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itsworn · 6 years ago

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Build a brute 600-horse Chevy 496ci stroker

What can you do with a big-block Chevy that hasn’t been done before? Well, for one thing you find ways of making it more distinctive than the rest. It doesn’t have to be the most powerful big-block Chevy ever done because there’s always someone with a pinch more poop. It just has to be that sweet combination of streetable performance with durability and an attitude. You want brute torque for a spine-decalcifying snap at the traffic light or at the dragstrip yet civilized cruiseability on the open road. This engine courts the edges of both streetability and a racing engine.

To get the sweet combination of both performance and civilized operation you have to amass the right combination of parts. We will tell you this going in—this is not a mild-mannered street engine. It is a rompin’, stompin’, street/strip powerhouse you can drive to the office yet have fun with on the weekends.

With 496 ci of displacement on hand coupled with 4.250 inches of stroke and 6.385-inch-long rods for generous dwell time are the bones necessary to make a classic Chevelle, Camaro, or Nova rock. Intimidating at a traffic light. Rock and roll time at the track. We’re working with Gregg Jacobson of PHD Speedcenter in Bakersfield, California, who understands what it takes to build real horsepower and torque into a vintage mill.

We’re building a good, old-fashioned Chevy fat-block with a radical mechanical roller cam, Brodix #RR BBR rectangular-port cylinder heads, roller rockers, Scat steel stroker crank, H-beam rods, Mahle forged and coated aluminum pistons (PN 1-42310BI), MSD ignition, Holley carburetion, and Edelbrock induction. This broad combination of proven performance parts are what make the big-block Chevy legendary.

Scat stroker kits are available with either a high-end forged 4340 crankshaft or Scat’s Series 9000 cast crankshaft and I- or H-beam connecting rods with either 7/16- or 3/8-inch cap screw rod bolts. For maximum durability Scat includes King, Federal Mogul (Speed Pro), or Clevite 77 rod and main bearings depending upon the application—with pistons and rings from SRP/JE, Ross, KB, Mahle, Diamond, and Probe. Ordering a Scat stroker kit from Summit Racing Equipment means you’re getting solid reliability for your Chevy big-block project.

We’re working with a Chevrolet 454 four-bolt main truck block (PN 14015445), which is a good foundation for the kind of power we want to make. It has been cleaned and Magnafluxed for cracks. Chevrolet produced this block casting from 1978-1990. Not all PN 14015445 blocks are four-bolt main. Make sure you’ve found a four-bolt main block before plunking down the cash. This is a brute block that can handle 500-plus horsepower.

Gregg Jacobson of PHD Speedcenter tells us block prep includes a full program of machinework, including deburring, milling the decks, line bore, piston-matched boring and honing, and honing the lifter bores for good oil control. Jacobson uses GE Glyptal coating on iron surfaces to both seal the iron and improve oil return flow.

Oil galley passages have been chased, tapped, and plugged for good oiling system security. You can never clean oil galleys even because there are always traces of debris. This is a good practice for any engine build in order to maintain oiling system security.

Jacobson stresses proper installation of the two-piece rear main seal, which is a heavy-duty Fel-Pro seal. The seal lip must be installed toward the crankshaft, which keeps the seal lip against the crank journal. Jacobson uses Permatex’s The Right Stuff between the seal and block, with a small dab at each end. Seal tips are staggered away from the main cap parting lines to prevent leakage.

For a mean street/strip demeanor, Jacobson has opted for the COMP Cams mechanical roller cam with 110-degree lobe centers (PN 11-772-8) and a lot of lift and duration for deep breathing at high rpm. You get a lumpy idle along with a good broad torque curve from 3,000-7,000 rpm. Jacobson was anticipating 600 hp and comparable torque.

Because Jacobson thrives on durability, he opted for a Scat 4340 steel crank with a 4.250-inch stroke and 6.385-inch H-beam rods topped with Mahle forged pistons with a mild dome. The result is 496 ci and a tremendous amount of torque from the 4.250-inch stroke. These rods offer a good rod ratio and allow plenty of dwell time and cylinder fill/scavenge time at each end of the bore.

PHD Speedcenter’s piston prep includes the installation of plasma moly iron rings on top, cast rings next—positioning the endgaps at 90-degree intervals. Rings and pistons are coated with engine assembly lube to ensure a nice, wet startup. When Jacobson fires this engine on the dyno, he will do a break-in cycle to seat rings and bearings before doing power verification pulls.

Once all eight pistons are in their bores, Jacobson will check deck and compression-height to get an accurate assessment of what he has for compression ratio. Compression ratio was expected to be 10.0:1 for use with pump gas.

Connecting rod bolt torque is 63 ft-lb in one-third values one cap at a time. The rotating assembly is checked for freedom of movement as Jacobson torques rod bolts.

Crankshaft endplay is checked and should of 0.004-0.008 inch in a high-performance application.

When you’re building a street/strip big-block Chevy you have the option of ARP studded main caps, which is suggested for better bottom-end security. You may also go with ARP main cap bolts like Jacobson has here, which provide a much better level of main cap security than stock bolts. Main studs keep caps from wandering much better than bolts.

Because we’ve gone with a Scat stroker kit, the very first order of business was the mockup phase, which we did not photograph, but will explain here. A mockup pre-assembly phase should be performed early on without piston rings installed to make sure rods, bolts, and counterweights clear the block and oil pump.

Jacobson opted for the COMP Cams adjustable double-roller billet timing set (PN 8110) from Summit Racing Equipment for this 496 project, which enables him to adjust valve timing quickly and easily.

This close-up view of the adjustable billet cam sprocket demonstrates how easy it is to adjust valve timing.

We’re framing in the adjustable billet timing set with the COMP Cams three-piece aluminum timing cover (PN 312) from Summit Racing Equipment. Cool thing about this timing cover is access to the adjustable timing sprocket.

True top dead center and cam specifications are checked prior to the cylinder heads being installed. We found our cam to be spot-on with the cam card.

The cam button is installed next, which will keep the cam stabilized.

Cam sprocket bolts get Permatex thread locker and are torqued to 20 ft-lb.

With the COMP Cams three-piece cam cover installed, Jacobson checks camshaft endplay, which should always be checked. That’s what’s good about this timing cover. It enables you to check endplay with the cover on.

When we first saw these Mahle pistons, we were convinced this engine sported a lot of compression. However, the Brodix heads have large 119cc chambers, which have been massaged to 123 cc. Compression ratio is a mild 10.3:1 for operation with pump gas.

Jacobson is going with Fel-Pro Permatorque head gaskets from Summit Racing Equipment. Although they say these head gaskets don’t require a retorque Jacobson gives them a retorque anyway for extra added measure after the initial fire-up. Jacobson stresses clean mating surfaces because even the tiniest debris can cause leakage.

Jacobson likes the Super Damper from ATI. It is SFI rated and delivers smooth function at all rpm ranges. The Super Damper’s primary purpose is to act as a crankshaft shock absorber at the end of the crank to absorb crank twist.

These Brodix Race-Rite Rectangular-Port cylinder heads (PN RR BBR) are an easy bolt-on for virtually any big-block Chevy. They bolt right in place of the stock iron heads without special modifications or piston changes.

Jacobson performed some of his own custom port and chamber work on these Brodix heads to reduce turbulence and eliminate hot spots.

With the Fel-Pro Permatorque head gaskets in place, Jacobson seats each of the Brodix heads. Jacobson doesn’t cut corners when it comes to valvetrain components. He has specified COMP pushrod guides with ARP 7/16-inch rocker arm studs.

Jacobson has opted for a Speed Pro high-volume oil pump along with a Moroso deep-sump pan and pick-up to ensure abundant volume at high rpm.

We like the COMP valvetrain components encompassing Pro Magnum full roller rockers, which have been properly adjusted to 0.016-inch intake and 0.018-inch exhaust. Valvetrain geometry has been checked and confirmed using the correct length one-piece 0.080-inch thick-wall COMP Cams pushrods.

Our completed 496ci stroker looks sharp.

PHD Speedcenter has the 496 on a run stand for that initial fire-up to check vitals. Jacobson expects to see 600 hp at 6,500 rpm and nearly 600 lb-ft of torque at 5,000. That’s a 950-cfm Holley 0-80496-1 carburetor atop an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap (PN 75624) with Endurashine. A complete MSD ignition system fires the mixture.

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olivereliott · 7 years ago

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Ray of Sunshine: Daniel Peter’s Yamaha SR500 Scrambler

Scramblers are a hot topic. Build one, and you’re sure to be judged solely by how well equipped it is for hardcore off-piste use.

But that’s not all that scramblers are about. Daniel Peter compares his latest build to his childhood BMX—and it’s pretty much how we feel about modern-day scramblers too.

“When I was four years old, my BMX bike became my life,” he explains. “It was so simple, yet so fun. Just wheels, pedals and brakes. I’d ride it to the beach, jump a few curbs along the way, race my friends. Those were the good days.”

“30 years later, I set out to build a motorcycle based on the same principles. There’s nothing on this bike that doesn’t need to be there. It has wheels, a punchy engine and great brakes. I didn’t even put a speedo on it, because I never looked at the one on my last bike.”

Daniel works as a photographer in Chicago, but wrenches during the winter to keep his passion for riding alive. He keeps a workshop in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, outfitted with a tool cabinet, a welder, and a 1940s South Bend lathe.

This 1978-model Yamaha SR500 is the fourth Yamaha 500 he’s built to date. “It’s the most simple, yet the most thorough, of the bunch,” he says.

“Having road raced an SR500 for a few seasons, I learned how to make these light and fast. This bike is very nimble, sounds amazing, and absolutely rips while still being a practical daily rider. It will get you to your favorite taco joint before you can say carnitas.”

Daniel puts the SR’s weight at 282 lbs wet—considerably less than the stocker’s claimed dry weight of 348 lbs. But it’s also packing a lot more punch than it did in ’78.

The motor’s been bumped to 540 cc, with a grocery list of go-fast bits that includes a lighter XT500 crank, a new piston from JE and a Megacycle cam for better torque down low.

