Dan Lee 434 on the dyno

[danlee]

The head gaskets are ROL brand graphite. They didn't pull the head yet, so I can't be sure why or how it failed. The short block was built by Tim Meyer using an Eagle 4.25" stroker steel crank made for a 351W, H beam rods, 4 bolt mains and forged pistons. He has built a few of these motors. He used my CHI-3V alloy heads and valve train. The Static CR is 10.8:1.

[pud]

I know youve got to machine the snout down to fit the 400 crank in a windsor, how do you do it in the reverse application?

[grclark351]

Rollmaster makes a timing set that does it, or there is a spacer you can use. i think the Rollmaster PN's are CS3110, CS3120 and CS3130, std, shim and torrington.

i keep reading about the factory/replacement Cleveland crank sprocket being about .005" loose on the W snout though, what's up with that and how do you fix it?

[Torque1st]

Tim Meyer can fix you up with all the parts you need for your stroker. But since he is an expert on these engines and most machine shops know diddly about Fords, much less a 335 series, it is best to have Tim machine and assemble your engine.

[acc2828]

Unbelievable Tim if you keep this stuff up when it come time next year for me to order that 400 up grade I emailed you earlier about I may have to scrach my wallet some more for a few more up grades. Congrates

[Brian S]

I've started a thread about this engine on a couple other forums and getting a lot of interesting feedback.

A couple guys are wondering what valve springs were used. I was wondering myself about the 20 degree split in duration and the 114 LSA. The wide angle is great for a big fat torque curve but could it be having a large effect on peak power?

Another person who sells custom cams was warning about camshaft flex when using aggressive lobe profiles on reduced base circle cams. Most retrofit block conversions using OE hydraulic roller lifters require cams with a small base circle.

This last comment was hard to simplify so I'll just paste part of it below as is.
Does the EFI require a different distibutor?
------------------------------------------------------

"It is possible at 70 psi, that you may be getting some spark scatter from the load on the dizzy (which drives the pump thru the hex shaft) if it bogs the distributor enough to throw off the timing. The power required to turn an oil pump is not linear, IIRC, it is geometric. Twice the flow requires four times the energy. That may be enough to cause enough parasitic drag to wreak havoc. A few degrees is a big deal at full load and WOT. I saw a GM ZZ 572/720 V8 on the pump nearly turn into a $14,000 paperweight for almost the same reason.

DFI cleaning up the problem is instructive, my guess is that there is something of a 'hole' in the secondary circuit where the airflow overcomes the ability of the carb to feed it. Might be worth looking at the data trace to see what the vaccum is at that stumble point and what happens to the EGTs.

Things like lifter pre-load are good to check and cheap. Doublecheck the spring pressures, roller assemblies are really heavy and maybe it needs a different damper, it is possible there could be a wierd harmonic moment in the spring that makes it go wobbly, but seeing as how the DFI cleared up the problem, prolly not."

[TMI]

This engine has a spring spec of about 390# open and 150# seat pressure. I spent a little time with Comp on these springs, seems like in the last 3 weeks they have had 5 cases of needing more pressure on:

1) big valve heads
2) big rocker ratio heads
3) roller cams

Clevelands and BBC engines.

Dans original springs were also a roller cam spring, but the lightest ones they suggest. I would be willing to bet Comp, knowing what they know now would not even list the smaller spring.

These 400 retrofit cams are not a small base circle cam.

The ROL performance head gasket is a Graphite W/steel core & stainless steel fire ring.

As stated previously, our stroker kits include the timing set for the exact reason stated, Rollmaster sells the exact combination and we usually order a number of them to make it worth it.

Hope this help answer some questions,

[danlee]

I am anxious to see if the problem still exist after the head gasket is R&Red.

The EFI does require a different distributor.

I was able to get some insight into the EFI tuning process. I will need to install a wideband when I get the motor installed.

According to simulation, that cam should develop significant peak power as well as a broad torque curve.

[TMI]

Dan's engine is up and running again. After a few warm up pulls, we poured the coals to her. Looks like we have a peak HP of 503 and peak torque of 529.

I have not even contacted Dan on this yet.

Dan I will when I get a min.

[danlee]

That's good news Tim. The peak torque numbers look great, but I was expecting a little more HP. The torque must be falling off at a lower RPM than the simulation predicted. We probably are not quite getting the intake/exhaust flow that I used in the simulator.

It would be nice to see some of those flat curves.

[TMI]

I really think we are losing some because of the small headers. By a small chance I may be able to get the headers we used to dynoo the 360 Boss. Those will give plenty offlow then.

[apachetech]

What size of headers are you using? 1 3/4 or the 1 5/8?

[TMI]

The ID is 1-5/8" I know there would be some gains in this area just by having a larger header.

[apachetech]

That is good to know because I had planned on using the 1 3/4 inch headers. Great numbers though!! I am still anxious to get mine to the dyno point.

[TMI]

Well I am on my way to pick-up the headers we used on the 3600 Boss. We should have some numbers by Saturday noon.