If you were to build a Big Block Wedge......

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You still need to be a little more specific. Many people build stock block big blocks that make 600hp, others making 900+. Any of these could be considered drag racing engines, but are drastically different.

Goals and budget... 8's, 9's, 10's?

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8's

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I guess it would depend on what it is going in and what your goals are.

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Buiild the biggest C.I. motor you can and buy the best heads availble to achieve high HP and torque output Al and I both know that you can achieve over 1000 HP from a 500 + C.I. Mopar based motor with one carb. on race gas

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If you were to build a Big Block Wedge to go drag racing, What would you build, and how?

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Well still kinda open ended. I went 9.04 at 150 in a 3470lb 67 Valiant with a set of originals that flowed 415-420cfm with a stock block, Ohio crank, GRP rods, Indy oil pump and Bullet roller with 286/290 on a 113lsa with life at @800", unported single 4 intake and a out of the box Holley Dominator. Was a fairly budget minded build and in a 2800lb ish car would certainly run 8's with no issues. It was a father son project when my kid was still playing HS baseball so racing time was limited. We built the engine to get an idea on what would work well with plans to upgrade some components later to better pieces and more power. Made some cam and carb changes along the way and had a good handle on where to go with it. Ended up deciding to go super class racing instead after baseball and eventually sold the car. BTW if anyone in the Lincoln, NE area knows the car I would like try and get it back.

My point being some sort of budget it required to make some decisions on what direction lead. My advice is buy the best components you can afford. Running 8's at 2800lbbs is not rocket science. 900 hp will get you in the 8's easily. Your heads can support 950 relatively easy but if you want more you will either need to spin it harder or look for better heads. 950 in a great working car at sea level will net you sub 8.50 times. In Boise maybe 8.60's. FWIW my Barracuda at 2975 went 155 in Boise at the S/ST index of 11.15

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4.500 Bore x 4.250 stroke, 540 CID, B1 org, 2800 lbs, single four-barrel (a tunnel ram 2x4 would be nice), and 7500 rpm should run 8.5 or even better if the car works well. What is the chassis best 60ft and ET/mph?

An Enderle alcohol injection would be nice, I like my Ron's Flying Toilet injection too, but an alcohol carb will get the job done.

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That's a loaded question We see many racers that build beyond their budget and abilities because they are never satisfied once they attain a certain level of performance.They never consider the cost of maintaince and repair at higher performance levels nor do they consider all the other related cost associated with the faster classes.The cost of maintaining and operating a 10 second car and a 8 second car are miles apart.As mentioned earlier get a solid plan of what you want to accomplish,plot the venture step by step as far as cost verses your budget.Remember to include any and all other factors besides the engine.Usually engine upgrade means chassis and driveline upgrades.The cost can sprial out of control.
Most importantly know your skill and ability to be able to handle a faster car.Many get in over their heads find that they get a lesson they didn't intend on learning.
What ever you do think it through before starting the project and good luck.

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It sounds like you are getting the right parts gathered together. My 572 ran some 8.40's@159mph with 440-1 heads, almost pump gas compression, and a cam ground for my B1 heads. My Daytona was around 2350 pounds. Hopefully running some 7.90's-8'0 when its out with my B1 heads, more compression, and probably alcohol.

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Wow that sounds really good!
But with my weight, and a tenth per 100lbs. That would put me at the 8.30 to 8.70 mark. That's counting on the same altitude too of corse.
I wouldn't be too upset at that though.

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540 MEGA block 4.5 bore 4.25 stroke, 1050 dominator stage 6 heads .663 roller m1 intake
8.87 155 mph

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Send me that F1R would be cool on my old D100

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It is not that I am not a fan of cubic inches. It is that with Mopar bore spacing you are kinda limited in what we can do. We don't have parts nor are we going to get them to build a GOOD big cube motor. If we could get a good 4.600 bore block it would help some. Bore makes HP not stroke, think we have been here before.

I am building my first, and likely last big stroke Mopar. We will see if it is worth the effort, I am hoping I am pleasantly surprised with it. I will let everyone know how it turns out, both on the dyno and track. Happy to share any of my experiences for sure..

In your case with the heads you have I would stick to 4.25" stroke or less. Less meaning spin it harder. If you buy quality parts and put things together correctly there is no reason you cannot make close to 1000hp and do so reliably. I would go with a GOOD 4.25 crank, Callies at the least, aluminum rods, jesel belt and distributor, good oiling system, Manton pushrods, Isky EZ roll lifters, etc etc...

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I'm really curious about the build that you and your Kid did.

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I like seeing all the 4.500 x 4.250 540 engines here. That is how I did mine. I ought to dyno the thing before I put it in the Demon. Hopefully it will be reliable and low maintenance.

I have been told my 499 made 850 HP on the motor but it sure didn't feel like it to me on the track. Maybe my butt needs calibrating. It was a pretty serious build. Over 900 lift at the valves and it would rev up to 9000+, shift at 8600. Not low maintenance.

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That's why I pulled the 499 and am putting in the 540 that only has 700 valve lift. I street drive a bit also and the radiator for the 540 will be bigger than the little one the 499 uses. Next up after I see how the 540 runs with the Indy R2 cam and 13.9 (C-16 still) it will get lower compression and a milder cam so I can run it on pump swill. Will freshen up the 499 so I can trust it (came with the KOS car, but is supposed to be fresh) and get the header dents fixed. That motor on spray sent the 3150# car down the track in low to flat 8s and 175 MPH - back in the day.

