If you’re considering a new engine for your street rod, choosing a crate engine over building one can save time and reduce frustration levels. You should know some facts about crate engines, including that they ship in wooden crates, that some include everything needed to run in the cars for which they are designed, and that not all examples of them are intended for use on public streets as sold. However, if you’re building a custom hot rod or rat rod, you may not care about those last two factoids.
Advertisement
Perhaps the best thing about crate engines is the variety offered for sale by America’s big three automakers. For example, Dodge HEMI crate engines, available through Direct Connection, come with as much as 1,500 horsepower down to the 383-hp 345 (5.7L). Chevrolet and Ford offer a similar range of options to fit various projects, so let’s dive in and look at some of the most powerful crate engines from each automaker.
The Dodge 426 HEMI crate engine rated at 1,500 horsepower
The 1,500-horsepower Dodge 426 (7.0L) HEMI crate engine available through Direct Connection also delivers 1,000 pound-feet of torque. While some aftermarket providers offer crate engines with more power, this 426 HEMI tops the list of the highest horsepower engines ever built by Dodge.
Advertisement
Born from a collaboration with Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Performance Engines, the powerful Gen 3 HEMI crate build starts with a four-bolt-main Big Gas Engine (BGE) cast-iron block with 4.10 inch diameter cylinder bores housing billet aluminum pistons attached to an “ultra billet steel” crankshaft by I-beam connecting rods. The billet crank is stroked to 4.050 to achieve a near “square” relationship of bore to stroke compared to the original Gen 2 426 HEMI with its “over-square” 4.25-inch cylinders and 3.75-inch crankshaft stroke.
Complementing the engine’s aluminum HEMI cylinder heads featuring high-performance valvetrain components is a ported 3.0L Stage 2 Gen 5 Whipple supercharger. Premium E85 pump gasoline is fed into the engine through 1,700cc injectors.
Advertisement
If you’d like to put this 1,500-hp HEMI crate engine in your car, you’ll be pleased to know that it is compatible with the Hellcrate wire harness and adapts easily to pre-1976 models as well as custom builds. On the downside, you’ll have to be mindful of its quick acceleration to avoid any trouble with law enforcement. It also carries a $59,990 retail price and is currently available for pre-order.
The 1,200-horsepower supercharged 426 HEMI crate engine
A more affordable supercharged 426 HEMI crate engine option, priced at $37,999 from Direct Connection, is the 1,200-horsepower version appropriately named the 1200 426 Supercharged HEMI crate engine. Additional pros in favor of the 1200 versus the 1,500-hp HEMI above include the ability to order now with a three-week lead time from order to shipping and Direct Connection’s assurance of “drivability.” Ultimately, the 1200 provides 80% of the 1,500-hp crate engine’s horsepower at 63% of its price.
Advertisement
The Direct Connection 1200 426 Supercharged HEMI Crate Engine, another collaboration with DSR, comes with a cast-iron BGE Mopar block. However, DSR offers an upgrade to an aluminum engine block for a $7,000 upcharge. Custom CP Carrillo forged pistons, Callies forged crankshaft and H-beam connecting rods, ARP studs and bolts, and aluminum Hellcat HEMI cylinder heads are included in the crate engine build. In addition to the aluminum engine block upgrade from DSR, a billet crankshaft and Johnson lifters are also available from Direct Connection.
The 1,004-horsepower Chevrolet ZZ632/1000 Deluxe crate engine
At the heart of the ZZ632/1000 Deluxe crate engine is the 632-cubic-inch Chevy big-block rated at 1,004 horsepower and 876 lb-ft of torque. While GM Performance Motor, brought to us by Gandrud Auto Group, lists the suggested retail price of the ZZ632/1000 Deluxe at $42,224.81, the performance big-block crate engine is currently on sale for $32,935.35.
Advertisement
The naturally-aspirated ZZ632/1000 Deluxe crate engine is built on a cast-iron tall-deck Chevy big-block V8 with 4.6-inch diameter cylinders and a 4.75-inch stroke crankshaft providing 632 cubic inches of displacement. The Bowtie block features four-bolt main caps to secure the forged 4340-steel crankshaft. Forged 2618 aluminum-alloy pistons attach to the crank via forged H-beam connecting rods and deliver a 12.0:1 compression ratio in combination with the 70cc combustion chambers present in the aluminum cylinder heads. The heads feature an RS-X spread-port design and contain 2.45-inch diameter intake valves and 1.8-inch diameter exhaust valves to facilitate airflow through the engine.
