We have completed the build of our GARS street stock series motor and we now need to run it on the dyno. For this final installment, we will show you the actual horsepower and torque numbers, tell you something about how the car ran in it first race, and provide details about the parts that went into the engine.
I can tell you that the engine has been run as of this date in the second G.A.R.S. Series race at Illiana Motor Speedway. Will Kimmel could not be a part of the qualifying for the race because of a prior commitment to the ARCA Racing Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. So, the car owner, Scotty Earl, qualified the car. Of course Will had to start dead last and then drove through the field up to Sixth Place before a part in the rearend broke finishing his night. He did say that the motor pulled really strong and he was looking forward to racing it in the next G.A.R.S. race at Kentucky Motor Speedway on July 18. We'll have a full report on how it did in a coming issue.
Even though we did not get a chance to see more success, the fact that he drove to the front was evident that not only was his setup correct, the car had plenty of power. The goal of articles like this one is to show the readers that you too can build, or have built, a strong and powerful motor from parts that have never been better for quality, exact fit, and compatibility with the other parts of the motor.
Most racers are very interested in just what parts were chosen for these builds we do and why, to the point of wanting part numbers and detailed descriptions. So, we can solve your curiosity by describing the product names and the part numbers we chose. Our thanks go out to Mike Hupertz who narrated this build and provided the expertise for the story. As we said last month, if you have any questions about this engine and/or the process explained herein, or need his services, be sure to call Mike at his shop at (440) 853-2332.
Our listing of the parts used in this G.A.R.S. legal engine starts with a strong block supplied by World Products. It is a bare casting with features that include cast main caps and a standard cam tunnel location. It is PN 084010. We then set the deck height and bore to match our piston and rod choice. Here we see it surrounded by the other parts used to complete our engine build.
Here we see the dyno numbers after we tweaked the carburetor jetting and timing. We see that the peak horsepower is 461 and peak torque is 453. Our usable power band is from 3,700 rpm and starts to taper off at 4,600 and stays above 425 hp till 5,600 rpm. All new motors should be run on a dyno before installing them in your race car. For no other reason than to check for leaks or other problems, as well as provide a proper run-in period and the ability to tune the air/fuel mixture and timing advance.
Our build was held together with dependable ARP fasteners. The assortment of bolts, nuts, and studs among other fasteners is unmatched in the industry. We exclusively use ARP for all of our project engine builds.
What holds in all of that power and seals in the lubricant and coolant is the Cometic gaskets. Every gasket used for this project build was from Cometic. These products are unmatched for dependability and functionality. They always provide a perfect fit and provide flawless performance.
The Bare Casting heads were also from World Products and were a perfect match for our chosen block. We decked the heads to get our combustion chambers to 50 cc's for the desired compression ratio of 13.16 to 1. They are the Sportsman 2 version with PN 011150-50.
The Compstar line by Callies was a perfect fit for our build. The undercut pendulum counterweights are just one of the key features this crank comes with. PN SAJ113-CC comes with a 350 main and a 3.750 stroke. With the 4.030 bore, it provides us with 383 ci.
Connected to the Compstar crank are the very strong, I-beam rods from Carrillo. These rods are Carrillo's bullet line, they have all the quality and strength that Carrillo is known for but with their near net forging they come at a reduced price. We choose the 6.000-inch version PN BC21-600071.
The pistons we chose for our build came from Mahle, they are forged 4032 material and are full of features like, grafal-coated skirts and a phosphate coating to reduce micro welding in the ring lands. They also have generous valve reliefs and come in a flat top or dome version. This kit comes with pistons, rings, pins, and round wire locks and carries PN SBC125030F05.
The Erson cam we chose was a custom grind. The cam has a lift that meets the rules requirements for this class and series while providing an advanced profile that gave us improved low-end torque for getting off the corners plus high-end power to get us down the straights. The grind number was F296/375 F293/350.
In combination with the Erson cam, we used the Erson lifters, PN ML535, which is a solid design, 842 body with 0.012 oil hole in the center for oil.
For the top end of our valvetrain, we selected the Erson Roller Rocker arms made from high-strength aluminum for long-term performance. These were held on the rocker stud by the Erson High Performance steel polylocks supplied. The part number for the rocker arm set is 801-16.
When it came to the valves, we chose the PBM intake and exhaust valve set. These valves are from their competition series. They feature high-strength PS824 stainless, hardened keeper grooves, and are built to perfection matching up with the other components in our valvetrain. Intake number 1105, exhaust number 1003.
Holding those PBM valves tight to the head are these Erson dual valvesprings that checked out for valvespring rate very consistently. Remember that we checked each spring we installed to make sure all of the loads were what we required and these all checked out (PN E915045).
PBM also provides a very strong double roller timing chain set that features a nine keyway crank gear with a billet cam gear and a Torrington bearing to reduce drag, PN 8981T.
The PBM timing cover kit comes with a roller button for adjusting the cam end play.
This Fluidamper harmonic balancer is a great addition to our engine build and provides clear and bright degree markings for perfect cam and ignition timing. We custom fitted this to our crank for a precise fit, PN 720101.
Our oil pan of choice was the Moroso Kickout Series wet sump 7-quart capacity pan that is built plenty deep to assure continuous oil flow. We checked to make sure our oil pickup was where it should be in relation to the bottom of this pan; PN 21308.
To channel our air/fuel mixture efficiently into our cylinders, we chose the Edelbrock Sportsman Victor Jr. intake manifold. It features CNC blended port exits to perfectly match our World Products competition heads; PN 2901.
Holding all of that oil in the engine along with our Moroso oil pan is the Moroso die-cast aluminum tall valve cover kit that comes with the studs and two breathers. These are great looking covers that will not only function well, but add a great look to your engine package. Ours came with the black epoxy finish; PN 68371.
To mount our accessories to the front of the motor, our choice was the small-block Chevy kit from Jones Racing Products. The kit came with all of the brackets and pulleys, the alternator, power steering pump and reservoir, and the water pump. Note that this kit bolted up precisely to our block with no additional fitting required. Not only does this kit provide perfect alignment of the belts, and top quality pumps and alternator, it looks great too; PN 1441.
We needed to get the fuel from the fuel cell to the carburetor, so we chose the Holley billet high-performance mechanical fuel pump that can be indexed for fuel line alignment; PN 12-327-25.
Completing the block assembly comes when we install the Performance Distributors D.U.I. distributor with racing coil. This unit comes with everything you need to energize your spark plugs. If the class calls for an HEI-style distributor then DUI is the only one to use; PN L-127212BK.
To get our charge from the D.U.I. distributor to the plugs, we used LiveWire racing plug wires from Performance Distributors. They offer minimal resistance, no radio interference, and are numbered at both ends to end confusion; PN C9051RDP.
The Schoenfeld 185 small-block Chevy headers have 1-5/8 tubes and a 3-inch collector. We have used these headers on many of our engine builds and they perform great; PN 185.
To top off our build, we mounted a new billet Holley Ultra HP 4412 two-barrel carburetor onto our Edelbrock intake manifold. This carb was featured in our Nov. '14 issue and you can read all about it. It is a perfect complement to all of our other great parts that make up this successful engine build.
