534 ci A429 Heads Roller Drag Car Combo

Well back on the old forum I had posted a question asking "What if we just changed the crank" and left everything else exactly the same. What would happen? Would you go faster down the 1/4 mile? Well now we have the answer.



This is my previous engine build. 466cid with dome pistons.



https://www.429-460.com/proven-builds-f4/466ci-a429-heads-roller-drag-car-combo-t631.htm#6196


The only difference between the old engine and the new one is the A460 Block, Flat top pistons in the 534 BUT with the same compression and we now have a 4.31" Scat Steel Crank via Adney Brown at Performance Crankshafts Inc. I'm using the Same heads, cam, carb, converter, tranny etc...........



Here's the new combo

534CI



Ford Racing A460 Block

Bored to 4.4415”

ARP main studs

Randy Malik Durabond Cam bearings .090” wider



Eagle 6.8 H-Beam rods with L19 rod bolts connected to JE Flat Top pistons 13.25 to1 Compression Ratio. Diamond file to fit rings.



Scat 4340 Forged 4.310” Custom crank via Performance Crankshafts Inc. Internally balanced with SFI Dampner and JW Flywheel. King ¾ groove main bearings. Clevite H-series rod bearings.



Aluminum A429 Heads with 2.245” Intake valves and 1.76” Exhaust valves. FRPP Roller Rockers and Jomar Stud Girdle. Comp Roller valve springs and Titanium Retainers.

Average Intake Flow of all 8 ports (Charlie Evans and Scott Vincent work)

0.100 (72) 0.200 (154) 0.300 (230) 0.400 (298) 0.500 (332) 0.600 (345) 0.700 (357) 0.750 (361)



Average Exhaust Flow of all 8 ports

0.100 (57) 0.200 (121) 0.300 (167) 0.400 (198) 0.500 (213) 0.600 (225) 0.700 (230) 0.750 (232)



Comp Cams Custom Roller (Lem Evans Saturday Night Special)

Duration @ .050 272° Intake and 280° Exhaust

Lobe separation 110°

Gross Valve lift .728 Intake and .728 Exhaust

Intake lobe degreed to 106° ATDC





Edelbrock Victor 4500 intake match ported to the heads and with port work in the flange area, topped with a custom 1100 cfm Pro-Systems Dominator and 1” HVH spacer



MSD Billet dizzy.

Jacobs Electronics Ignition box and Coil.

Taylor Plug Wires.

NGK R5671A-8 Plugs OR AR3934 Autolite Plugs



2" into 3.5" individual tube headers for Fox Chassis via D&D Automotive Specialists.



Fully rollerized C4 tranny built by JPT Transmissions with transbrake and reverse manual valve body. 8” Custom Drag Converter 4600-4800 stall.



Canton FOX pan with Canton Windage Tray.



Ford 9” Rear with full spool and 4.30:1 gears.

31” Hoosier Drag Slicks



Car weighs. 3200# including 180# driver.





Two best runs as of 6/16/07



Second round of Eliminations:

Temp 60 degrees

Barometric Pressure 30.17

Humidity 97% Dew has settled and it makes my humidity sensor go wacko so I don’t really pay much attention to the humidity at night.



Right Lane

Dial 9.56

Reaction .031

I1 1.393

I2 3.949

I3 6.111

Mph I3 113.112

ET 9.603

Mph 138.550









Dial 9.56

Reaction .086

I1 1.381

I2 3.938

I3 6.105

Mph I3 112.844

ET 9.607

Mph 137.42



Based on the mph and weight of the car, my best guess would be 775 hp? and a TON of torque!



IMO with more tuning and better air it will go a little faster. Could also use a larger cam i.e. more duration on the intake and exhaust at .050 and just a tad bit more lift, maybe in the .750 range.



