Hi Mark, FWIW I'll give you a brief summary of a sbc I built +25 years ago. The engine was going in my 28 Ford Sedan Delivery and I didn't want the carbs, scoop or air cleaner protruding out of the hood.
Therefore, to achieve this goal I selected a B&M 144 blower which, back then had received good reviews. I started with a seasoned 4 bolt main block, steel crank and GM 'pink' rods. For the camshaft we went with a 'blower cam' and valve train recommended by Comp. IMHO a blower cam is essential for obvious reasons. The forged pistons gave me a CR of around 8.0:1 (I can't remember exactly) and I used traditional GM angle plug heads. A Holley 3310, 750 Vac Sec carb topped it off.
The combination was perfect for the street and with the hood and hood sides installed, none were the wiser. Although we didn't dyno the engine I'm sure it made +/- 350 hp...it started instantly, idled well and would pull like crazy through 5500 rpm with ease. I used a Turbo 350 transmission with a B&M street convertor behind the engine.
Around 15K miles I pulled the blower and sent it to B&M for maintenance. They advised me there was nothing wrong with it but changed the bearings and seals as a precautionary measure for next to nothing. I know most people want the looks (and possibly) whine of a 671 but as indicated above, that was not my goal.
One last thing, I used a Mallory distributor that gave me some 'issues' along the way. If I were to do another blower engine again I would likely use an MSD. As you know, timing is critical and detonation is a killer. I eventually sold the car with around 35K miles on the drive train and other than the Mallory dist. 'issue' the engine ran perfectly.
I hope this helps a little and good luck with your project.
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