1978 monte engine possibilities
i know this is a pretty broad question but does anybody know what the biggest motor i could place in my 1978 monte carlo. i know that a 454 will drop into it but i was looking for something a bit bigger, i.e. a 502/572. BTW it's gonna be a drag car. thanks for any help.
pretty much any big block will drop in there. they are pretty big under the hood. just as long as you get rid of the air box, i think you will be in the clear.
ok thanks do you know if i need to make any changes to the front end or suspension. i've had people tell me not to worry about it but i've had other people tell me hat if i just drop a big block in with the stock suspension it'll bust the shocks and possibly the a arms will break.
Anytime your dropping a different motor into something it's never a bad idea to upgrade the suspension.If your building a drag car then i would certainly swap out the stock suspension for something stonger. As for the motor size the 572 will fit with some mods to the inner fender walls,but as a drag car your only losing weight in the front you don't need anyway.Good luck on your build.
ok well i got most of the "unnecessary" crap out of the way and i found an LS-6 for cheap that i'm gonna convert to a carb. motor but im kinda iffy on what is the best way to get rid of the airbox. it's gonna be a street car and im not running a/c or heat into the cabin so should i just cut it out and weld in a piece of plate steel or what. i've had a couple people tell me just to put some 1/2" sealed plywood over the gap, bolt that in and put some dyno-mat over it overlapping the edges by an inch and a half or so but that doesn't really seem to be that great of an idea.
I jsut un screwed the air box ( and used a hammer) to get it out. Then i jsut cut a 1/8 inch piece of sheet metal to the size of the hole and screwed it on with sealant around the edges. Worked great.
ok cool. i'll give that a try once the snow melts ang i can actually work on the car again. lol.
i put a 396 in my monte i didnt even move the motor mounts just droped it right in i put new shocks but you cant put regular headers you have to have hooker comps i have a 84 monte
Does size matter? Small blocks like the LS-6 can be made to put out a lot of HP and T. The 572 should be big enough and there are ways to hit 1200 HP if that is what you want. You will need a complete new suspension and drive train, brakes, insurance, parachute, and a large gas tank.
