I'm finally getting around to putting together the engine for my Imperial. It's not a high-zoot almighty power house but it needs to fit the application.

That application is a 440 powered 5300 lb land yacht with a 727, 3.23 gears, and 29" tall tires. It needs to be able to cruise anywhere I care to go and will need to survive on 91 octane.

This is the first time I've built an engine for this kind of application and I'd like to know if I'm pushing things a bit too far.

Here's the parts I've got on hand:

Eddy Performer heads (early production).
Icon flat top pistons
Stock block, crank, and rods
Cometic 0.027" head gaskets
CH4B intake (possibly swapping to Performer 440) - no hood clearance for a Performer RPM frown
Carb: TBD. Will likely change to throttle body injection after the engine is installed.
Headman 1-3/4" mid length headers with 2-1/2" collectors and 2-1/2" dual exhaust

I measured the assembled piston height, combustion chamber, and all other bits involved. This presents me with 0.036" quench and 10.2 compression.

So good so far.

Now for the cam. It's a highway cruising stick ground for heavy torque to get this beast moving and hold it there climbing hills at highway speed.

Duration @ .050" 218 - 218
Duration @ .006" 261 - 261
Gross lift .463" - .463"
Separation 110
Intake open 3 BTDC close 35 ABDC
Exhaust open 43 BBDC close 5- ATDC

This little stick should purr like a kitten (and bore you to sleep with the exhaust note) while making good vacuum and working from 1500 to 5000 rpm.

Will this little guy make too much cylinder pressure?
Will the aluminum heads and quench work together to reduce the chance of detonation?

If I have to run the timing back a little to control detonation will I be giving up more efficiency (read: torque) than I would by reducing the compression with a thicker head gasket?

I don't mind it being a premium gas engine as long as it delivers the performance I want. My wet dream is 500 lb/ft down low and maybe, just maybe 400 hp around 5200 at the crank.

I do plan on doing a cam break in and basic tune on the engine dyno before installation.

We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind.
- Stu Harmon