Fuel (93-octane premium pump gas recommended) is delivered to the engine by 86-pound/hour injectors. The injectors fire through ports located near each cylinder on the aluminum high-rise single-plane intake manifold. Before ordering, Bill Martens, Associate Marketing Manager at Chevrolet Performance, suggests measuring the space available on your project for the ZZ632’s unusually wide cylinder heads and tall air cleaner clearance requirements.
Advertisement
The ZZ572/720R Deluxe big-block Chevrolet crate engine has 727 horsepower
The 572-cubic-inch Chevrolet big-block, the second-biggest Chevy crate engine ever built, comes in two versions. The more powerful of the two, the ZZ572/720R Deluxe, carries a suggested retail price of $26,101.11 (on sale now for $20,359.68) from GM Performance Motor. While it’s not the most powerful Chevrolet crate engine available, its 727 horsepower and 680 lb-ft of torque deliver roughly 75% as much power as the ZZ632/1000 Deluxe at 62% of its price.
Advertisement
Chevy starts the ZZ572/720R build with a tall-deck cast-iron big-block featuring 4.560-inch diameter cylinder bores and four-bolt main caps. The 4.375-inch-stroke forged steel crankshaft rides inside the main caps and attaches to shot-peened forged steel connecting rods. Forged aluminum pistons sit atop the connecting rods to deliver 12:1 compression ratios in conjunction with 118cc combustion chambers of the rectangular-port aluminum cylinder heads. Intake valves measuring 2.25 inches in diameter are actuated by a 0.714-inch peak-lift camshaft providing at least 0.050 inches of lift through 278 degrees and 1.7:1 ratio aluminum roller rocker arms. The 1.88-inch diameter exhaust valves operate with the same rocker arm ratio and peak lift, but the camshaft maintains at least 0.050 inches of exhaust lift for 282 degrees of its rotation.
Advertisement
Fuel is delivered to the engine by a 1,150-cfm Holley Dominator carburetor. Unlike the ZZ632/1000, the ZZ572/720R doesn’t perform at its peak using premium pump gas. Instead, Chevrolet recommends using 110-octane race gasoline, which would make street driving inconvenient.
Ford’s 760-horsepower supercharged 5.2L Raptor R crate engine
While the most powerful Dodge crate engines are its supercharged 426 HEMIs, and naturally aspirated big blocks rule the Chevrolet crate engine lineup, Ford’s most powerful crate engine offerings are more diverse. The most powerful Ford crate engine currently available from Ford Performance, retail priced at $29,500, is the 760-horsepower supercharged 5.2L designed for the Raptor R version of the Ford F-150 pickup truck. The Ford 5.2L crate engine also provides plentiful torque rated at 625 lb-ft.
Advertisement
Ford uses an aluminum engine block with spray-welded cylinder liners. The liners are bored to 94mm (3.70 inches) in diameter to make room for the Grafal-coated forged aluminum pistons. The pistons attach to a forged-steel crankshaft via forged-steel connecting rods to complete the rotating assembly. The 93mm (3.66-inch) crankshaft stroke pushes the pistons to achieve the 9.5:1 compression ratio. The relatively low compression ratio is supplemented by boost pressure from the Eaton TVS R2650 Supercharger on top of the engine but still operates effectively using premium gas.
The Ford 572-cubic-inch big-block crate engine with 655 horsepower
While the naturally-aspirated 572-cubic-inch Ford big-block crate engine has the lowest horsepower on our list at 655, it delivers an impressive 710 lb-ft of torque. It’s also the lowest-priced crate engine included here, with a retail price of $19,750 from Ford Performance with either a front or rear sump oil pan. Its 572 cubic-inches makes it the biggest Ford crate engine you can buy today.
Advertisement
The 572 crate engine is built around Ford’s 385-Series A460 four-bolt main (journals two, three, and four) cast-iron big-block. A460 block dimensions include a 10.322-inch nominal deck height and 4.5-inch diameter cylinder bores. Featuring a “square” bore and stroke design, the forged-steel crankshaft provides a matching 4.5-inch stroke. The Diamond Racing pistons attach to forged-steel H-beam connecting rods with floating wrist pins. Fuel comes from a Holley Street Avenger 870-cfm carburetor through an Edelbrock Victor intake manifold into cylinders capped by Super Cobra Jet aluminum heads. The heads contain 2.20-inch diameter intake valves and 1.76-inch exhaust valves within their 72cc combustion chambers.
Advertisement
Ford says the 655-horsepower 572 crate engine offers “excellent drivability.” Low-rpm torque helps its street manners, as does the ability to fill up at any gas station carrying premium unleaded gasoline.
