AlkyIROC

Back at the beginning of June I snapped a rod bolt in my 540 crossing the 1/4 mile at 150 mph. Instead of going a cheap route and just replacing damaged parts, I decided to build the engine bigger.

As of 8:30 tonight, my new 582 is running. I plan on being at the track this Sunday, Aug 14. My goal was to get everything back together in time for this race and I'm cutting it close.

I could have had it done 2 weeks ago if the valves I ordered were actually ordered. I got the 2 valves on Wednesday, about 5-6 weeks late. The machine shop touched up the seats and I got the head back Thursday morning. On Friday night, the engine was running.

I still have a few more things to adjust and fix but it runs and sounds great.

This will be a good test for a change of cubic inches. Same heads, same cam, same induction etc, etc. Just going from 540 CID to 582 CID. Compression ratio may be slightly higher. Old pistons were around 13.2:1. These new ones should be around 14:1. I wasn't too concerned about the exact numbers so I never calculated it. According to DD, HP should stay the same because it's based on head flow. Torque will increase due to the increased stroke. The cam I'm using with this increased displacement won't need to spin as high to make the same power. I could probably shift at 7000-7200 now instead of 7600.

If traction is good, I should get an 8 second pass but the heat we're expecting on Sunday may kill a lot of power. A very low 9 second pass will do just fine for now.

I only missed 4 local races and 2 were a double header weekend so I actually only missed 3 weekends of racing. There was one out of town race I was going to attend also. 3 more local races and 1 out of town race then the season is over.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Dang Alky!! Next year just go 632 cubes!! LOL!!

If I get any more envious, I'm going to turn green!!

Good luck with it!!

AlkyIROC

632 would be nice but that would be a completely different engine. I would need a tall deck block. These conventional heads wouldn't be good enough. Some Big Chief style heads would be required.

The 582 is about the biggest I could go with this current setup. 4.600" bore and 4-3/8" stroke. The block could be punched out to 4.620 if it really needed a bit more displacement. The nice thing about the Big M block, punched out to 4.600 and the cylinder walls are still .250" thick.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

It'll be interesting to see how the converter reacts to the increase in torque as well.


glad to see that you got it back together

daverr

iTrader: (1)

582 will be alittle easier getting out of the hole. do you think you might run out of gear???

AlkyIROC

I've heard different debates on that. Until I see how far the rpms fall back, I can't make a decision. Chances are the best option is to leave it alone although having it tightened up a few hundred rpm may be an option for next year.

I spent today tweaking a few things. I burned a couple of gallons of fuel to get the engine and exhaust hot. Any oil residue that was in or on the exhaust is now gone. Timing is set. I fattened up the fuel mixture one pill size. I washed the car mainly to get the oil mist off the back of it. The remodified belly pan is back under the engine. I extended the sides beside the sump since the pan is so narrow to clear the headers.

I got a good deal on some double adjustable coil over rear shocks and a couple sets of springs last month. I'm debating going to put them on this afternoon.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

changing too many things at once may have you chasing your tail. i'd see how it reacts to the new found torque, and go from there.

AlkyIROC

Converter worked fine. I was launching at 4500 rpm, shifting at 7200 and the rpms fell back to 6400 after the shift.

Didn't set a personal best today but the engine is making a lot more power. First pass down the track and the DA was 5800 feet. 2000 feet higher than when I ran my best pass in Edmonton back at the end of May.

May 29
Edmonton
540 CID
DA 3800 feet
9.029
148.78 mph

Calgary
Aug 14
582 CID
DA 5800 feet
9.037
147.34 mph

MPH is a little low. Because the DA was so high, I was running really fat. We got 3 time trial passes and I lost in the first round.

My 4 reaction times were .003, .010, 022, .044. I kept getting slower as the day got hotter.

Based on ET, my corrected HP has gone from 880 with the 540 to 930 with the 582 so I'm making around 50 more HP from 42 more CID or at least at this time I am. Just not sure why the MPH isn't matching the ET. If we can get a race day back to our typical 5000' DA or lower, an 8 second pass will be possible.

My girlfriend and a photographer were taking launch pictures. I'll post as soon as they're available.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Getting faster, think a head swap and cam would net even more?


