GFN Tech Features for 2008

[Robert_McDonald]

GFN – Tech Features planned for 2008

By

Robert McDonald

GFN officially opened for business on September the 1st 2007. As you can see we have managed to put quite a few hot features up on line. Judging by the responses it looks like our engine tech stuff is hitting the mark. But that does not mean we can sit back any take it easy. What it does mean is we have set our sights high and for 2008 we plan to do better yet.

Here’s the low down on some of the features in the works.

Ultra Pro Machining’s billet aluminum water jacket small block Chevy heads.

How about this – a water jacketed, billet, small block Chevy head being introduced shortly by Ultra Pro Machining (704-392-9955 - ask for Don). This is based on the 18 degree head so has in line valves. The big difference though is in the valve to bore angle. These UPM heads feature a 9 degree angle and big valves to get the flow. At present the final port design is not frozen but the 2.2 inch intake valve/port is showing 425 cfm while the exhaust, with a 1.6 inch valve is at some 250 cfm. These numbers are better than most of the Cup Car SB 2 heads used up until mid 07.

Optimizing valve events – do the cam companies give good advice?

Ever wondered just how much difference there may be between cam recommendations from one cam company to another? Well guess what - we called all the top cam companies for a recommendation for an engine that was already cam event optimized just to see how well they new their business. The results are going to be an eye opener for most of you. They are also going to show that the stories about cam speccing as per your typical performance magazine are a re-hash of all the old wives tales, myths and mistakes that have perpetrated through the industry for years.

This survey has finally prompted David Vizard to show what really happens to the optimal valve opening/closing points as various factors are change.

As DV is quick to point out this tech stuff is not his opinion but is based on dyno results garnered over several years. The number of tests involved is simply staggering. Round #1 involved 350, 383 and 406 inch small block Chevy engines with 3 pairs of heads, two different CR’s and two intake manifolds. In each of these cams were tested at three to five lobe centerline angles with three different rocker ratio’s and two too four different event timing splits. This resulted in over 8000 usable dyno tests to isolate various factors such as cubic inches to valve size/flow the effect of CR, rod length etc. But that was only round 1! Two more massive sessions like this resulted in a best selling range of cams for one of Europe’s top cam companies. These tests were for Mini Coopers MGB’s Pinto and a few others. If we add to these the fairly numerous small cam test sessions DV has also done we are looking at something approaching 15,000 useful combination tests. It’s going to be a monster but if you are a real gearhead you are going to love this one!

The 100 mpg carb - fact or fiction?

This story has created a lot of buzz and we are now getting to the point where GFN has a big enough audience to get the performance with economy section of GFN started. It will answer a lot of questions and I don’t doubt that DV will tick off a lot of the factory engine designers and market planners. In his opening article here he is going to show how as many as 3 out of four cars that you may buy have the wrong engine in them which means you may have been sold a bill of goods.

The Combustion Dynamics series will continue and we should have some really good in-cylinder pressure stuff to show here. There will b e some fuel issues discussed that will almost certainly tick off at least 75% of the race fuel manufactures unless they step up R&D in certain area’s. We just have to see on this one.

Dusty’s Projects.

But Tech Ed Vizard is not the only show in town here. Dusty is checking out to see just how little can be spent to make a streetable 500 inch BB Chevy that will crank out 700 plus hp. That project is looking good so far.

Coming real early in the new year - racers on a constrained budget are going to love this one! It's how to home port a set of heads in one day that deliver high dollar CNC results for about $850 ready to drop on the block so you know that includes head castings (new), springs, valves etc.

And we are still trying to drag in those 4 valve LS heads for a flow test. Dusty is also building, with DV, a 383 street small block with a tunnel ram style intake equipped with electronic fuel injection. The target is 500 hp and 500 lbs-ft for what is essentially an economy biased motor!

Wanna see what it takes to modify a stock 5.0 block to hold out semi indefinitely with a 1000 hp? Dusty’s got the low down on this one.

GFN’s McDonald Division


As for stuff in the pipe line of GFN’s Robert McDonald division (that’s me) look for a relatively low cost street 331 small block Ford build with nitrous added. This, as you will see, is a ‘show and go’ unit that would look wild in the engine bay of any 5.0 Mustang.

I realize this won’t go down very well with the flow bench manufactures but I am planning to show how to build a flow bench that is every bit as good as a $10,000 commercial unit for under $200 and a couple of weekends work. From there I will show how to upgrade it to full electronic digital readout – on a budget not exceeding $950!

Also between the three of us look out for a couple of street turbo small block Fords, an injected 600 inch big block Chevy, a feature (and hopefully some testing) on a trick new dyno that none of us can afford plus a lot more.

In addition to all this there is going to be a strong push on the building of cost effective low budget engines. As part of this we wanted to incorporate how E85 gas has a far more positive impact on the performance enthusiast than might at first be supposed. The problem is we have not been able to track down the PR people who might be able to get us a budget to work on here. Any idea’s here?

The forgoing is far from a complete list of what is planned but it will give you an idea of what to expect. However I have saved what I consider the best for last. We have some diesel truck engines we are hopping up and along the way developing some speed parts that we will hand over to some company in this line of business to sell to the public. Some of the stuff is about as secret as a winning Cup Car engine mod but by this time next year all will be revealed but just to keep you guys on the hook I will give you some clues. Clean combustion, high boost, more economy. Sound good? I thought so.

Robert McDonald

[mlilja]

Hi Robert.

I have been checking in almost daily waiting with baited breath for DV's article on performance and economy. I just read your 2008 teaser post and have a few thoughts on places to go for your E-85 idea:
-American Coalition for Ethanol: American Coalition for Ethanol : Home
-AERA and there E-85 power shoot out: AERA E85 Power Shootout
-Renewable Fuels Association: RFA - Renewable Fuels Association
-Minnesota Corn Growers Association: Minnesota Corn Growers Association
-National Corn Growers Association: National Corn Growers Association - NCGA

All have a vested interest in ethanol and E-85. You might want to start here. As far as the rest of your plans for 2008, I am really looking forward to 2008 at GFN!

Mike

[MadBill]

What a great array of upcoming articles! Can't wait for oh eight!

-Especially the massive cam optimization report. Guess it's a little late for requests, but I would love to see some LCA Vs. header design stuff. The vast majority of recommendations, including DV's, are ~ 106 -108, yet I've seen a number of top running engines that need much more (e.g.., consulted recently on a 358 SB2.2 'NASCAR take-offs' road race engine, where the builder expected a 106 to do the job, but after a number of cam swaps, hit the numbers and RPM range (6,500 to 8,500) with 835 HP @ 8,200 and a rev limit of 9,000+ using a 112° LCA and 3-step merge/meg headers.

My theory is that with off-the-shelf engine parts and headers, narrow LCAs are a logical and low-risk choice, but with everything, especially header dimensions, optimized and over 300° seat durations, they result in over-scavenging and a wider LCA is superior.

[Catherwood]

Can't wait for the articles on economy and power. I caught DV's story on the Chrysler 4 cylinder and how at part throttle this engine did very well in the economy department. How about an engine build using a 400 sbc block and a 3" crankshaft from an L99 engine? Flat top pistons and 5.94" rods? 270 degree cam? Ten or eleven to one compression ratio? Is that different enough? There was a magazine build about 10 years ago along those lines, but not many details other than the power output.

Will the camshaft article describe the selection process for various lengths of stroke and the associated rod length? How can the dynamic compression ratio be calculated and how to select components for the intended use of the engine?