One other thing, prior to early 70's h.p was rated at the rear wheels, not the flywheel as of today. Those cars lost a lot of hp through the drivetrain. That 64 only had maybe 3:42 gear in the rearend, compared to the 3:73 the 80's 442s had. Put that gear in a 64 442 and you'd have mid 14s.
Did anyone see Musclecar TV on Spike this morning
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78 salon said:
I don't believe horsepower has ever been rated at the wheels for anything coming from the factory. They wouldn't use the lower number to brag about. Power ratings have been changed twice that I know of. They went from gross to net(in the late 70's?, that sound bout right?), which was pretty much going from without to with accesorries, then again sometime within the last 10 years, which the engine has to be set-up EXACTLY like it will be in the car. Each time the numbers generally(i remember the Corvette went from 500 to 505 with the new style) were lower than the previous style of testing.
jrm81bu said:
No, the factory only rated flywheel horsepower. The change from gross to net was in the early 70's, 71 - 72 ... somewhere in there. It was also about the same time the factories dropped the compression in the hi-perf engines from the 10 or 11 - 1 range to about 9-1. Both those combined dropped power in the mightiest big blocks from the 400 - 500 hp range to the mid 200 - 300 hp range.
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