400 BB Mopar dyno test part 2

[Brian Hafliger]

I wanted to try the Victor std. port heads on this 400 with a cam change and bump in compression to see how much power we can get out of a somewhat budget type build.

What I didn't know is that Edelbrock has changed their Victor heads! A new heart shaped chamber and smaller more restrictive intake bowls.
I was worried about them performing well since the intake ports are down on flow compared to the older castings.
I was very happy to see a pretty decent amount of power for a pump gas budget deal. No porting was done, on anything.

New spec's are:
New Victor heads, OOTB with our valve job and small chamber cut.
Compression at 10.6:1.
Hughes 1.7 rockers (VERY nice rockers by the way!!).
Tried both the rpm intake, and victor intake which made the best avg. power over the rpm!
Holley TRUE Ultra 950HP
Still used the 1 7/8 TTI headers, same bottom end as prior but changed the cam to a custom grind: 255-260 @ .050 on a 110lca and .648/.638 gross lift.
And all the power came in at a very respectable rpm IMO.

I would highly recommend some porting on these heads to make the best of them, but like I said it was a budget type build on pump gas.

Still, if you look at the TQ and HP curves it's making really good avg. power AND torque.

 

[Brian Hafliger]

Some pics:

 

[Brian Hafliger]

more pics:

 

[Brian Hafliger]

engine pics:

 

[Mad Dart]

Are those rocker new from the previous ones Hughes made. They look really nice.

Same engine but fully ported heads, how much of an increase in power would you guess?

 

[needsaresto]

Some more great #'s from the little smogger! What sort of offset are those intake rockers?

 

[Brian Hafliger]

Yes they are the new design and DANG nice! I'd say with porting to the heads and intake about 50'ish.

 

[Mad Dart]

Yes they are the new design and DANG nice! I'd say with porting to the heads and intake about 50'ish.

Cool are the SBM rockers design the same now also?

Drop the compression a bit with 12lbs of boost and someone can get a cool easy 900hp!

 

[Brian Hafliger]

Cool are the SBM rockers design the same now also?

Drop the compression a bit with 12lbs of boost and someone can get a cool easy 900hp!

 

[moper]

I would not have expected that result (torque-wise) with that cam and intake on a stock stroke 400. Pretty cool. Plus you could probably go another full point in static and have no issues with pump premium.
What was the power with the RPM? You said average was better with the Victor. What did the RPM do to it?

 

[moparlover]

all the bottom end is gone. should go all out race (up comp ratio to 12.5:1) for race gas you would probably gain 100hp... or put a milder cam/rpm intake in for street gas, you would probably lose 25hp up top but would make up for it with big increases in the power band back down in the 3000's.

as it sits that is way to much cam for the compression ratio

 

[IQ52]

I really like the cam choice. I ran a similar duration on the street with 9.5:1 compression on a 451. Ran good down low and pulled like a wild man past 6500 rpm (as you already know).

Love the Victors for this type of build. Well done, well done!

 

[needsaresto]

Yes they are the new design and DANG nice! I'd say with porting to the heads and intake about 50'ish.

If the offset is .500ish as you say,I might have just found rockers for my stage vi max wedges...

 

[Brian Hafliger]

all the bottom end is gone. should go all out race (up comp ratio to 12.5:1) for race gas you would probably gain 100hp... or put a milder cam/rpm intake in for street gas, you would probably lose 25hp up top but would make up for it with big increases in the power band back down in the 3000's.

as it sits that is way to much cam for the compression ratio

Only below 4000rpm. It all depends on what you do with the engine. That's why we did it this way to show the possibilities! See your already realizing what you can do with this or that...exactly what we wanted guys to do...figure out what would fit THEM and go from there.
It doesn't have to be a street engine, but if it was and you had a 4.10 gear it would FLY!

Thanks guys for the comments. It was fun to see...we had expected more power but Edelbrock redesigned the intake bowls and it really hurt flow. It should have been in the 550's for HP but it is what it is.

Moper...the rpm vs. the victor...from 4000rpm to redline there was only 1HP and 1TQ in AVG!!!! It helped TQ down at 4000rpm but quickly gave way to the Victor intake and the Victor had much more power up top which is how this engine was geared. I'll post the rpm graph tonite.

 

[Brian Hafliger]

If the offset is .500ish as you say,I might have just found rockers for my stage vi max wedges...

You'll have to call Hughes about the offset but I think they said it was either .450 or .475 but I could most definitely be wrong about that. Damn nice rocker though!!
And they are doing 1.8's I believe too!!
Those are 1.7.

 

[needsaresto]

Thanks! Close enough to .480 which is the offset mopar calls for.I'll ask hughes about those rockers. Which rockers exactly are they? Does hughes offer more than one?

 

[needsaresto]

Look's like .600 offset which likely would work anyways. Not ideal so I'll keep looking..

 

[crackedback]

Too bad they didn't leave the old port with the new chamber. That would have been the best combo.

 

[Doosterfy]

Wow, that is decent power. I'm surprised at how low an RPM the peak horse power is. Given the short stroke, heads and cam I would have guessed it would still be climbing at 7000. Is the reduced bowls in the heads something that could be easily corrected with porting? Also I noticed in one pic it says 70cc, did Edelbrock reduce the chambers down to that or did you mill the heads? Are there forged domed pistons available for 400s?

 

[Brian Hafliger]

Wow, that is decent power. I'm surprised at how low an RPM the peak horse power is. Given the short stroke, heads and cam I would have guessed it would still be climbing at 7000. Is the reduced bowls in the heads something that could be easily corrected with porting? Also I noticed in one pic it says 70cc, did Edelbrock reduce the chambers down to that or did you mill the heads? Are there forged domed pistons available for 400s?

I milled them. There may be, but KB doesn't make them. However they do make domes for 383's....
Yes the bowls can be opened up. Edelbrock stated that's why they did this, to tailor them for porters...but I wish they hadn't.

 

[moper]

Too bad they didn't leave the old port with the new chamber. That would have been the best combo.

That may be the entire reason they did make the change. It's easier if they are going to be ported anyway to start small, then have the heads ruled out from the get go as "too large". A lot of guys were going right to CNC RPMs for these cubic inch engines. By making the bowl smaller you now have a head that's better at fitting a wider array of packages and retaining some expandability. Just my thoughts anyway.

 

[Brian Hafliger]

That may be the entire reason they did make the change. It's easier if they are going to be ported anyway to start small, then have the heads ruled out from the get go as "too large". A lot of guys were going right to CNC RPMs for these cubic inch engines. By making the bowl smaller you now have a head that's better at fitting a wider array of packages and retaining some expandability. Just my thoughts anyway.

You have to see the bowls...they encroach severely! Not in a good way. You know how a stock port is clogged in the bowl...how it comes out into the bowl and then tapers back towards the seat...this is how they are. They aren't beautifully sized....it's rather ugly!
Just that alone can kill 2-3HP per cylinder.
I didn't take any pics but trust me the first gen. port is MUCH better!!