Engine Masters
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 Bam!
00:20 This is the very first episode of an all new series called Engine Masters,
00:25 presented by AMSOIL.
00:26 On this show, you're gonna see me and my buddies having a whole lot of fun,
00:30 while doing serious testing on the engine dyno.
00:33 We're going to be verifying the performance of speed parts.
00:35 We're gonna be doing a lot of head to head shootouts, and
00:37 telling you the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:41 With me, you'll see Steve Dulcich, who is the editor of Engine Masters Magazine.
00:45 And you'll see other Steve, Steve Brule, who runs this place,
00:49 West Tech Performance Group in Mira Loma, California,
00:52 where we do all of our dyno testing on the Superflow 902.
00:56 And we're gonna kick it off,
00:57 finding big stinky power with a tunnel ram on a crate motor.
01:01 Here's our baseline for the day.
01:03 A blueprint engine's 400 cubic inch small block Chevy,
01:06 that's advertised to make 508 horsepower and 473 pound feet of torque.
01:11 We'll find out.
01:13 The company is also pretty interesting, because they design stuff,
01:16 they manufacture it, and they assemble it and
01:19 sell crate engines which are tested before they leave.
01:22 This block is actually made by Blueprint Engines.
01:25 So is the cylinder head.
01:26 And when they put it together, they'll sell you this whole thing for
01:29 7,000 bucks, which is a pretty good deal,
01:31 considering it comes with everything you see here except for the water neck,
01:35 the electric water pump, the damper, and these dyno headers.
01:39 Now let's talk about the tech basics on this thing.
01:41 First of all, the Blueprint block is cool because it comes with a 4125 inch bore.
01:47 That's bigger than a standard 350 Chevy, which is four inch.
01:50 The compression ratio on this is a zero deck 10.3 to 1 with forged pistons and
01:56 a forged crankshaft.
01:57 The camshaft in this is a hydraulic roller.
01:59 It's 236, 242 degrees of duration at 50,000 tap it lift.
02:04 The lift is 553, 576 and it's on a 110 degree lobe separation angle.
02:10 Up top are the cylinder heads that we'll be testing today.
02:13 These are an as cast head, non ported with a 220 CC intake runner.
02:20 Up top, we've got a high rise dual plane intake manifold and
02:24 that is an 850 CFM Holley double pumper.
02:27 Ignition is standard HEI and the headers here are dyno headers,
02:31 which make good power, and they're a one and three quarter inch tube.
02:34 As usual, we called Uncle Amsoil and said, what oil do we run in this thing?
02:39 And their answer was their Z-Rod 1030.
02:42 The Z-Rod is meant for classic muscle cars and hot rods and things like that.
02:45 It has a lot of zinc in it.
02:47 You've probably heard of that for protection on flat tap it cams.
02:50 This does have a hydraulic roller in it, but
02:52 they still like to see zinc in these older engines.
02:55 And they put a rust preventative in this, so that if you don't drive your car that
02:58 much and it's sitting around and it gathers condensation inside,
03:02 you're not gonna see any rust.
03:03 Oh, look at the long pour, yeah.
03:06 We've got the Blueprint 400 loaded on the dyno and
03:09 they shipped it with a dyno sheet that Steve is holding.
03:13 And it claims 509 at 6200, which is right on target.
03:17 But they made way more than 500 pound feet all through the mid 4000 range,
03:22 with a peak of 516.9.
03:26 Wow.
03:26 So- A lot of torque.
03:28 We'll see.
03:28 That's a lot of torque, even for 400 inches.
03:30 This is the moment when we find out if Blueprint is mad at me or happy with me.
03:35 [LAUGH]
03:45 Nowhere near.
03:57 Yeah, we've got some tuning to do, obviously.
03:59 It's still way rich.
04:01 Here's what happened there.
04:02 You saw that it ran way too rich.
04:04 So while these guys were changing jets, I called Blueprint Engines and
04:08 I'm like, what's going on?
04:09 They normally test at like a 72 jet and they're at 2500 feet of elevation.
04:14 This thing had 80s in it.
04:16 80s front and rear, which is kind of unusual.
04:20 We looked at the cruise air fuel ratio right before we went and
04:23 made the jet change and I think we're gonna be good and safe here.
04:25 Okay, let's find out how much we fixed it.
04:28 [SOUND]
04:38 Well, we now have rock solid oil pressure.
04:47 That's better.
04:47 I didn't look at the power number.
04:48 What do we got?
04:49 Yep.
