Measuring engine specs is really just simple math, but just the thought of manipulating numbers can make some car guys cringe. Count your author among that crowd. The more oddball the number, the more I shudder, and don't ask me to work with fractions unless you want to watch my head explode.

Sometimes you just have to go all out. Ken Crocie of H-O Racing has been building big-block Pontiac engines for close to 40 years, most of which have been aimed at the street, as is this engine. While front-end weight is a concern in drag racing, it's much more critical when turning corners. Today, the most popular ploy when building a road car is to use an enhanced, all-aluminum LS engine. Crocie's customer wanted to keep his '78 Trans Am purely Pontiac by building a big--no, make that very big--all-aluminum Pontiac engine. Big in this case refers to a 4.50-inch stroke and 4.35-inch bore motor that displaces a whacking 535 inches. But even more comforting than the displacement is the distinct lack of cast iron. This rascal is pure aluminum. Frankly, if an aluminum crank could survive the rigors of 690 lb-ft of twist and 6,000 rpm, Crocie would have bolted one in. Virtually everything else that found its way into or onto this big Indian is aluminum--right down to the connecting rods, rocker arms, and even the carburetor. The payoff to all this alloy happened once Crocie put the engine on the scale. In fact, they had to calibrate it to double check the numbers, as its bantam weight of 415 pounds with a carburetor and a Powermaster starter motor seemed unbelievably light.

OK, this is over the top. A friend sent us a link to CVperformance.com.au, where we watched a Procomp Motorsports and CV Performance--sponsored Mustang at Sydney Dragway in Australia knocking down a 5.95/260.31-mph pass that was so quick that the video looks like the film was sped up. A starting line video shows the car crossed up on one pass so badly that the left front tire was off the pavement, sliding and black-tracking the tires. Driver/owner Rob Campisi kept his foot buried and pulled off that amazing run and several others at around the same speed and e.t. What's even more crazed is that according to CV Performance's Con Elfes, the Australians have only one quick class called Super Sedan (SS) for all cars 10.99 and quicker. In the videos, this Mustang is staged against a hapless Camaro driver dialed in at 9.95 at probably 150 mph. The poor Camaro looks like it's running about 60 mph when the Mustang blows past. In reality if the Camaro was running 150, the Mustang was pushing a 90-mph speed differential! The CV Performance guys lay claim to the world's fastest Mustang. They're probably right. The story behind the effort can be traced to the U.S. and Pro Mod entrepreneur Mike Moran of Moran Motorsports. Mike did all the CNC work on the intake manifold, adapting the pair of 500-lb/hr injectors in each cylinder. That isn't easy when the injectors are positioned at different angles. Mike did all the tuning on the engine electronically, literally while Campisi was making passes at the dragstrip. We've heard that life in Australia is like the way it used to be in the Wild West, and after watching that video, we believe, baby. We had to know more about the power behind this amazing achievement, so Moran and Elfes responded with some technical tidbits we're passing along.

"I love my job!" squealed Julia, director of video operations, as she clung to the back of the passenger seat trying to steady the camera while we executed the fifth or sixth smoking donut in Ron Burgundy, our new project beater. The car had begun to fill with smoke and the wipers had suddenly come on. There was a man running along the side of the car. "Who the hell is that?” someone yelled over the screaming engine. It sounded like a girl's voice, but it could have been any one of us. Five more spins and an attempt was made to straighten out the car and get the show going in one direction. Rental cops deployed from the nearby bagel shop, but their golf carts were no match. We were gone, leaving only a swirly, squiggly, tire-tread reminder of Ron's awesomeness. Back in the safety of the Car Craft shop, we decided it was time for a turbo.

CNC LS3 Heads

What it is: Factory CNC cylinder heads for your new Camaro, Corvette, or LS-swapped muscle car

Why you care: These 276cc heads flow nearly 370 cfm on the intake and 262 cfm on the exhaust at 0.700-inch lift. Those are great advertising numbers, but the real trick is the 340/247-cfm flow numbers at 0.500 lift. The heads retain the stock 68cc chamber, so you don’t have to worry about too much compression, and have 2.165/1.59-inch valves that fit any LS engine with a 4-inch- or-larger bore.

How much: $700.00 each (assembled)

Learn more:
GM Performance Parts
Warren, MI
800/577-6888
/www.gmperformanceparts.com

This is a great monthly story because it gives us a perfect excuse to hit the junkyard. We were trolling for S-10 V8 swap parts the other day when we noticed a factory oil filter relocation part on an '88 S-10 Blazer 4x4 with a 4.3L V6. We decided it was cool and unbolted it. We cut the factory aluminum/rubber lines because the factory hoses were too clumsy and probably wouldn’t fit anything we had anyway. This particular piece also incorporated a second set of fittings that fed an oil cooler located in the radiator. The best part is that we bought it for $4.50, and there are probably other factory systems just as cheap. By employing a few minor fabrication skills, this relocation block could be used to direct oil to an aftermarket oil cooler. In fact, we might even use this part on our S-10, which means we could purchase a factory V6 radiator with an oil cooler and use the factory lines.