So back to the OP, you have to decide what it is you want to do. The parts will follow that decision and the compromises you make. To me, fuel is a key thing to consider but if only for the track C-16 isn't that big a hassle, just $13.50 per gallon.

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If 8's are your goal I'd look at boost. In the long run it will be cheaper and you'll have something you can putt around town in. Like cab said earlier, do the biggest CID you can, top it off w/ the best heads you can afford, then add about 14-16lbs of boost. If you are good at fabbing exhaust go turbo, if not look into a centrif blower unit.

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Well still kinda open ended. I went 9.04 at 150 in a 3470lb 67 Valiant with a set of originals that flowed 415-420cfm with a stock block, Ohio crank, GRP rods, Indy oil pump and Bullet roller with 286/290 on a 113lsa with life at @800", unported single 4 intake and a out of the box Holley Dominator. Was a fairly budget minded build and in a 2800lb ish car would certainly run 8's with no issues. It was a father son project when my kid was still playing HS baseball so racing time was limited. We built the engine to get an idea on what would work well with plans to upgrade some components later to better pieces and more power. Made some cam and carb changes along the way and had a good handle on where to go with it. Ended up deciding to go super class racing instead after baseball and eventually sold the car. BTW if anyone in the Lincoln, NE area knows the car I would like try and get it back.

My point being some sort of budget it required to make some decisions on what direction lead. My advice is buy the best components you can afford. Running 8's at 2800lbbs is not rocket science. 900 hp will get you in the 8's easily. Your heads can support 950 relatively easy but if you want more you will either need to spin it harder or look for better heads. 950 in a great working car at sea level will net you sub 8.50 times. In Boise maybe 8.60's. FWIW my Barracuda at 2975 went 155 in Boise at the S/ST index of 11.15

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Would you mind sharing, or PM me, some build secrets of the motor you and your kid ran in your 67 Valiant?

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Could you be more specific on your goals? There is a world of difference between 8.00s at 3,000 lbs or 8.90s at 2500 lbs. Like from 700 hp to over 1,000 hp. what do you think the car will weigh? Are you looking to run high 8s or 8.0s?

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It should weigh about 2700 then. 850s to 8.60s is vey reachable, only needing about 850 hp. I have run 8.70s with much poorer heads and 528 cubes at 3040 lbs, alcohol injected single throttle body. Figure at that performance level, it takes about 35 hp per tenth of ET reduction. Will you be satisfied with 8.50s? That could be done with a very low maintenance motor.

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Honestly I was shooting for 8.10 to 8.20 for all out. But back it off to bracket race and be consistent. But yes, and as maintenance free as possible.
Our track is at 2690 to 2720 above sea level. If that helps.

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My weather station calculator says it would take about 1040 dyno hp to run in that range at a DA of roughly 3,000 ft. That makes it a pretty serious motor build. Al Alguire is who I would go to for a decent recipe, he has done it.

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I have a KB on order.

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Looks like you are getting close on the block for sure. You will definitely loose quite a bit of weight on the nose for sure. All the megablocks I have weighed were 305-317lbs. My KB low deck was 127, so you will see a solid 175lb loss I would imagine. That is a TON of weight off the nose for sure.

My log book shows Firebirds elevation at 2695, a few hundred more than here in Vegas. Everytime I have run there the DA was 3200-4800' and that was at the division race which is one of your first races of the year. So you would still need a fair amount of steam to run 8.0's up there even at 2600lb. One thing some of the Midwest and East coast guys don't get is we have no barometer at these tracks. While Boise is a tad better than most as we go up in altitude the TRUE barometer is very low. This will kill power in a hurry. Boise was pretty good when I was there with the true barometer being in the low 27's. As we say here in Vegas if we see a 28.00 on the barometer it is a banner day and you will be fast, well for here anyway.

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I assume that Barometer you were looking at was corrected. A baro of 29 at 2700' would be a record I imagine. The actual is much lower. Just like watching TV and seeing the weather. They always list the corrected barometer not the actual reading. To standardize the number and as to not confuse people. I am not a weather man by any means but running .90 stuff you learn a lot about it for sure. Pilots can probably explain it better.

Here is the abridged version

Most of the barometric pressure values that are listed on weather web sites are corrected to sea-level. This is done to standardize the values so that the altitude where the measurement was made does not significantly affect the result.
Barometric pressure that is not corrected to sea-level is usually referred to as absolute barometric pressure (the "absolute" term is what differentiates between the two) or absolute atmospheric pressure. The absolute atmospheric pressure is the actual pressure at the location where the measurement is taken from. All barometers, whether they are mercury-filled, aneroid or other designs, are affected by altitude because atmospheric pressure reduces with vertical distance from the Earth. If a barometer is moved upwards from nominal sea level its readings should reduce roughly by 1 hPa (1 mbar) for every 10 metres increase in altitude but note that the rate-of-change of pressure with altitude itself reduces significantly and non-linearly with altitude

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Most good weather stations are uncorrected. Most home units are corrected. Keeps those east coast guys from thinking a hurricane is coming

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Now thats funny s##t!

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I'll go grab my log book in a little. I have the weather information from the Halloween classic last year. That's about the best the air will ever be at that track.

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