Shafiroff Small Block

Hey, welcome to the horsepower shop where today we're gonna answer the question.

How many cubes can you cram into a small block engine that runs on pump gas lives on the street and it makes enough power and torque to shut down. Well, just anything short of a full blown race engine. Well, here's part of the answer. You know, we've been working with Scott Shafer

racing to come up with a combination for a monstrous small block. And after punching the right calculator buttons, well, we figured that 470

two cubic inches is just about the max. So we're gonna build a monster mouse today.

But you know, building a street engine like this one is a lot tougher than building a race engine. After all, you got to keep this thing cool in traffic. It's gotta be pump gas compatible and it's gotta be rock solid, reliable.

Well, the key to making it all work is component selection. For example, crate engines like this one are extremely popular and make decent power, but the components are often compromised to allow these motors to operate under all kinds of conditions. Now, this 472 we're building on the other hand, is designed as a 6500 RPM engine

and the components are specially selected to work within that RPO range. Still give us the reliability we want. That's right. Now, the block that we're using is a dart iron eagle and it features a raised camshaft location here to help accommodate those big Stroker cranks. Plus the deck has been raised about 300 thousands of an inch and the bores are size I

used for extra strength. Now, check this out, you see these humps here on the side of the block. Well, that's gonna give us more equal water distribution around each one of the bores and help eliminate some of those hot spots.

Now, this block uses splayed steel billet made caps logged with a RP hardware

and to make room for that big arm we're using. Well, a couple of things, the pan rails have been widened

and it's been notched at the bottom of the cylinders. Well, we've already washed this block. So

I say let the assembly begin.

The crank is a forged 4340 piece from the knotty with an unbelievable 4250 stroke. Now, that's the same one that you're gonna find on a lot of those 540 big blocks that are running around.

Now, you also see that it's been rifle drilled and every one of these crank throws has been lightened here to help reduce rotating mass.

The crank is internally balanced with heavy metal

added at the counterweights here, which by the way are also short and to give us the clearance that we need around our piston skirts. Speaking of that, we're going to use these custom je pistons with a spherical dish. Now the straight edge will give you a better look at it. Now, when these are in place, it's gonna give us a 10 and three quarter to one compression ratio.

Now, that dish will promote a fast burn so we can run less timing and still get maximum power on pump gas. Interesting theory on the piston design and you know, I can see where it limits the quench area and no sharp edges to cause detonation. Now we're gonna hang these pistons on a set

of knotty 4340 pro mod rods and well, they measure 6.1 25 inches about the same as a big block rod.

They got a little weight to them. But when you're building a reliable street engine durability is a lot more important than lightweight.

Now, the rings we're using are from total seal with the plasma molly to

ring.

The pistons are installed in bores that are plate

honed with a special finish for better oil control.

We're using clevite 77 8

series main and rod bearings

and we torque the cap screws to the recommended specs

as always, the camshaft is the most critical component when it comes to determining the engine's torque and power bands. And this is where Scott Shafroth

and Comp cams put their heads together

to create a camshaft that would take full advantage of our monster Mouse's design characteristics.

They're not gonna let the specs out, but I can tell you this, it's a solid street roller with just over 600 lift plus duration and lobe separation angles that work best with a big inch motor like this.

Our timing chain also comes from camp, but it's a special longer length to accommodate that raised camshaft location.

The

Shafer

off

dyno tested our cam shaft to find the most power and discovered that it ran best at three degrees advanced. So that's where we'll set up ours,

you know, small block Chevy has got a great oiling system. In fact, it's so good that we're just going to use a standard high pressure melling oil pump that's been de

burned and blueprinted. Now, we're not even using a high volume pump because truth be known, a high volume pump takes more power to turn and it could even suck the oil pan dry at high RPM. Now, to make this thing work, we need a long drive shaft for the oil pump to help compensate for that relocated camshaft. Those wide pan rails call for a specially designed pan and Moroso stepped up with this one that was custom built to shaf

off specs. Now, those specs include this unique B

here with a trap door

and another baffle at the rear. Now, that one is to keep the oil from traveling back

up the pan during acceleration. Now, if you remember this is a street engine, so we don't have a lot of room for a deep sump, but we picked up some extra capacity with these side kick outs here. Now, while Joe finishes bolting up that oil pan, we're gonna kick it to a break, but we're gonna be back with more of our monster mouse build up right after this. So stay tuned.

Hey, we're back with our monster mouse build up. And in case you're just joining us, it's a 472 cubic inch small block Chevy Street engine that's been created by Scott Shaffer

off racing. Now we just finished our bottom end and now it's time to turn our attention to the top end starting with these Brodick heads.

