Super Nova Part 3

Hi and welcome to Horsepower TV. And we've got a big day planned here in the shop. It's the day that we're gonna drop our 572 monster motor in our project Supernova race car. But to bring you up to speed, here's what we've done so far. We back half the car using an art Morrison rear clip,

then added a nine inch rear filled with strange engineering guts.

Wilwood disc brakes all the way around

and a set of weld Aluma stars with Mickey Thompson race rubber.

Later, we added a Morrison 12 point roll cage

and fitted all our tin work.

All right

now, just because we're building a race car doesn't mean that same hardware won't work just as well on a street machine. In fact, check out this 69 Mustang Pro Streeter that Joe just brought in. Yeah, Chuck, I tell you what

this Mustang is one serious player on the streets

and the owner Rick Carlisle has used the same Morrison rear clip to keep those massive street mickeys tucked under the fenders. Now that gives this pony a bad attitude as well as this. Arrest me. Red paint job does. But what you really need to see is hidden under that hood scoop there.

Rick relies on a 462 big block to get the job done. Tight squeeze to get it in here, but no squeeze needed for power. Just a holly double pumper on an El Brock intake, keeps this mustang at the head of the herd and I heard that,

but you know, that thing's gonna need more than a shot of nitrous if it's gonna keep up with our project supernova here, especially once we get this thing bolted between the frame rails. Now, this is a 572 race engine that Joe and Warren Johnson screwed together on the show last year.

Actually, what it is is a GM performance parts crate engine that's rated at 720 horsepower right out of the box. Now, I don't know if it was done.

B J's Magic touch or the fact that Joe pretty much stayed out of his way, but this engine actually cranked out more than 750 horsepower on the pump.

Well, if you'll stay out of my way, we can get this old motor out and make way for that new one in no time. In fact, I brought my Ford Wrenches to whale on this 350 man. Put that thing away. Let me give you a hand here. At least that way we know this thing will come out in one piece.

How are we looking you looking clear over there? I think it's gonna make it. Yeah, we're clear over here. Let's pull her back a little bit. Yep.

Clear that tunnel.

Oh,

here

comes

here she comes.

I did pretty good. Yeah.

You didn't have to use your Ford Wrench one time. Oh, man, we could have done this a lot quicker with that wrench

man. Even with that Ford Wrench, it sure is nice to work on a Chevy for a change. Easy for him to say, huh.

Now, in case you missed that show where Warren Johnson and I put together this motor, let me show you something. It starts out live with a tall deck four bolt main block like this. A real race ready piece with extra material down here in the main webs and

up here in the valley as well. Now you'll notice there are extra head bolt bosses to help us cinch down those a little

heads and the boar man, they're huge at over 4.5 inches. In fact, I think if we ever lose a piston, we could probably use one of those coffee cans as a sub. What do you think,

man? Those are some big slugs. All right. You know what? We need a big arm to swing them on and bring that displacement all the way up to 572 cubic inches. So this is what we got. Now, this thing is forged from 4340 steel and it's got a stroke of 4.375 inches.

Now, it's been given the standard performance treatment. It's been nitrated. The journals have all been polished, the filets have been radius and of course the oilers have all been champed.

Now for connecting rods at 572 uses a shot peen Ford steel H beam style connecting rod with a RP cap screws. And of course, they're attached to some Fords 12 to 1 pistons

with a plasma Molly ring pack

and that bottom end is bulletproof, but the valve train is just as serious.

Now, the cam is a solid roller with a split duration

266 on the intake 274 on the exhaust each measured at 50 thousands. Now, the lift is pretty amazing. 714 on both sides. Of course, it uses roller lifters, three eights, push rides and roller rockers with a 1.7 ratio,

of course with an engine as hot as ours. You gotta keep a cool head and we got a pair of them. They're made from aluminum castings with rectangular intake ports that open up to 225 stainless valves. The exhaust valves measure 188 and they both live in combustion chambers that measure 100 18 CCS,

you know, feeding race fuel to 572 cubic inches is no small task, especially at race RPM. S so we're using a competition style induction

with a race demon carb that flows almost 1100 CFM.

