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Port work on Blue Print 357cc BBC heads

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Discussion starter · #24 · (Edited)
Blue print head is not the same as the BB-2, the BB-2 is 26 degree valve angle the BP head is 24 degree. The combustion chamber on the BB-2 uses an older style chamber similar to the factory iron 990 or 188 chamber that has less quench pad between the valves on the intake manifold side and more shrouded on the spark plug side, totally different chambers. the BB-2 exhaust port is raised higher .500-.600" the BP are raised .300". I had the heads side by side with a AFR 357 and they are very close to each other which is one of the reasons i picked them up. Now whether they can be made to flow good air or have the same power potential that's different story.
 
#25 ·
BBF612 said:
You are going to need something over 400 cfm to make 900 hp, maybe up to 450 cfm or so. Your work looks great, nice.
Click to expand...
I'm a big fan of Blueprint. I've never purchased one of their engines, but many of my Chevy friends have.

All were purchased pre-Covid, and were ridiculously inexpensive, especially compared to today's prices. You couldn't come come close to building the same engine for the price of parts alone at the time. There was only one failure, a 489 BBC. This was the first BP engine anyone from around here bought. It had what sounded like a rod bearing go out. BP was called, and they said to leave it as-is, and they would send a replacement. They only wanted the long block back, and sent a replacement that had more on it than the longblock did. It's been running strong ever since. It's crazy they come with a 3 yr/36k mile warranty. All are pump gas friendly.

396 SBC. Carb to pan was around $5k, I believe. Installed in a 3rd gen Camaro and ran 7.10 right off the bat. Zero issues.

Two 489 BBC. One is in a full size square body truck that is very heavy. Runs 7.20's with a 70+ year old man driving. The other is in his son's 1970 Nova and ran 5.95 on a small to moderate shot of nitrous. I think it was jetted for 200hp.

632 BBC. This is in a full weight Chevelle. Has run 9.9 in the 1/4 n/a, and 9.10 on a 200 shot blowing through the converter at 7k rpm at 144 mph with a 3.70 gear. Ran 5.80 in the 1/8.
He paid $12k carb to pan. Made 830hp on his dyno sheet, which is easily believable. This is with a mild HR cam designed to last through a 36k mile warranty on pump gas. I don't know anything specific about the engine, other than it has the torque of a diesel and hauls ass. You could literally put almost any converter and gear in the thing, and it just wouldn't car. He accidentally launched in 2nd gear (TH400) and only lost a tenth. lol He wants to go to a 3.55 gear in his Dana 60. I've spent a lot more and worked a lot harder on my 363, and he just pulls out of the garage and hauls ass... and has been doing so for probably close to 10 years without ever pulling a valve cover. lol Same fully dressed engine now is around $17-$18k, I believe.

For someone who wants a crate engine that runs GOOD and has a solid warranty, they can't be beat.
I don't know what the heads flow, but the engine is making 830hp with a lazy camshaft that is normally shifted at 6500 rpm.
They're doing something right. I wouldn't hesitate to use BP parts.

When developing combos, they use dyno mules to try different parts/cams/etc on and do long term power and stress tests until they have a strong, reliable combo. Once they have tested and tested to find what works, it becomes their crate engine combo. All the guesswork has been done.

Most of us here always want MORE, so they aren't usually for us, but for the general population, are a fantastic option.
The heads, parts, blocks are well tested.
 
#26 ·
I have a customer that recently bought a Blueprint replacement SBC 383 engine for an air boat. Local machine shops could not meet his timetable to get the boat on the water. Blue Print did. He went to Nebraska and picked it up. They even gave him a slight discount for being a veteran. But no warranty because it is in a boat. Prop speed is limited to 4200 RPM and it is direct drive. Salesman said if he had any engine issue to be sure to call him back personally and he would be of assistance. Engine runs very good.
 
#27 ·
n2omike said:
I'm a big fan of Blueprint. I've never purchased one of their engines, but many of my Chevy friends have.

