They say Rome wasn't built in a day and that's a statement we suspect an engine builder probably came up with. Not that building an engine is a painful process, in fact it is quite fun given the right team, but it definitely takes a significant amount of time to do it correctly. Last we left you, SALT's new short-block had just been wrapped up and transported from ProLine Racing to Vengeance Racing for the completion of the build. Today we can show you how that all went down, although we will spare you the hours of grueling measurements, tweaks, test fits and checks, fueled almost exclusively by Redbull and cold pizza.
1 When we left you last,...
1 When we left you last, our ProLine Racing built short-block had just been completed and delivered to the crew at Vengeance Racing, who have been in charge of SALT's build since Day 1. This month it was up to Jay Healy to turn our short-block into a complete engine fit for the Standing Mile.
2 ProLine Racing took great...
2 ProLine Racing took great care of us during machining and assembly of the short-block and went above and beyond to machine the iron block to accept a set of 1/2-inch ARP head studs from Kurt Urban, which you can see Jay from Vengeance Racing installing here. Hopefully the massive studs can keep everything in place under the extreme cylinder pressure and heat of the mile.
3 We've got a ton of shiny...
3 We've got a ton of shiny new stuff to install this month, but few things are more exciting to enthusiasts than a big solid roller camshaft, especially one designed by Steve Petty of ProLine Racing. Along with the camshaft, ProLine also supplied a set of Crane Cams tie-bar solid roller lifters, which will ride atop those peaky lobes.
Like any good build, the top-end portion of SALT's engine was born from weeks of planning. We've been eyeing a set of Trick Flow Specialties (TFS) fully CNC-machined GenX 235cc heads for a while now and felt that SALT was the perfect test bed for the hot cathedral port offerings. With 235cc intake runners (80cc exhaust), 70cc combustion chambers and a great price point, the TFS heads have a lot going for them right out of the box. After talking to TFS about our goals, we were ready to pull the trigger until we caught wind of a couple potential "tweaks" that the crew over at Total Engine Airflow had come up with for the GenX heads. Suffice it to say, we let them run wild and had TEA not only setup our heads for a big spring package (solid roller friendly), but we told them to go ahead and do what they do best, adding a quality back cut and blue printed intake valve with a competition multi-angle valve job and chamber blend to our already CNC'd units. All of that adds up to over 343-cfm at .600-inches of lift, which is great for a little 2.080-inch valve. What we got from this lethal combo was a set of heads that we felt confident in running for a long time to come and a great bang for our buck in the upper deck of our engine program.
4 With 256/262 degrees of...
4 With 256/262 degrees of duration at .050, .759/.759 inches of lift and a turbo-friendly 116-degree LSA, this ProLine camshaft should make massive amounts of power from 3800-7400rpm and keep our Turbonetics turbocharger working hard with a boost-friendly overlap and well-timed valve events.
5 After carefully sliding...
5 After carefully sliding the camshaft in place, it was time to bolt the cam retainer plate in place and torque the four cam retainer bolts down. Please, use Loctite on these bolts, we’ve seen too many failures lately from these seemingly innocent bolts backing out and destroying engines.
6 We managed to forget to...
6 We managed to forget to order a timing set for SALT but Vengeance Racing was on point and had a few extra sets in stock for customers (and freeloading journalists alike). This three-bolt LS1-style double roller timing set from Rollmaster features a Torrington bearing, induction hardened gears, and is fully adjustable in 2-degree (crankshaft) increments.
With the cylinder heads selected and on the way to us, our next step was to choose a camshaft that would support our power goals (1,000+hp) and work harmoniously with the rest of our combination. With a little bit of luck, we managed to bend the ear of the one and only Steve Petty of ProLine and Outlaw 10.5 fame, who was kind enough to spec us a killer solid roller camshaft that was cut by Crane Cams to his specifications. Never one to shy away from big power, Steve decided to run a massive .750/.750-inch lift bumpstick in our little 370, with 256/262 degrees of duration at .050 cut on a 116 degree lobe separation angle, which Steve advised we install on a 112-degree ICL. Minimum RPM: 3800, Maximum RPM: 7400 – aka, this is not for the street. At all. Ever. But, we're okay with that, since the big solid roller should make a ton of steam down track and let us spin our relatively small engine to the moon, keeping us in the power band in high gear.
7 With the timing set in...
7 With the timing set in place and the camshaft properly degreed and installed on the recommended 112-degree intake centerline, Jay installed our Moroso oil pump in place. Note the use of the supplied oil pump spacers, which allow the pump to clear the double roller chain while maintaining enough clearance up front for the stock front cover to be installed.
8 The oil pump can't do any...
8 The oil pump can't do any work without a quality pickup tube, so Jay installed the Moroso unit next, using the supplied O-ring in between the pump and the pickup tube. If you recall, we're using ARP studs on the main caps, which meant we needed to quickly open up some of the mounting holes on the windage tray; a simple job with a drill or Dremel.
9 Time to drop the Moroso...
9 Time to drop the Moroso 6-quart oil pan in place, which secures to the engine using a set of studs and a stock-style O-ring gasket. As with every LS engine, it is important to install the pan properly, paying close attention to the front cover's alignment before completing the final tightening and torque sequence.