Originally Posted by .Sarge.

Enjoy the reading material you might be suprised.
http://www.musclecarclub.com/m...shtml
http://www.popularhotrodding.c....html
http://www.moparmusclemagazine....html

Originally Posted by By some dude on some forum

I recorded and watched that show today. American Muscle Car on the Speed Channel. The put five legendary engines on an engine dyno (they'll do another installment at a later date to test more legendary engines). They chose an engine dyno to elimate variable such as transmissions, rear gearing, aerodynamics, car weight, driver error, etc. All engines were factory stock, but were rebuilt and blueprinted. Maximum .060 overbore, factory intake manifold, and period correct carb and ignition (if not #'s matching). The exhaust headers had huge primary tubes, so they could breathe better than a factory car, but they used big headers on all five engines.
Here are the players and the results....

1962 Chevy 409 with dual 4 bbls. Factory rated at 409hp. Dyno'd at 406hp and 430 lb ft torque.
1963 Pontiac 421 Super Duty with dual 4 bbls. Factory rated at 405hp. Dyno'd at 488hp and 470 lb ft torque.
1967 Chevy 427 L88 with single 4 bbl. Factory rated at 425hp. Dyno'd at 527hp and 501 lb ft torque.
1964 Ford 427 Side Oiler with dual 4 bbls. Factory rated at 425hp. Dyno'd at 637hp and 554 lb ft torque.
1966 Dodge 426 Hemi with dual 4 bbls. Factory rated at 425hp. Dyno'd at 820hp and 689 lb ft torque.

Big numbers, but inefficient drivelines of that era made it difficult to get all the hp to the ground. Inefficient automatic transmission without lock up features, clutch linings that couldn't contain all that power, etc. Just look at how the hp ratings plummetted in 1972 when they went from gross ratings to SAE net ratings. Carryover engines (not detuned with lower compression) from 1971 to 1972 had their ratings dropped anywhere from 25-40%!!! My own 1968 Pontiac GTO (balanced & blueprinted 400 big block, Turbo 400 automatic, 3.90 saf-t-trac rear end, factory rated at 350hp) made about 425hp at the crank, but dyno'd just 283hp to the ground. Talk about driveline loss (approximately 33%)!

There were certainly some heroic engines built in the 1960's. Too bad the rest of the drivelines, chassis, and brakes didn't perform as well!!! Can't wait to see some more engines tested for the show.

Originally Posted by james p.

According to Muscle Car Club dot Com...

"the "cammer" put out 616 bhp, but with dual four-barrels, it produced a massive 657 bhp. With this kind of power, the "cammer" 427 was totally unsuitable for street use. These engines were not sold to the general public, but about 50 examples were built, mostly for professional drag racers."

Not a production model... Disqualified.

Originally Posted by james p.

According to Popular Hot Rodding dot Com...

"Chevrolet's central office had established a program permitting a dealer to place an order for a vehicle that was equipped with options not normally installed."

I'll call Honda and ask them to install a Mugen race engine... Disqualified.

Originally Posted by james p.

According to Mopar Muscle whatever dot Com...

"So when the venerable 426 Street Hemi was rated at 425hp, it was impressive. When the Viper came out and was rated at 400 horses, we all “ooo-ed” and “ahhh-ed” over it because it was the most powerful engine to come out of Detroit in over 20 years. But it still didn’t have the numbers of the Hemi. Or so we thought. In fact, it was more impressive, because that 400 horses was a net power rating, compared to the Hemi’s 425 horse gross rating! When the Viper V-10’s ratings got upped to 450 a couple of years later, the raw numbers showed an engine that had finally surpassed the published ratings of the legendary Elephant."

Yup,... they lied. Disqualified.

Originally Posted by james p.

Engines weren't stock. I don't see a 600hp car that came out of the factory bro.

Originally Posted by james p.

Don't get me wrong, I have all the respect for American Muscle of the 60's, but it was Muscle only in the 60's. Rally and F1 have proven that HP isn't everything.