Tell us about the weirdest combinations you ever built.
SS: Yeah, the guy wanted to power generators with 472-inch small-blocks. I guess that was pretty close to it. It was a challenge, camshaft, cylinder heads, and how do you make power at 1,500-2,000rpm wide open? That one I called the Generator Motor. I had another I called the Alternator Motor. The Alternator was for a contest for who has the loudest stereo and so you need all these hideous amps and all this power. These guys make up brackets for the front of engine to accommodate five alternators. A stock 454 big-block won’t spin ‘em. These guys are buyin’ 600 and 700 horsepower motors to create the amperage and blast the stereo.
What’s the popular menu at Shafiroff, street motors or drag race motors?
SS: It’s still mostly drag race motors but we’ve always built street engines. In some sense it’s harder to build street engines there so many compromises you have to accommodate. A race motor only needs three things: power, reliability, and price. Everything else doesn’t
matter. A street engine has to do so many other things and it’s challenging. Without a racing background, I don’t think you could build these 600 to 1,000 horsepower street engines and have them be reliable. Our average big-block makes 650 to 800 horsepower. A 1,000hp engine in a half-way prepared, 3,400-pound car will run an 8-second quarter and guys drive ‘em around on the street like nothing. It really is an amazing time. With the cylinder heads and camshafts we have now you can have incredible power and drive it happily on the road, too. What I find are a lot of older racers who’ve come back to it but just for the street scene. You know, if it rains on Tuesday, you can always take it out on Wednesday.
So it’s really about a total combination, correct?
SS: It’s the total packaging. There’s a certain amount you have to spend. Not spending enough can be a big problem. If you’re trying to make certain level of power and don’t have the budget to buy the parts to make that level, then I’d rather not build it. You have to be more realistic in your expectations or work a little harder and get up some extra money. The worst mistake people make? They say “I have a block or a crank or heads and I want to build the motor using what I have.” If they start off with one major component that’s just not right and then spend all this money to build something around it’s a complete waste. Peddle or give away your precious parts and buy the right stuff the first time. If you don’t you won’t be happy because you compromised. Be realistic, lay out a game plan and follow it. I offer my customers choices, but with guardrails, so they can pick what they want and have input to the build. I won’t build something that they want that doesn’t compliment the package. You have to build it for the customer strictly according to his actual usage. It’s kind of like a New York diner. There are 147 things to eat, a very wide selection. If it’s not there you don’t need it.
How do see the LS engine in the mix?
SS: Its coming and we’re doing some development work with GM on the iron LSX block but it’s still gonna be a long time before it replaces the big-block. It’s definitely a part of the future but it’s not just going to replace everything. Its in a nice niche, it’s a great engine, but it’s going to be a long time before you see ‘em lined up in the staging lanes for Super Comp.
Carbs or EFI?
SS: With nitrous especially, carbs are just flat faster than fuel injection in any form of drag racing that I know. In my experience carbs are always faster.
Your thoughts on Toyota and NASCAR?
SS: It’s a touchy subject. Toyota has so much money available that it has almost diluted the value of the teams. They can afford to subsidize race teams, whereas everybody else has to go to their sponsor for whatever dollars it takes to run one ($28 million). You can get on a Toyota ride for less money ($14 million) than a Ford or Chevy ride. I don’t think it’s a good thing. There are only a few bastions of American spirit left. I have mixed feeling about it.
Talk about offshore parts for minute. Have they gotten better?
SS: The offshore parts have gotten much better. As a matter of value it’s excellent. There’s always better, but there’s also a big difference in price. They only thing they don’t have is quality control over every single part. That’s where a good engine shop is indispensable. Instead of the QC being done there, we do it here. The power of the Internet enables anyone to research parts, prices, products, there’s no more mystery. It has made the strong stronger and the weak go away. It sharpens the intensity of competition. If you can’t sell a good product at a really fair price then you’re goin’ away. If you can’t do it, somebody else will and with the Internet people will find you. You have to give it all.
What’s next, Scott?
SS: I’m building a’69 Camaro for myself now and I just want to cruise it to the different spots, tell lies, swap stories and just hang out. The young kids today just missed it. I feel a little sorry for the guys with their rice rockets. It’s just so different now. It was a great time in the ‘60s and ‘70s just to be around these cars.
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