looking for a 355 ci racing engine

[redracingteam]

Hello guys, I'm Michael, I'm french and I try to race with a corvette against the Porsche in a French Championship. I tried to buid a 355 ci Hi perf but my engine have a lot of oil leaks, it's horrible ! Finally I broked it during the last race on Magny Cours track ! I'm desesperate to beat the Porsches ! I need help for 2004 season, I'm lookinf for a new engine or someone that could help me to fix up the one I have. You can see what we do in France on http://redracingteam.free.fr Thanks, Corvette is the only real dream car :flag

[Bearcat]

If cost is no object, would you be able to buy one of those 427 cubic inch C5R Corvette racing motors? Or would you rather build your own?

There are lots of good engine builders in the US, unless you're looking for someone private to build your engine. I'd go with one of the more major engine builders, and in that case, this is a good website to start with, since you can get feedback on who's good and who's not.

I would start with PAW, or Speedomotive. Anyone else have a favorite that he can try?

What about induction? Forced induction, such as a twin turbocharged 355 might provide the most power and performance, unless that's not allowed. If it has to be naturally aspirated, you could either go with a good Lingenfelter FI system or TPIS might have something you like. If you prefer carburetion, I'd recommend Demon carbs. If multiple carburetion is your thing, then a tunnel ram set up with two smaller carbs on top usually tends to outperform single-carb set ups.

Shipping the motor overseas is a little expensive, as you probably know.
Anyone else have any recommendation to help him?

[redracingteam]

Your suggestions are very interesting ! I'm not the one who can buy a KATECH engine ! I'm sure it would be a great deal but we have a guy in Europe that broke one !!!! In fact I would like a carburated engine with a max CR of 11:1, no turbo... I've seen the engines made by speedomotive but I don't know this company, are they reliable ? Don't worry about the shipping cost it is one part of the total cost
thanks

[cardo0]

:nono: Hello Michael. SpeedOMotive is nearby me here in California and I have visited them. No! No! No! Not SeedOMotive as they advertise machine work but when I visited them they just reboxed performance parts and assembled motors by order. PAW is good for parts but can’t verify machine work – have seen good running motors from PAW and also heard much bad about them. If unassembled motor is what you want they will provide any combination much cheaper than most crate motors.
I really think Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center out of Texas would the best for you – sdpc2000.com. These guys do lots of mail order crate engine business and sell the Gen I, Gen II – ZZ4/Fast Burn 385/SDZZ430, and Gen III – LS1 whole motors from General Motors Performance Parts. They also have performance machine shop services for blueprinting and special orders. Great customer service and I really like dealing with them. Prices? Website says $6000 for brand new LS1. But shipping to France???
Good luck racing and Élan. :flag

[Kevin Mason]

American Speed is located near where I live - not cheap but they build extremely stout motors. I believe some of the NASCAR teams use them, so they can build track motors and not just drag racing motors.

I think http://www.amerspeed.com.

Also: let me ask this: what are the rules for the class you are racing in? How much reliable horsepower will you need to spank those Porsches? How many km do your events run?

If you plan to build a motor yourself, there are lots of people here willing to help. Good luck!


[Modified by Kevin Mason, 5:06 PM 11/4/2003]


[Modified by Kevin Mason, 5:09 PM 11/4/2003]

[gkull]

Are you limited to under 360 ci?

[gkull]

Don't even mess around with low budget engine builders. Some of the local circle track guys run 358 ci motors from these guys. If you dig through this site they even build 600 ci V-12's. I'll look around for some other Vendors for you. When you contact them they could custom taylor a motor to meet your needs. As far as cost and reliability I would limit the hp to under 650 hp or so. Above that is when you start having very high priced heads etc. There are places that also lease engines in the @700 hp class. You have an annual fee and the refresh fee's.
http://www.falconerengines.com/prod01.htm

[gkull]

This place is just on the other side of the ocean from you. 406 ci might be nice. They all look the same on the outside.
http://www.hekimianracing.com/406sbchevyrace.html

[dsagers]

I watch: http://www.racersauction.com