Some of you guys may follow the Indy Nationals, and some may be unaware.  Ray Paquet continues to dominate SS/A class in NHRA Super Stock.  He laid down an 8.55 in class eliminations in his Thunderbolt, on his way to winning SS/A.  About two tenths ahead of the next fastest A car, and some of those other guys are not slacks!  Congrats to Mr. Ray.......still running an original Dearborn Steel car, with modern upgrades, of course.  For those who don't know Ray, he is a prince of a guy.  An honest man, very smart, very quiet......all business in Clermont, Indiana for many years.

Long live Ray and his High Riser!!

I sent a set of "Race" Medium Riser Ed Pro Ports to a new customer.  In talking with him prior, I could tell he had been around the block at least twice.  He asked me what they would flow, knowing that benches and methods vary.  I asked him to just trust me and try them.  He said he would, so we did them.  He owns a Superflow 600, so I suggested he flow them on his bench after he looked them over.  I prepped them for .700 lift.  He sent me his findings.  2.250 valve on a 4.310 fixture, 28". 

.300    232
.350    250
.400    280
.450    305
.500    332
.550    345
.600    360
.650    365

I thought I would post these third party(flowed by customer) numbers, since people always ask about numbers.  These quit at 370.  I could valvejob them differently and make them go about 15 more at .800-.850, but the application didn't warrant that. Exhaust went 266 up top.  These are about 15cfm better than the "Street" version that retains a MR location.  This port requires some intake work, pushrod tube relocation, and offset rockers, but still a "Medium Riser" style head. 

We built this engine and dynoed it a couple of years ago.  It has BBM heads with my prep.  93 octane friendly.  240/248 hydraulic roller.  Made 580 hp with two 600's on a BT manifold.  Has a 31130 Milodon front sump oil pan. Has about 500 miles on it.  Owner traded it in on a 482 combo.  I sold this 445 to a second gentleman.  It never left my shop.  Second owner has since changed plans.  Engine is for sale now.  I will install a port matched RPM manifold, and furnish a carb and dyno if desired.  Price is $12000.  Does not include carb or dyno in that number.  If interested, my email is captcj at hughes dot net. 

Thanks.

Blair Patrick

I am looking for four cherry C4AE-6090G head castings.  Heads need to be uncut from OEM level, and all valve seats need to be in generally good condition.  No seat inserts or sunken seats, especially on exhaust.  Guide wear is not a problem.  All 3/8 threaded holes need to be in good shape. Let me know if you have some good ones that you are willing to part with.  Probably a 75% chance we will use them for an Engine Masters effort.  captcj at hughes dot net. 

Thanks,
Blair Patrick

with Grizzle's new ride, at the local 1/8 mile track.  New car, new engine, etc.   All went well, but the converter turned out to be waaaay too loose.  A good converter slips 4-5% in high gear, at the most.  We had the converter built with a 5800-6000 flash in mind.  Turned out  to flash 6950, and had 18% slip in high gear.  We will have to use a 9" converter like the 385 boys employ.  This ragged FE just drove through the 8" that was tighter than my usual go-to nostalgia piece.  With the new car quirks and the wrong converter, it did manage a 1.16 in 60', leaving at only 3000, and it went 5.30 at 130 mph.  With the converter that loose, it was in high gear right past the tree.  We were mid 11's air/fuel, so some in-car tuning is going to be needed once we change the converter.  I see 1.10 60' coming, high 4's eighth mile, and 7's in the quarter, when it all shakes out.  2800 lbs.  Stay tuned......

As some folks know, I keep a few "shop" 390 builds in the pipeline here amongst the normal head/manifold and engine jobs.  I have decided to do another 390 shootout.  I have two nice shortblocks together, so we're gonna do it again.  Both will get my "baby roller" .525 lift solid roller.  The cam is streetable, mostly because of the low lift, but it is one MEAN .525 lift cam.  These engines will idle ROUGH, and will be "RPM happy".  They won't wake up until around 3000 rpm, and won't be through until after 6500.  One will have a set of C4AE-G heads with very similar flow and capabilities as the iron CJ heads in the first Duel.  The other will get the TFS heads that I bought for testing.  They will receive the Tennessee Tune-Up, but nothing too serious.  Both will have the same high quality bolt-on rocker systems capable of handling the required 550 lb. open pressure.  Compression ratio will be the same on both.  If I can get the iron head to 11:1 without too much milling, that is what both will be.  I'll make the TFS equal to whatever I am bound to on the iron head.  I won't mill more than .060 off the heads, for the sake of reliability and fit-up of the parts.  If the TFS manifolds become available in time, both will get that.  If not, they will probably get Street Dominators or Streetmasters.  I'm just doing it for entertainment and information, but both engines will be sold after the testing, just because I can't sit them in the corner and I'll need to recoop the funds. 

The TFS engine has Scat rods and light CP pistons.  The "G head" engine has a properly worked set of OEM rods, and a set of CP Stock Eliminator pistons.  With the help of spacers, they will get the same ring package.  The light piston won't show any extra power on a dyno, and I think the iron head engine will be getting tired after 7000 rpm, so the stock rods should live there.  The TFS piece will peak power around 7000 with this little cam, so I probably won't run it past 7500. All in good fun, and should be interesting!  Stay tuned.......

"Bought a dyno sale" all this month of February. 10 to 25% off on almost everything I have or can get deals on.  If I have what you need on the shelf, it is 25% off.  If I need to order/drop ship, I will discount it 10% off regular price.  Inquire by email please, at captcj at hughes dot net. Thanks.

Street 390 build, CP pistons with four valve reliefs.  I milled the heads to net 10.5 static compression.  BBM heads with my "standard" $400 hand port upgrade, RPM manifold with port-match and plenum mods.  Holley 830 Annular carb.  232/238 @ .050 on a 12, .580 lift hydraulic roller. Non-adjustable OEM rockers with heavy duty shafts and studs. 

The block had been a Jasper engine at some point and had a .040 tag on it.  We honed it correctly to .050, drilled up the oil galleys and did normal mods, align hone, deck, etc.  No exotics, just attention to details.  Here's what she did:

RPM            TQ           HP
3000           461        266
3500           463        308
4000           497        379
4100           502        392.7
4200           504        402.5
4300           506        415.2
4400           506        423.8
4500           504        432.3
4600           506        442.9
4700           508        454.5
4800           506        461.8
4900           505        470.5
5000           504        479.7
5100           504        489.1
5200           502        497.7
5300           495.9     499.5
5400           489.3     503
5500           484.4     507
5600           481.8     514
5700           479.5     520
5800           473.6     523
5900           467.5     525
6000           462.5     528
6100           457        531
6200           449        529
6300           439        527
6400           430.4     524
6500           423        524

It had the 5325 Morels. No short travel.  I wanted to turn it higher just to see the curve over the top, but we were running out of time, and we found peak HP there at 6100.  With the non-adj rockers and beehive springs, it never missed a beat at 6500.  I suspect it had another 200-300 clean rpm left, because it showed no signs of struggle or fuel curve issues at 6500.  I thought the very flat torque band was notable.