Man looks really terrific Tom, great job.
I think some truck guys dont like that 290 because in crate form the powerband seems to be tuned opposite a truck's needs and that 290 horse doesnt come in until very high in the RPM range. From what I gather...Its all moot. Tryin to make conversation.. I know, its awkward.
Blather blather
Ill admit the 290hp crate engine does seem like a slug until its highly modified. The cam is a bit big for low end power production with
[email protected]/ 450lift.I know thats not a big cam, but compared to
[email protected] with sub 400lift ish that a oe 80's 350 came with, it is. It moves the power band too high for a truck to really take advantage of until its already moving pretty good. Ive had one in both of my longbeds. The un modified(other than carb,headers,emmisions delete) was adequate with 3.76 gears and a t350 but never quick. The one I have now, that is only the block+everything aftermarket ,is a whole new beast even with 3.08 gears. Granted I have a looser converter that helps a little. Mine revs waaay past where im comfortable and is still making chooch.
There was an article done by HotRod magazine that I pretty much based my build off of. They use the next step up in cams (I used an xe262h they used a 268) but they went with 1.5rr on stock heads and I went with 1.6rr on 007 summit heads). I know mine has to be making more chooch than theirs due to the bigger valves,smaller combustion chamber, 1.6 rocker ratio giving me around .500 lift with this cam.
I am happy with the 290 block but again...all that is left is the block and crank