A guide to building the lil guy. The Mighty 300

Discussion in 'Small Block Tech' started by Joe65SkylarkGS, Oct 27, 2009.

  1. I've been dreaming about building a 300 for a few years but the lack of an intake suitable for performance has been what kept me from pursuing the build. Now with the TA Rover heads it's even more tempting. I found a shop within about 60 miles of me that has a great reputation for making custom intake manifolds, headers and things of that nature. I'm strongly considering moving ahead and letting the chips fall where they may.
     
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  2. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    You can also stroke a sbb 300 and get it to 321 cubes with a .050" overbore with the 3.400" stroke crank stroked to 3.540" to bring the RPMs down to a more street friendly usable range with the extra cubes.

    This set of rods would work great for a sbb 300 stroker;

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-450-Carr...s-900-Wide-787-Wristpin-LS-Chevy/181969787105

    Or if you went with a stroked sbb 350 crank from 3.850" to 3.990" with a set of the more plentiful 6.200" nascar take out rods you can get to 362 cubic inch displacement out of a sbb 300!:cool:

    Doing the 321 stroker there probably won't be any or very minimal cam to rod clearance issues that would be more prevalent with a stroked sbb 350 crank.

    Here is a great calculator to play with to see where your RPMs will be with the different CIDs with the TA out of the box 225 intake CFM or you can change it to see if porting would be something you would still want or extra cubes? Just so you know, the more intake CFM you have the higher the RPM will want to make peak power at the more flow there is;

    http://www.wallaceracing.com/calcafhp.php

    Use 28 for the first number because I believe that is what TA uses for their advertised flow of their Rover heads.

    That's why I like stroker engines so much because you can bring the power band down into a more usable range with extra head flow.
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2020
  3. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    The Harcourt single plane may still be available, IIRC there was a version to fit the 300. Also check on the ... Wild.something, sorry can't remember.

    Jim
     
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  4. My idea was a turbocharged 300 cubic inch engine. at this point it looks like it could be done with all off-the-shelf parts except for the intake manifold. if I stayed cast-iron with everything I could use my existing four barrel intake manifold but that might severely limit the combination although I bet with the turbo even the iron heads and intake would still get me the power I desire.
     
  5. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    How much power are you looking to make? How much boost were you thinking of using?

    Turbo charging is gentler on parts than other ways to boost because the turbo pressurizes both sides, the intake and exhaust side. So you may be able to get away with factory parts if in you were only looking for about 450 HP or a tiny bit more with a good tune. It will more than likely make more torque than HP because the lack of flow with factory heads, kind of how a Nailhead runs on boost, more torque than HP.

    Now if in you did factory ported heads maxed out to right around 200 intake CFM it would be a good idea to use better rods, with about 10 PSI should be good to around 550 HP?(guessing)

    If you get a '64 sbb 2bbl aluminum intake and hollow it out to just the bottom and the intake mounting flanges it would make it a bit less expensive to have an intake made?(depending on how weld able that '64 cast aluminum is?)

    With a better intake and the TA Rover heads that flow 225 out of the box should get to around 600 HP with the same boost? Add in some porting to the TA heads to around 270 CFM should take you to 650 to 700 HP with the same boost?(again, guessing)

    Sounds like a cool project, you can still stroke it AND boost it like this build;

    http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/the-dyno-numbers-are-in.200499/

    The extra cubes will help the low end torque before the turbo(s) kick in.

    Also, take a look at the LS turbo headers, it looks like they can be altered to fit your sbb 300 exhaust with sbb 300 flanges welded on the header tubes, much closer than any other turbo headers out there. Plus if in you wanted to you could buy a whole kit headers included to alter to fit the 300. Fun stuff!:cool:
     
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  6. I'm thinking i'll build my shortblock and use the iron heads and factory intake with a Holley Sniper and Turbo charger initially and see where I end up. I may not need to spend the $$ on TA heads. i'd be thrilled with 450 HP /TQ
     
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  7. Jim Nichols

    Jim Nichols Well-Known Member

    Jim, Australian Willpower single plane intake. Bill was working on a 300 version before he passed away. His son sells the 215 version and with spacers would work for the 300. The stock intake has water passages and when Chris opened his up, had to have it Tig welded.
     
  8. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    Probably the most sensible approach is the iron head/iron 4bbl intake with the turbo. Then if you want more power go to the TA heads, which still should work with the iron intake.

    Jim
     
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  9. I have been in contact with Anthony regarding the WillPower 300 intake and he says that he has done 2 of them so far and is sending me a quote for two more shipped to the USA. I did find two other single plane intakes from a distributor here in United States however they are quite expensive at $700 and $900 each and those would still require spacers and a valley pan fabricated.
     
  10. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    Right, there was also a Wildcat intake and the Huffaker, which sometimes shows up on ebay. I've heard the Huffaker had the largest ports but can't personally confirm that. I'm quite certain they were both made for the BOPR, not quite as sure about the 300.

    Jim
     
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  11. yeah, the wildcat version is $600 anmd the Harcourt is $900.
     
  12. GraySky

    GraySky Well-Known Member

    We are working on a 1964 300 for my '63. I was looking at these rods and pistons:
    Scat rods: 2-350-6200-2000
    6.2" C-C
    SRP PROFESSIONAL 2618 293532 PISTONS
    They are Chevy 305 flat top pistons that would come in at .016" over (my block is in good shape). The should end up .030 in the hole, which leaves some room to clean up the deck.

    The pistons would need to have the compression height increased by .050" to 1.610. JE has a bunch of options that they call $5 upgrades, one of them being moving the compression height on a standard piston by up to .050". I'm not sure if the SRP pistons would apply, but it would only be $40 additional if they do.

    I like the idea of a longer rod and shorter piston. Too bad they don't have even longer SBC rods available!
     
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  13. Opelsauce

    Opelsauce Well-Known Member

    GS Sedan.. Would be interested in one of those WillPower 300 intakes if the price is "reasonable". PM me when you have more info.
    ---Jim
     
  14. Anthony has responded back and says he makes a Leyland P76 intake that is 25 mm wider on each side to accommodate a taller deck height.
     
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  15. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    Also, the Eaton M112 blower is a good match with the 300 but currently take a custom intake.

    Jim
     
  16. Opelsauce

    Opelsauce Well-Known Member

    Bob, is the intake that Anthony has available a "bolt on" (discounting the port size) for a Buick 300? Or is the extra width made for the higher deck height of the 340?
    ---Jim
     
  17. good question. I dont know the deck height of a P76
     
  18. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    It's close to the 300, there was a site that had those dimensions. Best I can recall it should be within about 1/16". I have one in the shop but no real way to measure the deck height. If you really need it though I can do some comparison measurements.

    Jim
     
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  19. Jim I would love those dimensions if you get a chance. if it was a 16th smaller that would be fabulous because that would leave room for fabricating a valley plate. I had one about 5 years ago and sold it and wish I hadn't
     
  20. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    OK this is not a P76 block. I was told it was when it was shipped in but this is the first time I've taken any actual measurements. Guess John will be surprised. With a tape I measured 7-3/4" from the deck to the main bearing bore. That bore measured out to 2.485" (no insert). Which puts the deck real close to 9" even. The BOPR has a deck height of 8.96 and a main size of 2.3" Looks very much like this is a Rover 3.5L block but I'll have to look at the liners to be sure. Mains in the P76 block are 2.5495"

    Sorry that doesn't answer the question, I've had no luck with online searches. Might find out by asking some of the UK guys or Aussies.

    Jim
     

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