with a glide. A torqueflite is a faster way to go with the 358's IMO.

Leon

The rings can be pricey, depending on what the ring pack is, a set of rings will set you back around $1200-1500

If anyone needs any information on these engines let me know. I worked for a couple top level Dodge teams and I did a lot of the machine work and R&D for them. I have blueprints and a lot of notes. You can shoot me a PM.

Little things cost alot in these engines. I bought disassembled complete engine and it had everything. Only oil pan bolts and couple hoses vere missing.

I have JE pistons and very thin rings(0.035"). I just asked last week from JE some new rings, 1080usd a set!

I also assembled my friends R5P7, it had only 1 ring + oil ring and it was little thicker, not so expensive, about half the price. Looked like same from the outside than mine but everything was different inside.

As told earlier, little things cost a lot. I have 2.17" Del West titanium intake valves with 6mm stem. I dont even want to ask what they cost new.

I just want one...For my 68 D100 street beater. Just want to do something different with the powerplant in the truck. If I ever find one for a good deal and it works out well we will build one for a racecar. Just figured it woudl be a good way to learn. I had one bought, or so I thought from a member here who backed out and sold it to someone else, the way my luck usually works.

These engines are not for the faint of heart. If your skill set is limited, I strongly suggest you stay clear of throwing one together with parts from here and there. As Leon mentioned earlier, each shop, during the Chrysler development stages, engineered their "own" unique way to skin the cat. They also acquired parts from various suppliers (jesel, t&d, del-west, etc). Although these parts look and measure "close", they are not interchangeable without some serious attention to detail.

I have built quite a few of these motors and if you're not comfortable with measuring and "real geometry", I suggest paying someone to do it. Granted, purchasing an engine complete and putting it in a car is one thing, but if a part fails, and you need a spare......you better know how to properly measure....and I don't mean with a tape measure either.

This message is by no means intended to scare or BS anyone, it's just an experienced viewpoint on these engines. And yes, I personally run one and wouldn't run anything else in SBM form. We're going 177 mph in the quarter with less than .730" lift (N/A).

For the street, buy a complete engine (5k) and purchase new pistons (1k) and a manageable ring package ($200) (.043 - 1/16") and let it eat. I wouldn't change anything else.....nothing!

I can't wait to get my hands on one of these for a street strip application! I am impressed at how well they perform in various circumstances.

I have two I am getting rid of. I have not listed them simply because there is just too many ways to do the deal. Anything from load up enough parts to build one for X amount or I build one to suit your needs to I install one in your car ready to race. There is a just too many variable to list one and cover the price restriction in the parts forums.

Leon

I had the idea for a while anyway that a chevy flange crank would be a good option. Then I found out they were used in the two piece rear seal blocks. I understand they are harder to come by.

The different rod journal size deal is not that big a deal. You need bearings you read the number off your bearing. Call CV products and order a set. Sure a 2.00" chevy rod is by far the easiest to deal with. I have 1.850 bearings in one and they were fairly easy to get. I even found some with a chamfered wide cut to match exactly what I had.

There are a lot of different wrist pins also. But, if you have it apart ordering custom piston replacements you can buy rods cheap with another pin diameter cheap on the bag. There are tons of pistons available cheap also. A lot of them heavier with favorable ring packages.

The heads will not bolt on in most cars, true. But you have plenty of material for a great start to making your own.

Leon

For the original "poster" and those with interest:

There have been some very good posts from fellow R5P7 users in the above threads. What you have read are some of the variables associated with the various engine builds throughout Nascar in the late 90's - 2007.
If you're like any of us, and curious to learn, then I say invest some green and give it a try! There are more and more people learning this engine every year, and a simple PM and a phone call to one another helps every time. Heck, that's how I met Leon and quite a few others (not on this site).
In my closing remarks, I see guys on here drop 10's of thousands today on stuff that was ancient technology 25 years ago and think nothing of it. I say, buy a used motor, see if it's your thing, and then truly learn it as you go and freshen it after 250 passes (that's right, after it's already had 500 miles on it)! My last suggestion, please find a friend or attain the skill yourself to perform some machining capabilities. A nice mill and a metal lathe will save you thousands!!

Mike