Wonder what this LS powered car would run at that DA?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn9fyO_lSuk

I would like to see that LSX in a gutted 89 or so Formula.

AlkyIROC

Cam swap? Well, there's alway a bigger cam somewhere. The one I currently use is 11-750-14. 0.800" lift 4/7 swap. It works really well with my combination of parts.

Heads? I use heavily ported Dart 360 heads. For an engine this size, conventional heads do have limits. I could go faster using heads like Big Chief but that means expensive heads, different valve train, different intake etc.

I've never seen it but apparently in this months issue of Hot Rod, there's a 5.3L engine making 1200 HP and surviving.

AlkyIROC

Here's two launch pictures that my girlfriend took. I had the extension on the front shocks cranked up to help keep the front end down. They're not cranked up to maximum yet but it's getting close.

I can't wait to see the photographers pictures. My girlfriend was beside him on my first pass and I surprised him with a wheelie. He turned to my girlfriend and asked if she knew I was going to do that. She said "Yes, he has carried the front wheels to the 60' mark"

If I didn't have the extension on the shocks cranked up, I probably would have put the car on the back bumper. Traction today was great. I walked the starting line before racing started and my shoes were trying to pull off my feet.

Because I wasn't tripping the 60' timers with my back tires, my best 60' time today was 1.273

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

A backhalf car surprises the camera man with a wheelie? Doesn't 90% of the cars up there lift the tires at the launch?

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Damn, a 1.2 60, and here i am trying to see if the new 6 puck Tex700 clutch will let me get a 1.4, LOL.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Great to hear its running and well! awesome looking shot of the wheelstand. Can you feel the power falling off quicker with the bigger cubes?? I`m putting that 548 together and wondering about re using the cam out of the 498, the heads I cannot replace so theres no question on those....did you put the DA shocks on? I just found someone to take my qa1 singles, I`m thinking about the strange da`s for a replacement.

AlkyIROC

I set my shift light at 7000 then 7200 on the playback tach. The datalogger says the rpms peaked around 7400-7500 when I shifted at 7200. The engine still had more power but I just wanted to keep the shift points a little lower for now. As I mentioned above, Desktop Dyno says using the same cam, heads etc, my shift point should be lower than the 540. The camcard says the cam makes power to 8000 and I'm pretty sure the heads can support the engine at that rpm but I'm not going to push it that high. I think if I set my shift light for 7600, the datalogger may show a peak of 8000.

Keeping your cam from the 498 to the 548 may or may not be good. A good cam in a smaller displacement may seem a little mild in a larger displacement. It all depends on the grind. Going to a larger displacement may even tame down a cam to make it more predictable.

I never put the DA shocks on yet but they'll probably go on before the race this Sunday. Nothing wrong with the way the car launches and goes down the track with the singles I currently use. It's just nice to have the option to adjust the extension and compression as track conditions change during the season.

That Nova beside me if the bottom picture doesn't look like it pulled the wheels at all. I also think it's a tube chassis car judging on it's stance. He had a 1.533 60' time and only ran 10.765 @ 124.8 mph. We had a couple of Promods testing. One only ran low 9's while another ran mid 7's.

The girlfriend's camera does take some nice pictures and I need her to get more video. In that top photo, she took a burst shot and by the time I was going past her, she couldn't turn fast enough to keep me in frame

This photo is me zipping by her during the first round of eliminations, which I lost I think I was around or just past the 60' mark at this point. Photographers are standing behind a concrete barrier which allows them to support the camera and get good shots from this angle.

If you'll notice, I now have the QR code on my side windows exactly like my Avatar. It simply has a link to take a smart phone to my web site. I figure if someone is walking through the pits and sees the car when I'm not around, they can always scan the code and see all the information about it on the web site. It's 2" square but I may make it smaller.

AlkyIROC

Picture from the photographer. This was my first pass with the new engine. The driver of the altered beside me came over after the run to ask me about the car. He couldn't believe I took off as fast as I did and he couldn't catch me.

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

wow, the altitude must really throw things out of wack up there. my car on motor usually hits a 1.55ish 60' and its setup for the bottle. it would be strange seeing a tube chassis car leave that slow. lol

anyways, good to see you got the car back together. and quickly, at that!