Quote:
Originally Posted by jski67
I agree with Vegas.
I love big blocks...I had a 454 for years and am about to get the car back on the road with it stroked to 489. But if I was starting with nothing, I'd go LS in a heartbeat.
You may be able to get the short block together cheap, but you'll put some money in the heads. New big block heads are pricey and while decent, older heads can be found (781s, 049s) they will usually need a decent amount of machine work to get them up to snuff.
It's amazing me to me how much power the Gen IIIs can easily make...and they're already to go with efi, a/c, etc.
Jason
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You don't need great head to make 500ft lbs but the extra weight of an all iron big block is not ideal for autocross. Like Jason said, aluminum heads would be nice but there not cheap for a nice set. I've run 5 autocrosses with my 489 steel block with aluminum heads. Don't think you can't be competitive with a big block. Last time out I out ran the ESP champ and within 1 second of the SSM former champ in his vette. They were both on A6's as well. My car has really good suspension and tires. The low end torqe a big block makes is great for autocross if you can hook it up. I hate to recommend a LSX but they are cheap and easy. I still like the look of a big block under the hood and that's the main reason I went that way originally. Now I'm building a ZL-1 489 so I can bake my cake and eat it too. Light weight but old school.