Shafroth

likes these M twos which are an aluminum 23 degree design with an open combustion chamber and stainless valves as measure 2 100 on the intake, 1 600 on the exhaust.

They're fully CNC ported and the intakes flow 330 CFM.

Right now, you might be wondering why doesn't that engine use a head with a 17 or 18 degree design that would increase the power potential? Well, you got to remember this is a street motor and the 23 degree design complements the other components we selected again for reliability. Now, the springs are nothing exotic. Just an inch, 55 endurance roller spring with a 10 degree steel retainer

gasket seal is very important, especially when the ceiling areas between the cylinders are so thin.

Now, in the past, you would have used a copper gasket on a combination like this, but you would have had to get it o

ringed and still risk the chance for water leaks.

This multi layered steel head gasket from

climatic has embossed ceiling rings and it's available in different thicknesses. So you can adjust your compression ratios. Now it goes on dry with no sealant needed. But first, we need to start these A RP studs,

the head bolt holes are blind tapped, so there's no seers needed. Just oil the threads and start the stud into the block until it's snug being sure not to over tighten it

before we can install those head gaskets or even bolt up the cylinder heads for that matter. I've gone ahead and installed our harmonic balancer so that we can verify top bed center

and index our pointer down here. Now, this is a very important procedure because if you recall, this is a pump gas motor and one degree can make the difference between maximum power and detonation

with the bridge and dial indicator on number one cylinder, bring the piston to top dead center,

verify T DC on the damper and adjust the pointer if necessary.

All right. Now we're ready for those heads. And here's a little tip for you. Any new cylinder head is likely to have sand casting and well, other crap in the passages. And when you're trying to wrestle that head over the studs, it can come loose and go right in your motor. So if you rotate the engine till the deck is perpendicular to the floor like that

and then install the head,

all that crap is gonna go on the floor instead of your motor.

Now, we can raise the engine back up and install our washers and nuts and we'll torque them to 75 ft pounds.

Even though we're using a comp roller cam. Here we went to Rower

for the lifters and here's why

this tiny orifice allows direct oil pressure to lubricate the roller and give the lifter a longer life.

And of course, before you install these, you want to make sure you soak them in oil to pre lube the roller and the body.

Hey, great job. And it looks like you're about ready for the push rods.

Now, the push rods we're using are comp cams, high tech versions. They're a 5/16 diameter Chrome

Molly push rod that's 300 thousands longer than a stalker. Now, the reason we need those longer push rods is to compensate for our raised deck height and our relocated camshaft.

Well, for rockers, we're using Comps pro magnum rollers, which are also made from Chrome Molly. Now because of their design, they can use a lot larger Tron and have more bearing surface area than a similar aluminum rocker. Now, we don't have to tell you what that does for the strength and reliability of these pieces.

The pro magnums are a little bit heavier than the aluminum pieces, but most of the weight is concentrated right here in the Tron

area. So the actual reciprocating mass is virtually the same.

Well, here's the final piece of our valve train set up the stud girdle.

And of course, what this is gonna do is help stabilize the entire valve train

and help the valves hold their adjustment.

Well, while we finish installing this and run the valves, don't you run away, we're gonna finish up our monster mouse build up and see what this baby does on the

dyno right after the break.

Hey, welcome back to the horsepower shop. You know, I can't wait to see how this 472 small block is gonna perform on the engine dyno,

but we got more work ahead of us before that. Now, if you recall, we got our displacement with a 4 200 hole and a 4250 stroke plus, we're using a fairly mild solid street roller cam and a 10 to 3 quarter compression ratio.

And of course, it's all in the name of reliable street performance. I tell you what I'm ready to go out on the limb and predict that thing makes over 650 horsepower. Wow, that's a pretty stout number. But I'll tell you what, I'm inclined to agree with you and I'll tell you what else I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that that tor curve is gonna be as flat as this table right here. Now, let me tell you about the intake that we're using. It's a dark single plane piece that's been specially engineered to work with a tall deck

block without any spacers. Now, as you can see, it's been port matched on this end and up here in the plenum, it's been fully blended. Now, that's gonna facilitate the entry of the air and fuel into the runners and it's also gonna help prevent some fuel fallout.