We were recently treated to a sneak peak at Holley’s new line of pumps. You're looking at the standard-output pump (PN 12-700) in the main image. Don't take that to mean wimpy output (see the spec chart below for specific flow numbers). In short, the HP pump will support 900 carbureted horsepower, while the twin-pump Dominator is good to 1,050 hp.

The key is the gerotor design, which helps to move large amounts of fuel more efficiently than traditional vane-style pumps. These pumps offer reliable fuel flow, quiet operation, and long lives. Holley rates them as good for more than 100,000 miles.

We promised to install a Hemi into our Dodge Demon, and that time is here. A quick search using the keywords "5.7 Hemi" on our eBay Mobile app netted us about 50 different used engines of various years with a wide range of mileage. As this is written, the average was $2,000 for a 5.7 Hemi from a truck and $4,500 for one from a Charger or 300C. We chose a truck engine with 65K on the clock for $1,900 from eBay seller Knox Auto Parts. Knox is a wholesale salvage yard in Knoxville, Tennessee. The total price with shipping was $2,203.99. For that, we received the complete engine, a wiring harness, and a starter.

Greg Monroe, Downey, CA

550 hp—HA! You know that's a damn lie. But it’s the story Greg Monroe is sticking to when people ask him how much power this 4.6 engine makes. When pressed, he says, "Maybe 560 on a good day with ice in the intercooler reservoir." But he can't stifle the grin on his face as he says this. The truth is, this engine has got to make well over 800 hp. An early version of it propelled Greg's '01 Bullitt Mustang to a best quarter-mile time of 8.20 seconds at 170 mph on C16 race gas. Now he's got more compression, more boost, and E85 to burn. He's looking to crack into the 7s.

In our Oct. '11 issue, we added 70 hp to Project Panther using new cams and cylinder heads from Trick Flow. In the process, we raised the rpm where peak torque and horsepower occur. Since this is a heavy car (4,000 pounds) with a small (281ci) engine, we want to launch the car as close to the new torque peak as possible and help acceleration by increasing the torque multiple at the axle. Fortunately, Ford Racing has the best prices on 3.73:1 ring-and-pinion and bearing kits for the 8.8, so I ordered up a set and called Tech Editor Smith’s buddy Tim Moore, who agreed to do the install. While this is something I’d like to be able to do myself, I don’t have the collection of pullers, drivers, and presses, not to mention the wealth of knowledge and experience Moore has at his disposal. In some cases, it’s better to let a pro do the job, and I am not ashamed to admit this is one job I was willing to hand over to someone experienced. Though the job itself is a dirty one, the removal and replacement of the differential carrier is pretty straightforward. Installing the pinion gear at the right depth is where finesse and skill are required. Get it wrong and at best your final drive will howl like straight-cut gears; at worst, you can burn up the pinion bearings. Moore got it right, of course, and the result is a quiet-running gearset and a more responsive car. Translation: It accelerates faster.

A Slippery Subject

Rich Blakely, Irvine, CA

Some engines just won’t go away. Back in the May ’11 issue, we brought you the first part of our budget-built 400 small-block Chevy. The idea was to bolt a set of iron Vortec heads on a junkyard 400 short-block, add a cam, and enjoy the torque. Right away, we ran into snags. The block was so nasty it demanded help while retaining the stock crank, pistons, and rods. The cam failed with less than a week before our deadline necessitating an unplanned thrash to rebuild the engine a second time because all that dead cam metal wiped out the main bearings. By the time we were finished, we had never worked so hard to produce so little power. The 400’s problems were multiple: The cylinders waffled like ice cream cones, preventing anything approaching ring seal, and the compression was a sickly 8.2:1 due to ugly 0.060-inch piston deck heights. In case you missed the story, the best power numbers were gained with a set of GM Performance Parts Vortec Bow Tie heads supplied by Scoggin-Dickey, and even then the 400 managed only 401 hp and 458 lb-ft of torque. We were underwhelmed.

There are about a million reasons why widening a set of factory wheels is a good idea. Often, the procedure costs less than buying new wheels. You generally can have them made to whatever offset you want, and they look good. Automobile manufacturers spend a fortune designing a car, and they often the get it right from the beginning. Widening a set of OE wheels is a great way to keep you car looking stock as you build it up, assuming you are into the whole sleeper vibe.

