I cut my boost teeth with a Buick GN and did not have any issues with moderate boost. I drive a GTP Grand Prix everyday that has over 100,000 miles on an engine that has never had the valve covers removed. How about 3 yrs or 36,000 miles for the new 600+ rated h.p. ZR-1? What I am trying to say is this. A well thought out and maintained low compression boost built engine with sane cooled, boost levels can still deliver decent longevity; but the engine builder has to know how to build an engine for boost both from a machining standpoint and component dynamic standpoint. Little things make all of the difference in the world and just because the shop has built thousands of small block race engines they may have a hard time adapting the needs of a boosted engine. I used to work as an engineer for a company where we did O.E.M. contracted remanufacturing as well as engine development and failure analysis. One of the scary things that became readily apparent after I started this job was that a good majority of the private machine shops could not even machine to the accuracy required to produce some of the engines that I was working on. One area in particular was the cylinder head finish needed for MLS gaskets. The aftermarket knows about this issue and has accepted the fact that many shops still use old equipment and can not machine to a level that is required to use a hard core MLS gasket. They have tried to address this issue by coating their gaskets with material that will allow for a rougher surface finish. It goes back to the best sealing surface in the world would be one with two perfectly machined surfaces mated with no gasket at all! I am not saying that this is the reason that there are so many non factory boosted engines that are time bombs, just pointing out some of the facts that are often overlooked by otherwise good engine builders. A good look at a diesel engine can go a long way also. Try going 1,000,000 miles with a huge bore, huge stroke, 18:1 compression, 20+lb boost engine that runs in a constant state of detonation, and puts out over 1,000lb.ft. Where some small blocks idle. There is some technology there that is not to far from what you would find in the old days of boosted F1 cars as well as the new production supercharged and turbocharged engines. When it comes to carbs and boost there are some myths that are being circulated that deserve some further investigation. There are C&S specialties (not CSU) is seldom mentioned in published articles; but they are light years ahead of some of the companies that are getting their carbs on the engines that you read about. Other companies would have you beleve that you don’t need or can’t run over a 750c.f.m.carb with boost or run high boost period. Or you don’t need anything larger even on a 540. Those companies do not have their carburetors on the world’s fastest blow through carb vehicles. C&S does.
