Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

IMO,  Ostrich-  Gearte- Hampshire. Alot of good ones out there, those three get my vote, Very Freindly and Knowlegable People with evidence of good product, Im sure there is a few bad eggs that get out, and quite honestly in a buismess where your reputation is spinning at 8000rpm it can go to crap quickly, Ive had great personal service from those three.  goodluck!

I have to agree with most that everyone is making good power these days. But there's no doubt with all the races I have seen that when there's a Parker that shows up and things are right they will run away and hide. Theres no one that makes power like he does. I can't wait to see one of his new motors with the front mount distributor run. What an innovator with his new front mount distributor that he has designed.

Rouse 360's had more power, broader torque range, and lighter.  Run to 9200 RPM all season.  No wonder there was a move to ban 'em!

I have to agree with most that everyone is making good power these days. But there's no doubt with all the races I have seen that when there's a Parker that shows up and things are right they will run away and hide. Theres no one that makes power like he does. I can't wait to see one of his new motors with the front mount distributor run. What an innovator with his new front mount distributor that he has designed.

Your not comparing apples to apples fords can run a different head angle.

I see Jamie Moyle is doing Brian Browns.Motor is just one ingerdient,the chasiss,setup and driver are equally important.I like the 305 RaceSaver idea but that is debated by those who want to spend more money.$40K + motors make it hard for most racers to compete.Wesmars are excellent along with most of the premier builders and I think racing was better when guys like Trosle,McCarl,Sooner,Kain and many others built their own cars and motors.Now it just pickup the phone and then fiqure out how not to max out your credit card until next week.I have seen races won on seven cyliinders under right conditions or 360s beat 410 on short track.

At the trophy cup, you sure see alot of Shark Engines, (but I'm not sure they are all legal ascs engines, I think some guys run more open rules (with extra weight).

The question, who would you buy.  It might depend upon my budget, my location, how long do I want the motor to last before a rebuild.  I'd probably want to purchase from someone who I had a personal relationship.  Probably everyone listed in this thread are good.  In my area of central CA, the shark engine has a good reputation along with Wesmar engines.  But my guess, there are MANY competant guys building engines.

A good motor will make the car drive better.I found that a good running 360 was easier and more fun to drive than the under powered 305's,same car,same setups.

Agreeable to a degree, I switched from a mild 360 to a "outdated" 410 both motors were fresh, the learning curve took us one full season of terribles and no good's (about 20 shows) the 360 settup in the same car was unbearable to drive, granted i was a green driver in a 410 ,but the settup with the 360 was soo much more lieniant , just good rubbe runder you with the 360 was a world of differance, the 410 didnt care, the small changes on the with the 410 in are very quick responces, almost too much, way easier to tune yourself out of the ball park with the 410, and  "Mr Happy foot" had to start driving on eggshells..  Nobody has mentioned Shaver.. can anyone besides the 15 shoehorn a mill out of him? any Cali guys have much of his stuff? , seems wrapped up "inhouse" with the 15 IMO.. if so, who wouldnt, whatever puts the bread on the table.

Besides the HP difference,remember you were also dealing with the weight difference.You went from a steel block to an aluminum block sitting in front of the car.I talked with a guy who has raced in all 3 classes,305,360,and 410.In his opinion the 305 is the hardest to drive of the bunch.The extra power and speed make things happen alot quicker,but the extra power also makes it easier to make the car do what you want and get you out of trouble.

It would have to be a Ostrich Lee Nelson and crew back in Des Moines,Iowa have been suppling us with great horsepower for 10 years now and we couldn"t be more happier all of them back at the shop are a pleasure to talk to and deal with.but you do have to have a good combination within your team and driver because there is so many good motor builders these days, you can say I"m partcial i guess

 My dad was going to do that 15 years ago until the WoO caught wind of it and put a stop to it by making a rule that the distributor/mag had to be in stock location for said engine, I.e. chevy, ford etc.

