PARTS IS PARTS

We didn’t build this engine from scratch, and we aren’t claiming it’s the ultimate smallblock Chevy. What we have done is start with a stout engine, built nearly 20 years ago for the Deuce highboy now known as The Rodder’s Journal roadster, and made updates that fit our needs both in performance and aesthetics. Components were

changed over the course of almost 10 years and thousands of miles, replacing and upgrading parts as time and money would allow—or as was necessary to get us home from some long-distance cross-country jaunt. The result is a hard-charging, torque-heavy engine that performs great from stoplight to stoplight and out on the highway—all while looking right at home in the late-’60s-style Deuce it resides in.

Building an engine from the ground-up, whether from new or vintage parts, certainly has its advantages. We plan to explore that process at length in the near future. But there are many rodders who want to improve their car’s performance without starting from square one. Hopefully sharing what we’ve learned will help them arrive at a combination of components that works for them.

The basic foundation of our powerplant has remained the same since it was first assembled in the late-’90s, when the car was owned by Rich DeDarian. The bottom end of the 406-inch smallblock (a 400-inch block bored .030-over) is loaded with a

4340 forged steel crankshaft pushing Manley 5.7-inch H-beam rods and JE forged pistons. A Comp Cams hydraulic-roller valvetrain in an older set of aluminum heads was actuated by a 280 hydraulic-roller Magnum camshaft. With the exception of the heads, all these components are still in the engine today, and power is transmitted rearward via a Tremec T-56 six-speed manual transmission.

It’s been a solid runner from the start, and all the components used were perfectly good. They just weren’t paired as well as they could have been for our purposes, and we wanted to make the car run even better—maximizing low-end torque while maintaining power at higher RPMs. From an aesthetic standpoint, we’ve always liked the look of ’60s-era muscle car powerplants tucked in lightweight early Ford hot rods, so another goal was to backdate the engine’s appearance from the ’90s-era competition guise it originally wore.

INTAKE AND EXHAUSTThe original heads had large 220cc intake ports that helped make horsepower but compromised some low-end torque. They did their duty for nearly two decades though, until a trip from San Francisco to Austin, Texas, for the Lonestar Round Up proved to be their last. During the final leg of our 1,800-mile blast the car ran rough, and after a quick inspection, we found antifreeze in the cylinders. The heads had reached the end of their days.

OF POWERBUILDING A POTENT STREET

PERFORMER A LITTLE AT A TIME

By Curt Iseli | Photography by Steve Coonan

At one time 327/350hp L79 smallblocks were the hot tip, and they made for a wild ride plunked in a lightweight hot rod. That was the vibe we were after, though our ’60s-dressed mill is actually a 406-incher built about 20 years ago. Over time we’ve made incremental tweaks and upgrades, resulting in a solid driver with plenty of horsepower and tons of torque through a wide range of RPMs.

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We decided on a pair of Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads with 195cc intake ports. The smaller ports helped increase torque, while the 64cc combustion chambers bumped compression from 9:1 to approximately 9.8:1—just enough for a little more of that seat-of-the-pants excitement we all look for in our hot rods. While we were still in Austin, we called on the crew at Dave’s Perfection Automotive to swap in the Comp Cams valvetrain and install the heads for the roadster’s trip back to the West Coast.

The head swap didn’t necessitate changing the 280HR Magnum cam and at the time we were more concerned with getting the car back home to California. But given the opportunity, it makes sense to install a newer cam when upgrading the top end. As with any technology, camshaft design is an ever-evolving science, and a lot has changed in the last 20 years. When we ran our particular scenario by Comp Cams valvetrain engineer Billy Godbold, he said that even an off-the-shelf mid-range Thumpr cam with roughly the same lift and duration as the Magnum would maintain ample low-end torque because the intake closing point is in about the same place as on the Magnum. Additionally, we’d see increased torque at mid-range and higher RPMs, and a boost in power of at least 15hp.

Up top, we opted for a new Edelbrock Performer RPM dual-plane intake manifold. Aside from their performance

We chose 8mm plug wires from PerTronix because of the retro look of the boots and the latest in wire and insulation technology. They’re held in place by polished aluminum wire looms from Billet Specialties.

PARTS IS PARTS

A Holley Street Avenger 4bbl and Edelbrock Performer RPM intake are always a winning combination, and we think throttle response is even better with Quick Fuel’s 1-inch carb spacer. ARP fasteners are used elsewhere on (and in) the engine, but we especially like the detail of the stainless carb studs. Quick Fuel lines and a chromed Holley regulator carry fuel. We like the look of the nickel-plated fittings. Although Moon finned valve covers fit many eras, white-coated headers scream ’60s. Almost out of sight is a black wrinkle-finish Powermaster starter.

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characteristics (and being matched to the new heads), we like that these intakes resemble a factory high rise in appearance. Jon Wright’s CustomChrome Plating in Grafton, Ohio, polished the intake for a little bit of additional bright work. A Holley 670cfm Street Avenger carburetor sits high on top via one of Quick Fuel’s Super Sucker tapered one-inch aluminum spacers, which improves the already solid throttle response.