There is a wealth of budget-based components sitting in your local recycling yard just waiting for you to come and rescue them from the crusher. On Pro Touring cars that have taken up the challenge of the increasingly popular track days and tight-turn autocross events, these competitions also put lots of heat into power steering systems. Twice we’ve seen Saginaw GM power steering pump towers actually fall off due to the deadly combination of killer heat and vibration at Pro Touring events. So if heat is the big culprit, how ’bout trimming those temps with an inexpensive cooler? We were cruising the boneyard awhile back when we noticed a power steering cooler languishing on a fullsize Ford that looked like it would work on our road racer Chevelle.

It’s been a couple of weeks since NMCA’s fun, three-day drag race and autocross event in Fontana, California, where I muscled my big ’65 Chevelle around a cascade of orange cones in a tight parking-lot course. In most autocross courses, it’s possible to be very quick with mediocre horsepower, as long as you’ve got a small, light vehicle that can negotiate the layout quickly and stay away from the cones. That’s exactly what we hope to build with Project Sten. The truck is light at only 2,600 pounds, but the four-banger falls short of mediocre and doesn’t have the power to compete even on a short parking-lot course, so that makes the small-block Chevy a natural swap. The ideal conversion would be an all-aluminum LS motor, and perhaps there’s one in our future, but for now we’ll stick with our affordable, if somewhat dated, TPI small-block.

Yeah, it might be a nerdy gearhead thing, but as enthusiasts we want a lot of information about what our cars are doing. Unfortunately, the manufacturers don't quite see it our way, so cars are equipped with instrument clusters about as informative as a utility company's customer-service recording. We understand--they have to make cars for people who care more about their appearance in the rearview mirror or the latest tweet from the Kardashians. Bummer, because there is way more cool stuff going on under the hood than on reality TV.

Billet Blower Whine

It used to be that electric radiator fans were low-performance add-ons that maybe pulled a couple of extra degrees of heat out of overheated muscle cars. But today, they are an integrated part of all but the most heavy-duty vehicles.

Scared Flat

The big-block is dead. We’ve heard from factory sources that the venerable Ford 385-series (429/460/514) crate engines are going to be discontinued, though blocks and heads will continue to be available for the custom builder. The cause? Small-blocks that are smaller, lighter, and pack the same inches and horsepower punch, thanks to major advances in cylinder head and block design. We’re not talking about the modular series of small-blocks—we’re talking about 302/351 Windsor-based engines that will drop into your ’60s and ’70s Mustang/Cougar, Galaxie, or Fairlane. The blocks are from Ford Racing, and the Boss 351 shown here can be built to a staggering 460 inches. With the available superchargers and turbos, you can make virtually any power number you want.

Ken Duttweiler, Saticoy, CA
If you kneel daily at the altar of horsepower, Ken Duttweiler’s name should be familiar. Duttweiler has been racing and building race engines for more than four decades and just keeps pushin’ ’em out of his small Saticoy, California, shop. We dropped by for a visit the other day and witnessed this “mild” Magnuson-supercharged LS engine that Duttweiler had just rolled up on the dyno. The engine is going into New Jersey customer John Ventura’s ’69 Chevelle convertible. The engine may not look like much, but check out the dyno curve: At 3,500 rpm, this motor’s twisting almost 900 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough torque to flat-tow the Empire State Building! And this is the detuned, pump gas version. With VP16 race gas, this 434 twisted the dyno to 975 hp. That’s enough power to push even a 3,600-pound Chevelle deep into the 9s—assuming it can hook up.

Brake Sale!

At the risk of losing credibility with our readers (assuming I had any to begin with!), I must admit to never having built an engine before. I’ve done general maintenance, bodywork, welding, complete paintjobs, and even rebuilt a couple of automatic transmissions, but I’ve never taken an engine apart and put it back together—until now. People I’ve revealed this to usually have the same reaction: Couldn’t you have chosen an easier engine to build than the 4.6? My response is always the same (and I hope I don’t sound smug when I say it): Building this engine wasn’t that hard.

Cracks. They are the bane of all car crafters, and cast-iron cracks are among the most difficult to repair. It’s really not even something you can do in your own shop unless you have years of experience and the right equipment. The variables of the type of cast iron (gray, alloy, nodular, malleable) and the various types of repairs are incredibly numerous and too complex to get into here. So this story is really about showing you some repairs and a couple of ways to go about them. When it came time to repair a crack in a numbers-matching 396 block for a Chevelle, the call went out to Kelly’s Block Welding in Los Angeles, where owner Garrick Preece and welder Jun Nakawatase applied their considerable experience to this repair. Check it out.