[Stuart]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

I wonder if Nick built the engine?

He said he built it, using parts provided by the owner.
(I believe he can grind valves in his shop, but major machining like boring the cylinders or grinding the crank is farmed out to a machine shop and then he does the assembly.)

[Scott Roberts]

Originally Posted by slowbird

Not sure I'd let him touch an engine of mine.

Lol..it was painful to watch..

[jhein]

He kept on saying the carb was too small. But with that mild of a cam, could that cause the same condition?? It seems that even a 750 CFM Qjet should supply that. Don't know.. Starved for flow by the cam?

[Formulajones]

And all those timing sweeps for best power weren't verified. UGH REALLY? So we have no idea what the timing actually was for best power.

Lets just move the distributor and run it again

I hope at some point off camera he at least verified that with a timing light for the owner so the owner knows exactly where that needs to be when installed in the car.. Otherwise that was all for not.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by Scott Roberts

Lol..it was painful to watch..

He does a lot of stuff properly, BUT he has an episode where he explains engine building techniques..................he was putting a bevel on the top of a freshly bored cylinder with a carbide cutter, dang that had to have been a rough edge. I use a cartridge roll...

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by Stan Weiss

He said it was a factory cast iron manifold. Is it a full dual plain? I have found that dual plain manifolds like a little larger carb than when using a spacer or a single plain wants.

Stan

The 1969-1979 factory intake is a dual plane design. As Cliff and others have found it is also an incredibly good OE manifold.

[Stan Weiss]

Isn't the internet great. You know he should have built those engine this way or that way. REALLY? Nick is in business. That means you build the engine the way the customer wants and within the budget the customer has. It is not important if you like that engine or not but only if the customer is happy with it.

Stan

[Stan Weiss]

OK. Lets look at what information is on the dyno sheet. Since there is no correction factor lets use 1.00.

We have HP and BSFC

► 379.2 * .562 = 213.11 lbs /hr fuel

Fuel is your HP. The learner or richer the A/F ratio only means how much air is needed.

Based on the attached picture I don't think the carb was flowing 750 cfm.

Stan

[BLUE TA]

x 10 stan on post 27 he built the engine for the customer.

[Cliff R]

Can't say as I've ever seen a rule book for how someone builds one of these engines. It's also easy to "Monday Morning Quarterback" the efforts of others. The engine in question is a solid and proven "recipe" dating clear back to the HO Racing days.

It does leave considerable power on the table due to a few of the parts chosen, specifically the camshaft. Pretty smallish for the 455 at that compression ratio, as mentioned. If they can tune it without issues on pump gas it will be fine.

I also see some issues with the carburetor as the air flaps aren't coming nearly far enough open to see full potential there, but at that power level probably not a big deal either.

What we do see is power peaking at 3400-3500rpm's and HP at 4500 or so. This tells us that the camshaft is simply not allowing for pull potential but finishing right where I would expect it to. Early int he video he shows us the cam specs and how it is "rate" to 5500rpm's by Lunati. Maybe for a 326 or 350 build, but certainly it wouldn't make power nearly that high in a larger engine, so keep that in mind when you shop camshafts and ready manufacturers data on them.

I'll attach a dyno sheet of a very close engine build, 455 topped with #96 heads at 9.3 to 1 compression. The heads were ported to 250cfm, and two different cams used. The Comp XR276HR and a custom cam I recommended to replace it when the engine didn't meet the expectations of the builder or owner.......Cliff

[Cliff R]

PS: forgot to comment on the intake and carb. It's mentioned several times that the carb is too "small". It's actually 850cfm IF set up correctly. That particular carb isn't set up correctly and if you look closely at the link from the pull-off up to the secondaries the "slot" in the linkage isn't coming anywhere near the link at WOT and the air flaps are only open about 70 percent of where they should be.

I use a near identical Pontiac carb on my 455 making over 550hp and it is flawless. I've bolted down HP950's and Holley 850cfm carbs and they don't make any more power than the Q-jet so we know the carb really isn't the issue, just some fundamental issue keeping it from reaching full potential.

The iron intake is fine and you aren't going to see any more power swapping it out for something else. The iron intakes don't even think about becoming restrictive to at least 500hp.