R&D valve springs with titanium caps, a Powerdynamo ignition and a high-flow oil pump from Kedo round out the package.

Hoos Racing refreshed the crank and cut new valve seats for Daniel, but he tackled the rest of the rebuild himself. Every single bearing and seal was replaced along the way too. As for the carb, it’s been swapped out for a 29 mm Keihin FCR flatslide number, fed by a fat K&N filter.

The exhaust system is a combination of a custom made stainless steel header, and a Cone Engineering muffler.

The performance upgrades extend beyond just the power plant. The forks look stock at a glance, but they’re actually fully adjustable 41 mm units from a 95 Kawasaki ZX6R. They’ve been lowered slightly, and re-sprung to match the bike.

A set of 13/75” adjustable Gazi shocks keep the rear in check, attached to a beautiful aluminum swing arm from MotoLanna.

The SR rolls on 17” supermoto wheels, borrowed from a KTM (front) and a Honda CRF450 (rear). They’re wrapped in Pirelli MT60 Corsa tread; a 120 up front, and a chunky 160 on the 5” rear rim. (“It juuust fits,” says Daniel.)

The brakes have been upgraded with a mix of Brembo and Beringer parts, with an RCS 14 radial master cylinder up front.

On top is an aluminum Yamaha XT500 fuel tank, wrapped in a paint scheme “inspired by an unforgettable riding trip through Baja.” Just behind it is a new saddle from MotoLanna, with a new kicked-up subframe loop.

Moving to the cockpit, Daniel installed LSL bars, Driven SBK grips, and a ProTaper Profile Pro clutch lever (with an integrated decomp lever). The switches are basic: a kill switch from Ride Engineering, and a billet light switch.

There’s an LED headlight out front, and a custom LED taillight, made to Daniel’s design, out back. And true to his word, he hasn’t added a speedo—or turn signals.

What he has added, is a bunch of smaller upgrades that score high on aesthetics and practicality. The SR has fenders at both ends, along with a inner splash guard to keep rear wheel much at bay. Serrated pegs and a bash plate add to the SR500’s overall dirtworthiness.

There’s also a neat cutaway sprocket cover, and a Toxic Moto chain blocker to keep the chain from biting the tire. Every part’s been given equal consideration—from the neatly cut exhaust hanger, to the discreet electronics tray under the seat.

It’s just about spring in Chicago, so Daniel must be itching to rack up the miles on his SR500. And we’re betting it’s going to be impossible to get him off it.

Daniel Peter Photography | Instagram

Daniel would like to thank: my good friend Adam for the donor bike, Jason at Artistimo for nailing the paint job, and Kevin Silvers, Bibu and Tony at Analog for their help.

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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1,180HP 1968 Camaro: This Blower is Bigger Than its Engine!

Almost all little kids love cars that have engines taller than the roof. As a child, having an engine that’s “bigger than the car” is almost sure to draw a smile, even if the kid doesn’t have much mechanical knowledge. We’re not sure whether Anthony “Tony” Taormina never got over that fantasy or what, but not only does he have an engine that’s taller than his Camaro, his supercharger has more displacement than the engine!

Part of all this is out of necessity. You see, Tony runs his Camaro in the D/CBGC class through the SCTA, which means that he has to run gas, and he had to run an itty-bitty 304ci destroked small-block Chevy. Big blowers that are just loafing along (like this mammoth Whipple screw blower) generate a lot less heat, which helps the combination live on gasoline. Since it was never designed for a small-block Chevy, Tony’s buddies at Vintage Hot Rod Design and Fabrication in Chico, California had to get creative with the manifold design, which ended up making the motor massively tall.

If you’re wondering if any of these crazy theories work, we’d have to say yes, as Tony has been more than 200 mph on a number of occasions, thanks to 1,180 horsepower at the flywheel. He’s been officially timed at 217 mph and change, and has hit 224 mph on the car’s data logger, which isn’t bad considering his ride has the aerodynamics of meatloaf. He’s up there on the bravery factor too, as he’s been on fire more than once, earning the nickname “Tony the Torch.” We’re not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but he just laughs it off as part of racing.

In addition to his exploits at Bonneville, he’s also gone 197 mph on dirt in a little over a mile at El Mirage, so he’s got plenty of speed under his shoes. Look for Tony to return again to Bonneville in October, where he aims for 230-plus!

Short-Block John Beck at Pro Machine in Chico, CA assembled the engine, which features a Pro Comp block, 3-inch Crower 4340 crank, Eagle 6-inch rods, and 9:1 JE Pistons to arrive at 304 ci. John used ARP studs, Manley rings, and Clevite bearings throughout, and the block was machined for O-ring grooves for better cylinder head sealing. Oiling is accomplished by a dry-sump system which includes a Barnes Systems pump, Dan Olson pan, and holds a whopping 14 quarts of oil.

Camshaft & Valvetrain Donny Johansen ground the solid-roller cam, which has a mammoth 0.680-inch lift, 288 degrees of duration (at 0.050-inch lift), and a 114-degree lobe separation. After being spun by a Jesel belt drive, the cam bumps pushrods from Chet Herbert into T&D Products rockers and Manley Nextek valve springs. The intake valves are 2.05 inches in diameter; the exhausts are 1.60 inches and made of Inconel for high heat reliability. Both are from Manley.

Cylinder Heads The Pro Comp heads are probably the most trick part of the whole build, as the enormous 235cc intake runners do most of the work. Other than that, both the intake and exhaust sides are out of the box with no port or gasket matching done. They’re secured to the block with O-rings, a copper head gasket, and ARP studs.

Supercharger The big-by-huge blower is an out-of-production Whipple model, which is purported to flow a bit more air than a 14-71. That’s why at only with a 4-percent underdrive the supercharger still churns out a massive 35 psi of boost. The intake manifold was custom built with some swap meet parts and adapter plates, and the whole thing was topped with a giant Enderle scoop. An interesting note is that John doesn’t run a dampener, just a “really long blower belt.”

Fuel & Ignition VP C16 116-octane race fuel (or spec fuel at Bonneville) is injected into the big blower through an Enderle injection system and 150 pump. The ignition is as basic and powerful as you can get, with a Tom Cirello magneto providing the spark, and MSD wires and NGK plugs doing the rest. Timing is the one thing engine builder John Beck is fairly secretive about, but he’s willing to admit it’s “a lot more than you’d think.”

1968 Camaro Support System The vehicle attached to the big blower motor isn’t your average ’68 Camaro. The car has a fire suppression system and a jungle gym inside that is all SCTA legal, plus all the aero mods that are allowed. The high-winding (8,500 rpm) mouse is backed by a Mcleod 3-disc clutch, B&J 4-speed transmission, and Winters quick-change rearend. Interestingly enough, the axle is solidly mounted to the car for ultimate stability, which means no rear suspension!

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itsworn · 6 years ago

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Kurtis Forsberg’s Aztec Gold SN95 Mustang GT was Built to Be a 7-Second True Street Contender!

As many competitive racers know, there many are trials and tribulations associated with the sport of drag racing, and sometimes it feels as if the trials are the only things rearing their ugly heads. Mechanical injuries are suffered at the track frequently, but it’s an addiction that puts us right back in the staging lanes ready for more. Although the trials make themselves apparent, even the smallest of tribulations make the blood, sweat, and tears all worthwhile. Fall seven times, stand up eight. That should be the mantra of the sport.

Kurtis Forsberg from Oviedo, Florida, is more than familiar with the triumphs and plagues of the hobby. He owns an Aztec Gold 1997 SN95 Mustang GT that he picked up off Craigslist to be a contender in the NMRA True Street competition. And a contender he built indeed. Kurtis’ True Street monster is capable of an insane 1,320 rwhp and 1,071 lb-ft of torque looking to lock in a 7-second average win in the class. “The car leaves extremely hard and goes straight,” Kurtis tells us.

“The car was built in my two-car garage hoping to one day be a contender in the NMRA True Street class,” Kurtis went on to explain his reasoning behind building his quick street car. “It started off with a 4.6L two-valve with a homemade turbo setup and MS3Pro ECU running E85, and the car went 10.20’s.”

But like anybody building a race car, there’s always the hunger for more power. “In hopes to step up the performance, we built a 4.6L four-valve with a Precision Turbo 8847 with a goal to run 8.90’s. The car went 8.24 at 165 mph,” Kurtis told us about his pass that helped land him in the semi-finals at the season 2016 NMRA season opener. Kurtis also took the runner up position in the True Street category at Mod Motor Nationals last year.

Fast forward to this year’s NMRA Spring Break shootout race in Bradenton, the car made a few 8.0-second passes, but was ultimately put on the trailer due to a hurt motor. Kurtis knew something was up with the car, but it still nabbed some quick passes before it called quits for him. “New goal is to run a 7-second average in the True Street class. The car went from running 15-second passes to low 8’s and soon to be mid-to-upper 7-second passes.”

This self-built Aztec Gold SN95 in Forsberg’s garage to be a 7-second contender in NMRA’s True Street class and boasts 1,320 RWHP and 1,071 lb-ft of torque. After hurting the motor in Bradenton with a 8.0-second pass, the goal is come back better than ever during the World Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The car is quick, but it’s safe to say that the SN95 Mustang also stands out due to its gold hue. Here’s a little fun fact – Aztec Gold is the rarest factory color on the 1997 Mustang GT with just 1,135 produced. And who knows how many are rolling the streets or strip now 21 years later. Chances are, unless you own one or your neighbor owns one, you probably don’t see an Aztec Gold SN95 that often. “When you go to the track and people ask if you’ve seen the blue Fox-body, people wonder which one, but when they ask if you’ve seen the gold car, everyone knows which one they’re talking about,” Kurtis laughs.

Before Kurtis landed “Gold Dust,” he had a built a Fox-body that was near completion. Kurtis sold it after his wife enrolled in nursing school. But once she graduated, the deal was that he would get another car. Searching the Craigslist ads in 2012, this Aztec Gold SN95 Mustang fell right into his lap, and the color has grown on him.