All were purchased pre-Covid, and were ridiculously inexpensive, especially compared to today's prices. You couldn't come come close to building the same engine for the price of parts alone at the time. There was only one failure, a 489 BBC. This was the first BP engine anyone from around here bought. It had what sounded like a rod bearing go out. BP was called, and they said to leave it as-is, and they would send a replacement. They only wanted the long block back, and sent a replacement that had more on it than the longblock did. It's been running strong ever since. It's crazy they come with a 3 yr/36k mile warranty. All are pump gas friendly.

396 SBC. Carb to pan was around $5k, I believe. Installed in a 3rd gen Camaro and ran 7.10 right off the bat. Zero issues.

Two 489 BBC. One is in a full size square body truck that is very heavy. Runs 7.20's with a 70+ year old man driving. The other is in his son's 1970 Nova and ran 5.95 on a small to moderate shot of nitrous. I think it was jetted for 200hp.

632 BBC. This is in a full weight Chevelle. Has run 9.9 in the 1/4 n/a, and 9.10 on a 200 shot blowing through the converter at 7k rpm at 144 mph with a 3.70 gear. Ran 5.80 in the 1/8.
He paid $12k carb to pan. Made 830hp on his dyno sheet, which is easily believable. This is with a mild HR cam designed to last through a 36k mile warranty on pump gas. I don't know anything specific about the engine, other than it has the torque of a diesel and hauls ass. You could literally put almost any converter and gear in the thing, and it just wouldn't car. He accidentally launched in 2nd gear (TH400) and only lost a tenth. lol He wants to go to a 3.55 gear in his Dana 60. I've spent a lot more and worked a lot harder on my 363, and he just pulls out of the garage and hauls ass... and has been doing so for probably close to 10 years without ever pulling a valve cover. lol Same fully dressed engine now is around $17-$18k, I believe.

For someone who wants a crate engine that runs GOOD and has a solid warranty, they can't be beat.
I don't know what the heads flow, but the engine is making 830hp with a lazy camshaft that is normally shifted at 6500 rpm.
They're doing something right. I wouldn't hesitate to use BP parts.

When developing combos, they use dyno mules to try different parts/cams/etc on and do long term power and stress tests until they have a strong, reliable combo. Once they have tested and tested to find what works, it becomes their crate engine combo. All the guesswork has been done.

Most of us here always want MORE, so they aren't usually for us, but for the general population, are a fantastic option.
The heads, parts, blocks are well tested.
Click to expand...
830 is a nice number with that cam. OPs flow numbers seem way too low for that HP and being an AFR 357 copy.
 
#31 ·
From what I know and what I have, Blueprint seemed to go above and beyond with their stuff.

I have an older Blueprint 632 I bought used off a local truck guy. He had 3 he got all at the same time. The old stuff, that I presume Blueprint copied was top shelf stuff, at least my 632 short block is.

Mine has a broke ring land in 1 piston. From the serial number on the block, it has JE pistons, Oliver steel rods, and K1 crank in Blueprint block.

The heads of mine were a lot different and as well as the alum single plane. Coil-on-plug and has newer hyd roller lifters with the spyder hold down.

So I would suspect that with some minor head work valve job and a came, these 633 will make over 900. I think Blueprint just detunes them for the warranty and these 830Hp 632 will still run when set up right. Other builders use better heads but most of their hyd 632 are under 900 too, like SSRE with CNC ported BB3 380S.
 
#32 ·
NPS Nova said:
From what I know and what I have, Blueprint seemed to go above and beyond with their stuff.

I have an older Blueprint 632 I bought used off a local truck guy. He had 3 he got all at the same time. The old stuff, that I presume Blueprint copied was top shelf stuff, at least my 632 short block is.

Mine has a broke ring land in 1 piston. From the serial number on the block, it has JE pistons, Oliver steel rods, and K1 crank in Blueprint block.

The heads of mine were a lot different and as well as the alum single plane. Coil-on-plug and has newer hyd roller lifters with the spyder hold down.

