396 small block chevy

[bigjoe1]

I will bet you did NOT know that the neaw AFR eliminater heads are 60 plus HP better than the track I s are. You need some heavy port word to get close.
JOE SHERMAN RACING ENGINES

[AdioSS]

A word of advice. Get a small rod journal crank and rods and save yourself some clearance work (2.00" crank journal).

Damn good thinking! That should allow .050" more clearance (per side), right? Then a Honda rod journal should allow another .060" clearance, right? Theoretically I could then run a little longer stroke. Say a 4.125" throw maybe to get back to the same clearance as a small journal 4.00" stroke... Longer stroke should mean more compression and longer cam duration for more power...

[Competition Engines]

A word of advice. Get a small rod journal crank and rods and save yourself some clearance work (2.00" crank journal).

Damn good thinking! That should allow .050" more clearance (per side), right? Then a Honda rod journal should allow another .060" clearance, right? Theoretically I could then run a little longer stroke. Say a 4.125" throw maybe to get back to the same clearance as a small journal 4.00" stroke... Longer stroke should mean more compression and longer cam duration for more power...

Please be aware that going to the very small Honda journal (1.888") may not be a good idea if you are building something with a lot of power and rpm. There is a lot of stress at the rod throw and the rod with higher rpm. The rod and piston are jerked away from top dead center faster and faster as the stroke is increased.

[sleeper sedan]

... and to follow up with what Scott (Competition Engines) had to say, you need to start looking at journal overlap at some point... Every application is different and crankshaft strength is wholly dependent [or relative to] it's intended use. If 500 HP is the goal in a streetable combination, buy a good cylinder head and do a 406.

[Ed-vancedEngines]

Or you could do a different sort of a 396 SB.

I am doing a 396 for a blown SB use. It has 4.165 bore and a 3.625 stroke.

Ed

[AdioSS]

Please be aware that going to the very small Honda journal (1.888") may not be a good idea if you are building something with a lot of power and rpm. There is a lot of stress at the rod throw and the rod with higher rpm. The rod and piston are jerked away from top dead center faster and faster as the stroke is increased.

What do you call "a lot" of power?

From a formula that OldSStroker posted a while back, my overlap with 2.45 mains, 1.88 rods, and 4.125 stroke would be .1025 which isn't much. Would opening up the main journal to 2.65" to get another .100" in overlap be possible? Or would the increase in friction offset the additional torque from more CID and compression?

my problem is that I'm stuck with using a block design (mid 90s LT1) that started out with a 4.00" bore and the most RPM that my PCM will support is right over 7000. Even with a decent 18* cylinder head, my bore size and RPM limit will keep overall power down.