B2 Motorsports - Jeff Lipton 487 FE Build

[blykins]

...And now it's Jeff's turn.

We spoke a few minutes ago on the phone and Jeff wanted to initiate the engine build for his ERA car.

Jeff's aiming for a reliable 600-ish hp engine, based on a Pond aluminum block, a Scat rotating assembly, hydraulic roller cam, Edelbrock heads, and a Victor FE intake. The intake will be declared a "solid option" once he checks with the boys at ERA to make sure it will squeeze in under the hood.

I've got a couple of Pond based builds going on right now, so I'm going to try to snag a pallet full of blocks...once that happens, I'll start posting build info and pics as I've done in the other threads.

If you're curious about the 487 displacement, Jeff and I also talked about the desire to have something that gives his build a sense of uniqueness. Pistons are available in the 4.270" bore size (just .020" over the standard 4.250" bore size that the Ponds come with), and with a 4.250" stroke, that will put us right at 486.8 cubes. I'll round up.

Stay tuned...

[patrickt]

Uhhh, can't we tweak it up with a solid flat tappet?

[Dimis]

Cool.
I'm looking forward to seeing this one

[blykins]

Block showed up today.

[lippy]

Originally Posted by Dimis

Cool.
I'm looking forward to seeing this one

Not as much as I am.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by blykins

If you're curious about the 487 displacement, Jeff and I also talked about the desire to have something that gives his build a sense of uniqueness. Pistons are available in the 4.270" bore size (just .020" over the standard 4.250" bore size that the Ponds come with), and with a 4.250" stroke, that will put us right at 486.8 cubes. I'll round up.

The .020 overbore makes this build unique? rodneym's build had dual Paxton's. (just giving you a hard time)

[ERA Chas]

A solid roller and BT heads would spin this pup to 7200 and-oh..699HP...

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

A solid roller and BT heads would spin this pup to 7200 and-oh..699HP...

He said he want's a RELIABLE motor...

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by fordracing65

He said he want's a RELIABLE motor...

Barry turns these out all day and they go to the supermarket and run 10's in Galaxies.
It's not 1966.

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Barry turns these out all day and they go to the supermarket and run 10's in Galaxies.
It's not 1966.

7200rpm, 699hp, reliable all day long, i'll argue that all day long, especially when it's an FE... It is'nt a Honda...just look at all the posts where people with mild FE's have problems all day long...

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Uhhh, can't we tweak it up with a solid flat tappet?

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

It's not 1966.

There's your answer from Chas.

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

There's your answer from Chas.

Ouch... I like what you've done there... but ouch.

[patrickt]

Wait a minute... Chas was running a SFT that was not a whole lot hotter than mine.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by fordracing65

...just look at all the posts where people with mild FE's have problems all day long...

None of those were put together by Barry or Brent.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Wait a minute... Chas was running a SFT that was not a whole lot hotter than mine.

Did you pass under high-tension wires? Your cam is not in the same time zone as mine.
And mine is not what I suggested to Brent.

[lippy]

Now I'm reopening a can of worms. I am probably going to go with hydraulic lifters and max out the HP with that set up (about 600 HP). But I am not *completely* opposed to solid lifters.

So my questions are:

(1) If I do decide to go with solid lifters, will the rest of the parts of the build (Scat crank and H-beam rods, Victor Jr. intake, etc.) support 650-700HP, or am I going to have to upgrade a bunch of other parts too?
(2) How often and how much of a pain is it (how much time) to adjust solid lifters? Do you have to replace the valve cover gaskets every time?
(3) Is 650+ HP even driveable on the street, or would this car be out of control?

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by lippy

So my questions are:

(2) How often and how much of a pain is it (how much time) to adjust solid lifters? Do you have to replace the valve cover gaskets every time?

I'll take your second question. With today's quality valve train components, on a street car you might adjust your lifters once a year. It's no big deal at all, and you might even find you enjoy it. I have had the same rubber gaskets, that are glued to the valve cover side, for years. I just put a swab of open-gear grease on them when I put the covers back on.

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

None of those were put together by Barry or Brent.

Good, cause Brent is building my FE...

[tkb289]

Jeff,

Brent will build you a great motor, no matter what configuration you go with.

If you have not done so already, I would recommend you ask Brent about running the motor in on a dyno to break in the cam and get some HP numbers. It will also make the first start of up the motor in your Cobra a sure thing, as you will know the motor will run and not have any issues or leaks!

For #3 … Personally, 650 HP in a Cobra seems like too much to me, but then again there are lots of guys here that have 650 HP + … and probably want more besides.

Control is all up to you. Take your time getting used to the car and don't really push it until you really get comfortable with the whole package. Be sure to point it in a straight line before you give it the boot

- Tim

[blykins]

TKB, I don't send an engine out without having it dyno'd.....

Jeff, stick with the plan you have. You don't need 650hp. You really don't even need 600. Patrick gets by just fine with 268 hp. However, I can get you pretty close to your 600 number with a hydraulic roller.

A 650hp FE is going to be finicky, and from talking to you on the phone multiple times, you don't want that.