Beating a dead horse again.

[Hog]

It is true that some muscle car era engines were underrated but the idea that the Street Hemi made 650 hp and the LS7, sold by GM Parts in the 70s and early 80s, made 600 is fantasy.

A production L88, with headers, tuned for racing and running racing gasoline produced 620-hp at 6800 rpm.

There is no way the Street Hemi or the LS7---at least in the form they were sold in cars or in crates, then installed in cars---made 650 and 600-hp respectively.

Now, the "Race Hemi"...the one supplied to drag racers like Sox&Martin, Ramchargers, etc and the NASCAR Grand National teams, may have been close to 650, but used parts not sold by Chrysler on the 425-hp Street Hemi.

e.

I agree, my uncle's 1 of 22 1969 Dodge Charger "500" 426 Hemi, 4 speed, 4.10 Suregrip makes nowhere close to 650hp.
The "race" 426 Hemi he has on a stand using dual dominators flowed at 1350cfm apiece was dyno'd at 850 hp at the crank.

Exhaust was everything on the older bigblocks, irregardless of manufacturer. A ZL-1 dynoed with a stock 1969 Camaro exhaust made about 275hp on an engine dyno, when the same engine with headers would dyno at 500-525hp. In race trim, over 600hp was possible.
I saw a 1969 ZL-1 427 Camaro run a 12.2 in the 1/4, but cant remember the mph. After every pass teh car would disappear into an enclosed car trailer between each pass. There was a moment where I was able to eyeball the engine quickly, and sure enough the block was aluminum, as was the intake.

I love these old iron stories. I could listen to Hemi, DZ302, LT-1, LS-7, ZL-1 etc etc stories all day.

peace
Hog

[BigJimZ16]

Me too - I have a 2010 GS vette ragtop, and I'm gettin' a 2011 GS coupe for Christmas.

In fact, I think everybody has a 2010 GS on this forum board... Right?

You could be right...

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'04 Vert was history last Fall... guess I need to update the avitar.

[Tuna]

I drove a 'street hemi' '69 Runner for 12 years. 500 HP might be close but never 650.
The 'street hemi' came with a solid lifter cam with 292 degrees duration and .485 lift. It also had 2 "C" series AFB carbs and cast iron exhaust manifolds. Not the kind of stuff that makes 650 HP.

I actually lowered the duration using a Racer Brown hydralic cam with 286 degrees and .485 lift because I got tired of adjusting the valves every oil change and it worked better with the automatic and 3.54 gears.