We’ve all heard the adage that “chrome won’t get you home,” but nothing defines the era a car emulates quite like the details found under the hood. Polished, finned-aluminum “No Name” valve covers from Moon are appropriate on any hot rod from the ’50s forward, and we love the look. The air cleaner arrangement is also particularly important. The Performer intake and Quick Fuel spacer puts the carburetor up fairly high, so we opted for a GM factory-style air cleaner lid with a reproduction ’67 L88 base from Paragon Corvette Reproductions to bring the air cleaner in closer to the engine, maintaining some visual balance and accenting the late-’60s hi-po vibe. We used the repro ’67 L88 base since it doesn’t come with the breather hole that we have always filled on other hi-po GM air cleaner bases. A 327/350hp decal on the chrome-plated lid takes the factory look one step further. Both the air cleaner lid and decal came from OPGI in Seal Beach, California, which is a great source for many of the ’60s GM components that tend to make their way onto our street rods.

While the new manifold and heads helped address the air/fuel intake side of the equation, the exhaust was improved with a set of properly sized headers. The original Sprint car-style headers were oversized for our application. A set of Sanderson full-length headers with 1¾-inch primaries exiting through three-inch collectors and 2 ½-inch exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers increases exhaust flow velocity, nudging torque and horsepower upward as well. In keeping with the ’60s theme of the engine, the headers were ceramic-coated white (though we still occasionally freshen them up with the same VHT spray-bombs we used as teenagers).

FUEL AND FIRESometimes what begins as a simple Saturday afternoon project turns into a much more involved affair. Such was the case with our fuel pump. Earlier this summer we discovered a fuel leak, and after learning our particular pump had been discontinued, we hunted for a suitable replacement. After all, it’s a smallblock Chevy—should be easy enough, right? Wrong. When the car was built, the Deuce rails were pinched three-quarter inch on each side and the engine was mounted with that particular fuel pump in place. When we tried installing any other pump (and we tried quite a few), the inlets kept hitting the frame.

After several frustrating days, we sought help from our friend Shane Weckerly, Holley’s Chief Product Officer. He

PARTS IS PARTS

The Deuce frame is pinched 1½-inches, so fuel pumps like the chrome examples, with their side-by-side inlets, interfere with the rails, especially with AN fittings. At far left is a decades-old GM NASCAR-style pump that was too large, but the black, billet aluminum Holley Ultra HP Series unit did the trick. It has a clockable base with inlets positioned 180-degrees apart, eliminating clearance issues. Ninety degree AN fittings from Earl’s connect -8 inlets to -6 lines. Brand new rubber motor mount insulators are one measure of the increased engine torque; we recently broke a motor mount.

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For additional photos and contact information for manufacturers whose parts are discussed in this article, visit www.roddersjournal.com/partsisparts or just click on the

“Parts is Parts” tab on our homepage.

PARTS IS PARTS

suggested their Ultra HP Series billet fuel pump, which was designed for NASCAR use and features inlets located 180-degrees apart in a clockable base. The pump body was among the biggest of those we tried installing, but having those inlets in opposing positions made it all work. Earl’s 90-degree -8 to -6 AN fittings also aided in the installation. And even with its racing pedigree (and 200 GPH fuel flow), with a regulator it works just fine for street applications.

The last upgrade to the fuel system was the installation of Quick Fuel dual-feed lines. Cheap fuel lines to the carburetor inevitably leak, which can lead to over tightening and stripped inlet threads. Since everything else in the fuel delivery system was new, we thought it was wise to replace the AN lines and regulator as well.

Spark is delivered via a combination of MSD and PerTronix components that combine—you guessed it—performance and aesthetics. The main elements are MSD’s 6A electronic ignition box and Pro-Billet tach drive distributor (the latter was a provision for a Jones-Motrola mechanical tachometer we’d planned to install at one point). A reproduction factory-style distributor cap, cast in maroon and complete with a window for checking dwell on now non-existent points, replaces the MSD cap. PerTronix 8mm plug wires were chosen for the retro look of their boots.

Siamese-bore, 400-inch smallblocks have a reputation for overheating due to water not circulating 100% around the cylinders. We haven’t experienced such troubles though. Ours is tucked beneath a louvered hood with a 16-inch Vintage Air electric fan drawing air from a Walker four-row radiator, and it stays within the proper temperature range in Southern California traffic or triple digit West Texas heat.

What we have experienced with this configuration is a whole lot of fun on the road, and it delivers exactly the kind of performance we’d expect a hot rod to exhibit. The car weighs approximately 2,500lbs, and with the current combination it not only runs through the gears just fine, it also has plenty of low-end torque. And that’s what really moves these cars—and their owners.

Beneath the period-style factory reproduction cap is an MSD distributor. The throttle linkage is typical of Lokar’s components: clean, simple, and functional. An older Comp Cams hydraulic-roller cam remains in the engine today, but a wide range of available replacements, like their Thumpr line, will increase performance all around. The air cleaner lid is a simple GM reproduction piece from OPGI, while Paragon Corvette Reproductions supplied the ’67 L88-style base, which has no breather hole and sinks the air cleaner over the Holley 4bbl.

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