Video: 466cid engine







Video: 534cid engine at the BBF Bash

Test & Tune results: Friday July 6 2007



Previous Best: Car went a BEST of 6.105 through the 1/8 and 113.1 mph in 60 degree weather, with barometric pressure in the 30.17 range and low humidity. 1.381 is the best short time at the previous outing with the current chassis setup. Windy hollow short times were 1.32 and 1.33 without wheelie bars and the front end tripping the lights as it bottomed out during re-entry



Now we fast-forward to Friday’s Test & Tune session. The ONLY change that I have made to the car is I’ve reset the valve lash tighter by .002” on the intake and .004” on the exhaust. They are now set at .018” on both while cold where as before they were .020” on the intake and .022” on the exhaust.



While setting the valve lash I ran across a few that were .001” to .002” loose as compared to the previous setting. I now have this on record and will check again soon to see if the same ones have moved or just settled in place.



So now it’s Friday T&T and it’s HOT and it’s HUMID and the pressure is not great by any means but it’s not terrible either, kind of right in the middle at 30.07



Pre-race video: I'm installing and tighening the new safety belts.







So compared to the previous outing, its MUCH hotter, more humid and mediocre air. The temperature was hovering around 90 degrees while the sun was up and on my last run the temp was in the mid to low 80’s. All things being equal, the car should slow down BUT we have the valve lash change and we are at a different track, so let’s see what happens.





First run I have the rear slicks at 8.25psi cold. Burnout is just fine however the driver is HOT! During the run I must have hit the ignition key on the steering column with my knee or something ???? Because the tach wasn’t working and by the time I figured it out it was too late so I just started pulling gears by ear and hit the brakes at the first cone thus aborting the run at the end of the track. Short times were a little off and it seems to be hitting the bars pretty hard via the video.



Now don’t laugh at my reaction times. I’m testing this .400 Pro tree and foot braking the car. I need to find a way to get the car to leave quicker or the driver to react quicker ;-)



Reaction .1868

60 ft 1.4023

330 ft 3.9763

594 ft 5.7453

1/8 ET 6.1543

1/8 mph 110.02



Here’s the video.







Notice on both videos, I’m getting a LOT of body roll now where as before at the bash with the top front 4-link bars setting lower I didn’t get any body roll. I’m seriously considering dropping these bars back down into the second hole instead of the 4th hole.



Now I get back to the pits and set my rear slicks at 8.25psi HOT and leave them there the rest of the night. I always throw out my first run anyway, set my slicks after that first run and then forget ‘em.



Prior to the next run I raise my wheelie bars One inch to 6” off the ground or close to it on this uneven ground in the paved pits. BTW it’s STILL HOT!



Reaction .1739

60 ft 1.3771

330 ft 3.9330

594 ft 5.6952

1/8 ET 6.0911

1/8 mph 113.66



So based on my previous data, the engine is making a little more power due to the fact that it should have went slower in these weather conditions. Kind of makes one wonder how quick it will run this fall when the weather is prime for racing!?!? I need to plug this information into my Crew Chief Pro software and see what the car SHOULD have ran without any valve lash change.



Here’s the video:







Notice how much body roll I’m getting? AND the rear tires compress, wheelie bars hit the ground then unload the rear tires for a split second before recovering and then riding the wheelie bars and carrying the front wheels pass the Tree. You may not be able to see it on this photobucket video however I’ve seen it in slow motion frame by frame and this is what is happening.





Third and final run of the night (Got a late start because I had to put my new safety belts in).



I change the rear jets from 91’s to 93’s to see how the car is going to react. Results are nearly identical ET through the entire run and .3 more mph at the 1/8. Kind of inconclusive or the carb is jetted about where it needs to be.



Reaction .1940

60 ft 1.3749

330 ft 3.9349

594 ft 5.6980

1/8 et 6.0930

1/8 mph 113.92





No video for this run, it’s dark and the camera doesn’t record well in the dark.



Conclusions? Engine makes more power with the tighter valve lash while not loosing any short times, in fact gaining just a little. I need to raise the wheelie bars a bit more and need to eliminate the body roll.







The driver’s side wheel is hitting square and it’s removing ALL of the dial in as it rides about 30 feet. Passenger side wheel is riding the edge of the wheel.







