460 Four Cylinder Build

Well we finally got the Mercruiser 4 cylinder motor in the car and running. The owner of the car let me drive it at the track for its debut and I have to say that it is one bad 4 cylinder. We had some bad luck with the motor but hopefully it didn't hurt anything. The cam pin broke in the motor.

Here are some specs. 4.390 bore Diamond pistons, offset ground 4.050 stroke stock crank, 6.800 GRP aluminum rods, reground flat tappet camshaft, Ford Motorsport Super Cobra Jet head, 4 barrel intake, and a 740 cfm alcohol carb. Our intentions are to turn it around 6500. The car is an open wheel modified with a bert transmission and weighs around 2300 lbs. I don't have much circle track experience but when I made a few good laps it would pack the left front wheel all the way down the straight. I honestly think it will be competitive in the V8 class when everything gets straightened out with the motor and the car.

The class is called Outlaw 4 cylinder. The only rules are 2000 lbs with a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder motor. The biggest competition are all aluminum Esslinger engines. I think it should have no problem competing when everything gets lined out.

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how did you make that work? is it a 460 block cut in half?, what about the cam, crank?

It is a Mercruiser boat motor. It is a weird setup but basically takes a 460 head, pistons and rods. The crank mains are Cleveland with 460 rod journals. The deck height is .100 shorter than a 460 so that is why we couldn't put a 4.150 stroke in it and had to go with a 4.050. It has an aluminum block and I have heard they are pretty weak so we partially filled the block with Hard Block. It is a 4.0 liter 4 cylinder and is 245 cubic inches.

Damn cool Joe! Kick some butt with half a motor !!!!

Their are some mean 4 cylinder boat racers, Lahone was working on a record holding boat a few years back it had a C3 Cleveland head on it. Plus some of the mini sprints go like stink off a skunk with their little 4's........

I wonder how much hp its makes ? At one time the guy i bought my 84 from in Missouri Chris Murdock (aka snoopstang) had a 2.3 liter turbo in it burning alky and it hauled a$$. If you type in snoopstang on youtube there is a short viedo of it puttin it on the bumper

very cool stuff Joe .... i bet that is one wicked sounding 4 banger

We had a little bad luck with the motor. The cam bolt backed out for some reason and it jumped time and warped the exhaust valve on #3. One new valve and it will be ready to go. We may debut it this Saturday night and the owner is going to let me drive. I have never driven in a race before so I don't know what to expect. It looks like fun from the sidelines so we will see.

jmayabb wrote:We had a little bad luck with the motor. The cam bolt backed out for some reason and it jumped time and warped the exhaust valve on #3. One new valve and it will be ready to go. We may debut it this Saturday night and the owner is going to let me drive. I have never driven in a race before so I don't know what to expect. It looks like fun from the sidelines so we will see.

A buddy of ours races at a 1/4 oval. When he started racing he requested to be started at the back of the pack for the first few races. Then he could kinda watch and learn. It is VERY different when you get into traffic. The older fellas like to push their weight around with a noobie. Good luck and have fun!!!

That big carb would be around a 1400 cfm deal on a v8!!!

Bill

...now there is one odd SCJ head laying in someones parts shop backroom!

TorinoGT wrote:...now there is one odd SCJ head laying in someones parts shop backroom!

I bet it's the only one.....EVER!

Cool build Joe! Just remember this ain't drag racing. As the Hudson Hornet said in the movie "Cars", sometimes you have to turn right to go left!

Hell I'd like to know what the heck it sounds like. Looks cool, I hope it works out for you.

Last night was the first race for the car and for me the driver. The rotary button went out during hot laps so I had to come home and get a spare. I qualified 5th out of 12 cars and started on the inside of row 2 for the first heat race. After about 4 laps the car died again with distributor problems. We took the cap off and all of the screws had come loose and had destroyed the distributor. A friend of mine has a boat with the Mercruiser motor so he rushed home and got the distributor and came back for a quick fix again. I started in the rear of the feature race and came from the back to finish 2nd. With a few more laps I think I would have won the race. That little motor is a beast and a torque monster. It is weird to hear it run. The 2.3 or 2.5 Ford motors are cranking 8000-9000 rpm while the old boat motor is cranking about 6500. I just love the big block torque this thing has. If I can come out of the turns with another car it has no chance down the straightaway.