The crankshaft is a 4130 forged-steel piece that's internally balanced. The crank provides
Life is made up of simple equations-especially if your life revolves around cars. A '68 Camaro plus a 6-71 blower equals a hole in the hood. Nitrous plus school zone equals a suspended license. Our editor, Terry Cole, plus an early Chevy II for sale equals his family eating macaroni and cheese for a month. Simple stuff
For the folks at World Products, the equation goes like this: MoTown cylinder heads plus all-new MoTown engine block equals 475hp small-block crate motor.
"How could we not do it?" says World Products' President Bill Mitchell. "We've cast our own heads for a while, then we started recently with the blocks. Offering a complete engine was the logical thing to do."
Makes sense to us.
But rather than simply offer a lukewarm engine package for lukewarm cars, World Products comes out of the box with the MoTown 415. The name doesn't refer to the horsepower figure-it's the displacement of the all-new small-block. And since you're wondering, World rates the MoTown 415 at a conservative 475 horses and 525 lb-ft of torque. We know it's conservative, because we followed the assembly process and watched one of these crate monsters on World's dyno. It made more than 482 hp and more than 545 lb-ft of torque.
"We're seeing these numbers pretty consistently, within a few percent, so we may raise our quoted number," Mitchell says. "That 475 figure is a good one, though, so no matter who buys a motor and dynos it, he shouldn't be disappointed. In fact, he'll probably be very pleased with the better-than-expected performance."
The MoTown block is a priority-oil design (main bearings oiled first). A high-volume Speed
With numbers that would otherwise indicate big-block power, the MoTown 415 obviously makes efficient use of its air passages. Four-inch bores and a 3.875-inch stroker crank deliver the cubes, while a free-breathing, fast-burn-style set of MoTown 220 heads (220cc intake runners) allow for plenty of hard-charging combustion.
The key to the engine's tremendous output is its ability to rev higher and sustain the power and torque bands at nearly 6,000 rpm. The block and heads were designed for such high-rpm antics, and when utilized together, it's a combination that pulls as hard and revs as smoothly as any small-block we've encountered.
Sturdy Stuff
World's MoTown block and heads are cast by the company to beefier specs than standard, GM-cast parts. The four-bolt MoTown block, for example, has 1-inch-thicker front and rear bulkheads for added strength. There's more iron around the cylinders, too, than a stock block. This allows for expanded coolant passages and head bolts that don't go into water.