Ok let me put it this way, If you have a big motor say 512ci and you put a std port head on it thats somewhat restrictive which is what we will have in my opinion how do you make 650>700 on pump. Its either big comp/big s/roller and rpm. None of those will be there with a max of 11:1, and 3.91 gears apart from a big cam, have I answered my own question?.....
On my 440, I had a big sft cam with restrictive stock 906 heads, put same but ported BV heads on it and it picked up .5 and 6mph with no other changes, thats understandable, this build won't have the option of a better head, at least not for now so if there is around a 50hp difference if not more from his std. port 300cfm head to an MW head@350cfm+ as I see it how would you compensate for that given the comp and rpm limits of this build or is it impossible because at the end of the day the heads and intake system are where the power is.
Random thoughts here, but might help putting some context around your friend's build. Like I mentioned above, we might be talking similar track conditions in many cases, so perhaps my numbers aren't too far off for comparison.
With ported OEM iron heads, pump-gas CR, and moderate sft cam (254 at .050), it was a low 11-sec (11.0) car in good conditions... 3700+ #s... probably 540-550 HP
With Dwayne's ported standard Stage VI heads (310 cfm), about a 10-degree bigger sft cam, 10.7 CR, and I don't remember what else, in really good conditions it got into the 10.5s... 3750#... probably 610 HP for that combination; even under noticeably crappier conditions, it was still going 10.7-10.8s
Other factors
- I always run radials, so that's a tenth and about 1 MPH improvement over bias-plies
- my 9.5" converter is pretty efficient at about 8% slippage
- I had a lot of testing to get stuff dialed in... got the 60s down to 1.45-1.47
I have a hard time imagining how 500" -- even with "small" heads -- running comparable compression and a suitable sold roller wouldn't out perform a 600+ HP 440. Sure sounds like a solid mid-10s combination to me.
