car motor question...

[RT_Luver]

I'm lookin into buying a car to fix up and race in the next couple of years. I'm goin with a charger cuz I've wanted one since I was 7 and to me they look sweet. well, what I'm wonderin, since I gettin this car to race is what size motor has more get up and go in it? I know I'm goin with a V8, NO question there, but what SIZE. in all the Chargers I've seen their are a few motor sizes and I'm hopin ya'll can help me with which motor can get up to speed faster outta the....

318
340
383
400
426
440

those are basically the motors that are in a charger that I have found. I have heard the big blocks are more for pulling and small blocks are faster off. well thats one thing I'm confused about, whats the difference? can a V8 be a small block? what I'm guessing the size of the block refers to is the cubic inches int he motor. but I'm prob wrong who knows, can some one help me here. Thanks

[cannedheat]

for racing i would go for a 426 with 2 4 barrel carbs, like the hemi. if you can find a hemi go for that. but if your gonna cruise around town i would forget that because i only get like 10mpg and all i have is a 350 with a single 4barrel carb.

[magking1971]

After building each of those motors I have had the best luck with a 383. If you can find a 340 hang on to it, they are getting rare.

[Junky]

I would personally go with the small block for racing, less weight and they can produce the same HP.
The Hemi would be expensive if you found one, then getting parts for it is trouble even more.
I would have to say 318 get a wein stealth manifold, carter afb 750, and a 292 degree cam, (if you run a auto make sure and get a stall converter even if you don't need it at first because later you probably will and then you won't have to go and put one in)run Msd all the way,3:83 gears if you plan on driving on highway (4:11 to much for road really)Don't be fooled into getting geared timing...they actuall rob about 20hp.
Make sure and get the good headers the extra money is worth it so you don't have to replace gaskets every 10,000 or less.
I have raced mostly chevies (but I know a lot of chryslers) but my trial and error was a lot of headache...hopefully this will save you the trouble.

[RT_Luver]

Originally posted by magking1971
After building each of those motors I have had the best luck with a 383. If you can find a 340 hang on to it, they are getting rare.

are you sayin that a 340 is better then a 383? thats just sorta what I get outta that. at this moment I have a chance for a 318, 340, 383, and a 440. the 383 and 440 are hemi's. but say they weren't, what woudl you say

[RT_Luver]

I think I'm gunan go wit a 383 for a couple of reasons. I've been talkin to some of my friends who have dads as mechanics, and racers, and ppl that build cars and stuff. and they told me that the 383 has the ability to pick up speed like a small block, but has the horses of a big block...kinda what you would call the best of both worlds. so what do ya'll think??

[Mango]

dude,

just find yourself a 426 Hemi, or try to find a 1966 plymouth Satellite. 426 hemi, 425hp, 490ft lbs of tourqe. 2 X 4bbl carbs. 0 to 60 in 5.3seconds, 1/4 mile in 13.8 STOCK! your set. Through some slicks on it, gut the interior, build an internal role cage and your SET. You'll be pushing 11.3 quarters in no time. dont forget the wheely bars!!!

[PigSweat]

Originally posted by RT_Luver


the 383 and 440 are hemi's.

Sorry bud, Chrysler didn't make 383 and 440 hemis. Only 392s and 426s (and some bigger race hemis)

[RT_Luver]

hmmm....must be misprint in the car part magazine I got

[Flamebo]

Good car choice, American muscle knows best. Now I have to get back to rebuilding the froze up 454 on my new '70 chevelle. ack.

[71 LS6]

Cubic inches don't necessarily mean more hp, torque, or speed. It depends on what you want to do to the engine, how you want to set it up, if it will be used only for racing, if you want to have to tune it constantly, and many other things. I personally prefer small blocks, because they are lighter, easy to find parts for, and you can squeeze all the power you want out of them. I'm not extremely familiar with the mopar engins, but have had several small block chevys. If you want this car strictly for quarter mile, go with a decent sized small block, with headers, MSD, forged pistons, steel crank, with a 671 blower with two 750 holleys. That should get most of the power out of a small block. I dont know if you already have a tranny, but TH400 trannys are bullet-proof, especially with anti-balloon plates. If you're planning on dragging as its primary function, gut it, cage it, tub it (tubbing will take a lot of time and around $10,000 to do right), change the driveshaft to one thats guarunteed not to twist or break, like a dennys driveshaft, a 9" differential (probably 4.56 gears). I have a similar setup on a 350 chevy, and i get 10s in the quarter. If you want a car to drive around, and take to the track occasionally, then don't listen to me .

Big block vs. small block is based on the size of the actual block . generally speaking, V8s under around 396 are small blocks, over 396 are big blocks, with some exceptions. For instance, it is possible to have a 400 small block.

With the amount of stuff that you can do to a V8, block size doesnt have a huge impact, although if you do the same stuff just mentioned to a big block, it will be heavier and more expensive, but will probably have more power.

Lastly, unless you want a mopar powerplant to go along with the charger, I would go with a chevy engine (350 or 396) because parts for those things are everywhere (I'm looking at some now). Oh yeah, disregard my sig where it says 'there's no replacement for displacement' I was refering to ricers for that .