Work's let up since I moved off my "Death March 2010" project at the start of August, which has given me time to figure out what my next steps need to be re: putting the MopPig back on the street & track.
One approach I'd been considering was to put the 452 back together w/ the Stage VIs and solid flat-tappet cam combination simply to exp
edite getting things back together faster. That would leave the Hughes CNC'd Victors, along w/ the street roller cam setup I picked up from AndyF, for my new 448 build later on.
I'd also been considering putting the 452 back together w/ the Stage VIs and the street roller cam, since I figured that would have been an interesting "proof of concept" about the benefit of replacing an aggressive flat-tappet w/ a modern street roller.
And, finally, the idea of using both the Victors and the street roller w/ the 452 also crossed my mind. This would still require finishing up some extensive porting on the intake manifold that's to be used w/ the Victors and doing the pushrod clearancing the Victors are notorious for needing, but would leave the 448 to be built simply as a backup shortblock for the new 452-based combination.
So, today I did some in-depth thinking that involved a couple pages of notes with Pros & Cons for each approach, factoring in what would still be required for each (either in terms of parts to purchase, or labor on my part such as finishing porting the intake for use w/ the Victors). I also felt the need to take into account the short- and long-term implications of what new or "fresh from the machine shop" parts would be worth today if not put back into service vs. what they'd be worth later if I chose to run 'em now and tried to sell them in the future, instead.
Well, after looking at this from all those perspectives, the obvious answer (and not the one I was really hoping for) is to put the 452 back together with the Victors and the street roller, then finish the 448 as a spare shortblock. Everything else not included in this build (Stage VIs, Schubecks, etc.) just needs to go.
This really came down to looking at the financial "hit" for each approach and acknowledging the reality that parts like my Stage VI heads will never be worth as much again as they will the day they arrive back from PRH in the next couple of weeks after Dwayne's freshened 'em up. As soon as I put them on an engine, they're not only no longer available to sell until I get around to pulling them back off, but they will have devalued that much more from additional usage. At some point for me this hobby has to reach something of a cost-benefit equilibrium (or at least the rate of losses has to decline to a manageable level). I think that point is "now."
Therefore, the following will detail the upcoming buildup of my Challenger's 440. I hope to see it push the car into the low (really low
) 10s compared to its previous incarnation that ran a string of 10.5s @ 126 mph in full street trim on pump gas.
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440 + .060" (4.380") using Ross flat-top pistons, file-fit standard-tension rings, Eagle rods w/ new 8740 bolts
OEM 3.75" forged crank cut .010"/.010" using FM Comp Series bearings
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Hughes CNC-ported Edelbrock Victors
Results from my bench as tested on 4.375" bore:
Lift -- Int / Exh / + Tube
.050 --- 35 / 25 / 25
.100 --- 73 / 54 / 54
.200 -- 155 / 105 / 108
.300 -- 224 / 162 / 167
.400 -- 282 / 200 / 211
.450 -- 299 / 211 / 225
.500 -- 317 / 219 / 239
.550 -- 329 / 229 / 251
.600 -- 343 / 236 / 263
.650 -- 346 / 244 / 271
.700 -- 350 / 247 / 275
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CR will be 10.8:1 after PRH mills the chambers down to 78 cc (currently 82 after Hughes' CNC chamber work). That'll give it the same CR as the Stage VIs have currently, which has worked fine on 93-octane E10 pump gas.
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COMP Xtreme Solid Street Roller (.016-.018" lash)
298/304 @ .015”; 260/266 @ .050”; 181/187 @ .200”; .392”/.398”, 108 LSA
Intake = .392 x 1.6 --> .627”
Exhaust = .398 x 1.5 --> .597”
BTW, if that cam looks familiar, it's the one that AndyF used in his 505 "Super Victor" buildup documented in the archives here, as well as in a Mopar Muscle article. I picked up the cam and lifters from him after the dyno testing since it looked like a pretty good choice to try in my engine, too.
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Intake is the modified MP M1 RB 4150 I ran w/ the Stage VIs before the epoxy I had to add to the end runners came loose due to 10% ethanol in the pump fuel. I'm reworking it to match the larger 2.40" x 1.30 runners of the Hughes Victors, since it's the only intake worth a hoot that I think will still be able to fit under my Challenger's T/A hood w/ air cleaner on top of these mega-tall Victor heads.
Carb will be my "tried and true" BG Gold Claw 4150-type carb that was originally a "dyno mule" for PRH... for now.
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Everything else (TTI 2" headers + 3" x-pipe system, Dynamic 9.5" converter, 4.10s, etc.) will be the same as when the engine came out of the car this spring.
But Dwyane once mentioned he didn't think the HP carb wold help me that much.