To Promax or not to Promax

[bulletbob]

I have twin 260s ported by Ruck running Brucato ACU's. I am perfectly happy turning 6k running around 100. One of my powerheads had the top main bearing go out. Fortunately I heard it going and pulled the powerhead for repair. In it's place a friend Sparky "Viciouscustomboats" loaned me a 200 promax. The promax runs great and being a steel sleeve motor should give a few hundred hours of service. I am thinking of swapping my 260s for 225 promaxes. I am not an all out performance guy. I would rather give up a few horsepower for turn key reliability and longer run time inbetween rebuilds.
I am toying with the idea of converting my 260s to steel sleeves when I need to re-nic the block. What about having Tony Brucato remap my ACUs to limit my rpms to 6000. Will I basically have a promax motor. I like the simplicity of my 260s without all the added electronics and sensors on the promax. Has anyone done this? Should I just sell the 260s and get a couple of promaxes? Give me your opinions and experiences please. Thanks Bob:cheers:

[Jay Smith]

Bob,
IMO I would NOT sleeve the 260's , if you do their sale value for most goes to ZERO.. You could sell both the 260's for way more $$ that 2 Pro Maxes are selling for. I seem to be building many Pro Maxes and when they are upgraded with top pinned pistons and Hi Per con rod bearings they enjoy a long healthy run life.. I balance the rods , pistons, wrist pins, use Marles top pinning and TDR reeds along with Brucato injector service as well as cleaning up the block and removing all the electrical goop and convert to pre mix , my customers love em, they normally enjoy a 3-400 hours run time before even thinking about a rebuild.

My .02
Jay

[Eagle One]

Stay with the 260's and change them to steel if you want to do away with the nicasil. Don't let a bunch of these pro nicasil guys change your mind. All that BS about steel vs. nicasil is mostly just that... BS. I won the North American Mod-U Tunnel Boat Championship in 2006 with a 260 highly modified and ALL STEEL. 9600-9800 honest rpm for 10- 20-30 laps at the time. I have turned over 10,000 with steel bores as well.I assembled that engine in 2001. I just reringed it July of 2009. The promaxes are fine but the laser style EFI system sucks( cuts the fuel pumps on and off to regulate the fuel pressure). We put steel sleeves in 245's 260's and S-3000 or 300 drags all the time. Now that's right from the horses mouth not passed down and embellished by 50 people who don't have a clue. I myself run this engine and several like it. IT WILL AND DOES STAND UP TO HIGH RPM!!! The steel will hold up fine and yes I use those expensive "gold" rings in it without a problem but regular chrome would be just as good for my use.

[Jay Smith]

You have PM Bob......

Jay

[Capt.Insane-o]

lol...

[rock]

I think the Promaxes are a great idea. If all you want are 6000 rpm motors you currently have the wrong ones. You will like the Promax.
Rock

[bulletbob]

Thanks eveyone for the knowledge. I think a couple of promaxes are in my future. Bob

[tux974]

I think the Promaxes are a great idea. If all you want are 6000 rpm motors you currently have the wrong ones. You will like the Promax.
Rock

DITTO, :iagree: Have 3 and love them!! Do the upgrades, run them on a good fresh diet, never over heat and you will have a great motor with awesome longevity. Just my 2 cents.
http://i51.tinypic.com/1gt93d.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/4htm5k.jpg

[bulletbob]

Thanks Tony. After watching your howard build and noting that you had three 225s, always good to have a back up, I thought the promax was probably the powerhead for me.

[tux974]

Thanks Tony. After watching your howard build and noting that you had three 225s, always good to have a back up, I thought the promax was probably the powerhead for me.

Actually I'm running 245's on the Howard right now because that is what I had when it was completed. Had 260's but sold them because did not trust them. I feel much safer with the carbs, I run them fat and they run very well that way!
Have the PM's ready just in case. PM's are under rated for power!! Awesome motors!!
PS, I'm about to mount 2 PH'ds on these mids ;):D
http://i51.tinypic.com/otdk6a.jpg

[JohnBoy]

I run the ProMax on my Mirage. I always take the flywheel & charging and change it to a 16amp aluminum and run s3000 switch boxes. For the lazer injection I remove everything and run a gold regulator and regular 260 pump so all it does is run a solid pressure and a Brucato PCU to manage the injection, I did run a SVS for a while but sold it since I didn't need to run over 100mph. I ran 3 ProMax's so far I ran them all about 8,000rpm. No problems except when I had a cooling issue when I was running the motor too cold, when I figured that out I've never had a issue. I beat on every motor I had everytime out. I changed them to get to the current motor which is a 220hp but with the BP tuner and shaved heads plus PCU and Laser injection work I think I'm maybe 5-10hp higher. I did have a 2.5 ported drag motor but it was a pain and always breaking parts so I sold it...

I'm super happy with my steel sleeve ProMax motors


http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/xxxjohnboyxxx/Picture027_12Jun04.jpg

[bulletbob]

I'm running a 200 pm with SVS and oil injection removed. I've been really impressed with the powerhead! I'm sold. Thanks for the info everyone.