How to Hotrod Big-Block Chevys

by John Thawley, Bob Waar, Bob Waar Bill Fisher

This guide covers all big-block engines from 1965 and later and includes 1986 heavy-duty parts list. Learn more about blueprinting, cylinder heads, tune-up tips, as well as how to repair exhaust, ignition, pistons, and more

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0912656042
• ISBN13: 9780912656045
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: HP Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.4" x 10.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Great Book!! Great deal & Great Service!!

This is a must have book for the Big Block Chevy Hot Rodder!! Dave Young Southern Ca.

Incorrect Author Listed

I have this book (ISBN: 0-912656-04-2), same cover, but the authors are Bill Fisher & Bob Waar, not John Thawley

Classic motorhead must!!!

This book is the best engine building bible to live by for early big block Chevy fans. You must understand and appreciate how people built up engines in the "early days" to really see why people do it the way they do today. The information might be outdated to some, but truely valuable to others (pertaining mostly to classic engines). If you have a sixties or early seventies big block Chevy, then this would be the book for you. This book today might be called "How to Build Durable Big Block Performance". It really goes in depth with early big block engine specs., cylinder head upgrading, a great section on carbs., and wonderful photos of these early motors with awesome tips. If you are building a Ram Jet ZL1 454 fuel injected big block, then this book would be too outdated for you. But if like me you have a 1969 original Chevy C20 with a stock 396 and are looking for durable street performance, (not racing performance) this book is for you!

For Big-Block Chevy Lovers

I bought this book as a newby 17-year old gearhead in 1979 after purchasing my first car--a 396 Chevy. Until I found and read this book, I thought I hadn't done so hot with my first purchase, since I reasoned that 400 cubic inches had to be better than the "smaller" 396.This book helped educate me about the differences between those small-block 400's and their big-block brethern, and that I had made the right purchase, however uneducated it may have been at the time. Everything I wanted to know about big-block Chevy design and horsepower production I quickly consumed by reading this book. It became my big-block Chevy bible. From intake manifolds to cams, cranks, sumps, cooling, you name it, everything is covered between its pages.For modifications and hot-rodding, most of the text stays with strictly Chevy material, although certain after-market manufacturers are mentioned, such as in the carburetion and exhaust departments. At the time of publication, I'm sure those recommendations held firm. However, over the years other makers have obviously stepped to the plate with strong products that will make a big-block Chevy scream. For instance, the writer's actually suggest that you stay with the OEM Rochester carbs in your search for horsepower, and outline ways to get it. While those mods held true back then, today I can only find folks with a vintage interest in Rochesters, and Holleys and fuel injection systems are the rule today outside of spec-restorers. So the obvious word for today is look at the specs and go search for the manufacturer, not the other way around.Nevertheless, the basic information about the engines themselves is sound. And even if the product lines are dated by today's standards, it's a great look back at where big-blocks came from.I'm sure there are other updated books on hot-rodding Chevy's, but this book should remain a classic. The 427 on the cover is a work of art.