Building another BBC on a budget

[RatPwrd72]

Here's a little backstory on the engine I'm putting together for my '72 truck...

Bought the truck in 1997 with the original 402 and 125,000 showing on the odometer. Figured out real quick it used about a quart of oil every 1,000 miles and had plenty of leaks. I was a junior in high school and had spent most all the bank roll on buying the truck. Replaced the valve cover gaskets, overhauled the Q-Jet and gave it a tune up. Didn't run too bad, but was short lived. After a month or so, I discovered the oil pump pickup had fallen off... You know, 60 psi at the stop sign and went to the bottom off idle.

Pulled the 402 and built a shoestring budget 468. Stock cast crank, stock rods with ARP bolts and cheap cast flattop Pistons. Went with a stock set of 049 heads and an Elgin 204/214 @ .050 cam with a used Performer intake and the original Q-Jet. This combo mustered a best of 14.40 in the 1/4 with 3.07 gears and a stock converter.

Fast forward a few years and I decided to up the performance of the 468. Stuck in a Lunati Brackmaster cam, 236 @ .050, .544 lift and cut the 049 heads for 2.19/1.88 valves I had used from the race truck engine. Swapped an Airgap RPM for the Performer and put a 3310 Holley on it, it went 13.80's without much tuning. I did figure out the fuel pressure fell below 1 psi in high gear, but never ran it again after putting in a fuel cell and Holley Blue pump.

So, here we are after the truck has set another 3 years or so, time for a little more oomph, on a budget of course.






Block is already .060" over, so it'll be getting bored to .070", vatted, line bored and honed. I'm shopping for a rotating assembly now, looking for a 4.250" stroke crank,6.385 h-beam rod and forged piston. Probably go with White Performance or CNC Mororsports for this and pick an 18cc dome piston, which should put me right at 10:1 compression.

Stopped at a local speed shop and picked up a gently used Comp HR288 hydraulic roller (226/234 @ .050", 587/610 lift) and lifter set that had 2 dyno pulls on it for cheap, otherwise I was contemplating going back with a flat tappet for budget reasons.

I'm going to run the 049 heads with the 2.19/1.88 valves for now, Good heads aren't in the budget right now... I dont feel ill be leaving too much on the table with these, Torque is the name of the game and I shouldn't turn this deal any tighter than 5,900 or so before I'm out of cam.

I'm shooting for 525 HP on pump gas with plenty of tire turning torque. If anybody has any suggestions for the rotating assembly, I'm all ears. Ill try to update this as we move along with new parts....