Now it's mounted on a single plane, large runner intake with an isolated planum to help keep that incoming fuel charge nice and cool. And of course, this thing is engineered to work specifically with our tall deck block for ignition. We're using a multi spark setup from GM. And this thing's got the total timing set at 36 degrees.

Of course, we can't advance any rounds on race day without a solid transmission to handle 750 horsepower. So we ordered this program glide racing transmission from Hughes performance.

It uses a deed and bear super glide case that's so strong.

Well, it's SF I certified for use without an external flex plate or trans shield. Now, inside we spec a steel input shaft, 9310 alloy gears and a billet output shaft plus a 176 1st gear ratio and a trans break for those quick consistent launches every time. Now with all this good stuff, this thing will easily handle 1500 horsepower.

Our converters are custom built nine inch pro three series that will give us a hard launch to get the car off the line, but a soft transition down track for a more consistent et and this thing uses a forged aluminum stater that multiplies torque better than steel, torrent and bearings and a hardened hub for reliability. Well, you know, you can always rely on me to tell when it's time to take a break and all that time has come. Now while you're gone, we're gonna go ahead and get the old motor there ready for a new oil pan and pick up. So stay with us.

Hey, hey, thanks for sticking with us. You know, our 572 crate motor comes with an oil pan with a sump that's just too long to fit in our Nova's chassis. So we're gonna swap it out for this one for Moroso. Now, this is a six quart pan with the side kick outs here that give us that extra capacity. Plus on the inside. We've got this internal baffling here that keeps the oil down in the sump and away from the crank shaft.

Of course, you'll have to use one of their special pickups with his oil pan and it works in conjunction with one of their blue printed oil pumps. Now, this thing features a bulletproof chrome Molly drive shaft,

anti

cavitation slots for a steady flow of oil. And here's something that I think is really cool. See this little hex head screw here, well, it comes right out so that you can shim this bypass pressure, spring to adjust your oil pressure real easily.

To assemble the pump and the pickup, insert the pickup into the pump to determine which of the mounting screws needs to be removed,

then gently tap the pickup

into the housing,

then using a spacer and bolt from the kit. Install it with some thread lock.

Then both the assembled pump to the main cap and torque it down to 60 ft pounds.

Now, we can install the oil pan, making sure we got at least a quarter to three its clearance between it

and the pickup. Now, I'll do that by covering the pickup with some plastic

and putting some modeling clay on each side of the pickup,

reinstalling the oil pan.

Uh, looks like we've got, uh,

three inch of an inch there,

half an inch there. Right on the money.

Well, that's good. Now, here's some money. Well spent our motor mounts. We debated on whether to go with a motor plate set up or not like a lot of bracers use, but instead decided to go with these steel mounts that boat right up to the frame pedestals. Now, these also come from Moroso and they're formed from thick quarter inch steel. They'll eliminate the need for torque straps or a chain to keep the engine from moving.

Well, we had our noses in the Barroso catalog. We also ordered this billet aluminum water pump that'll free up a few horses. It's got a high flow rate, it'll save a few pounds and it's compatible with both 12 and 16 boat systems. Now, you'll also need one of these hose adapters to make it work. Our Nova uses the one and three quarter inch version,

make sure you use some thread sealer on this adapter to prevent any leaks.

We're about ready to make the transmission and engine together. But the first thing we have to do is install this torque converter on the end of this input shaft here. Now, I know that we've told you this before, but it's important enough. I'm gonna tell you one more time.

You don't want to start this transmission dry. In fact, it's always a good idea to put three or four quarts of fluid in the transmission itself. And another one right here in the converter

before you fire this thing up.

Yeah, that's looking pretty good. Oh, and here's another thing, you always want to take a little bit of this fluid

and smear it here on the outside of this snout here. So it isn't dry against this front seal. Oh, and one more thing, see these tangs here, you wanna make sure that they're fully engaged with your front pump

with the front end of the Nova. It's a lot easier to install the motor and transmission together. So we'll made them up right here where it will be a lot easier to get to those Bell housing boats

and to attach the converter to the flex plate. Of course, the first thing we wanna do is line up the dial pins on the motor with a hose here on the transmission.