04:50 This is now pretty much exactly what Blueprint claimed.
04:54 516 pound feet, we're down a little bit from that, 504.
04:59 They're making 509 horsepower, we're down just a hair of that, 507.
05:03 So this thing is making more than its advertised power.
05:07 Well over the advertised power and it's very encouraging to know that someone
05:10 else calibrates their machines.
05:12 [SOUND]
05:15 Now we get into the meat of my theory, beginning with the fact that this intake
05:19 manifold and carburetor made 500 horsepower, 500 pound feet of torque.
05:23 It's a high rise dual plane.
05:24 We've run these a lot, we know they work good under 6500 RPM.
05:28 But you'll see a lot of guys take an engine like this and
05:31 they wanna make more power, they wanna go to the drag strip and
05:33 they will install something like this big Super Victor intake.
05:37 This can be good at the drag strip.
05:39 It probably will make more horsepower up at the top end, but
05:42 I am gonna guarantee you from experience, nine times out of ten,
05:46 this is gonna throw away power below the torque peak.
05:49 Virtually every single time.
05:51 And that's all about runner length.
05:53 The dual plane has a big long runner.
05:55 This has a shorter runner and more plenum volume,
05:57 which brings us to the tunnel ram.
05:59 The thing I see on the internet all the time is people saying,
06:01 you can't run a tunnel ram on the street.
06:03 That's only for high RPM, that's not gonna work.
06:05 I'm gonna go on a limb right now and say that when we run this on our Blueprint 400,
06:10 it's gonna make more power at every point in the curve than that dual plane.
06:15 And here's why.
06:16 It has a long runner to it.
06:18 This isn't a short race style tunnel ram.
06:21 This is a big street tunnel ram with a long runner.
06:24 And that's gonna give us the torque that we're looking for at the bottom end.
06:27 But it has way more airflow than we have going on here,
06:31 cuz of course it has twice the number of carburetors.
06:33 And it makes power because it has a much straighter shot into the port.
06:37 With this type of manifold design, you've got your port here and
06:39 your manifold here, the air's gotta make a turn.
06:42 This one's a straight shot down to the valve.
06:44 And that's why my theory, which we're about to back up,
06:47 is that that tunnel ram is gonna work better than any of these intakes.
06:51 One downside though, this junk is heavy.
06:54 [MUSIC]
07:00 This is an old Edelbrock TR1Y.
07:04 It has, I think, the tallest runners of any of them and
07:07 the biggest cross section in the runner for just a cast street manifold.
07:11 The carburetors, you'll notice, are also old school.
07:14 I didn't go with the HPs.
07:16 So this is a regular old school Holley 4779.
07:20 It just wakes it up, doesn't it?
07:21 >> Yeah.
07:22 >> It looks good. If it runs as good as it looks, we're in good shape.
07:24 [MUSIC]
07:34 Okay, before we begin, we all need to write down a number.
07:42 >> This will be good.
07:43 >> We're gonna write it down, not share it with the other guy.
07:45 >> Well, this is all well and good, but what's on the line?
07:48 I think to make it interesting, we ought to have a little green on the table.
07:54 >> Big fell?
07:55 >> Yes. >> I got me some five.
07:57 >> Okay, so here you go.
07:58 >> So now it's- >> Hey, I'm not doubling down.
08:00 >> There you, yes you are.
08:01 >> Holy cow, no, I don't know about that.
08:03 >> [LAUGH] >> Really?
08:06 >> Here.
08:06 >> There you go, look at that.
08:09 [SOUND]
08:19 >> Ridiculously fat.
08:20 >> But- >> And ridiculously high power.
08:22 >> Yes. >> I missed.
08:24 >> I did too.
08:25 Let's go for our numbers right now.
08:26 Okay, because I know I was ridiculously far off.
08:31 >> What did you say for horsepower?
08:32 >> 532.
08:35 >> What did you say for horsepower?
08:36 >> 532.
08:37 >> [LAUGH]
08:41 >> Look at that, he did 535 and-
08:43 >> 537.
08:44 >> [LAUGH]
08:46 >> What's really funny about this is how
08:48 close we all guessed.
08:50 And then we discovered basically that dual plane was hurting this thing.
08:54 >> Yeah. >> I was correct that it did move up in
08:56 RPM, way up, 5,490 RPM at 510.
09:00 But it's making 545 horsepower and this thing is pig rich.
09:04 11.3, we're gonna make this thing make 550 here in a couple minutes.
09:07 This thing made a lot more horsepower than I expected, but not the torque.
