Peak H.P. RPM on your FE???????

[GUMBALL]

FE Guys,

Recently finished our build and had the motor on the dyno. Peak H.P. was 486 @ 5200 RPM. I have been told that big blocks don't rev as high as small blocks, however this number still seems a bit low to me. The cam is fairly mild at 296 DUR & .572 LIFT.

Any dyno numbers out there to compare??

Regards,

John

[Cobrabill]

John,my FE dyno'd at 485hp.Cam is about 20 degrees smaller than yours.I don't remember the rpm.Recent event have determined that the 485 figure was with an ignition problem.I haven't had the opportunity to re-test since the correction.Your numbers are close to reality

[ERA#569]

Gumball , Dont let the numbers play with your head !! 480 HP @ 5200 RPM is great ! Alot of FORD create engines advertise 500+ hp ,but if you call Ford Racing its @ 6500 rpm+ and they wont spin at that all day out of the box ! A good FLAT Torque curve and equal spaced HP in your RPM driving range will always be the best seat-of-your pants feel to me ! If anyone asks you just say "I dont really know the dyno only went to 900 Hp" Scott

[GUMBALL]

Bill and Scott,

Thanks for the replies. I was just a bit miffed because my professional help told me to expect peak H.P. around 6,200. That seems a bit impossible as peak torque came in at 3,200 and he was expecting 4,500. Oh well, I 'll try not to let it bother me, just wanted to make sure I was in the right ballpark. Thanks again.

Regards,

John

[CSX 4027]

A lot of variables dictate where the power peaks. If you told your engine builder how the engine would be used, I assume he made it that way. Sounds like a good street motor.
Mine was built to rev for the track.
All dyno sheets should show HP & torque be equal @ 5250 rpm
My peek torque came in at 520@4700rpm
Peek HP was 580@6700rpm
For a reference I had 513hp @5500rpm
Specs 12.1:1 comp
Cam split duration 256/266@50 600/630 lift 108 centerline
-Not real streetable

[GUMBALL]

Steve,

Thanks for the input. My brother and I built the motor after purchasing everything from Shelby. I told him I wanted a fairly streetable engine, but also wanted the internals to handle more power if I chose to change cam, intake, etc.. Mike said to expect 6,200 with my current setup. I suppose we just need to learn more about engine building.

Thanks again.

[CSX 4027]

If you are talking about Mike LeFevers, he is one of the greats. Mike and I have talked a couple of thousand times and I would not have what I have(Motor Wise) without him....Steve

[GUMBALL]

Same Mike. I have called him at least once a week over the past 6-months. He was very helpful and always took my calls. Goes into the log book as one of the "good" experiences. I would certainly recommend him to anyone wanting to build that aluminum 427.......... he IS the expert on THAT engine.

I should also note that Gearge Anderson at Gessford was a big help and took the time on the phone to talk me through a few things.

[niles]

Gumball:
Maybe some dyno experts will look closely at your sheet.
the fuel\air ration looks lean to me. It is in the 12's for the full run; I would expect 13.6 to 14. Lean is bad; receipe for burned/ broken pistons
gn

[mickmate]

There's a good series of articles on FE engines and their dyno results in the last three issues of street rooder mag. They point out that advertised HP numbers were more like what they were capable of rather than what they really produced. Sounds like your getting good numbers to me and they are real, not just what someone thought sounded impressive. Keep tinkering, those last few horsies are the hardest to find.
Cheers Nick

[GUMBALL]

Niles.......

I WILL have a pro look at those air/fuel ratios. Thanks


Mickmate........

Thanks for the info. I'll try to get my hands on those magazines.


Happy Holidays from California!

John

[Homewrecker]

I would love to have a copy of these articles if anyone has scanned them in. I have been looking for the back issues but haven't been able to find them. If anyone has them scanned in, please email them to me at: quickercobra@aol.com

Thanks in advance

[Oafus]

Hello Niles,

The A/F ratio is a little low, but it is Air/Fuel. That means a smaller number indicates less air, ie: richer. You could maybe get another 10 HP from carb tweaking. The telling info on the sheet is the vol effiency of 93%. Notice that your torque curve is pretty flat and so is the V/E. They are very related. A V/E of 100% means that each cylinder sucks in it's complete volume every stroke. The amount of fuel and air in the cylinder determines how much force that cylinder will contribute to the torque output. If you increase the V/E you will increase torque for any given RPM that you increase the V/E. The main ways to do this are the cam specs. and intake/head design. Your cam is close to mine and I would expect peak V/E to be about 96-97% (Race engines can get to 105% or more but the peak rpm goes way up.) I supect your intake manifold and or heads could be improved to have better flow.