The ram air exhaust manifolds are also very good parts and probably not holding it back at all at that power level......IMHO.....

[TCSGTO]

I’ve watched a few of his videos and like how he doesn’t try for hero numbers. In one of them he commented he won’t start a pull until water temp is at least 165 because “who drives around on the street under that, come on man”. Lots of internet “gurus” post results running at 120 and act like they’re 20-30 numbers smarter than everyone else.

[Formulajones]

That's all fine, I agree, but put a damn timing light on it when you move the distributor around and get some numbers.....geeez

[jhein]

Originally Posted by TCSGTO

I’ve watched a few of his videos and like how he doesn’t try for hero numbers. In one of them he commented he won’t start a pull until water temp is at least 165 because “who drives around on the street under that, come on man”. Lots of internet “gurus” post results running at 120 and act like they’re 20-30 numbers smarter than everyone else.

He's kinda all over the place. I watched one of his Pontiac sessions where he said the opposite. He was shooting for a certain number and after a couple pulls said he was going to let it cool down so he could get more power on the next pull. On another one he said he was going to retard the timing to get more power and I thought that may do the opposite. So he said retard the timing several times (he repeats himself a lot) Then at the last second he decided the opposite and advances the timing "by 2 degrees" just by turning the dist "a bit" without actually checking the timing. It did end up making more power on the next pull though.

There's another video where he's doing Pontiac and he has a oil leak that he is aware of and does another pull anyway and sets the guys brand new motor on fire. There was oil going all over the exhaust and the room was filling with smoke during the pull and he just kept going.

But I don't mind watching the videos at all. They are entertaining.

Not saying I know more about engine building, tuning or dyno testing than him but he seems kinda scatterbrained at times.

[grandam1979]

Just watched another video of him dynoing a 389 334 hp personally I think he’s right in the ballpark for stocker builds.

[grandam1979]

Forgot the 389 he said was rated at 330hp they lowered compression below 10.1 for pump gas so not to bad.

[Cliff R]

"Not saying I know more about engine building, tuning or dyno testing than him but he seems kinda scatterbrained at times."

You'd probably say the same thing about me if I made a video of dynoing an engine or building a carb, etc. These days I have BAD cases of CRS, and even worse cases of DGS!........LOL

[jhein]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

"Not saying I know more about engine building, tuning or dyno testing than him but he seems kinda scatterbrained at times."

You'd probably say the same thing about me if I made a video of dynoing an engine or building a carb, etc. These days I have BAD cases of CRS, and even worse cases of DGS!........LOL

So what you're saying is that when they dyno my motor I should stay away. LOL.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by jhein

He's kinda all over the place. I watched one of his Pontiac sessions where he said the opposite. He was shooting for a certain number and after a couple pulls said he was going to let it cool down so he could get more power on the next pull. On another one he said he was going to retard the timing to get more power and I thought that may do the opposite. So he said retard the timing several times (he repeats himself a lot) Then at the last second he decided the opposite and advances the timing "by 2 degrees" just by turning the dist "a bit" without actually checking the timing. It did end up making more power on the next pull though.

.

That's the part the kills me. I don't have a problem with the build, it's pretty much what I'd expect from a stock built 455 with such a small camshaft. But when you're paying for a dyno session I'd expect to have some data, like AFR, BSFC, a graph or curve of the power produced, and for damn sure what was the total timing where it made best power

He might think it's 2 degrees when he bumps the distributor around but I just about guarantee it's not. You just simply need to put a light on it and verify. Not doing so is just being lazy. I don't mean to sound harsh but common', really?

I can see how that conversation would go. Customer shows up, they talk numbers. Nick " It made best power when I retarded the timing" Owner "so where did it end up?" Nick "I don't know, never checked it" LOL

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though, maybe when the owner shows up they'll make another pull for the owner, maybe then they'll actually check the total timing and see where it's at.

[grandam1979]

In the 389 video I watched he fought a bad set of points for half the video and his charger not working on the stand. You have to give him credit for not editing out all the real world issues he has I can respect that. I always wanted to video a day in the shop just for fun.