Of course, it's been Flans

for one of those huge Holly dominators. The carb is a Holly HP that flows 1050 CFM. Now Shaffer

off calibrates each car with a new reet, then tunes it intermediate and high speed circuits for an optimum fuel curve. Wow, 472 cubic inches. Now, you'd think a motor like that would take up a whole lot more room in the engine bay, but check this out the motor mounts the bell housing and even the water pump or stock standard small block Chevy, in fact, from the oil pan to the carburetor, it's only about an inch and a half taller. And hey, I bet you you could fit one of those under a stock hood. Easy.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. You can tell everybody you're running a 350 go out and kick some serious butt. Not me. Well, we'll need some serious ignition to kick off that big motor. So we went to MS D for one of their pro billet distributors. As you can imagine, it's been recurve for optimum timing

and they've added this bronze

year to meet up with our roller cam. Now, for wires, we're going with a set of their 8.5 millimeter superconductors. Now, even with this tall deck height, we can use a standard link distributor because as you remember, the cam location has been raised and the distributor opening has been machined at the factory,

you've got to have a reliable water pump on the street. So we went with this belt driven aluminum piece for moroso. Now for sure, it's gonna keep our monster mouse cool, but

they also claim that their low dragon paller will free up another 14 horsepower upper RPM. S. Now for a starter, we went with Power masters

ultra torque series. This thing's been specially designed for large displacement motors with compression ratios up to 18 to 1 and more. Now, the motor itself is rated at 3.4 horsepower. But with its 4.4 gear reduction, this thing cranks out

an amazing 250 ft pounds of torque

time to button up this build up Mike.

We were just thinking Shafroth racing's got a whole series of ultra street engines. But up to now the biggest cube, small blocks been a 434. So with that in mind, we decided to name this monster 472 the big dog. There it is. Now, as soon as we cinch down the valve covers and we'll pack it up, take it to the dyno and see if it bites as bad as it barks

Scott. I've always associated you with race engines and lots of them. But

how'd you get involved in the street engine program?

I'll tell you, Joe Racing's been my business for over 30 years, but my first love was always fast street cars and that's what this is about. It's a labor of love,

but I can imagine. Well, I'd love to hear that big dog makes a noise. That's why we really came here. Ok, let's see what she's got.

That dog sounded pretty vicious, but let's see the results. Ok, let's say,

wow,

look at that

676 horsepower. That's unbelievable. Look at the torque, 633 ft times of torque.

Well, I think we did good with that big dog. I gotta take this back to Chuck and Mike. So they'll believe it.

Horsepower T V's Quick Tech is brought to you by

Wyotech.

There's nothing like the wind blowing through your hair when you're cruising down the road in your drop top, but there's nothing more annoying than wind whistling into the cockpit of your hard top or sedan.

Well, fixing those wind leaks can be pretty easy. But first you gotta find them.

One of the oldest and easiest ways to actually do that is we can use a piece of paper. We slide between the door and the body and look for a looseness in the seal in there.

In fact, you can use a dollar bill and

you have a dollar at the borrow jo

uh it's 20. Ok. 20. Thanks a lot there,

right? What we wanna do is we actually wanna put it in between the door and the body. Now we're gonna close the door on it. We wanna slide it along that seal and we're gonna look for a spot where it's free where actually the door wouldn't be ceiling on there.

So as we slide that along,

we can find a play off right there is a free spot. First we wanna do is we wanna mark it with masking tape or something like that. So we know where it is

and we can pull the dollar out of there and we get back to me and then show me how to fix it, right? Ok.

Sorry.

All right. So we're gonna open the door here. Show you way we can actually uh build this molding up if it's not damaged. We can take what's known as strip cocking here

and we can build this molding out. We wanna slide this in behind the molding so it fits against the body. Actually, what it's gonna do now is it builds the molding out of way. It creates a lot better seal on the door.

And when we close the door, now

you can take this thing down the highway and that nasty wind noise is gone.

Ok. The uh second method, Doctor Bob and Bob, this tool show us how you use it.

Ok.

This is just a normal mechanic, stethoscope. We use that to find all kinds of noises. One way we can do this,

turn the blower motor on inside the car, create a slight pressure inside

and we're gonna use this and actually go along the door, seam listening for a leak.

So it's pretty simple to use.

Just basically start along the door scene. We're listening for any air escaping or a whistle noise coming from the inside of the car. Fact, I hear one right there. We're gonna use the tape again and mark that

mark that leak. Ok. Now, we can move into the high tech method of leak detection.

We use a leak tech smoke generator. It's basically like a fog machine.

We actually just put out a smoke generated by liquid.

What we wanna do with this. We actually put it inside the car and come along the door, the seam of the door here and we're gonna look for smoke exiting from the

from inside the car.

You find smoke

a well, we definitely found our leak there. It is

when it comes to dressing up your big block Chevy Keith Eer

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So, if your car is getting a little long in the tooth, like my partner here, max life should put some new life under your hood long in the tooth. Huh? Well, we've been here long enough for one day. We'll see you next week with more horsepower TV.