When the 2004 Jeg’s Engine Masters Rules were announced, the wheels at MPG
began to turn. The Engine Masters Challenge was billed as the "ultimate engine
builder shootout." And it is! Builders from across the country brought their best
410 c.i. American small
block engines to "dyno race." This challenge eliminated variables such as track
conditions, driver ability and pitted engine against engine by the numbers.
The engines were divided into 3 groups for the first round of "dyno racing."
The top 2 engines from each qualifying dyno went on to the final competition. MPG
Heads won their dyno in the qualifying round.
We knew there would be a few stroked
351 Clevelands and Windsors in attendance. But we wanted to show that
there are more than just these two options. In an effort to do something a
little special for our loyal Boss 302 customer base, the rules for the
competition were carefully scrutinized without a concrete answer. The
rules committee was contacted with our proposal to enter a Boss 302 ,and the
concept got a green light.
The Rules allowed up to 410 cubic inches, run on spec 92 octane
fuel through 3" exhaust with mufflers. You can read the rules in their entirety at www.enginemasters.com.
How do you squeeze that much displacement into a 8.2 inch deck
block? The details on how we did it are below.
The cast iron Dart block started life
as a standard Boss 302 block with an 8.2" deck, 4" bore and 2.249" main journal
size. It had steel four-bolt main caps, a priority main oiling system and
Siamese cylinders. While the main journal size went untouched, the block was
treated to a .250 over-bore, bringing the bore size to 4.250, leaving a scant
.130" between cylinders.
[pic 2]
The steel crankshaft was a Scat forging that was custom
ground. While the main journals are standard Boss 302, the rod journals
measure a small 1.848. Stroke was 3.6". That’s .600" longer than stock. These
crankshafts are available from MPG in various strokes, balanced and ready.
The connecting rods,
available from MPG, are part of the secret to a large displacement Boss
302. Measuring only 1.84" at the big end and 5.470" center to center, the rod
ratio is 1.51. The Boss 302 block requires only 1/16" ground from the
block for rod clearance, a lot
less clearancing than a standard 347 stroker.
The custom forged pistons from CP
were lightweight, flat-topped .043 gas ported pieces with very high ring
placement. The pins for this unique assembly were .890" in diameter. MPG prepped
the pistons and coated them with Techline engine coatings. A thermal barrier
coating was used to coat the top of the piston, and an anti-friction coating was
applied to the skirts.
[pic 3]
A solid roller camshaft was custom
designed and ground by Cam Research, another Scott Main company. Duration at .050 is 250 intake and 252 exhaust with .744/.725 lift
respectively. Lobe separation was 106°. The seat-to-seat duration was
short and the lifter acceleration was fast. When a valve was open, it spent a
lot of time near full lift.
The bare 3V
cylinder heads came from CHI of Australia. These quality castings came machined
for 2.15" intake valves and 1.65" exhaust valves. MPG’s finished heads used Cam
Research’s stainless steel valves of these dimensions. The canted valve heads
featured stock Boss or Cleveland valve angles, but the ports were downsized to
218 cc on the intake, and the exhaust port was raised .400". The chambers
included a revised spark plug location and a modern, heart-shaped "quench"
combustion chamber.
The guys at MPG agree that one thing you can learn from building Super Stock
motors or in any form of racing where rules restrict porting, is that there is
more flow and power to be had in a simple valve job than one might think. The porting work here concentrated on the short turn radius, the bowl
and, of course, the valve job. To keep port velocity high, the finished intake
runners were not opened up at all. Scott hand-ported one short-turn radius and
intake bowl shape that he found worked efficiently. Flow numbers were in the 343 cfm range at .650 lift and the low lift flow was "strong." Then the entire port
shape was then digitized and refined on Master Cam software, and the final shape
was applied to all of the ports on MPG’s simultaneous 5-axis CNC milling
machine. The chambers were then coated with Techline’s thermal barrier coating.
The finished chambers measured 64.5 cc’s. Scott opened them up a bit to take
advantage of the big bore. Compression ratio for the engine was 12:5.
The intake manifold was a
Ford Racing #M-9424-B302 that was both filled and ported on the inside only, per
Engine Master Rules. The flow in the intake’s worst runner was improved by 33 cfm and the air/fuel distribution was
modified until it was extremely even between runners.
With valve spring
pressure at 240 lbs closed, strong and reliable valve train parts are a
necessity. The roller lifters are from Cam Research. The
reliable, lightweight design features the largest axles in the industry.
An MPG 302 windage tray was used for this
small block project.
The stud girdle used
was by Jomar and is a requirement with fast cam ramps and high spring pressures.
Without a stud girdle the high spring pressures actually bend the 7/16" rocker
studs. By tying all 16 studs together the bending or "deflection" of the
studs is minimized.
[pic5]
The water
pump pushes coolant into the block then into the cylinder heads in a typical V8
cooling system. With most of the engine's heat generated in the combustion
chamber, cooling the heads first can help curb detonation and increase
horsepower. MPG's reverse cooling kit is designed to do just that.
Cold water flows from the pump to the front and back of the heads then down
through the block and out a freeze plug on each side to the radiator to be
cooled again.
MPG will have these reverse cooling kits available in Dec. '04 for small and
big block Fords.
More information on the Jeg's Engine Master
Contest can be found at www.enginemasters.com.
Cam Research products can be found at www.camresearchcorp.com.
Below is a list of the competitors, their scores and how they placed in the 2004 Engine
Masters Challenge.
The Top Six |
Results from the Qualifying Pulls - Qualifying Dyno #2 |
Jon Kaase Racing |
1,043.20 |
W Enterprises |
1,031.20 |
BES Racing Engines |
1,022.60 |
Pasadena City College |
1,004.50 |
MPG Heads |
993.90 |
Coast High Performance |
971.40 |
|
MPG Heads |
992.50 |
Pasadena City College |
988.20 |
Shaver Specialty |
988.00 |
BTR Performance |
975.40 |
Livernois Motorsports |
970.00 |
Bowers Racing Engines |
953.70 |
Autoshop Racing Engines |
950.70 |
AutoMazing Performance Center |
950.60 |
Performance Crankshaft |
917.60 |
Clayton's Performance |
912.40 |
AES Hi-Performance |
DNF |
Kuntz & Company |
DQ |
Traco Engineering |
DNF |
|
|

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