Self-built in Forsberg’s two-car garage, this 4.6L is fed by a Forced Inductions GT55 88mm turbo with all of the supporting components.

As mentioned before, Kurtis built the car in his two-car garage. It’s the stock 4.6L with .020 over bored currently to 284ci and fed by a Forced Inductions GT55 88mm hair dryer with a PT2000 liquid-to-air intercooler. The Kellogg crankshaft uses Oliver connecting rods and JE flat-top pistons. Modular Head Shop prepped the CNC-ported aluminum 2003 Cobra cylinder heads. The Modular Heads Shop camshaft features a 107-degree centerline, 0.480/0.480-inch lift and 236/236-degrees duration, and it also features Manley intake and exhaust valves with GT500 rockers and lifters. The machine work was done by Modular Head Shop and Maximum Machine out of Winter Spring, Florida.

The bottom is sealed with a Moroso oil pan, Overkill oil pump, and oil pump gears. Atop the engine is a shortened intake manifold from a 2001 Cobra, self-built headers, and an Accufab mono-blade throttle-body is tucked under the Kaneen hood. Working with a Holley Dominator, Kurtis tuned everything himself to to run smoothly.

The interior features a 10-point roll cage built by Forsberg, and he is currently in the process of getting the cage up to snuff for the journey into the 7-second zone.

“I even built the homemade transmission cooler. The whole car from start to finish was built in the garage. We build our own motors, rearends, chassis, and just about anything needed. It’s kind of our thing,” Kurtis explained.

Shifting is done by a Reid-cased FTI Powerglide transmission, Reid flywheel, Precision air shifter, and FTI 9-inch converter with a self-built water cooler. The power is then sent out back by a PST 4-inch aluminum driveshaft to the 8.8 rearend packed with 3.73 gears and Strange 35-spline axles. It still retains the factory black interior, but it is outfitted with a self-built and NHRA 8.50-certified roll cage to keep Kurtis safe.

“At the moment we are doing the 25.5 update on the chassis, and that’s pretty much it for now. We have yet to really see what it’s capable of. It’s made a ton of power on the dyno but we haven’t really been able to put it down at the track for a variety of reasons. I think once we get the cage up to snuff, she’s going to be good for a while,” Kurtis said.

Launch antics are controlled with TRZ valved AFCO double adjustable rear shocks and TRZ valved Strange struts. His wheels of choice are 17-inch Weld AlumaStar’s up front and 15-inch Champion wheels on the rear, which are wrapped with Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Pro’s. Baer brakes all around help bring the ride to a halt.

“The car shows what you can do with a lot of hard work while still having a real world budget,” Kurtis explained. “We hope to run mid-7s with it. I don’t have an exact number goal. When we originally built the car with the last motor I thought we were really going to have to ring the guts out of it to really to squeeze out some 8.90s. That was our goal back then, but it flew on the old motor; I think we went 8.20’s with it and it kind of surprised a lot of us.” “There are a handful of folks that have helped me out and I wouldn’t be able to run at this caliber without that help,” Kurtis explained. A big thank you goes out to Modular Edge Shop, All American Crating, TRZ Motorsports, FTI Transmissions, KWS Images, Roy Cole, and all his family and friends that have also supported him through the whole adventure.

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itsworn · 7 years ago

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Old-School Blown 1967 Chevelle Street Machine

Perseverance. If there was ever a word to describe what a car builder/owner must have in their psychic makeup it would be that word. You stick to the task absolutely until it is completed, no matter the punji pits or the Claymore mines in your road, and when everything that conspires against your forward motion, you don’t quit. Paul Tortorici is one of those kind. It was like he was working with the Murphy’s law encyclopedia. Virtually anything that could go wrong did, but none of it caused by him. As a young fish, Paul’s indoctrination included his dad’s 1967 Riviera GS and his uncle’s 1966 4-4-2 when they were new cars. It was graphic. “I’ll always remember [them] going out on Route 80 and racing one another.”

His fable began more than a dozen years ago when the kid from northern New Jersey bought a car way out in freakin’ Oregon. It was a genuine 138 SS396 Super Sport Chevelle, replete with bucket seats and a console. It had a tarpaper roof that has capped four paints: gold, red, white, and the glassy obsidian sheen it has now, and he declares that he’ll defend that patch of vinyl forever.

So the car is thousands of miles from New Jersey, may as well be on the moon, and all he had to go by were images he saw on the Internet. Of course, he discovered too late that the whole thing was misrepresented. The seller told Paul the car didn’t need any bodywork, wasn’t slathered with Bondo, and was ready to go cruising right now. But any hope of a complete numbers-matching deal was lost in the ozone. The engine wasn’t original. The quarter-panel on the driver-side and both front fenders he had to replace with N.O.S. pieces. But there was a lot more that made Paul’s stomach do a dirty boogie.

“Though the seller told me that everything worked, the car arrived with two flat tires and no brakes,” he gasped. “You step on the brake pedal and all the lights would go on.” It’s only encouraging aspect was a clean, unmolested interior, which Paul could leave intact and save money doing it. “I decided to do a body-off restoration and mediablasted the body shell and the frame.”

Paul makes his living from his screen printing business in Hackensack called S&P Tees, but long before this adventure consumed seven straight years, Paul knew he’d have to be wise and frugal. He and his son Pino would build the engine from a 540-cubic-inch Bow Tie block and a forged rotating assembly. They sent the pieces to B&B Automotive Machine down in Rahway. Bob did the machine work; Dave Jack prepped the Canfield cylinder heads.

Between the shaping of the combustion chambers and the configuration of the corresponding piston domes they tailored the compression ratio at 8.5:1 in anticipation of the world’s most formidable-looking power-adder. Blower Drive Services (BDS) provided more than 40 years of experience along with its specific intake manifold and 8-71 smokestack that Paul decorated with Demon carburetors and an airscoop that’s about as subtle as an elbow in your eye socket.

He and Pino built the drivetrain unorthodox, again shunning the typical stuff for things people would likely remember about his car. Instead of the noted TREMEC five- or six-speed transmission, they were enthused about a McLeod flywheel and pressure plate assembly and a Richmond Gear Super Street five-speed overdrive. Rather than a power-eating Ford third member, they put up the minimally parasitic Moser 12-bolt knowing that they had nine inches of small-tire failsafe that would erupt long before anything could compromise the mechanicals.

Paul wouldn’t be intimidated by popular notion or current trend. He gathered some truly ’60’s cues and did the throwback. After setting the stance with conventional coil springs (not coilover adjustable shock absorbers), he went after the candy. He found the eye-popping polished Tri-Ribb rims at Radir Custom Wheels just down the road in Montville, New Jersey, and stacked them with modern Mickey Sportsman Front tires and really old-school bias-ply Pro-Trac 60 skins.

The glassy exterior was created in two places. Colors Auto Body in Budd Lake, New Jersey, purified the sheetmetal, where Ryan (son) and Steve Korek (dad) of Korek Designs assembled and finished the front clip. Then they sealed the contract at their shop in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, worrying over the mile-deep Mercedes Black.

So what did Paul’s perseverance reveal? A capital offense, that’s what. Buying something sight unseen often means disappointment along with a lot of expense that could have been avoided. On the other hand, sticking to his guns was an experience he’ll never forget. “Taking the car out for the first time after seven long years of working on it when I had time and trying to run my screen printing business at the same time.”

And at that stage of the game that’s all that really mattered. CHP

Tech Check Owner: Paul and Pino Tortorici Butler, New Jersey Vehicle: 1967 Chevelle SS 396

Engine Type: Bow Tie block Displacement: 540 ci Compression Ratio: 8.5:1 Bore: 4.500 inches Stroke: 4.250 inches Cylinder Heads: Canfield, 2.25/1.88 valves, bowls blended, ports matched Rotating Assembly: Callies crankshaft, Manley 4340 connecting rods, JE pistons Valvetrain: Comp lifters and retainers, 1.7:1 rocker arms, Manley 3/8-inch pushrods Camshaft: Comp solid roller (0.600/0.580-inch lift; 268/276-deg. duration at 0.050; 112-deg. LSA) Induction: BDS intake manifold, BDS 8-71 supercharger (at 12 psi), Demon 850-cfm carburetors, Speedway Motors airscoop, 12-gallon fuel cell Ignition: MSD 6AL, Blaster 2 coil, Moroso 8mm primary wires Exhaust: Stainless steel American Racing headers w/ 2-inch primary pipes, 3.5-inch collectors, 4.5-inch outlets, MagnaFlow mufflers Ancillaries: Be Cool fans and radiator, Tuff Stuff alternator, Mr. Gasket water pump Output (at the crank): 1,000 hp Machine Work: Bob at B&B Automotive Machine Services (Rahway, NJ), Dave Jack did the cylinder heads Built By: Paul and Pino Tortorici

Drivetrain Transmission: Richmond Super Street five-speed, McLeod flywheel and twin-disc clutch assembly Rear Axle: Moser 12-bolt, Detroit Locker differential, 3.73:1 gears, Strange Engineering 35-spline axleshafts, custom aluminum driveshaft

Chassis Front Suspension: Strange Engineering spindles, tubular control arms, coil springs, QA1 adjustable shock absorbers Rear Suspension: QA1 Drag Racing Level 1 (coil springs, adjustable upper control arms, adjustable shock absorbers, lower control arms) Brakes: Strange Engineering 11.25-inch discs, four-piston calipers

Wheels & Tires Wheels: Radir Tri-Ribb III 15×4 front, 15×8 rear Tires: Mickey Thompson Sportsman Front 28×7.50 front, Pro-Trac 275/60 rear

Interior Upholstery: OE vinyl Material: OE Seats: OE Steering: ididit tilt column, manual box, SS rosewood wheel Shifter: Hurst Dash: OE Instrumentation: AutoMeter Audio: OE HVAC: Vents pulled, wing windows wingin’

Exterior Bodywork: Mike McBride/Korek Designs at Colors Auto Body (Budd Lake, NJ) Paint By: Mike McBride/Ryan Korek (New Berlin, PA) Paint: PPG Mercedes Black Hood: Stock Grille: N.O.S. SS Bumpers: N.O.S.