 My dad also was wanting to do 2 spark plugs per cylinder like they did when he was doing top fuel and funny car engines but we just couldn't find a way to squeeze two plugs in the conventional -12 head he wanted to do 20 years ago.

 Sometimes ideas work and sometimes they don't, lol.

yeppers, it was about 175hp more and we easily took 120lbs out of the car, amazing differeance, the Ideas of one being easier to drive than the other is purely in the eyes of the driver, I agree with you somewhat ,but, in hinesight, speeking from experiance,  the added hp and weight cut , gets you in over your head too,  manipulating the car (such as a tight condition) can obviously be slightly corrected with the breaking of traction, but, you'll find your struggles will kill you in the end of a race, another thing I didnt realize untill I went into a 410, your tire scrubbing/sliding  efforts tend to get a little less, and conservation of rubber will quickly set in, the 360 can do this also, but from my experiance the 410 just doesnt care,  if you put $400 worth of new rubber on. it'll eat it alive if your not carefull.   You'll just have to drive one, I was beside myself for a few nights wondering how the Hell these guys get ahold of anything , bigger motor, and I went slower, I knew i was,  my first responce was "ill just buy some tires, mount up a few,roll them out , throw them on and haul ass" that wasnt the case, it was a handfull from wicked tight to burnin rubber, we had the car tight enuff with our 360 settup i couldnt touch the throttle without staring at the sky, we wernt going forward, when we finally got it settled a bit i continued to gas up, and just burn the crap outa the tires, 360's were walkn by me with EZ. it took some time, some nights better than others but slowly started to get a baseline. Ive never driven a 305,but im assuming guys will start to notice thier speed quickley when underpowered, getting your car free and rolling good might be a biggy there with the limit of ponies, trouble is the 305's seem to be attracting guys that have been in a higher class at one time, sure the financing might be better, but, it starting to look like alot of veterans have it figured out, and the young guys are still trying to get aquainted, to each his own. with my age in mind,  im still on the climb. not the decent. its all good,   goodluck this season!

Kelly, can I ask, what is the major benifit to having the mag location by the timing cover? I can think of several pro's and con's to both locations, but, is there a standout reason for it?, was the two plug Idea prior to todays MSD systems? or was that with MSD?, sometimes I wish they would just lift the roof off the rules and see what intresting stuff shows up, the hayday of mechanics and devices would be super cool, but, something would guain the most beinifit, soon everyone would want one and ,we would just be where we are now with Nitro/supercharged sprintcars, is that a bad thing?  some teams are funded large enuff the cars would be Amazing.. i dont mind todays rules, but, sometimes ya wonder what would someone try..

 The most notable advantage is harmonics for the engine and more consistent timing for the engine, you don't have as much flex in the distributor shaft being mounted up front versus the stock location.  

doesnt a crank trigger solve that issue?, I had the chance finally to attend my first NHRA show in LV last fall, obviously the nitro cars have two mags located at the front of the mill, Ive heard the flex upon those vitals can be up to 10 degrees or more?, is that true? simply amazing, and sick to even think about that much flex in a engine, granted were talking what one cylinder produces almost as much hp as a 410.   good stuff here.

Now wait a minute.  If the sbc is by far the way to go, why is there so much talk and effort on doing things to it that make it like a Ford?

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

just how many things on todays sprint engine are that of a SBC, yes its basic desighn, but, not anywhere near the typical  SBC, it was a baseline that has been massaged into something more specific over the years,, If i told you the lifter desighn is that of a Mopar will that ruffle your feathers too? shaft rockers, heck that must be pontiac?,aluminum block, that must nissan, or "Honda" dia rod journals, does that mean its a honda crank? they must have one heck of a welder? I remember grandpa knockn that H beam 6.125 rod out on the grain truck, man the guys at the elevator were pissed,

as well as a large dia cam? is valve train flex (say on spintron? ) noticeably lessened, Im just not convinced the tree were barking up here, are the benifits worthy of that much  in changes, seems something that wouldnt aid in HP but maybe component fatiuge?