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Small Block – Big Deal

News Flash! This year is the 60th Anniversary of the Small Block Chevrolet V8! A few months ago Hot Rod Magazine asked me to build an engine in celebration of that…WOW! What an Honor!

I love Hot Rod Magazine, so this an emotional and prideful thing they have asked of me. The people there now are carrying the flag into the future, bringing a range of perspectives as eclectic as hotrodding itself. That is so refreshing and with the current team, all bases are covered. It’s as if Bob Petersen still sits upstairs.

In my youth, the masthead stated,”Hot Rod – Everybody’s Automotive Magazine”, that’s what Petersen wanted and that’s what was delivered…And, that included Boats! Measured on that basis, and stated unequivocally…Pete would be proud of his magazine today!

If you don’t read Hot Rod, you need to. In those pages, I plan to breathe a whole new life into my 40 year old, Twin Turbo Small Block layout. I’m building a pressurized 427″ bullet that you can put in your everyday driver. It will have enough turbo to support 1250hp, but backed down to a solid 1,000hp. To those of you that are disappointed by that number…No, that’s not all I’ve got. Yes, I know how to build a racing engine. Turbocharging is my thing, ya know.

Back in the day I pressurized at least one carburetor and , sometimes two. This 302″ engine was a development mule for my 180 GPM road race water pump, dual progressive thermostats and dry sump float bowls. If you make 900hp and road race it, you need cooling overhead. Gale Banks

This engine is intended to be a 100,000 mile, everyday driver. It won’t be a 3800hp brag race engine, backed down to nothing, to enable the drive, to the next stop on drag week. This is far more difficult. I intend a dead reliable, starts in the chill of winter and air conditions in the heat of summer sort of thing. Walter Brennan said it best, ” No brag, just fact”… that’s this build.

Banks Billet Bling
Here’s a piece of “Banks Billet Bling” for our 1,250hp street build, the first 4500 throttle body designed to be boosted. The bolt up on top is O-ringed to an inlet plenum with radiused short stacks inside for each barrel inlet and a massive,shuttle valve, air dump system.
Gale Banks

With that in mind the first thing I’ve eliminated is the 4″ single butterfly, “Ego Throttle”. Each of our 1,000 horses needs to be finely controlled. Not turned on and off, all at once, like a light switch. So, we’ve designed a 4500 throttle body that’s got real fine resolution, as you come off idle, and progressive secondaries. This is the first of many new parts in this build and it’s, Born To Be Boosted”, street style. Kinda cool, don’t you think?

Roy Woods, Banks turbocharged DeKon Monza circa 1977/1978. We went from a Webber’ed 358 incher at 580hp to a 302 incher rocking a Banks Twin Turbo system with one of our liquid coupled, Technicooler, charge air coolers. At 920hp the turbo motor overwhelmed the Monza like an elephant on a mouse!
Gale Banks

Gale Banks

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