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itsworn · 7 years ago

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HOT ROD Rescue: Boost-induced Piston Failure Shows Need for Better Pistons

J.B. Bracken’s Blown Rat Rod Couldn’t Do a Burnout. We Fixed it by Adding So Much Boost a Piston Broke. Time to Fix It—Again

The manufacturer said the original pistons were good to 20 pounds of boost. But we pulled 24.” — Norm Brandes, Westech Automotive

The Rescue So Far

J.B. Bracken built his 1935 Ford truck–based rat rod to tow his LSR bikes, serve as a highway cruiser, and to wow his friends with gonzo burnouts.

Initially, the massive Dana 70 truck dualie rearend, the wrong cam, and poor tuning kept the 8-71–blown 383 Chevy from burning rubber.

That all got fixed in our initial installment via a better cam, overdriving the blower, and lots of tuning—with the truck making so much boost a piston broke. (Photo: Marlan Davis)

The Rescue So Far

John Wheeler and the rest of Norm Brandes’ Westech Automotive crew went right back to work resolving the rat rod’s latest problems.

When Westech Automotive’s Norm Brandes inspected J.B. Bracken’s 1935 Ford Rat Rod truck (July 2017 print edition), it couldn’t do a burnout and ran poorly at idle and under cruise—despite an 8-71-blown 383 small-block Chevy engine. Originally set up with a 20-percent-underdriven blower generating just 6 psi of boost, the combo didn’t have enough low-end grunt to break the dualie tires loose on its massively heavy Dana 70 1-ton truck rearend. Reversing the drive pulleys to generate 20-percent overdrive, tuning the carbs and ignition, and a custom Howards cam ironed out the problems, but as the tune was finalized on the Mustang chassis dyno, the blower’s boost momentarily spiked to 24 psi and broke the ring lands on four pistons. Brandes says inspecting the pistons and bearings showed no signs of detonation; all that boosted cylinder pressure simply exceeded the existing pistons’ material strength.

Four pistons failed when boost momentarily spiked at 24 psi. Amazingly, no cylinder walls got cracked and one broken ring land somehow found its way into the oil pan without harming anything else.

Brandes says the cause was material failure, not detonation, because “the pin holes and pins weren’t beat up.”

The Fix: Block

Better pistons were needed, but owner Bracken—a hard-core Bonneville motorcycle racer—also decided to spring for a better cylinder block. His existing motor had been built up from an OE two-bolt-main block reinforced by a bottom-end girdle. Although the original block was reusable, he couldn’t help but think: “What would be the next link in the chain to fail?” Besides, the engine had to be torn down and rehoned for new pistons anyway.

Bracken’s existing block wasn’t cracked and could have been reused, but the OE casting had only two-bolt main bearing caps and a girdle. With all the failures, racer Bracken elected to (hopefully) bulletproof things once and for all by stepping up to a Dart SHP block featuring four-bolt mains with splayed outer bolts, blind head-bolt holes, and a priority main oiling system that oils the bottom-end first. (Photo: Dart Heads)

For Bracken, the answer was a beefy, 4.125-inch-bore Dart SHP block featuring four-bolt mains with splayed outer bolts and bottom-end features that permitted swapping over his existing (and unharmed) forged 3.75-inch-stroke crankshaft and 5.7-inch center-to-center connecting rods. With the larger bore, displacement rose from 383 to 401 ci.

Dart’s block was ordered with 400 Chevy-sized, 4.125-inch bores but retained 350 mains and the early two-piece rear main seal, allowing Westech to swap over Bracken’s existing 383 crank and rods.

Brandes used Speed-Pro Competition Series rod bearings (PN 8-7100CH, shown) and ¾-groove coated main bearings (PN C139M) to support the crank and rods in the new Dart block. Summit Racing offers these bearing sets with friendly pricing. (Photo: Summit Racing)

Dart’s block is set up for a passenger-side oil pan dipstick and—because its valley is machined to accommodate GM production factory hydraulic roller lifters retained by a spider and dogbones—the lifter bores are 0.300-inch taller than traditional blocks. Brandes was able to retain Bracken’s driver-side dipstick pan by fabricating an external tube connected directly to the oil pan. The existing retrofit, link-bar, hydraulic-roller lifters fortuitously turned out to be the 0.300-tall versions.

Dart blocks are set up for a passenger-side oil dipstick and tube, but Bracken’s older production block and one-off custom oil pan were machined for a passenger-side driver-side dipstick. Brandes’ crew retained the old pan by fabricating an external driver-side dipstick tube: A length of ⅜-inch-od seamless steel tubing was flared 37 degrees on one end, then mated using an AN-style tubing nut and sleeve to a –6 90-degree AN elbow welded into the pan’s side. A chromed Mr. Gasket dipstick (PN 6235) fits into the tube, which extends approximately to valve-cover height. Brandes remarks, “We didn’t even have to remark the full line.”

The Fix: Pistons

The failed pistons were forged from 4032 high-silicon aluminum alloy, which is fine for street/strip and Sportsman normally aspirated applications through the 600–700hp level, but high-boost engines generate more heat and pressure. They really want a 2618-alloy forged piston with its lower silicon content. JE Pistons’ Mark Gearheart explains, “Typically used in our SRP piston line, 4032 alloy has a lower rate of expansion, which allows for a tighter piston-to-wall-clearance and makes the engine quieter under start-up conditions; 2618 alloy, used in all of JE’s premium piston line, is completely different. It’s stronger and more ductile, making it more suitable for boost, power-adders, or extremely high-power applications. However, it has a greater rate of expansion, requiring more piston-to-wall clearance. That will cause some additional start-up noise, but we’ve tailored our skirt design to minimize noise and the need for greatly increased clearance.” Bracken’s old 4032 pistons had about 0.0025-inch skirt clearance; Brandes installed the new JE 2618 pistons at 0.005. The crude skirt designs used 20 years ago often required 0.008-inch or even more clearance.

New JE fully machined, 4.125-inch-bore pistons forged from more ductile 2618 aluminum alloy (right) replaced the 4.030-inch-bore, 4032-alloy, SRP forgings (left).

JE sent over its Extreme Duty 23-degree inverted dome forgings with 0.310-inch deep valve pockets. The fully machined 2618-alloy forgings feature contact reduction grooves between the deck and first ring groove, plus an accumulator groove between the first and second ring grooves. Contact reduction grooves both minimize wall contact if the piston rocks over near TDC, as well as reduce flame travel in the crevice area to help suppress detonation. An accumulator groove provides additional volume for any combustion gases that may escape past the top compression ring; this reduces pressure buildup between the two rings, thereby minimizing ring flutter and enhancing ring sealing with JE’s supplied ¹⁄₁₆-¹⁄₁₆-³⁄₁₆ plasma-moly ring set.

The new JE’s are further enhanced with contact reduction grooves (1) and accumulator grooves (2). Bracken’s old pistons had neither.

Brandes had to rebalance the rotating assembly because the new, stouter pistons and pins were slightly heavier than those they replaced. Dart blocks are delivered slightly undersize, requiring they be bored and honed to fit the exact piston combo. He also squared the decks to blueprint dimensions.

The previous build used Fel-Pro’s performance PermaTorque composition head gaskets with steel fire rings (bottom). With new, dead-flat decks, Brandes could step up to Fel-Pro MLS (multilayer steel) gaskets (top). MLS gaskets are designed to maintain contact pressure between the heads and blocks under extreme boost conditions, but are finicky about deck-surface prep.

The Fix: Head Studs

Pop goes the weasely, no-name head stud. It failed when Brandes torqued the heads down on reassembly.

The stud’s center Allen-wrench hole was too large and extended too far down, leaving insufficient material where the nut developed its greatest tension. Also note the ragged, poorly rolled threads. (Photo: Marlan Davis)

The next domino to fall was Bracken’s no-name head studs. Reassembling the engine, the top of a stud popped off when Brandes torqued the cylinder-head stud nuts down. We sent the failed units to ARP for lab analysis, where it was determined the failure’s primary cause was the stud’s Allen-wrench installation hole, which had too deep a broach that extended into the area where the stud nut developed its greatest tension. Other issues included sharp peaks and valleys on the threads with multiple irregularities and occlusions that certainly weren’t up to ARP’s Mil-Spec J-thread profile! The threads appeared to have been rolled before heat-treat, which greatly reduces a fastener’s fatigue resistance. Installing an ARP stud set easily cured this problem! Although it has blind head-bolt holes, the Dart block still accepts standard Chevy production small-block head-bolt or stud kits.

ARP’s lab investigation of the failed stud shows a “dimple rupture” in the structure, an indication of “ductile tensile overload,” shown here magnified 2,000 times in an electron microscope. (Photo: ARP)

It’s a simple fix: Just get a real ARP head stud kit. Note ARP’s shallower Allen broach and smooth threads.

The Fix: Power Valve (Again)

Westech put everything back together and began the tuning process once more. At this point, the biggest change was to the problematic carburetor power valve (PV). The rat rod’s dual 750-cfm Quick Fuel double-pumpers originally ran no PVs at all, compensating with over-rich primary-side main metering jets, but that caused terrible fuel economy and badly fouled spark plugs. Last month, Brandes leaned the primary jets out and installed PVs with an 8.5–in-Hg opening point, but they occasionally operated erratically.

On conventional Holley-type carbs mounted above a positive-displacement blower, the PV’s internal signal passage in the main body can’t sense true engine load under boost. Brandes ultimately modified the PVs’ internal vacuum-signal passages to see vacuum from the intake manifold (below the supercharger) and installed a PV with a 2.5–in-Hg opening point (the lowest available). Brandes explains, “This references the motor’s true vacuum or boost. We need a low [PV] opening point because when you ease into the throttle under conditions of increasing load and the blower begins to spool up but isn’t yet making positive boost on the gauge, vacuum will be lower than a normally aspirated motor under the same conditions. Going to the lowest PV, we still have switching fuel enrichment, avoiding [a PV] on/off-induced engine-surge condition when going down the road. Don’t go old school and rely exclusively on main jets or they’ll get badly fouled under everyday operation.”

