Dad, Your heart is in the right place. Much of the discussion on Spec motors I have seen revolves on eliminating the high priced motors which I am 100% against. That would be unfair to existing teams and would likely put the final nail in our sport. It does not seem that this is your focus. I hope not. I was on the BCRA Board of Directors for a few years in the early 2K's and one thing we did was to allow our older motors (V-4, Chev 2, Pontiac, VW,ect) more cubic inches. I cannot speak for the folks at Montpellier but I would bet they would welcome any 4 cyl. effort you would come up with. Midget racing (along with T.Q.'s) has always been the home of the mad scientist and folks like that (you) are the heart and soul of our sport.There are some pifalls to this and here are a few. Are you talking an iron block? If so, that will not only add weight but will upset the balance of the car. Is there Injection available for your motor? If not, you have to either get a set cast $$$$$$ or run carbs which will hurt the H.P. You're looking to start with around 300 H.P. To even have a chance at those numbers you need compression and inches so any thoughts of stock rods and crank are gone unless you want windows. And I'm not talking XP. If there is no history of this motor ever being in a Midget then you need custom Motor Plate, Pump Mounts, U-Joint, are you gonna run Dry Sump (oil pan). There is more but I think you see where this is going. Thanks to USAC once again devaluing racers equipment, there are lots of Focus Motors available but they likely have stock bottom ends and I doubt you'll ever see the numbers you are looking for with that. The ecotech is okay and at least there is history with Midgets so the bolt on stuff is available. Again, stock rods, ect and I did fail to mention the extreme Head work any stock motor needs to even have a chance to reach those numbers. Maybe the best chance is the DOHC Honda which has proven VERY competitve on the west coast. The bottom end in those motors are very stout and all bolt on parts are available. The number I heard to build a good one is around 20K but a bone stock one on alky would, I'm sure out-perform any of the previously mentioned motors. Bottom line is that no one is gonna build a Motor that will run with the top teams for 4K or anything close. I'm doubt that it could be done even for 15K but maybe if you hane enough cubes....... Right now, you can find older fontanas for around 6-8K and just bolt 'em in and race. I'll repeat what I said in my previous post. What you are trying to do is enter an arena that has many teams with huge budgets.
To quote a former engine builder, the late Don Canepa " Horsepower costs money,how fast do ya wanna go?" Keep me posted on your efforts as I understand what you are trying to do and I applaud your passion. Good luck............Ken