Theres more to the story. There were a couple race boats running the Gen 7 and a few other guys that did Dart heads, as well as intake mods. The stock ported intake is ugly but a few guys cut the bottom off, ported it and pulled higher torque numbers than the Raylar intake, then a few other guys fooled with the bigger valve Raylar heads, ported intake and changed the direction of the fuel injectors pointing upstream and pulled some colossal numbers.

I know the old-timers and big 1800 HP engine guys make fun of the Gen 7 platform but it can be a torque monster if you feel like fooling with it. Im not into HP and speed at the moment as my Baja is fast enough but I would really like to do the Raylar 540 crank with a 4.5 bore Dart block with the bigger ported Raylar heads 2.25/1.88 and his intake with dual throttle bodies (just for looks) then his hi performance "race" cam. I assume it would yield around 750HP and reliable.

Another option would be to sell the 496 HO Mag, and for maybe $5-6k more than you were going to spend anyway you could get an entire engine package with accessories making 700 HP. Of course, any way you go, you should consider beefing up your drive

That's the route I went. Bought a low hour 525 take out.

Yeah, about 7 years ago when you did that it was the era of "rebuild the 496" for a lot of people. Ive put the numbers thru a spreadsheet 100 ways. It's relatively the same cost either way. Instant gratification with the 525. Hopefully, it wasnt beat on. Then with the 496 if you have a less than average shop set it up incorrectly you have a ball of crap. But if they do it right, you have power that is new, unmolested. This is a twitchy subject - LOL

At the end of the day, its eight pistons moving up and down.

540 Crate
 

Heard a lot of pros and cons. Appreciate the feedback. So, considering I’d really not have a new or rebuilt short block with the stake 2 route, I’m looking at the 540 crate motor raylar has. From the feedback it looks like a better fount and my installer assured me it was a less expensive route from a labor standpoint.

You are correct and we've bumped heads on this before. I've never regretted switching to the 525 but I wanted a "blue" motor anyway. The 496 can be a good platform and there are plenty of stock ones running procharged. The internals may not be the best but they seem to hold up most of the time.

As you guys have said it's kind of a tough decision when you pencil it out of whether to rebuild your current 496 for more power, or buy a used blue motor. I was in the same boat. I wanted a fresh engine, so I opted to rebuild my 496 with forged pistons/rods etc and add a Whipple. I did all the work myself so it cost me about $13k all-in with a new Whipple, dash gauges, etc. I enjoy the work so that was a benefit to me. As long as it's reliable I think $13k for a fresh 650ish HP engine is a fair price. Time will tell.

This sounds like a solid direction.

dude, I have no idea how guys run them with stock pistons and a procharger. I blew 2 up with modified (stock iron) heads and big cam at 5500rpm. LOL What the heck! I didnt need no procharger to do it either. LOL

Heres a handfull of piston from the oil pan for ya!


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...0de7659980.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...a0698c3557.jpg

Fk yeah, there ya go! For $6500 you can stomp all over it with forged internals. Dude, an idiot could bolt the heads on, the timing chain only goes on one way and the rockers just screw down till they stop. You could put it together with a $40 toolset from Home Depot and a torque wrench.
(not recommending that! just sayin! LOL)