i'm not a big ch*** man, but the 405 ci doesn't ring any chimes. however, olds made a nice 403 small block that you may be thinking of ...big valves, big pistons and a short stroke. there are certain issues with that engine that may not make it the high revving power house you want, but for a strong street machine, it may just fill your bill. go to "ask. com" and ask jeeves to tell you all about the 403. he'll take you to a site called "the olds faq compiler". everything you want to know is answered there. it's an informative site