Street strip use with an SB2.2?

[68rs406]

If & when I get started on mine I am going to use keyway lifters, no tie bar to break... & going with a .937" bronze bushings for the keyways. Hopefully my machine shop can machine some offset on the lifter bores as close to a SB2 block as possible, I'd like to get 1/2" dia. Manton pushrods in there but I'll wait & see after the mock-up. Will have the cam tunnel machined for 55mm roller bearings.

Unlike yours mine is a drag race only engine & my '69 Camaro isn't even close to being street legal...

That would be a wicked motor for sure, and a great call on keyway lifters. Like any motor I suppose mine is a big bunch of compromises, maybe a few more than usual even since I want it to survive street use. Mine is very much a street car, as much as I love to drag race I need to be able to take mine on a cruise whenever I want.
Even though I'm very pleased with the performance it makes me realize the potential of the motor with another 3-4 points of compression and a cam to match....

Since this is my first go with the SB2.2 I asked a lot of questions and tried to keep it on the safe side for reliability, now I'll just keep a close eye on things and see how she does. So far so good!

[heartbeatman]

The Camaro is looking good Sean ! I'm still waiting for a ride !!!

[68rs406]

The Camaro is looking good Sean ! I'm still waiting for a ride !!!

Thanks Man! I almost took it out yesterday while it was actually dry, but too much yard work to do....ha.
I'm waiting for a ride in that bad boy '55!

[68rs406]

Hi guys, bringing this one back from the dead for the sake of reporting on my experience after about 5 years now, for anyone that may be curious about one of these on the street.

I still love it! . Granted I don't drive it nearly as much as I would like, but it's still a blast.

I originally planned to drag race it more but really have not, life and family have kind of taken over and I just use it as a fun toy. I check all of the springs every time I change the oil and they have all stayed rock steady and consistent, that was one of my main concerns with this motor. So far no issue.

Looking back there is probably only one thing I would change. Since I planned to drag race more when I built it I planned to go with a centrifugal blower eventually. So I had Mike Jones design a cam that would work NA and with a supercharger, he created two cam cards for me and we installed it for NA. What I didn't know is how well this thing would work as is NA, it's crazy fast for a street car, it can get dangerous quick.

So at this point I doubt I'll do anything but keep it NA, I still love the fact it runs great on pump 92, so I would have still left the compression at 9.3:1, but maybe had Mike make a cam for just NA. That said, I can't imagine the cam working better than it does now! It idles nice and smooth and drives around town without a hiccup, but when you mash the throttle, it's insane. It revs so quick and pulls so hard.
Another big thanks to Mike, the cam is amazing. I only wonder now could it have been better designed just for NA? I can hardly imagine but maybe, and either way I'm perfectly happy with it.

So I know these are not as popular as a GEN 1 or LS, but if anyone is thinking about doing something I guarantee you won't see on the street a lot, don't hesitate.

Thanks again to everyone here that helped answer questions as I ventured through my first SB2.2 build. Still loving it!

[bob460]

What's interesting is the 3 degree split 255/258 that mike designed, maybe because of changing to blower down the road.

Yet warpspeed recommended min 15 degree split!!

How times have changed, guy down here built a 420ci with sb2 heads with 2.8 mcsa small port, pump gas made 864hp at only 7500rpm.

[68rs406]

The split very well might be based on switching to a blower in the future. This is also a unique motor in that it's 9:1, and I asked that it be "reasonable" on the street and reasonably easy on valve springs. Mike really had an odd/difficult task with this one.
The cam doesn't show any weak spots though, it idles really well, good part throttle, and it really pulls hard from about 4k up to 7800, and I have to be quick with the shift it revs so fast (auto). Granted the motor likes to run above 2-2500, but it's very streetable.

Warp Speed actually helped me out with some tuning questions I had. This whole board is an amazing group/resource!

SB2.2's are like hens teeth around here in the Pacific Northwest, I have honestly never seen another one out on the street, and very very few drag racing. Probably some of the circle track guys are using them.

[CamKing]

Glad the cam is working well for you.

[swampbuggy]

Sean your in car video gave me serious chill bumps and motivates me to hurry up building mine, thanks for the video. Engines that are a combination of properly matched parts perform great and you can tell by the (set apart/badass) sound they produce. I love it. Mark H.

[68rs406]

Glad the cam is working well for you.

I'm very pleased with the results, it is quite a bit more streetable than I expected. Thanks for all the help and input during my build Mike.

[68rs406]

Sean your in car video gave me serious chill bumps and motivates me to hurry up building mine, thanks for the video. Engines that are a combination of properly matched parts perform great and you can tell by the (set apart/badass) sound they produce. I love it. Mark H.

Thanks for the compliments Mark!

I'm kind of embarrassed I have not posted better or updated videos... Those are either right after I fired it initially or a week or so later when I put the exhaust on. I was super conservative with the timing initially and ended up adding about 4* more after those videos, and it really liked it.

It really does work well, I researched the motor a TON, and it took way to long to finish. But in the end I'm very pleased with the results and I owe it to all the folks that were willing to help with advice, especially on this board. That and a good friend locally that is in my opinion the best Cylinder head/engine guy around these parts.

The biggest surprise for me was how docile it is driving around town, or cruising. It isn't the same feeling as my 406 had off idle, but it is by no means a dog and makes a surprising amount of low RPM torque, but WOT is where it shines, it's pretty insane for a pump gas motor in a street car. I shift at 7800 WOT, it gets there so quick, and acts like it wants 9k, lol.

That and it never runs hot, plugs have stayed clean, and it drinks pump fuel. I love the fact that when I open the hood people typically have no idea what it is.

[swampbuggy]

Sean, what is your Total spark advance set at now ?

[bob460]

What's the full cam specs and what's the valve spring/valve spring pressure?

[68rs406]

Sean, what is your Total spark advance set at now ?

In those videos it was set at 28* as a safe baseline, after messaging back and forth with Warp Speed with my combo he recommended going to 32* and playing with it to see how it responded, and I guess not too surprisingly it really responded well. It cleaned up the throttle response even further, I was happy with it at 28* so I was even more pleased at how it responded to 32*.

If I ever get to the track I'll try a degree +/- just for the sake of curiosity, it may safely take more.

[68rs406]

What's the full cam specs and what's the valve spring/valve spring pressure?

Duration is 304/308 seat, 255/258 @ .050, 112 LC installed currently at 106, .412/.424 lobe, .680/.680 at the valve.

The springs are 250# seat, and 650# open. Using straight/straight (no offset) HPPO roller lifters. 7/16" Manton pushrods.

[bob460]

What's the full cam specs and what's the valve spring/valve spring pressure?

Duration is 304/308 seat, 255/258 @ .050, 112 LC installed currently at 106, .412/.424 lobe, .680/.680 at the valve.

The springs are 250# seat, and 650# open. Using straight/straight (no offset) HPPO roller lifters. 7/16" Manton pushrods.

Thanks for sharing, how many miles you clocked up so far?

Here is a nice billet intake......