Power valves (PVs) can’t sense true engine load under boost. The fix: Main body mods that reference the PV to an external vacuum source on the intake under the blower. Plug the original PV signal hole (arrow) with shot, then drill a new hole and internal passages that connect to an externally pressed-in ³⁄₁₆-inch brass tube (pointers).

The new vacuum tube and main-body passage (arrow 1) is independent from the two existing front throttle-plate vacuum ports usually used for the distributor vacuum advance (manifold vacuum, 2; or spark-ported, 3).

External, orange-colored hoses (arrows) from the new passage on each carb are Y’ed together and connected to an intake vacuum port.

The Results

After intensive tuning, the rat rod ended up with gobs of low-end torque and—even at 20 pounds of boost—ran on 93-octane pump gas as Bracken amassed more than 1,500 miles of street and long-distance highway cruising in the six months following the rebuild. Gas mileage doubled, from 6 to 12 mpg. “It was running great!” Bracken says. “My burnouts were now spectacular, too.” When it finally came time to write this Rescue installment, we needed to shoot some giant burnout photos and videos. Wouldn’t you know it, practicing before taking photos, Bracken was laying big rubber when steam suddenly streamed out of the motor. A head gasket had blown. We’ll figure out why, then put the engine on the dyno to thoroughly evaluate its performance before we release it back into the wild.

Stouter 2618 aluminum alloy JE pistons, real ARP head studs, a Dart block, and more carb tuning seemingly bulletproofed the combo.

But after driving the truck for 1,500 miles with no issues, while performing a massive burnout at 20 psi, a head gasket blew (circle).

The hurt was at the rear of No. 8 cylinder across to the water jacket (circle). Fortunately the deck surface doesn’t appear to be severely damaged. Stay tuned for “Rat Rod Investigation Discovery, Phase 3.”

Lessons Learned (So Far)

The higher the output, the more critical your parts choices become. Avoid no-name parts and stay with reputable brand names. Use parts designed and intended to be durable at power levels the vehicle actually sees.

Need Junk Fixed? If your car has a gremlin that just won’t quit, you could be chosen for Hot Rod to the Rescue. Email us at [email protected] and put “Rescue” in the subject line. Include a description of your problem, a photo, your location, and a daytime phone number.

Contacts

Aeroquip Industrial—Weatherhead (Eaton Hydraulics Group USA); Eden Prairie, MN; 952.937.9800; Eaton.com/hydraulics

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co.; Corona, CA; 877.4.SPRUCE or 951.372.9555; AircraftSpruce.com

Amazon.com Inc.; Seattle, WA; 866.216.1072; Amazon.com

Automotive Racing Products (ARP); Ventura, CA; 800.826.3045 or 805.339.2200; ARP-Bolts.com

Dart Machinery Ltd.; Troy, MI; 248.362.1188; DartHeads.com

Fel-Pro—Sealed Power—Speed-Pro (Federal-Mogul Corp.); Southfield, MI; 800.325.8886; FelPro-Only.com or FMe-cat.com

JE Pistons; Cypress, CA; 714.898.9763 (main office) or 714.898.9764 (sales/technical assistance); JEpistons.com

MettleAir; Buffalo, NY; 716.240.0080; Mettleair.com

Mr. Gasket, A Holley Performance Brand; Bowling Green, KY; 866.464.6553; Holley.com/brands/mr_gasket/

National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA); Atlanta, GA; 800.LET.NAPA; NAPAonline.com

Quick Fuel Technology; Bowling Green, KY; 270.793.0900; QuickFuelTechnology.com

RockAuto LLC; Madison, WI; RockAuto.com

Summit Racing Equipment; Akron, OH; 800.230.3030 (orders) or 330.630.0240 (tech); SummitRacing.com

Westech Automotive; Silver Lake, WI; 262.889.4346; WestechAuto.com

W.W. Grainger Inc.; Lake Forest, IL (branches nationwide); 800.GRAINGER; Grainger.com

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itsworn · 8 years ago

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Dyno Tested: Are Thin Piston Rings Worth Horsepower?

Friction is the enemy of speed. Whether it’s rolling resistance or the wind flowing over the body at speed, racers work tirelessly to dispense it. The concept of friction may seem like an entirely external affliction, but there’s plenty of horsepower-robbing friction inside the engine as well. The piston rings riding up and down the cylinder bores account for roughly 60 percent of internal engine friction, making them a prime starting point for hunting hidden horsepower.

OEM automotive manufacturers have long known there is a benefit to thinner ring packs and in the last two decades have cut the thickness of piston rings in half—more, in some cases. Chevrolet moved from a conventional 5/64-inch, 5/64-inch, 3/16-inch ring pack on the Generation I small-block to a 1.5mm/1.5mm/3.0mm ring pack on the LS engine series. Chevrolet’s latest and greatest LT4 engine powering the 650hp, supercharged Corvette Z06 uses an even thinner 0.8mm/0.8mm/2.0mm ring pack. Clearly, Chevy—as well as Ford and Dodge—was on to something, and the aftermarket has followed suit with thinner and thinner ring options starting to appear in aftermarket pistons.

The Test

The consensus is that a thinner piston ring is worth horsepower due to decreased friction, but how much horsepower remained to be determined. We polled friends in the industry and found guesses ranging 5 to 30 hp; it was a side-by-side test few people had conducted. However, the ultimate question wasn’t, “Do thinner rings yield more horsepower?” but, “Are they worth it for the average hot rodder?” If a piston with 5/64 ring grooves costs X dollars, does the price premium for the modern ring pack reward in the power department enough to justify the cost? To answer the latter, we built a mild 377ci small-block Chevy. It had pump-gas-friendly (10.2:1) compression, a mild cam, 4.155-inch bore, and a 3.48 stroke. We also made a choice to keep the test rpm conservative at 6,000 peak rpm. We could have built a high-rpm screamer, but the test was designed with the average hot rod in mind. Such a car would rarely see the north side of 6,000 rpm.

To perform the test as accurately as possible, JE Pistons custom made us two sets of pistons with identical weights, compression heights, and crown shapes. Only the ring lands were different between the sets. The first had a traditional 5/64-inch, 5/64-inch, 3/16-inch setup, while the second featured a 1.2mm, 1.2mm, 3.0mm metric ring pack representative of the thinner ring sets commonly available from aftermarket piston suppliers.

We installed the 5/64-inch pistons first and tuned the engine on the dyno at Westech Performance. Once the fuel and ignition timing were dialed in, the engine was pulled three times with identical water and oil temperatures. The average of the three runs became the 5/64-inch test results. With the top end and valvetrain removed—so as not to skew the results—Westech’s Steve Brulé put a torque wrench on the crank snout and measured the rotating torque required to spin the engine with the 5/64-inch rings: 34 ft-lb. The oil pan, pistons, and connecting rods were then removed.

Bloody thumbs and dozens of spiro-locks later, the 5/64-inch ring pack pistons were back in their box and the 1.2mm set was hung on the SCAT connecting rods. The pistons and connecting rods were reinstalled into the BluePrint Engines block and another rotating torque test was conducted. The thinner 1.2mm rings took only 14 ft-lb to turn, half the effort of the 5/64-inch pistons. Would that immense reduction in friction reward in horsepower? We were optimistic. The oil pan and top-end were buttoned up and the engine was re-fired. Again, ignition timing was optimized and the engine was pulled three times for average horsepower and torque.

The Result

Hopes of double-digit horsepower gains were instantly doused, as the thinner rings rewarded with a whopping 6.8 hp and 3.8 lb-ft of torque. Looking at the dyno graph, the thinner rings were better everywhere in the powerband, but became more advantageous near the top of the curve. Conclusively, a thinner ring did as advertised, reducing friction and making extra horsepower. But does it make sense for the average hot rodder? Yes and no: If the price is within the budget, take the free horsepower thinner rings have to offer. If there’s a significant upcharge, a 5/64-inch ring set has worked fine for decades and will continue to do so. A hotter cam or better set of cylinder heads will pay far larger dividends—the kind you can feel in the seat of your trousers.

Why Weren’t Rings Thinner From the Beginning?

In the early days of performance V8s, 5/64-inch was the ring of choice. “Back in the day, the 5/64 ring was good enough. It did everything the OEMs needed it to do,” said Keith Jones of Total Seal Piston Rings. Engineers have made leaps and bounds in metallurgy over the years since allowing rings to be made thinner without compromising their strength. “If you tried to make a 1.0mm ring out of gray iron [the material used for most factory muscle-car engines], it wouldn’t work,” said Alan Stevenson from JE Pistons. “Modern rings are made from high-quality carbon steel and are gas-nitrided [for hardness] so you can use the same ring for nitrous, turbos, or naturally aspirated engines. A traditional plasma moly ring is very sensitive to detonation and the moly coating can easily be chipped out of the channel.”

Carbon steel rings are stronger because of their base material, but also because of the way they are formed. “The 1.2mm rings are made from metal wire run through a mandrel to form the ring,” Stevenson said. It’s like the difference between a forging and a casting, where castings are porous and forgings have compacted grain structures.”

Modern, thinner rings have even more benefits than reduced friction, increased horsepower, and material strength. “They also increase ring seal because they’re more flexible,” Jones said. As engines blocks get thinner to reduce weight—and in certain aluminum-block applications—the cylinder walls can start to deform under heat, pressure, and rpm. “Thinner rings can follow the bore as the bore moves around, and better conformability in the ring leads to increased cylinder filling on the intake stroke,” Jones said.

It’s clear that 5/64-inch rings are old technology, and if an affordable, thinner-ringed option exists, there are a plethora of benefits on the table.

The Mule

To test the effects of thinner rings on horsepower, we used a tried-and-true small-block Chevy. The engine is based on a BluePrint Engines block and uses a SCAT forged crankshaft and connecting rods. The cylinder heads and valvetrain were supplied as a top-end kit from Summit Racing and the cam specs come in at 230/236 at 0.050 with 0.510 inches of lift. JE Pistons custom-machined two sets of pistons with identical weights, compression heights, and crown shapes for the test—only their ring dimensions differed. A Holley 950 Ultra HP carburetor delivered fuel while an MSD Pro Billet distributor lit the charge. Moroso valve covers and oil pan, along with Felpro gaskets, sealed the crankcase.

