Best block for open small block

br2715

Member
What is the best block to use for an open small block class? With the 14.5ci rule. Thanks in advance!
 
In terms of quality among the cast block options, the animal is king. You’re throwing money away if you plan on running any Chinese block past 8K regularly. They simply aren’t rated for anything more than pressure washer or generator revs let alone being quadrupled in horsepower.
 
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Best open small block around. ;)
Cinder.jpg
 
Animal gen 5 just like Sundog said. I have a couple of them , One is built from a 2008 ! gen 5 Animal that my son raced from purple plate all way to adult un-restricted. , Then I raced it in super heavy for 5years.
Now it is a 14.5 Cu.In. turning around 8,800 to 9,000. Will go higher! if I let it. Pulls like a freight train.
 
I would be very leary of any of the Chinese motor cases, cheap materials and cheap labor = motor failure very likely imo... briggs animal by far...I had a ltd mod flathead some years ago... Certain that parts and pieces for those are getting harder to find...
 
I always laugh when the Chinese superstock and 14.5 guys that race around here act surprised that their china.com block sunroofed but say the animal platform is unreliable or too expensive. Those people do exist and they will spend 3 grand on rebuilds in a year before they ever buy an animal. Don’t be one of them.
 
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The rods breaking are most always due to lack of clearance between the piston and head or constant predetonation from too much compression on pump gas. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard a home builder say they are getting a .010 copper gasket. Chances of the piston being in the hole .020 is near null.
 
They're hard to come by I believe and parts are nil for them, but the Kohler XKE block is the beefiest block I've ever seen. We built an f200 out of one years ago, the class died before we really got to give it a good go unfortunately. Definitely was a stout piece.
 
If billet blocks are allowed get one from PPM Motorsports. They are the best out there and have several running in the 14.5 classes. Contact PPM at 940-566-5600. I have one and it is awesome. I've also run Jr. Race Car billet blocks as well. 2.735 bore with a 2.437 stroker crank will get you there.
 
The billet stuff is always going to be nicer and obviously a lot stronger. But we’ve proven the tillotson blocks can stand up to mega hp as well. We won the big o tribute this year with Jamie Knopf at the wheel with a tillotson block bored out to 2.815 and a 2.3 stroker crank and a billet cylinder head. Only clone style engine in the main event and gapped the entire field.
 
The billet stuff is always going to be nicer and obviously a lot stronger. But we’ve proven the tillotson blocks can stand up to mega hp as well. We won the big o tribute this year with Jamie Knopf at the wheel with a tillotson block bored out to 2.815 and a 2.3 stroker crank and a billet cylinder head. Only clone style engine in the main event and gapped the entire field.
That’s what one builder was trying to get me to go to a couple weeks ago(The Tilley 236 block) but I was wanting to do some digging around to see if there were one any better than the other. If I were to go with one of the billet blocks If I put the 1” deck extension on it. Would that be keeping it in the 14.5 class?
 
That’s what one builder was trying to get me to go to a couple weeks ago(The Tilley 236 block) but I was wanting to do some digging around to see if there were one any better than the other. If I were to go with one of the billet blocks If I put the 1” deck extension on it. Would that be keeping it in the 14.5 class?
That’s what one builder was trying to get me to go to a couple weeks ago(The Tilley 236 block) but I was wanting to do some digging around to see if there were one any better than the other. If I were to go with one of the billet blocks If I put the 1” deck extension on it. Would that be keeping it in the 14.5 class?
I don’t believe you need a deck extension unless you want the ability later on to put a bigger crank in it. I’ve chased the ideal rod ratio in these things and haven’t seen a big enough difference in them that it makes a difference. If you were to go with a tillotson go with the 68mm or the 70mm block and have a guy bore and hone it for you. You can save a little bit of money and go with the 72mm bore from ec but technically it’s not 14.5 legal. It would be 14.512 with a 2.3 stroker crank. You’ll be able to put a conventional style top plate on it instead of the goofy throttle setups I’ve seen on those 72mm blocks without the fuel tank/top plate tabs. Plus you’ll have a bore finished here in the U.S. not from China. I bore them .010 from finished then put them through a couple different heat cycles in my oven, then finish hone them.
 
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