Edelbrock headed 408 Stroker
Thanks. I don't know why Edelbrock wasn't sure you could make the mark. I'm not going to say it is an easy thing to do but it is becoming more common place to see such powerful mills.
I think the biggest problem is people will just throw any cam at such a project with a long arm and ported heads and expect magic.
Very true. I think Edelbrock were just being cautious. I guess they've been burned my making big claims in the past, plus they didn't know if we were just a bunch of monkeys throwing parts together.
This isn't my first Mopar Small block, but it is my first stroker small block so I sat down and did a lot of research before I started ordering parts. I would have been happier with the Victor heads but I knew the Performers would make the grade.
Normally I assemble my own engines, but with this being a magazine giveaway project, I left the actual nuts of bolts of the build to the professionals; in this case Powerhouse Engines. Those guys build a lot of top killer combos here in Australia, especially those in the 'burnout scene' where a 1200-1300hp blown methanol engine will sit at 8500rpm for a couple minutes at a time. Johnny from Powerhouse is meticulous in his machining and has plenty of good gear.
My boss just said he wanted the car to be capable of 11-second quarters. So with that in mind I aimed at 450-500hp. But being a magazine build I wanted to ensure it made the numbers so I erred towards the high end. Plus 500hp always sounds better than 450hp.
I knew the heads were good for at least 450hp out of the box but when we flowed them they actually came up at 510hp capable. The guys recut the seats, smoothed the ports and worked the short turns and that was about it (they ended up flowing about 540hp). They haven't done many Chrysler small blocks so they didn't go crazy on the ports, especially around the pushrod tubes.
I probably over-cammed it to be honest, I could have gone for the next cam down in the Lunati catalog and still made the numbers, but I'm happy with the overall combo.
I just can't wait to drive it for a little while (and maybe take it for a run down the quarter) before it goes off to it's new owner.