451 horsepower and torque

[Duster440]

i just wanted to know if anyone here has ever dyno'ed a 451 stroker using the muscle motors kit. i was interested in knowing how much horsepower and torque i am planting in my a-body.

thanks.

[451boy]

Well the shortblock doesn't make the horsepower, it is the heads and cam that do that. So a 451 motor will make somewhere between 200 and 800 horsepower depending on the cam, heads, carb and compression ratio.

[Duster440]

i will probabbly make some mods to it , i sure as hell dont want another 200hp big block. i got a 440 for 300 canadian dollars that was 77 engine. about the 451,i thought it would probabbly be high compression because of the special pistons and longer stroke. whatever the best kit i can buy for the block will be the one i get. what kit do you have? i was looking for street-able compression , i will be using 452 heads and a good cam, just dont know what kind cuz i dont know cams very well. i was just looking for a rough estimate on the horsepower. thanks.

[This message has been edited by Duster440 (edited May 09, 2000).]

[DartGT66]

The power levels will be very much a like those of a similarily prepped 440. Because of the lighter reciprocating assembly you'll jsut get a little more power than with a 440, and the difference becomes greater when the rpms get higher. I believe the muscle motors kit is just fine, and so are the ones offered by different companies that use good quality parts. I would propably build one for the street using polished&balanced 440 LY rods with ARP bolts, turned down RB forged crank and ROSS flat top pistons. This should make a bullet proof package if you stay under 7000 rpm while still retain relatively low cost. I think that you will be able to get 400-450 real hp with decent heads and a hydraulic cam. Enough to make a low 11 second A-body.

[Duster440]

can u use B body hedders on B block in an A body? can i use the rods from my cast crank 440? how much torque does this engine make?

[DartGT66]

The B-body headers will not fit. You need the expensive A-body only BB headers, I would recommend Schumacher underchassis headers or fenderwells. The rods in your 440 are the LY rods; they can be used with good bolts, resizing & balancing. The horsepower and torque figures depends on the other parts in the engine, cam size, head mods, intake, carb etc. If you go wild, you also need mods to the drivetrain, converter, gears etc. I think you shouldn't look for certain power & torque figures, just tell us what you want the car to do , is it strip only, what are your gears and car weight, what kind of tires nad what kind of performance you want, and we may be able to tell you what parts you need to achieve your goals. With very basic parts, high gears and regular street tires you can get a daily driver run 12's easy.

[ChristianCuda]

Some B-Body headers with B Blocks Not RB blocks will work in abodys with light adjusting on the firewall. THe headers have to be installed alreay on the engine when the enigne is installed and you have to have manual steering. It is a tight fit and litterally a shoehorn in. But 1 7/8 for under $100 that fit with some work and good power i say go for it. I have two sets of these already running. One mine and one a friends.

Christian

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68 'Cuda 383 Working on adding EFI
69 'Cuda Race Parts Car
76 Duster 273 recent transplant
95 Neon 2.0 SOHC best of 16.96
84 Dodge Ram D50 transplanting 360

[Duster440]

im not sure how much the car weighs , it has no ac , no powersteering , manual brakes , 23 spline 833, 8 3/4 with 3.91 sure grip. fiber glass fenders , fiber glass decklid.
i want to put 15 inch rims on it , does that mean i have to get new axels? i will be using the car for street and mabey drag it once in a while. i want somthing taht will punish the camero's and mustangs here in canada.

[DartGT66]

With a 440 A-body, A-833 and 3.91 gears your main concern is the tires and the suspension unless you want a tirefryer. You need big, sticky tires to get the vehicle off the line effectively and at least the front segments of the springs clamped and a pinion snubber. Forget the regular radials, you need at least Drag Radials or even better tires like M/T ET Streets. I believe that you can stuff 11.5/28/15 tires inside the stock wheelwells with the correct offset wheels, or maybe someone knows better? You'll definitely make enough power and torque to beat regular mustangs or camaros. Like I said, I drove high 12's with a MP 280 cam, template ported heads, single plane intake, headers and 2.5" duals. This was with 3.23 gears and 205/75/14 tires and a TF727 with stock 11" converter. Your Duster will propably be lighter than our '73 4D sedan and the gears and tires should be able to get you in to low 12's with a same level set up. Our Valiant was the familys only car and a daily driver in this state of tune.