Results Will Vary

Long-Stroke Engines

Big-Bore Engines

High-Revving Engines

There are a few major instances where thinner piston rings could be worth even more horsepower than our test showed. “The power difference will continue to increase as engine rpm increases,” said Alan Stevenson of JE Pistons. The larger an engine is, the more friction the rings generate. An engine with a 4.500-inch bore would have more associated friction than a 4.00-inch bore simply because of the larger ring diameter and subsequent larger ring-to-wall contact area. Increasing crankshaft stroke also affects friction as the swept area of the ring is increased. “A longer-stroke motor will definitely see more gains,” said Keith Jones of Total Seal Piston Rings.

The average of three power pulls, with careful attention to both oil and water temperatures, yielded a peak horsepower of 452 and peak torque of 439.3 with the thicker ring pack.

With data in tow, it was time to tear the engine down to install the pistons with the thinner 1.2mm ring pack. Off came the top end and valvetrain.

Westech’s Steve Brulé performed leak-down tests on both ring sets during the day and both held consistently at 4 percent, indicative of a healthy engine.

Off came the Moroso oil pan to gain access to the bottom end.

The SCAT connecting rods were loosened and the JE Pistons were pulled to swap for the second set.

In retrospect, having a second set of rods would have made the process much quicker. Hindsight’s 20:20, so hours were spent and fingers were bloodied yanking spiro-locks and re-hanging the second set of pistons.

Side-by-side, the 5/64 piston rings look like a thick-cut steak compared to their thinner 1.2mm counterparts. Note the 1.2mm pistons do not require an oil-rail support because of the smaller height of the ring lands.

The new 1.2mm pistons are hung on the rods and are ready to be reinstalled in the engine.

With the pistons reinstalled, Brulé checked the rotating torque of the engine. It spec’d in at 14 ft-lb, half of the force it took to rotate the 5/64-inch set.

The cylinder heads and valvetrain—a Summit Racing top end kit—were reinstalled, along with the Holley 950 Ultra HP carburetor. Save for the thinner-ring pistons, every variable was identical for the second test.

With the motor resembled and timing set, another series of three pulls was made.

The resulting 6.8 hp and 3.8 lb-ft of torque gain was less than expected—but a gain nonetheless. The thinner piston rings have an advantage everywhere in the powerband, and in a race engine that winds higher revs, would likely shown and even bigger advantage.

Test Results

1.2-, 1.2-, 3.0mm Rings

Peak Power: 458.8

Peak Torque : 443.1

Rotating Torque: 14 ft-lb

Leakdown: 4 percent

5/64-, 5/64-, 3/16-inch Rings

Peak Power: 452.0

Peak Torque: 439. 3

Rotating Torque: 37 ft-lb

Leakdown: 4 percent

Sources

BluePrint Engines; 800.483.4263; BluePrintEngines.com

Holley; 866.464.6553; Holley.com

Felpro; 800.325.8886; Felpro-Only.com

MSD; 888.258.3835; MSDperformance.com

Moroso; 203.453.6571; Moroso.com

SCAT; 310.370.5501; ScatCrankshafts.com

Summit Racing; 800.230.3030; SummitRacing.com

Westech Performance; 951.685.4767; WestechPerformance.com

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itsworn · 8 years ago

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Dyno Day: Trick Flow 270 Mopar Heads

If you’ve been following Car Craft’s Mopar 470 testing, you’ll remember that in the Feb. 2017 issue, we hit 700 hp while testing various rocker-arm ratios. In the May 2017 issue, we moved up to 720 hp after installing a Mopar intake that Wilson Manifolds ported for us. Our conclusion after the intake test was that head-port size was holding us back from making more power. Evidently, someone heard our plea; a short time later, we learned that Trick Flow had released a large-port 270cc head for the Mopar big-block engines. One phone call to Summit Racing, and a set of spanking-new heads arrived on our doorstep.

The Trick Flow 270 heads have a 2.63×1.34-inch Max Wedge port size with 25 percent more cross-section area than the 240cc head, which should allow our 470-inch engine to breathe easier and make more power, especially in the higher-rpm range. One issue with the larger port size is the limited selection of Max Wedge–size intake manifolds available for the Chrysler 400 engine. The only intake we could find was one from Indy Cylinder Heads, so we called our friends at Mancini Racing and got one on the way. If you’re using the taller 440 block, you’ll find quite a few Max Wedge intake manifolds available, including single four-barrel intakes and more exotic fare such as cross rams and box rams.

For this round of testing, we decided to build a new short-block because our existing 470-inch engine wasn’t designed to handle the power we anticipated making with the larger heads. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to build a Mopar stroker engine these days, thanks to a large number of vendors selling high-quality parts. With just a few phone calls, we had custom pistons on order from JE and a crankshaft and connecting-rods kit coming from Molnar. We reused the top end of the engine to keep things as consistent as possible. Once we had the parts on hand, we turned them over to the team at Gray’s Automotive in McMinnville, Oregon. They build these 470 engines on a regular basis, so they were able to machine the 400 block and put the short-block together without any issues.

We decided to use a dry-sump oiling system for this engine to increase power and improve durability. A dry-sump system is more complicated than a typical wet-sump design, but running the oil through an external tank provides better temperature control and reduces the amount of air trapped in the oil. In short, a dry-sump system provides a way to deliver high-quality oil to the bearings at the correct temperature and pressure, which helps the engine live longer.

Once we had the short-block squared away, we got the engine up on the dyno for the comparison tests. The first runs were made with the original Trick Flow 240 heads to verify where our baseline was. The best power we had seen with the previous short-block was 718 hp using the 240 heads with the Wilson intake. With the new short-block, the baseline moved up to 725 hp using the same camshaft, intake manifold, carburetor, and cylinder heads. So even though we had changed the entire short-block, our engine was repeating within 1 percent of its previous results, which gave us some confidence in our testing process. The slight increase in power is most likely due to the pan vacuum created by the dry-sump oil system, but we haven’t verified that yet.

After the 240 baseline test, we swapped the Trick Flow 270 heads. The intake surface on the 270 heads was extended by roughly half an inch from that of 240 heads, so a different intake gasket design was required. The extended intake surface sealed to a solid valley plate with RTV silicone, and the intake manifold sealed to the heads with a paper gasket. Trick Flow recommends the Fel-Pro No. 1218 intake gasket. This intake gasket is 0.060-inch thick, which might create an issue if the block was decked below factory height, so port alignment needs to be verified on a new build.

We started the 270 tests with the Indy intake manifold, but after just a few pulls, we concluded that the Indy intake wasn’t an ideal match for this engine. The engine was missing some lower-end torque and the top-end power was a little ragged. We still had the Wilson-ported intake from the 240 test, so we swapped that back on to see how it would do. The Wilson intake had smaller ports than the Indy intake, but the engine responded with more power down low and the curve up top smoothed out nicely. Best power with the Wilson intake was 751 hp, picking up 50 hp more than our best numbers previously recorded. The next step is to send the Indy intake to Wilson Manifolds to be ported. Once the intake is back, we’ll get this 470 back on the dyno to see if we can pick up some more power. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

Engine Details

Chrysler 400 block with Molnar 3.91-inch crankshaft and 6.700-inch connecting rods JE pistons, Trick Flow 270cc heads with K-Motion K-950 springs Comp Cams 264/268 solid roller with HXL and HXX lobes Jesel beltdrive and distributor Machine work, engine assembly, and dyno testing was performed by Gray’s Automotive in McMinnville, OR

Here is Paul Roberts from Gray’s Automotive swapping heads on our 470-inch Mopar. We used the pump-gas Mopar stroker engine to run back-to-back tests with the Trick Flow 240 and 270 heads.

The new Trick Flow 270 heads have Max Wedge–sized intake ports measuring 2.630×1.340 inches. Airflow at 0.700 lift is up 5 percent from the 240 heads, going from 334 cfm to 352.

The port size in the 240 heads was quite a bit smaller at 2.270×1.230 inches. Shown here with a 270 intake gasket, the size difference is significant.

The 270 heads use a competition porting process with a small CNC step over, which gives the 270 heads a much smoother surface finish than the 240 heads. The chamber size is 78 cc for both heads.

Our 470-inch short-block uses a Chrysler 400 block with a 3.91-stroke crank. The JE pistons have a small dish to keep the compression at a pump-gas-friendly 11 to 1.

The rotating assembly for our 470-inch Mopar includes the Molnar crank and rods, as well as the JE pistons and a set of chamfered and coated main bearings from Hughes Engines. The final bob weight was 2,065 grams, which is very light for a steel-rod Mopar big-block.

This is a dry-sump engine, so a few things are different from a normal wet-sump design. The oil pan is a low-profile, four-sump design carved out of billet. The dipstick hole is sealed with an aluminum plug and an inlet plate replaces the oil pump.

The Mancini Racing inlet plate provides a mounting point for the pump bracket and a No. 12 AN inlet fitting.

Comp Cams provided the trick, dual-taper pushrods and the 961-16 solid roller lifters. These lifters provide through-pushrod oiling for our rocker arms.

We worked with T&D to develop these 1.65-ratio shaft-mount rockers for our 240 heads. They bolted on perfectly to the 270 heads, so we’re using them again. Gross valve lift with these rockers is 0.730 inch, but net valve lift after lash and deflection is right at 0.700 inch.

The T&D rocker arms splash a fair amount of oil inside the cover since they are oiled through the pushrod and the block via the rocker stands. We should’ve restricted the oil coming from the block since we are using pushrod oiling.

The 240 heads were run with a solid valley cover and a set of aluminum “bat wings” to hold the intake gaskets in place. This is the best approach we’ve found so far to keep the intake gaskets properly aligned.

After making a few pulls with the 240 heads, the short-block was stripped down to make way for the 270 heads. The short-block didn’t seem to have any issues, so we changed the head gaskets and bolted the 270 heads in place.

