I should have read further in the thread. yes, around '72 or '73 they
changes the ratings from power at the flywheel to power at the axle. The
difference was about -20% for loss. There was additional loss because the
manufacturers chose to go the cheapest route to meet emissions rather than
the best way. That gave us 2 decades of cars that were underpowered and
could not be made to run correctly.


"c" > wrote in message
...
> Bill, you crack me up. Where in my post did I say that the horsepower
> ratings from back in the 50s and 60s were higher than actual? All I said
> was
> that comparing the ratings of the engines in the 50 and 60s is a different
> rating system than what they use today. In fact, most of the automakers
> were
> boasting numbers less than the actual horsepower of the engines back then,
> both for insurance reasons and because of the class system for the Stock
> and
> Super Stock drag racing classes. The 426 Hemi, Boss 429 and the W30 Olds
> 455
> were perfect examples of this.
>
> And of course, you had to pull something totally out of the blue about the
> Ford side oiler. I can see how anyone would have read that in to what I
> said. Sheesh.
>
> Chris
>
> "L.W. (ßill) Hughes III" > wrote in message
> ...
>> For those whom believe we really didn't have the horsepower, back in
>> the old days: http://www.cobranet.com/roadtest.htm You probably think
>> there was no reason for a side oiler, too.
>> God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
>> http://www.billhughes.com/
>>
>> c wrote:
>> >
>> > Just remember that for quite a while engines have been rated in terms
>> > of
> net
>> > HP, not flywheel like they were back in the 50s and 60s. There is quite
> a
>> > difference in the ratings. I believe they changed the ratings around
> 1972.
>> > Also any street engine is fine with a 2 bolt block. there are a lot of
>> > engines out there that never had 4 bolt caps, and some can't even be
>> > converted, yet they seem to live under some very severe high horsepower
>> > conditions. It is also a known fact that the best stock small block
> Chevy
>> > block to use for racing is one that originally had 2 bolt mains, and
> then
>> > convert it to 4 bolt mains with the splayed outer bolts. I've seen
> several
>> > small and big block Chevy engines making some serious power, and still
>> > having the 2 bolt main caps without a problem.
>> >
>> > Chris
>
>