So I would suspect that with some minor head work valve job and a came, these 633 will make over 900. I think Blueprint just detunes them for the warranty and these 830Hp 632 will still run when set up right. Other builders use better heads but most of their hyd 632 are under 900 too, like SSRE with CNC ported BB3 380S.
Click to expand...
I also think Blueprint’s dyno is probably a lot more realistic than some of these dyno sheets floating around…
 
#33 ·
Ya I think some probably are. I was looking at a Scott Schafrof ultra street 632. I think there was a guy with one on here that had a thread about 8 second streetcars. SSRE hyd 632 is 895Hp I think.

Now you can not compare these BP 357 heads to the SSRE Brodix BB3 CNC 380's. The 380s are MILES ahead of the 357.

I'm sure these heads can be reworked to make very good power and flow. But a 357cc head is better suited for 540/555 size engine, like the OP us planning. Certainly no reason these can't blow right past 420cfm.
 
#35 ·
#36 ·
BBF612 said:
In my bathroom stash of old magazines I found a 2014 car craft with a blue print 10 to 1 hyd cam 540 with some 358cc heads on it and it made 700 hp with a 4500, the heads were 119cc/2.30/1.88 as cast, the cam was hyd roller 248/254/112.
Click to expand...
Those heads are way too big for a 10:1 540 like that (@ NPS Nova).
About that same time I had a customer that I built a set of AFR 315's and a ported Vic Jr that went on his 540. It made 770 on pump gas with a 1000cfm 4150 and hyd roller. That was on Rick Waters dyno in AZ.
 
#37 ·
Scott, MY 478 pump gas went 9.01 N/A with BMF 350 heads through the mufflers @ 3250+ and UNDER 10-1 comp is a full street '68 Nova at the WORLD STREET RACE IN BELLE ROSE, LA. MY 509 has made just over 940Hp with BB3 CNC 380's OOTB been high 7's on nitrous in 3600+ 10" tire grudge street car. BUT we have also did a 509 pump gas with BBO ported and OEM GM intake and made 770Hp+ in full weight '68 Camaro with a 5sp. I also seen a bunch of 540/555 with AFR 357 running well at the track, mid 8's NA. The 460 that beat the BES "shop truck" of Jim Huber in "SUPER MODIFIED CLASS racing in NMCA", then lowered the class record by more than 2 tenths, used a 470+cc head.

But I will say that Blueprint 540 that BBF posted is weak, but think it's more about longevity that outright power. And for that style of 540 motor the 357 are big.
 
#38 ·
When looking at different heads port cc's, they only tell me something if the heads have the same port center line length. 2 heads with the same average CSA with different port center line lengths will have different port volumes.

Stan
 
#39 ·
Stan Weiss said:
When looking at different heads port cc's, they only tell me something if the heads have the same port center line length. 2 heads with the same average CSA with different port center line lengths will have different port volumes.

Stan
Click to expand...
Advertised CC's really say nothing about the port, even with the same port c/l lengths. It doesn't say anything about where the volume of the port is. Old school BB Chev ports and even some today have a lot of volume in the front of the port with big openings and very little bowl volume. Other ports have less volume in the port entry and more in the bowl and short turn area. Those two different ports, with the same c/l distance and same advertised volume will behave entirely different on a same given engine. I have a 351cc BB Chev port in an AFR 315 casting that flows over 450 cfm and I never made the openings or even the min. X section any bigger. It's all in the bowl and short turn. Compare that with a Dart 355 or even an AFR 357. The few cc's difference is negligible but the ports are entirely different. This is where average CSA might show something but not entirely.
 
#40 ·
scott foxwell said:
Advertised CC's really say nothing about the port, even with the same port c/l lengths. It doesn't say anything about where the volume of the port is. Old school BB Chev ports and even some today have a lot of volume in the front of the port with big openings and very little bowl volume. Other ports have less volume in the port entry and more in the bowl and short turn area. Those two different ports, with the same c/l distance and same advertised volume will behave entirely different on a same given engine. I have a 351cc BB Chev port in an AFR 315 casting that flows over 450 cfm and I never made the openings or even the min. X section any bigger. It's all in the bowl and short turn. Compare that with a Dart 355 or even an AFR 357. The few cc's difference is negligible but the ports are entirely different. This is where average CSA might show something but not entirely.
Click to expand...
Scott,
I agree. The problem that most people don't have that information available to them.

Stan
 
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