Paul lays down a thick bead of RTV on the valley cover to provide a seal to the 270 head. The 270 heads have an extended intake face that overlaps the valley cover and provides a tight seal.

As the 270 heads are torqued in place, it’s good to see the RTV is evenly squeezed out along the entire length of the valley plate. The 270 head reuses all of the 240 hardware, including head bolts, rocker-arm studs, rocker-arms, and pushrods.

Since the 270 heads use a Max Wedge–size intake port, we ordered an Indy 400-3 intake from Mancini Racing. The Indy intake was down on power, so we’re going to send it off to Wilson for some porting magic.

The ports on the cast Indy intake had some irregular shapes, which might have been a factor in how it performed.

In search of a good baseline number, we installed the Wilson-prepped Mopar Performance intake. The Wilson intake has small runners, but it worked well enough for us to see 751 peak horsepower.

The ports in the Wilson intake are smaller than the intake gasket, but the ports are smooth and uniform, which could be why it worked so well.

The small-port Wilson intake was stronger down low and a little smoother up top on the 270 heads.

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itsworn · 8 years ago

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Building a 460CI Ford Windsor

Modern computer controls make bolting up a power-adder easier than ever before. But sometimes you need to go old school and make your horsepower the old-fashioned way: with all-American cubic inches.

The easiest way to manufacture big inches is to go with a big-block, but depending on the car, installing a big-block can cause some pretty big headaches. Swapping a big-block into a Ford with a factory small-block requires at least changing the motor mounts as well as the bellhousing, not to mention the ,myriad other issues that can pop up when switching engine families.

The other option is to maximize a small-block with additional bore and stroke. When Doug Aitken, owner of Prestige Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina, recently told us they were building a 460ci Ford Windsor with nearly all shelf-stock parts, we knew we had to get in on it.

The final displacement of 460 inches was no accident, because it’s an important designation among the Blue Oval crowd: The 460 was the biggest version of Ford’s 385 series big-blocks. It was produced from 1968–1997 and showed up in everything from Lincoln Continentals to work trucks and motorhomes. It was around long enough that the first versions were carbureted, while the last were updated with fuel injection. No matter how the fuel was delivered, the 460 never seemed to live up to the potential of its massive displacement. Street versions of the engine produced as much as 365 hp, which isn’t much to brag about, but during the smog era it was choked all the way down to an absolutely pitiful 208.

On the dyno, we never saw Prestige’s version of the 460 make as little as 208 hp anywhere in the rpm range. In fact, when they started the pull at 3,400 rpm, the horsepower was already at 341 and climbing fast. We saw a peak of just over 660 hp, but had they extended the dyno pull beyond 6,400 rpm, that number would have likely gone even higher. What we really like about this engine is the fantastic torque production that comes from the long stroke. By 4,000 rpm, it had exceeded 500 lb-ft of torque and it never dropped below 500 until they ended the run at 6,400 rpm.

Prestige says this engine will be going into a 1970 Mustang, and the owner wanted to significantly up the power while keeping the original balance and feel. Stuffing a 4.250-inch stroke into a small-block means this engine is no screamer, but having all that torque on tap practically anywhere in the rpm range should make the Mustang a ton of fun to drive.

The finished product looks sharp for a Ford Windsor, but there’s no clue this small-block is packing 460 ci.

The basis for this build is a new, tall-deck Dart SHP iron-block. Besides the 9.500-inch deck height, this block was ordered with a 4.125-inch bore. In stock form, the SHP block can handle stroke all the way up to 4.250 inches. ARP studs were chosen to help maintain good cylinder-head seal.

Comp Cams provided the solid roller cam with 265/274 duration at 0.050 lift. When combined with a set of 1.6:1-ratio Jesel rockers, intake valve lift measures 0.694 inch and 0.697 inch for the exhausts. The Dart SHP block utilizes standard Windsor main journals, and those are King’s coated XP main bearings in place in the saddles.

Prestige chose a forged crank from Scat Enterprises that bumps the stroke to 4.250 inches, up from 3.500 inches in a stock 351. Here, you can see the Mallory metal required to get the rotating assembly balanced while still limiting the counterweight height.

One of the many benefits of Dart’s SHP block is the four-bolt steel main caps that come standard. After dropping the crank in place and ensuring at least 0.006 inch of thrust bearing clearance, the main bolts are torqued to 105 ft-lbs for the inner bolts and 65 for the outers.

To keep the compression down to a pump-gas-friendly 10.6:1, Prestige worked with JE Pistons to come up with a custom set of lightweight forged pistons with the correct dish to help keep the compression down despite the long stroke.

Matched to the pistons is a set of 0.043/0.043-inch and 3.0mm low-tension piston rings with a steel nitride top ring gapped to 0.022 inch.

To go with the JE pistons, Prestige ordered a set of 6.250-inch Eagle H-beam rods with the big ends sized to Chevy-size 2.100 inches to minimize drag.

The Dart SHP block handled the 4.155-inch-diameter pistons easily. We’re told this block can be bored out to an impressive 4.185 inches.

The cylinder heads are a set of AFR’s Competition Cylinder Head. This cast-aluminum head is purpose-built for small-block Fords that require a lot of air. The large 220cc intake ports flow almost 300 cfm by the time the valves reach 0.500-inch lift and keep going up from there. Both the intake and exhaust ports, as well as the combustion chambers, are CNC-machined for maximum flow and consistency from port to port.

Even though the heads arrived with CNC work already done on the ports, Prestige still port-matched the heads to the Edelbrock Super Victor intake manifold.

The combustion chambers measure 72cc and were fitted with stainless-steel valves sized at 2.100 and 1.570 inches.

Prestige ordered AFR’s upgraded valvespring package that’s comprised of these PAC Racing springs that can handle up to 0.710-inch lift with 220 pounds of pressure at installed height and 603 in-lb at full lift. AFR says they are good for 7,400 rpm, which is way more than the engine builder will recommend with all the stroke this engine will have.

We’ve already mentioned ARP head studs are being used to ensure optimum clamping load. Fel-Pro head and intake gaskets are also used to promote good sealing.

BAM pressurized roller lifters might look like overkill for a street engine, but the staff at Prestige says they’ve seen good results with the design when it comes to performance and reliability.

A big-inch stroker can’t get by with the stock damper. Apart from its unique look, Prestige likes using dampers from Innovators West because they work well, are SFI certified, and the aluminum outer shell helps minimize rotating weight. Because the engine is internally balanced, this is a neutral-balance harmonic damper. Also, notice the 7-quart gated oil pan from Canton Racing Products, with the front-sump positioned to fit the 1970 Mustang’s crossmember. Stroker motors are notorious for whipping the oil into a froth when using a stock pan, so a deep pan with a windage tray is always a good idea.

A shaft-mount valvetrain may seem like overkill, but when you can source a full set of Jesel aluminum Sportsman Series shaft rockers for a little over a grand, it’s hard to turn down the trouble-free service they will provide. The rocker stands are torqued to 24 ft-lb and the valves are lashed to 0.010/0.010-inch cold. Once everything is properly warmed up on the dyno, the hot lash will be set to 0.020 inch for both intake and exhaust valves.

The 5/16-inch-diameter pushrods from Trend Performance were custom-made to 8.100 inches long.

Because this stroker should already make enough torque to roast the tires at practically any rpm, Prestige owner Doug Aitken chose a single-plane Edelbrock Super Victor intake to boost top-end power. Single-plane intakes are always sexy—just make sure you either have enough clearance ahead of time or are willing to cut a hole in your hood.

A March Performance Pro-Track accessory drive system looks great while integrating the included water pump, alternator, and polished power-steering pump and reservoir. Because Ford made multiple options over the years, March even includes the correct front cover for you to use.

Fuel-mixing duties are handled by a Quick Fuel Q-Series 950-cfm carburetor. Besides the billet metering blocks and clear-sight glasses in the float bowls, the Q-Series carbs are a great option for cars that see miles on the street and regular blasts down the dragstrip.

On the dyno, the small-block 460 has a great rumble at low-rpm levels and pulls hard all the way to Prestige’s 6,400-rpm redline. The heads showed no sign of running out of air and the valvetrain could definitely handle more rpm, but long-stroke engines like this Ford—which is swinging the pistons 4.250 inches each way—don’t handle high rpm well for long, so a recommended redline is set at just less than 6,500 rpm.

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itsworn · 8 years ago

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How to Build A Bullet-Proof Coyote Engine For 1000-Plus Horsepower

With the release of the Coyote, Ford perfected the modular engine platform. Available for the past seven years, enthusiasts have done virtually everything there is to do with the powerplant. It has run 6s in the quarter-mile, won numerous road racing championships, and piloted drifters to podium finishes.

In earlier segments, we covered the block prep needed to reliably make more than 1,000 horsepower in a Ford Coyote engine. That was but a sneak peek of the intentions for this engine. Now, HOT ROD’s first Coyote engine build is ready to be assembled.

A final hone gets the block to the proper piston-to-wall clearance.

We turned to longtime Mustang engine builder, Tim Eichhorn, of MPR Racing Engines in Boynton Beach, FL, who has a successful history building big-power Coyote.

Machining

Tim balanced the brand-new, Ford Performance Boss 302 crank for the rotating assembly. There are currently no affordable aftermarket cranks for the Coyote because the factory 4340 forged steel stocker is plenty strong. Tim mentioned that even the old crank would be fine, but there is peace of mind in a zero-mile unit.

MPR swaps out the stock valve guides for a proprietary, bull-nosed, bronze guide.

MPR is segregated into three shops under one complex. One shop is reserved for disassembly and hot tanking, another for machine work, and the third for final assembly. Both the machining center and assembly room are climate-controlled to hold everything to tolerance. Ari Birchfield handled the finish hone on the sleeved block to assure the piston-to-wall clearance would come in at the required .005-inch. Next, the crank was placed on the lathe to get a second keyway cut.