Now, a good way to check and see if your torque converter seated properly before you bolt it to the flex plate. Is simply give it a spin

and if it spins freely like ours, well, you're good to go

if it's in a bind though. Well, sorry, you're gonna have to separate the engine and trans and reseat that converter. Well, make sure you keep your seat. We're gonna take a little bit of a break right now. But when we come back we're gonna slide this whole enchilada home. Stay with us. Hey, that breaks for them. Let's get this thing off the table

a little bit. All joy.

Yeah, I think

about high enough there. Yeah, I think that's good. I'll steer you dry.

Well, we are just about to send this 572 crate motor and transmission home. And during the break we installed our trans mounts and of course, we don't have to fool with the cross member since we left it where it was when we pulled the old motor to

see if this thing is gonna fit.

Well, that thing sat in there pretty much like a factory big block would. But remember this is a tall deck motor. So I see some clearance issues already check this out.

Even on a factory big block engine, there's not much clearance between the steering box here and the cylinder head. Now, since it is a tall deck, this head moves up and out and, well, I doubt we're gonna be able to find a set of off the show

headers that'll fit, looks like we're gonna have to get a custom set

fed up. None of just the place for it.

Hey, to give us even more clearance around those headers. What about a manual steering box instead of that power set up? Good idea. Of course, you know, it's a junkyard piece and that's my specialty. So I'll get that handled. Now, what do you say? We see how we're gonna handle the supernova's cooling needs

with over 750 horsepower on tap. This stock radiator just won't do the job anymore. So we ordered this direct drop in aluminum replacement from fluid. Now, check this out, they went ahead and duplicated the dimensions of the stocker perfectly. So this thing will drop right in on the original mounts plus, check out this core. This thing is massive and it's the same one that's used on the radiators. They put

in the Bush Grand National race cars and of course, those things crank out more than 750 horsepower and race for hours at a time. So it ought to be more than what we need.

Now, this thing also saves us a couple of pounds up front. And, hey, that's important on any race car. Well, if yours is a drag race car, you wanna cool down between rounds, but there's no air going through your radiator when you're just sitting in the staging lanes. So

we're gonna use one of these trim line electric fans from flex a light and these things are only 3.5 inches deep. So there's plenty of clearance between it and the motor. They're made of lightweight plastic to shave off a few pounds and they use an eight blade s design that's not only quieter but 20% more efficient than straight blade designs.

First thing we wanna do, of course, is to center it up on the radiator

before installing some of these mounting tabs,

Then take the nylon bolts from the kit and run them through the tabs and radiator core,

then from the other side, secure them with the supplied speed nuts,

trim off the access,

then

drop the radiator into the stock saddle mounts

and secure it with the top plate.

Well, that was pretty easy. Of course, we're gonna wire up the fan and a lot of other components in another show. But right now I've got the final component for our cooling system upgrade. It's this catch can from Moroso. Now, this thing is a mandatory safety item by all sanctioning bodies and it keeps the coolant off the track.

It is a pretty cool piece. It's made from lightweight plastic and it even has a drain cock down here so that you can empty it from time to time.

Now, our battery is gone already. So we're gonna mount it right down here where it'll be close to the radiator and it will still be out of the way

that's gonna do it for our race motor and trans swap. Of course, we got a lot of work ahead of us before the project supernova is ready for the strip. Yeah, and there's a lot more horsepower TV coming at you. So stay with us

next. Some extra power that you can measure as we head to Wyotech to see how going with the flow can free up more. What else? Horsepower

horsepower TV S Quick Tech is brought to you by

Wyotech

in the never ending hunt for horsepower. Everybody's trying to get more air and fuel into their engine.

Now, of course, we all know that porting and polishing your heads is one way to improve the flow and hence the power. But how much can you really expect?

Well, here's a little heads up for you.

