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Reviews
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Date of last review
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1
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24340
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Wed May 16, 2007
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Recommended By
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100% of reviewers
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None indicated
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8.0
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Description:
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Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: S-A Design (August 13, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1884089348
ISBN-13: 978-1884089343
Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
Highly regarded engine builder and technical writer David Vizard turns his attention to the ins and outs of building serious horsepower small block Chevy engines on a budget. Included are details of factory part numbers, easy-to-do cylinder head modifications, and inexpensive aftermarket parts.
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Keywords:
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chevy sb small block budget performance vizard
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Hib Halverson
Technical Writer for Internet & Print Media
Registered: January 2001
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2093
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Review Date: Wed May 16, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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I think the most valuable parts of this book are the chapters on cylinder heads (particularly the detailed information on DIY head porting) and camshafts.
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Cons:
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While my overall opinion of this book is favorable, it does have a few shortcomings.
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There are probably more books in print about building Small-Block Chevy engines than any other type of engine book. Some aren’t that good, most are worthy of passing interest but a few...just a few are damn fine books and outstanding additions to any Chevy gearhead’s bookshelf.
Such is the case with “How to Build Max Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget” by David Vizard. I guess the long title serves a purpose in that this book offers the reader exactly what its title says. From cover-to-cover, readers get just the information they need to build a potent street high-performance or mild racing Small-Block with minimal outlay of cash. Most books on engine building skirt the low-buck approach but David Vizard covers the subject well using his familiar, matter-of-fact style.
I think the most valuable parts of this book are the chapters on cylinder heads (particularly the detailed information on DIY head porting) and camshafts. They, alone, are worth the price of the book.
The most interesting part of this book comes at the end where Mr. Vizard supports most of what he suggests in proceeding chapters by building and dyno testing ten different engines ranging from a very basic, 300+ horsepower 350, built from a bunch of wrecking yard parts costing 644 bucks, to a 550hp, 406 cuin. race motor costing a mere $2,820.
Throughout this book, Vizard offers interesting engine building ideas, many of which are departures from conventional wisdom but are validated through the book’s line-up of engine dyno tests and other work he’s done for other books he’s written. The most unusual idea is using 37-degree valve jobs, rather than the traditional 45-deg, to improve low-lift air flow through Small-Block Chevrolet intake ports. I was intrigued enough with the idea that I may try it on the next engine I do.
There’s more of this alternative thinking in Vizard’s embracing the use of cast iron crankshafts in applications up to 450hp, his statements regarding the unimportance of rod length, overboring cylinders off-center in core-shifted blocks to avoid thin walls, “recycling” used lifters and using modified cast-iron exhaust manifolds on some budget engine builds. All of this makes very interesting reading.
While my overall opinion of this book is favorable, it does have a few shortcomings. First, in Chapter One, author Vizard publishes a loving biographical sketch of himself written by a friend and associate. While it’s not unusual for a book to have a paragraph or two at the end about the author, devoting more than two pages within the regular text of the book to a glowing bio is a bit unprofessional and a waste of the reader’s time. Secondly, the book does not cover the Gen II (LT1/LT4) engines in 92-96 Corvettes. While this is not a Corvette book exclusively, there are enough of those engines around in Impala SSes, Camaros and Corvettes such that this omission is inexcusable.
In spite of those two limitations, this book “How to Build Max Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget” is a very good read and is a welcome new addition to my shop’s bookshelf.
For more information on this book or the other titles published by CarTech contact CarTech at 39966 Grand Av/, North Branch MN 55056. Tel: 8005514754. Web: www.cartechbooks.com
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Hib Halverson
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;)
Registered: September 2000
Location: CAC