Now one of the primary reasons for this T&T session is to try and get the car to run a 6.0 so I can run the 6.0 Index class in Tennessee AND get some trigger time on the .400 tree. At this point, I would be a sitting duck with these reaction times and the car still won’t run at 6.0 in the heat. Another reason for this T&T, slow the car down to near 6.50 for the local 6.50 index class. I didn’t quite get the chance………

T&T Results from 09/26/08



Chuck and I went to T&T on Friday in order to get ready for the NMRA race in Bowling Green. I’m sure glad we did. I only got to make one run and Chuck only made 2 runs, one of them was 1/8 mile on the foot brake.



I only got to make one run because of starter issues. I haven’t taken it apart yet, however it seems as if the starter gears are damaged or just wore out.



The one run I DID make was WFO and then I was planning on changing my shift point to try and slow the car down a tenth of a second.



Temp 76F

BP 30.07

Humidity 52%



0.500 Pro Tree



RT .041

60’ 1.406

330’ 3.910

1/8 6.025 at 116.11mph

¼ 9.427 at 141.351mph



New personal best in the ¼. If we get some good air this weekend at BG, expect some 9.30’s!



Chuck put a new Master Cylinder on the car and evidently didn’t get all the air out of the brake lines. So Bill, Rob and Chuck bled the brakes again. Chuck gets to the burnout box and it won’t go into second gear during the burnout. So back to the trailer we go. We end up installing a used cable donated by Bill Mitchell and finally got it adjusted and working correctly.



First run Chuck’s transbrake button isn’t working so I get him to footbrake it and he runs a 6.74 through the 1/8. He comes right back to staging and I find that we unplugged the wire going to the transbrake solenoid. Get it fixed and they are closing the lanes so I ask them to let Chuck make one more hit on the pro tree. They like Chuck, so they couldn’t say no ;-)



Chuck pre-stages, then stages, hits the transbrake and holds it WFO. The three ambers flash and he’s OFF with a .001 reaction time! WOW! I turn to look at Bill and Rob, holding up double 0’s! Chuck then clicks off a 10.49 at 127mph. His quickest ¼ run it the past has been a 10.43 in much better air.



So it wasn’t a total loss. I got to make one run, quickest to date in the ¼ and Chuck chopped down the tree.



I put a new starter on my car Saturday and it works 10 TIMES better than the gear reduction starter I had on it before. Went to O’Reilly auto parts and got a starter for a 95 F250 460CI Automatic. I actually have MORE room with this starter then I did with the gear reduction starter and it sounds SWEET compared to my other starter. Something must be broken inside. I used an old 460 starter for a core and saved $45 that way. Thanks for the help Lem! ( I called Lem Saturday morning to tell him what’s going on). This new starter has a lifetime warranty. Muahahahahah……. I may fix my gear reduction starter for a spare. I’d REALLY like to get another one of these truck starters for a spare and keep it in the trailer. I can have the starter on and off in my car in less than 5 minutes, man it’s TINY compared to the other starters and is EASY to get in and out of the headers.



Well that’s my story and I’m STICKING to it! Sea you guys in a few days at Bowling Green.

Update:



9.33 at 144.5 mph in mine shaft air

Move to another thread

You recon you could make it a little longer J/K

Sounds cool man

sweet Damon cant wait to see some 1/4 mile updates from this weekend

Way to go Damon !! Knock um down 1 pin at a time !!!

Long time no talk too Stranger !!

I was just transferring some information over "Just in case"

so I'm confused...did you run it yet with the bigger cubes or is it still being built?

windsor wrote:so I'm confused...did you run it yet with the bigger cubes or is it still being built?

Been running for a couple years now

ah, and how much of an increase did you see?

windsor wrote:ah, and how much of an increase did you see?

Massive improvement. I'll transfer the rest when I get more time. Long story short, I was running 6.38 to 6.40 and 10.0's. I'm now running 5.95 to 6.04 and 9.33 to 9.45 range with more tuning in the near future.

Over the winter I changed the cam to an Alber Clark Bad Attitude Series roller cam and a 7AL3 ignition system. From the data I've gathered so far, It picked up a few ponies