09:10 [MUSIC]
09:17 We just leaned the thing out so hopefully it doesn't run at ten to one wide open.
09:21 So we took four jet sizes out of all four corners.
09:24 And Steve's dino brain says that pulls out exactly one point of air fuel ratio.
09:29 >> That'll make it perfect.
09:30 >> And also notice how the tunnel ram fires right up.
09:33 And notice how the tunnel ram idles like a pussycat.
09:36 >> They are hard to cold start on the street in the morning.
09:38 You gotta pump quite a bit of fuel into them.
09:40 >> That must be in Michigan.
09:41 >> Right. >> And we're in California, so
09:43 it doesn't matter.
09:43 >> Right. Yeah, forget those people.
09:45 >> [LAUGH]
09:45 [SOUND]
09:55 >> It appreciated that a lot.
10:02 >> Yeah.
10:03 >> It's actually pretty good with the numbers as far as air fuel.
10:05 >> Yeah, I saw that.
10:06 It really didn't like to load though.
10:08 It's hard to do wide open throttle at full stall at 3,000 RPM.
10:11 >> Yeah, but it crossed over way earlier in the curve.
10:14 >> Now we're making 553 horsepower and 519 pound feet of torque.
10:19 Let's see the overlay with the dual plane.
10:20 >> [SOUND]
10:22 >> I'm still losing.
10:24 I made the vehement statement that the tunnel ram was gonna be better than
10:27 the dual plane everywhere in the curve.
10:29 And it's doing more of a typical dual plane versus single plane thing.
10:32 >> You need to pay more attention to Internet experts.
10:35 >> That's the problem.
10:36 >> I'm obviously not one.
10:37 >> Nice doing business with you guys, fellas.
10:40 >> Nice doing business, boy.
10:41 >> That's right.
10:43 >> I've always liked tunnel rams.
10:44 >> Yeah. >> And we've proven that
10:46 the small block Chevy loves tunnel rams.
10:48 >> It does. I've actually had this thing on a 305 Chevy and on a 350.
10:52 And that's where my claim came from that it was gonna make more power
10:55 everywhere in the curve, but it kinda let me down on this thing.
10:58 >> Well, you can't concentrate on the negative.
11:00 We picked up about 50 horsepower on top.
11:03 >> More than that.
11:04 >> Wow. >> Yeah.
11:05 >> That's pretty good.
11:05 >> Would you sacrifice a measly 20 pound feet down at RPM that you never drive in
11:11 for 50 horsepower up top?
11:12 No. >> It makes that bottom end
11:14 completely irrelevant.
11:15 >> I've gotta say, as much as we're hyping the tunnel ram, a lot of people,
11:20 it's still not for them cuz the whole of the hood.
11:22 And also, you really need to be pretty savvy with your carburetors to get
11:25 the drivability down.
11:26 Part throttle drivability on this thing can be a challenge.
11:29 I gotta give props to Blueprint too.
11:30 This 400 inch crate motor did exactly what they claimed it was gonna do and
11:34 took a pretty good beating while it was at it.
11:36 >> Yeah, this is a great motor with a great induction.
11:39 It's a pretty good combination.
11:40 >> So you're sold?
11:41 >> Man, I'd love to have this thing in a Camaro or a Nova or something like that.
11:44 >> You heard that from Moparguy.
11:46 That's all you can get on this episode of Engine Masters presented by Amsoil.
11:50 But you can get more in between shows.
11:52 Go to social media where you can interact with Steve himself on Instagram
11:56 on the account known as Engine Masters and on Facebook, it's Hot Rod Engine Masters.
12:01 And one more thing, Motor Trend On Demand.
12:04 It's a new deal from our company.
12:06 It's basically like Netflix for car guys.
12:08 We've got movies and TV shows and Steve Dulcich starring in Engine Masters,
12:13 all sorts of stuff like that, plus live motor sports.
12:16 It's that Motor Trend On Demand.
12:19 But you can also see Engine Masters here on YouTube and we will see you next time.
12:23 Thank you very much for Amsoil for presenting Engine Masters.
12:26 [MUSIC]
12:36 >> You know, think of this Dulcich.
12:41 >> Yeah? >> There's a bunch of kids watching right now who have never seen this.
12:47 They don't even know what a carburetor is.
12:48 >> They just know that it looks magnificent, whatever it is.
12:51 >> Oh, they're realizing that right now.
12:52 >> Yeah.
12:52 [MUSIC]
13:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]