Customer Reviews

How to Build & Modify Chevrolet Big Block Engines (Motorbooks Powertech Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has been a great resource, and guided me through a 502cid 470hp Marine engine build up and blue print. It gave me the confidence and guidance to polish and port my heads and make the proper Valve size and material selection.Also covered the Gen 5 and 6 blocks that are the new generation. With all the little head modification that he suggests and shows you to do, the dyno results where 506hp @ 588ft lbs of torque at 5200 rpm exceedeing my requirments and providing me with a very friendly motor. He also gives everybodys point of veiw in the industrie rather than foucus on one way of doing things he throughs all the respected engine parts and builder points of view in and lets you decide. Worked for me.

I'll offer a dissenting opinion. I didn't find the information in the book to be all that informative. There's little if anything different from what the manufacturers claim in their literature. Some of the sections seemed to be direct quotes from the manufacturers. Too brief, too many short blurbs. For me, it didn't help to distinguish between the wheat and the chaff in the aftermarket.

Tom Currao put together an excellent book! I found each page to be exciting and filled with relevant detail. I was also able to identify with Tom's book because I also use the Mr. Gasket Desktop Dyno application for "figuring" out engine combinations. A handy list of suppliers is provided as is also an index. I feel that Tom's book has the best opportunity to become the defacto standard for replacing the now dated How to HOTROD Big-block CHEVYS book. I think that the book will be of special appeal to "grassroots" racers like me who need to be budget conscious while trying to go as fast as possible.

I am the author of this book and regardless of how you rate this book, I want it to be known that I DID NOT plagarize any of the content, as Mr. Zabetakis implies. If he would have read the foreword to this book, he may have realized that I worked with leading engine builders and suppliers across this great country of ours.

I worked extremely hard developing the content of this book, as did all my subject matter experts, including Scott Shafiroff of Scott Shafiroff Racing Engines, John Lukovich of Lukovich Racing Engines, Dr. Rick Roberts, Director of Engineering at Edelbrock, John Levis of Wiseco Pistons, Mike Vendetto of Moroso Performance, Joey Lunati of Lunati Cams, and a host of other experts that were very generous of their time and knowledge.

If some of the content affirmed what was printed in other books on hot-rodding big block Chevys, so be it. Most of these things help set the foundation for the reader so they could better understand and appreciate all the new developments and refinements that our beloved big-block Chevy has gone through, all of which were communicated and illustrated in this book.

I hope this sets the record straight, and that you have as much fun building your big-block Chevys, as did I.

Sincerely,

Tom Currao

This book contains lot of recommendations during engine building. Only somebody with enough experience could write it. Don't miss it!