Gary Pools uses this flow bench as a teaching aid here at Wyotech, a piece of hardware that's become indispensable in the high performance industry

before we get started. Take us to the basics of this thing, ok.

Our flow bench gives us a way to measure air flow through a cylinder head and it does that by pulling air through the intake port

and blowing air out the exhaust port. And it's gonna tell us how much air flow goes through this and how much power we can make through a set of cylinder heads.

And you can also check a different valve lift.

This opening fixture will hold the valve open at a precise measurement.

It is measured up here in what percentage of flow for a given setting? Ok. Well, we've loaded up this cylinder head from one of Gary's big block Chevys own stock, right? Bone stock. We're gonna see if he can improve the flow in it. But right now we need a baseline. Let's go.

Ok, Gary, what kind of numbers?

89.2% 700 thousands left.

J 700 thousands left. Let's see if we can help that thing out with a reporting. Let's do that.

We're gonna do a basic port and Polish job on the cylinder head and it's gonna consist of bringing out the intake port to the line that we scribed off the gasket and blending it in an inch and a half.

We're gonna take off any sharp edges we see throughout the whole head and we're gonna polish the combustion chamber so that we don't get any hotspots which will cause detonation.

There's a nice impediment right there. Yeah, we're gonna make that one go away

and we're gonna move on to the exhaust and we're gonna port match it as well and we're gonna take out a little bit of the guide for improved airflow, you say about an inch and a half inch. I

That'll do it. Huh? Yes. Any more might be too much, too much. Ok.

I'll start with the carbide cutter to rough out my port shape to the desired size.

I'm going to use light pressure

and slow speeds to get this done and don't take too much material out.

Next, I'll switch to the grinding stone and blend my rough out cut into the port an inch and a half.

And finally using the sandpaper rolls. I'm gonna polish out the port to leave a nice smooth finish.

Well, big difference. Nice word. Thanks, Joe.

Can I show you something over here? Yeah,

most how we polished the exhaust port

and we also polished the combustion chamber. This keeps carbon from sticking on those surfaces.

But on the intake port, potential left a little bit rougher. This keeps our air fuel mixture suspended in the port for us. Very good point. Well, let's load this bad boy up and see what we got. Ok.

Yeah, that's more like it 96.5% at 700 slit.

Of course, you can't beat the bitch when it comes to analyzing results. However,

there's nothing like that seat of your pants test

after the heads are back in the car, which in this case

just happens to be a beautiful drop top Chevelle.

Eat your heart out Hanson

horsepower T V's hot parts is brought to you by J

one call, gets it all one click, gets it quick.

Muscle cars aren't the only machines making a lot of horsepower these days. Chances are your diesel hauler does too. So you want to keep a close watch on exhaust temperatures and turbo boost Well, now you can, with this watchdog digital gauge from bully dog technologies, it's easy to read. It mounts in a pod on your windshield pillar and uses state of the art electronics for accurate readings every time. So you don't have to let your diesel go to the dogs. You can get one of these for 350

that's pretty hot. And now here's something that's pretty cool from cool car ceramic.

It's a new sound dender and insulation that you can apply to the interior and exterior of your machine.

You can brush or spray it on to reduce temperatures by 30 to 35 degrees and interior noise by 10 to 12 decibels.

It also seals the surface from moisture and it'll withstand temperatures from 45 below to 500 above.

You can even apply to the underside of your street rods, fenders to prevent chipping from underneath.

You can easily top coat this stuff to match the colors of your machine. It comes in a two gallon container that's ready to apply. That is after you're ready to fork over 100 and 50 bucks. If you're ready to upgrade your power glide, this new planetary set from BT E is a sure way to make it bullet proof. The output shaft is 4340 for

steel and can even be ordered in a larger turbo 400 style.

The gear housing contains straight cut gears for extra strength and 164 and 180 ratios. And the planetary set also includes the 9310 sun gear and a new steel reverse ring gear. So for a transmission that's tough enough to take your stuff. This might be a steel at about 1250. Hey, I hate to steal your thunder, but I gotta rein you in.

That's it for today. Come see us back here next week, Mr Pun.