[DeTomaso] 408 Stroker Life Expectancy

[adin at frontier.net]

What one "thinks" they want is very different from what one really  
needs.  what is practical is somewhere in between. I may well talk  
myself out of the next dream motor if I think about this too long.

As I see it, the great Pantera tragedy is that it looks great but  
really isn't much as a street car goes.

I'll gladly debate either of these theories over a few good dark  
Mexican beers - you are buying.

grouchy, dirty and thirsty in durango




Quoting Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com>:

> As radical an idea as it may seem, maybe it's time to start building  
>  an engine build database (Chuck?).  None of us can build 20 motors   
> and see what works best, but over time, a database with a   
> description of the build, and how it performed or how it failed   
> would be really useful.
>
>   Ken
>
> Donny Williams <Donnylee at ccwebster.net> wrote:
>   Thats was a great stated insight Jack! Loved it!
>
> "And having giant rear tires twitch sideways at 120 mph after a solid
> 3rd-to-4th shift focusses one's attention wonderfully well on driving but
> over-tightens the sphincter-muscle on most of us!"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To: ;
> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] 408 Stroker Life Expectancy
>
>
>> In a message dated 6/26/07 2:12:23 PM, artstephens at charter.net writes:
>>
>> << Yeah, I sure would like to get one of those aluminum Cleveland blocks
>> someday! >>
>>
>> It really depends on what you intend to do with the car. Note that every
>> single one of the 'big-power' engines at this year's 'Vegas Fun Rally
>> track days
>> had oil temp troubles- a few even with high-buck oil-to-water heat
>> exchangers
>> installed. So obviously not all the problems with such machines have been
>> fully
>> sorted out. Virtually none of the big motor cars were street driven
>> either,
>> which is arguably most of the fun for us.
>> One engine, an all-aluminum Trans-Am stroker motor that was pro-built at a
>> cost of $30,000' and 'detuned' for the street with 1.52:1 roller rockers &
>> what
>> the builders call a 'wimp cam', only puts out 627bhp. It's currently for
>> sale
>> after less than 500 miles.
>> Another option for about half that cost is a Byars Bros big-block
>> conversion
>> that can be built to over 650 bhp pretty easily and will weigh slightly
>> less
>> than an all-iron Cleveland. One running at 'Vegas was 545 cubic inches &
>> heaven-knows-how-much torque.
>> But in all these monster-engines, you really need to re-gear the ZF
>> (budget
>> another $3000) so you don't scare yourself every time the ignition is
>> turned
>> on. With a stock-geared ZF in the big blocks particularly, 1st & 2nd
>> become
>> useless. And having giant rear tires twitch sideways at 120 mph after a
>> solid
>> 3rd-to-4th shift focusses one's attention wonderfully well on driving but
>> over-tightens the sphincter-muscle on most of us! This may be most of the
>> reason I
>> haven't done a stroker myself- street driving is just so much fun in a
>> Pantera!.
>> My 2¢- J DeRyke
>
>
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