A customer brought in an Indy aluminum block with a 4.150 rotating assembly and a set of Edelbrock Victor heads. The heads have been ported, but are still standard port size. We're looking at the collection of parts and it doesn't look like it will work since the Indy block isn't drilled for lifter oiling or for block oiling. So there is no way to oil the Victor heads. Valve covers with oiling bars might work, but seems iffy. Drilling the block for standard oiling is possible but probably not something we want to do. I'm thinking our options are either to send the block back to Indy for oiling mods, or talk the customer into a set of Indy heads. Any other options I'm overlooking?

you will be miles ahead by sending it back to be drilled for lifter oiling - either way!

I would talk to him about what his future mods or goals might be . Personally i would definately want pressurized oil to the lifters and through the pushrods as well. No sense building something that paints a guy into a corner, IMHO.

I guess the other option is selling the Indy block and putting all the parts on a factory 440 block. Standard port Victor heads don't really need an aluminum block and selling the block could fund the rest of the build.

Sounds like the block needs some work. What are his goals? What rockers does he intend to use? What's the bore size? When you say the heads are ported, are they hand ported?, CNC? I wouldn't use standard port window on anything over 470 cubes.

External lines from oil pressure port, connected to a milled connection through the head, to a rocker stand.

I understand the reluctance to put standard ports on bigger motors, but torque and horsepower start at the beginning of each gear, an the fun starts early i was going low tens at 3400 lbs with 906 heads, 11/1 cimpression with no quench, 535 cubes, a 4.10 gear and 33 inch tall slicks.

There is a set of B-1 MC on meatbook which includes T/D rockers and lifters, along with a gear drive and valve covers. Keep the block and get these heads instead, guy wants 9 grand.

Customer doesn't have rocker arms yet, heads have valves in them but no springs. I'm not sure on his goals, we'll have to have another discussion. The block is 4.375 and the crank is 4.150 so it will be a 499. The heads appear to be hand ported but I'll have to take another look at them.
The cam is 270/278 solid roller and the compression ratio is around 12.5 and it has a Dominator carb, so it is going to be more of a race engine than a street engine. I don't know what power level he is expecting. The standard port heads will limit the power for sure but it might be enough for what he wants.

I ran 268/272 on a victor headed 500. Comp hxl/hxx lobes. It peaked at 6400. Didn't require a lot of spring. If I recall, the springs were 220ish on the seat, 550 over the nose. Pac springs and retainers. .680ish net lift. It was around 7200rpm through the traps. Worked good. I mention this because valve spring package can get tricky on victor heads.

The rocker stands are very low. They need moved up and back away from valves. I would have to look through my notes, but it was a significant amount. Of course, that will vary dependant on lift and rockers used.

The sheet metal valley tray is trash. They work harden, and crack. I never could get one to last very long. I made a 3/8 thick aluminum one that works pretty good. Pushrod clearancing can be labor intensive.

I don't mean to sound like a negative Nancy. I'm just reiterating what you already know. Victors usually aren't a bolt on and go head.

Yeah I passed on the Victor heads when they first came out because they were "odd" so I wasn't happy to see a customer drag this set into the shop! We just need to talk to him and tell him he has to make some decisions because the parts he bought don't work with each other. I think he should sell the heads and the intake and buy a set of Indy 440-1 heads an an MW intake. But it isn't my money.

I'd keep with any aftermarket block and do what's necessary to get it right as the foundation. It just is what it is (costs) and by coming to you, it seems like he's found a place to go who's builds are sound/integrity . I do have some Indy top-half stuff I'm selling soon to upgrade HP for whatever that's worth. Keep s updated as to how this block comes together and any works. Like has been mentioned, pushrod oiling is just something it should have standard.

x2... but it isn't my $$$, either

I believe the easiest way is to use a set of AMC lifters which then give you pushrod oiling. They used to be available in roller and flat tappet, comp makes them.

The Indy block doesn't have oil to the lifters so the AMC lifter trick doesn't work. The Indy block just uses splash oil for lifter lubrication, there isn't a drilled passage for oil pressure.

The Edelbrock Victor and B1 heads don’t get the respect they deserve because they aren’t grab a set and throw them on heads. Both require lots of pushrod clearancing. And of course porting work. My Indy heads were a cakewalk compared to my B1 heads to get ready. But both will make a crazy amount of horsepower. My buddy was a mechanic and did home porting on his heads but didn’t have a flowbench. He bought his set over to flow on my calibrated bench and they went around 378 cfm. The exhaust side was weak so I showed him what to do and he did one port and we flowed them the next day and they did better. The Victor heads can be made to flow in the 390-400 cfm area. I have heard some confusing stories about rocker arms but I’m not sure about that

The customer had these Victor heads ported by Frankenstein Engine Dynamics out of TX. I don't know anything about that shop other than they are big in LS engine stuff including their own line of LS heads. I didn't find a flow sheet in the boxes and I don't know any details on what they did to the heads. Rocker arm assemblies are available from T&D for these heads but I don't know how well any of the stuff fits. I worked on one set of Victor heads when they first came out and they were very frustrating to work with since every time I turned around they required more modifications.

These heads have a standard port size. The porting work is pretty but I have no idea how well it flows. My guess is that these heads wouldn't make more power than a set of 295 EZ or 325 440-1 heads but I couldn't prove that without building the engine and testing it.

The block mods for traditional BBM top end oiling aren’t very sophisticated.

A hole from the deck down into the oil galley on the pass side.
Another hole from the deck down a few inches on the drivers side.
Holes drilled from the valley into the new oil feed holes, tapped to 1/8”NPT.
-3 or -4 male fitting installed into tapped holes.
Then a -3 or -4 hose connected the two sides together.

This is how they set the block up when it gets hemi heads.

I used one of the blocks set up like this and used ez-1 heads on it.
Worked fine.

It’s full time oiling so I put restrictors in the heads to not flood the top end.

On the block I got from them it was a $100 option.

When victor heads first came out, there was no standard for the rocker offset. When I looked at catologs from the major manufacturers, they would all have different offsets listed. I don't remember the exact numbers they were advertising, but an example would be like jesel listing victor rockers with .800 offset, Harland sharp having .720 offset, T&D maybe .650 offset. 1 or 2 manufacturers has the pivot length wrong as well for their single shaft rockers. I blame edelbrock for not getting with a manufaturer and having rockers made before releasing the head. If you bought a set of rockers that had the offset off .100", you had a lot of grinding in front of you. I have done 3 sets of the MW Victors. The rocker that fits them the best isn't a high end rocker. If I do another set with single shaft, I will be ordering the rockers custom with the offset and pivot length I need.

My stock block 511" MW Victor headed engine uses Hughes cryo 1.7 ratio shaft rockers.

Knowing what I know now I should have called Jesel and just milled the rocker stands off. In that case I would have push rod oiled and emply restricted spray and pray valve covers.


That said, what is involed in pressurizing the lifter galley on an Indy block?