I did the math on you SCFM and calculate that you must have a 451 Engine (about). If you don't something is wrong with the dyno sheet.

Craig Wright

HI GUYS,

THE PAPERWORK THAT I RECEIVED WITH MY CAR/ENGINE INCLUDED A PRINT OUT OF THE DYNO RESULTS FROM THE SHOP IN PITTSBURGH. IT SHOWS 525HP AT 5400 RPM. THAT'S ABOUT ALL THAT I CAN HANDLE AS THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT IS TOO SMALL TO HOLD MORE THAN TWO CHANGES OF UNDERWEAR.

THE CAR IS A LITTLE "COBBEY" ON THE STREET. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CAM SPECS ARE BUT I WOULD GUESS THAT A SLIGHTLY MILDER CAM MIGHT KNOCK-OFF ABOUT 30 HP BUT ALSO RESULT IN A FAR MORE "STREETABLE" CAR - - WITH MORE THAN ENOUGH LEFT TO CAUSE THE OCCASSIONAL EMPTYING OF THE GLOVE BOX.

Y'ALL HAVE A REALLY GREAT DAY,

BLACKJACK

[mickmate]

I'll get the articles and scan them in. I may need some help after that on how to post grapics. The hottest motor street rodder built and dyno'd was a 406 I believe, and it got stolen! Probably show up somewhere......

[GUMBALL]

Oafus............

Thanks for the info.

I'm running 4.25 x 4.25 = 482 CI. Do you think there is something wrong with the dyno sheet? The CFM numbers looked a bit low to me also.

John

[Oafus]

I would guess that you could benefit from some porting in the heads. I've heard that the Shelby heads don't breeth as well as the Edlebrock right out of the box, but they have more meat in them to allow for more extensive porting. The problem is that you may start to lose torque at the lower rpm range. With the torque curve you are showing now, you will get neck snapping throttle response at any rpm, which will make it a fun car to drive. If you get into the horsepower war for bragging rights the car will be less fun to drive on the street. I've got a '66 GT350 that I vintage race. It has a 289 with 450 hp at 7200 rpm. It is a great track car, but no fun on the street.

I suspect that the SCFM numbers on the sheet are reading a little low due to the high ambient temperature. In other words your were sucking more that 650 cubic feet per min of hot air which equates to 650 CFM at Standard conditions of temperature and pressure. The dyno machine calculates all of that and normalizes the number to standard conditions.

You won't complain that you are underposwered until you go the the race track and sombody with a 540 ci motor and 700 hp pull you in the straight.

Craig

[GUMBALL]

Craig,

Seems like you know your stuff. I'm not looking to have the fastest car at the track, rather, I'm looking to make sure we get the most out of this current setup. I told the pro that I wanted a good street motor that might occasionally see the track.......... looks like that is what we got. Again, just want to make sure we're not leaving anything on the table in its current form. I appreciate your reply and hope to meet up with you in San Diego sometime. (went to school and still have friends there)

Blackjack...........

Thanks for the input. Funny! Happy to see you posting again and hope things are turning around for you. Y'all have a great day too.

Regards,

John

[mickmate]

There is some good reading and neato little tricks on engine building, oiling etc. It is over the last 8 issues. The Dec and Jan issues are on the news stands now. More info when I get em scanned in.
Cheers Nick

[Redd Snake]

I'll be picking up a 427 top oiler next week. It's stroked to approx. 454 ci. Cam is 232/236 at .050 with .560/.560 lift. Ported MR iron heads w/Blue Thunder intake. 10:1 compression ratio.

Dyno Says:

Peak HP: 490 @ 5,400
Peak TQ: 520 @ 4,100