This last Thursday and Friday Video Editor Jeff Garrison was at QMP Racing filming our 427ci small block Ford build. During the filming he took pictures on my Canon 7D as well, but like a kid in a candy store, I requested some cell phone cam shots as well during the build.
Brad Lagman and the QMP Racing team started on the machining, which took up most of the day Thursday. The Dart Iron Eagle block was loaded up and CMM’d first to map out the block. Once the CMM had finished getting the coordinates it needed, it began opening up the lifter bores to make way for the lifter bushings. From there, the block was decked and line honed. The final bore hone was done on another machine and washed afterwards.
In the mean time, the Eagle H-beam rods and Ross forged pistons were paired up. Brad set the proper gap on the Total Seal AP steel rings, loose enough to support the 13-18 psi of boost we are going to need to hit our goal. Also the Eagle 4340 forged crank was balance tested and came back perfect, not needing any mallory or further drilling. Though, a second key was added into the crank to make sure the Innovators West balancer stayed in place.
Friday started with the crank in the block along with a test rod and piston to check for proper rod and crank clearance. A light amount of grinding needed to be done on the bottom of the bores to ensure proper clearance before the block got its final bath before assembly. The block with lifter bushings, oil feed restrictors, and pipe fittings installed was ready to be assembled. The ARP main studs were snug in place along with the coated main bearings. Eagle’s crank fit right back into place and was secured with Dart’s 4-bolt, splayed, billet steel main caps. The slugs were dropped into their corresponding holes and the short block was complete.
The Melling oil pump with standard pressure and higher volume was put in place. Since we plan to gut the shock towers out of the Mustang and convert over to a Mustang II type suspension, a rear sump Canton oil pan replaced the traditional front sump setup. The Netgaskets.com Cometic head gaskets were put in place next as the Dart 225cc CNCed heads were slid down the ARP head studs. The Crower-supplied custom grind hydraulic roller camshaft made its way into the motor and the Crower shaft mount rocker stands were bolted in place, though the stainless shaft mount rockers have not been bolted down, since we needed to order push rods that were dialed into our application.
The last order of business was to mount up the Ford Performance Solution’s ported Edelbrock Super Victor intake manifold and AED blow-thru carburetor. The Paxton NOVI-2500 supercharger and Renegade bracket system was mounted up to the motor for pictures sake, though it still needs to be properly clocked, along with a fabricated intake pipe that will mount up to Paxton carburetor Powerhat.
That’s concludes our teaser for now. The engine dyno testing will take place in the next couple weeks and will follow with a full tech article on the engine build and hopefully the engine will make its way into the engine bay around February!