The final block-machining operation was to clean up the mains with an align hone. Once the hone was completed, Tim spent a good 30 minutes deburring the block. “There’s a ton of sharp edges on the Coyote block and we make sure to knock them all down,” he explained. “We even find casting flash in the oil galleys and make sure they are all cleaned out.” After deburring, the block was hot tanked, installed on an engine stand, and rolled to the assembly side of the shop.

Tyler works on hand-honing the bronze guides to fit our Ferrea valves.

Tim’s son, Tyler Eichhorn, prepped the GT350 heads, pounding the factory valve guides out and installing proprietary, bronze valve guides along with Ferrea 1.470-inch, stainless intake valves and 1.250-inch exhaust valves. Next, he installed the COMP Cams valvesprings and lightweight tool steel retainers. Tool steel retainers have an increased fatigue life over titanium variants, and since the retainers are small on this overhead cam configuration, there were minimal weight savings to be had.

Assembly

With the cylinder heads complete and the block cooled down to room temperature, the short-block could be assembled. First, Tim assembled the main caps with the ARP main studs and standard Clevite MS-2292H bearings to check main bearing tolerances. Since this was a brand-new crank and only a slight cleanup was required on the block’s main journals, the standard diameter bearings fit perfectly.

Our new, stock Coyote crank with a second key added.

Now it was time to file fit the JE Pro Seal 1.0/1.2/2.8mm ring pack. While a 1.0mm ring might seem small for a big power build, the ultra-strong, carbon-steel ring will be durable and reduce engine friction. After fitting, the rings were mated to a set of JE custom pistons with a 10:1 compression ratio and some additional material engineered into the symmetrical skirt, FSR (forged side relief) due to the quadruple digit power goals.

Additional options included JE Pistons’ Tuff Skirt coating and Electroless Nickel (EN) coating, which hardens the piston, reflects heat like a thermal barrier, and helps prevent micro welding in the ring grooves if detonation occurs. A thicker-wall wrist pin with a DLC-coating was used for even more strength.

The pistons were hung on Wiseco BoostLine connecting rods––the first set of the new line of boost-ready 5.933-inch modular rods to leave the factory. The rods are not an H- or I-beam design but rather a new, three-pocket design that offers a claimed 60 percent increase in bending strength over an H-beam. As the name implies their application is big-horsepower, power-adder engines. Clevite CB-1442HXNK coated bearings, with plus .001 extra clearance were installed, and 75 ft-lb of torque provided the correct .052-inch of rod bolt stretch. MPR’s oil squirter block-off plates rounded out our short-block assembly.

Before continuing to the cylinder head work, there were a few bits needed for the front of the engine. The F-150 oil pump assembly is different from the Mustangs and needed changing. Both pumps come from the factory with powdered-metal gears that are prone to fail under a variety of conditions. To alleviate this problem, Livernois Motorsports supplied a set of billet gears. Another component that has been known to fail in high horsepower (primarily supercharged) applications is the main timing gear that drives both the left- and right-side bank’s timing gears. MPR has its own billet version that is a direct swap for the weak, stock part.

Tyler cuts the CNC’d Coyote heads for the larger diameter Ferrea valves. Each chamber is inspected to ensure the valves seal properly.

Proceeding to the deck of the block, Tim installed 11mm, ARP head studs. This engine was from a 2013 F-150 where Ford reduced the size of the head studs from 12mm to 11mm for that model year. They have since gone back to the 12mm variants. The heads were installed with JE Pro Seal MLS head gaskets. Because the block and heads had been decked, final compression calculated in at 10.68:1

COMP Cams supplied CR-series, stage-three blower cams that are plenty aggressive by mod-motor means. The CR-series requires the use of stiffer valve springs and uses a lobe design similar to 2015 and newer Mustangs. On naturally aspirated engines we’ve seen the CR-series cams pick up over 50 horsepower at the crank over factory Mustang cams!

New or old, MPR decks every head to assure they are completely flat.

Under the cams are a host of kits from Ford Performance. Previously, buying components for the Coyote was a pain. Now, Ford Performance has come out with a variety of kits designed for new and rebuilt Coyote engines. One includes all 32 rockers; another, all 32 lash adjusters; even a front drive kit includes everything from cam gears and chains to guides.

An MPR lock-out plate was used to remove all the unnecessary components from the VCT gears. All in all, a reduction of about four pounds was removed from the valvetrain! The cams were locked out at a 110-degree intake centerline and a 113-degree exhaust centerline. This will ensure the engine remains streetable. Livernois Motorsports supplied a set of billet aluminum primary chain guides as the stock, plastic guides can deflect and cause over a 10-degree variation in cam timing.

The zebra has mostly been skinned. The permanent marker clearly shows how much more the heads need to be decked.

The Final Bits

After degreeing the cams, Tim removed the soft, checking springs and install COMP Cams valve springs and cams. New, Boss 302 timing tensioners were installed, and the front of the engine was sealed up with a Ford Performance Mustang front cover. An ATI damper, already cut for two keys, was installed on the crank snout. It features a 20-percent overdrive and 10-rib configuration that will spin accessories faster than stock. Finally, a Ford Performance oil pan installation kit, and a Moroso increased-capacity, fabricated-aluminum oil pan, closed off the bottom end.

With the engine complete, it will soon be time to head to Westech Performance’s engine dyno to see how much power it can make!

Tim checks the main journals for adequate clearance.

Most MPR Coyote builds have factory oil squirters deleted; they are typically only left in for road race builds.

The gold standard: Coyote ARP main studs.

Hold that pose! Every engine builder’s nightmare when it comes to shooting the photo of the crank being dropped down in the block.

Tim step torques the ARP main studs and side bolts to a final torque value of 60 ft-lbs.

Tyler works on installing oversized stainless Ferrea valves.

COMP Cams provided an 26125CTS-KIT, which included valvesprings with 120 pounds of seat pressure, lightweight tool steel retainers, locks, and valvespring seats.

The MPR CNC’d Coyote heads are fully assembled and ready for installation.

Wiseco’s first set of 5.933-inch modular BoostLine connecting rods will take the big power planned for this engine.

JE Pro Seal piston rings are file fitted and deburred. They feature a carbon steel 1.00mm top ring.

These custom, JE Pistons featured an Electroless Nickel coating added material for strength, and a thick-wall, DLC-coated pin.

The pistons and rods are connected to the crankshaft via ARP 2000 rod bolts and torqued to 75 ft-lbs.

The completed short-block is Tim’s favorite part of the engine build because most of the hard work is completed.

The JE Pro Seal head gasket is slid over the 11mm ARP head studs. With the heads installed, the nuts are step-torqued to a final value of 85 ft-lbs.

Livernois Motorsports supplied a set of billet oil pump gears to replace the weak stockers. A new, Mustang oil pump is required on an F-150 engine.

In front of the oil pump is another gear that often fails, the powdered metal chain drive. MPR offers a billet steel version for this.

When making a lot of power with a lot of cylinder pressure, the majority of Coyotes will have the cams locked in place. MPR designed a lockout plate that gets rid of the unnecessary bits of the VCT system, saving around four pounds of steel in total. When running valvesprings with high seat pressures, upgraded secondary chains add another level of insurance.

Tim uses checking springs on the front two valves to degree in the Comp Cams CR-Series camshafts. These cams feature 239/245 degrees of duration at .050-inch with .516 intake and .514 exhaust lift. They installed at a 110-degree intake centerline and 113-degree exhaust centerline.

Once the cams are degreed they are removed and the four checking springs are swapped out. The Ford Performance lash adjusters and rockers are installed. Tim reinstalls the Comp camshafts and torques down the ARP cam cap fasteners.

Livernois billet chain guides eliminates deflection normally found in the stock guides. With deflection comes a change in cam timing. Ford Performance Boss 302 primary and secondary tensioners are used as they are stiffer than the standard Mustang/F-150 versions.

With the pick-up tube clearance checked, the Moroso fabricated-aluminum oil pan is installed. The pan is designed to hold two more quarts than stock, while also being able to fit into Fox body and S197 chassis Mustangs.

The Mustang front cover is installed first, followed by a 20 percent overdrive ATI damper. This piece comes with a second keyway cut into the hub and is standard issue on the Cobra Jet Mustang drag cars.

Tim poses with our completed Coyote. Next stop? Westech’s engine dyno!

Boost To Come

Wait, what? Yep, there will be a CSU blow-through carb atop this Coyote. And, to help support our 1,000hp plus power goals, a Vortech YSI-B will add copious amounts of boost.

Specs:

Short-Block

F-150 used block

Darton sleeves by Race Engine Development

Ford Performance Boss 302 crankshaft

Wiseco 5.933-inch length BoostLine connecting rods

Custom JE pistons with EN coating, skirt coating, and DLC pin

MPR Engines oil squirter block off plates

Livernois Motorsports billet oil pump gears

MPR Engines billet chain drive gear

ARP main studs and damper bolt

Clevite main and rod bearings

Moroso fabricated aluminum oil pan

ATI Cobra Jet 20 percent OD damper

Long-Block

JE Pro Seal head gaskets

MPR Racing CNC’d cylinder heads – factory F-150

Comp Cams valve spring kit with tool steel retainers

Comp Cams Stage III CR-Series blower cams

Ferrea oversized stainless intake and exhaust valves

ARP 11mm head studs and cam tower bolts

Ford Performance lash adjusters, rockers, chains, tensioners, and front cover

MPR Engines camshaft lockout plates

MPR Engines heavy-duty secondary timing chains

Livernois Motorsports primary chain guides

Sources:

MPR Engines Mprracingengines.webs.com 561-588-0188

JE Pistons Jepistons.com 714898-9763

Wiseco Wiseco.com 440-951-6600

Ford Performance Fordperformance.com

COMP Cams Compcams.com 901-795-2400

ARP Products Arp-bolts.com 805-339-2200

Livernois Motorsports Livernoismotorsports.com 313-561-5500

Ferrea Valves Ferrea.com 888-733-2505

Moroso Moroso.com 203-453-6571

ATI Performance Products Atiracing.com 877-298-5039

Mahle Clevite www.mahle-aftermarket.com 248-347-9700

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