If you have been contemplating whether or not to attend the 2011 Chryslers at Carlisle event, let us help you make up your mind. Once again, we have teamed up with Muscle Motors in Lansing, Michigan, to build an engine that you will never have a chance of winning if you don't show up. How's that for incentive? A few years ago, Mike Ware at Muscle Motors and I came up with this idea to give back to enthusiasts, and when we brought the idea to Ed at Carlisle Events, he was all for it. So what we do is contact manufacturers and get them involved to help us build a complete engine with quality parts that will last a very long time.
This year, it was decided that to be a little different, we would base our build off of a 383 block. You heard correctly. The 383 block is an engine that just about every Mopar guy has lying around, so this build will give you an idea of what you can do with it--unless you win this one, in which case, I could use your old one. The engine we decided to build had to have a respectable amount of power, be able to run on pump gas so it could be enjoyed regularly, and had to have quality parts so it would last a long time.
What Muscle Motors used to fill the block is their 3.9-inch stroke crankshaft, with their 6.700-inch connecting rods swinging from it. The pistons are from Diamond Racing, and are a flat top design with valve reliefs. This keeps the compression ratio at a friendly 10.5:1. With this compression ratio, the winner can fill up at any premium pump-gas pump and keep driving. Keeping with the low-maintenance high-enjoyability theme, a hydraulic roller camshaft from Comp Cams was chosen. Comp calls the part number 23-601-9 camshaft their Big Mutha Thumper, and the engine's idle quality showed us why. This thing sounds great! Anyway, the Big Mutha has lift numbers of .522 and .508 inches, with 50 duration numbers of 235 and 249 degrees.
Without a proper oiling system, your engine--yes, we said your engine in case you win--would not have survived our dyno session. When anyone mentions oiling, Milodon is definitely at the top of the list, and we covered the bottom of the engine with their windage tray and oil pan and pickup.
When it comes to economical cylinder heads, the first thing that comes to mind for many enthusiasts is Edelbrock. So we chose a pair of their cylinder heads. They work well and make power--enough said. It's hard to feed an engine without a carburetor, and if you need carbureted streetability, nothing beats a good dual-plane intake. So underneath our 950 Holley Ultra HP carburetor is an Edelbrock RPM intake. Comp Cams finished off the valvetrain, and Edelbrock finished off the bling with their valve covers and air cleaner.
So how did all of these great parts work together? After a couple of dyno pulls, and some jet and air bleed adjustments, your engine--there we go again--made a grand total of 496 horsepower at 5,500 rpm, and 540 lb-ft of torque at 3,700 rpm. That's enough torque to get any B-Body moving, and enough power to keep it going.
