Project #001 - Getting Started

I'm wanting to construct a purpose built engine right? So I need a purpose. For cost and parts selection reasons I've decided that my first engine will be a Chevrolet small block V8. I'm not stateside yet and when I am I will be broke. I don't really feel like building a hot rod. The engine is only about a quarter of a well built hot rod and everything I want to do is going to be "well built." I don't really want to buy a vehicle just to build an engine for it. The idea feels contrived. I need to find a vehicle that could use a small block.

After thinking about it for a bit I thought of my buddy with a Willys Jeep. It currently has an unremarkable 350 in it. It is a rig that is for going down trails and off road. It seemed like a good candidate. Its focus was narrow so that should help minimize compromises. I emailed my friend and asked him if he'd be interested in running my engine. The deal is that it is my engine and I take care of everything on the engine except for the exhaust after the headers. He helps me pull his old motor out and put the new motor in. He has to keep records of the mileage and do all the maintenance. I figure that by the time that he is done doing all the other stuff he wants to do (Widening and lengthening the body, new frame, new suspension, etc.) that I should be ready with the engine. He said yes. So I asked about the requirements. He wants:

• Good low end torque (What is good?)
  
• Absolute Reliability
  
• Good gas mileage

He has a dream of an engine like that getting 25 MPG cruising at 70 MPH. I'll see if I can make it happen. His Jeep is hardly aerodynamic and at 70 MPH he'll be pushing a lot of air. Using the right gears are going to be vital to achieve the mileage goal.

I threw in a few more requirements, somewhat arbitrarily, just for fun.

• 400 HP
• 6,000 RPM Redline
• Flat power band throughout the RPM range
  

These are absolutely negotiable if they interfere with the first three.

Not having done this before I'm not sure what the next step is. I'm pretty sure that thought and research are a big part of it. To bad I left my Vizard books in the States.

Builder