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cuzncletus · 05-20-2011, 07:26 AM

Oh, boy. I've opened a can of worms here. All I'll tell you is I've used this machine shop before and have hung out there some. I've seen their engines on the dyno and have an FE they built that is pretty strong; 474 hp from 416 cubic inches and it's very streetable.

Dennis builds race engines and he doesn't cut corners. The block was line bored, decked, and each cylinder fitted individually. He did lots of port work on the intake and the block. Dennis studied under and was one of Joe Mondello's good friends. I didn't ask if he worked on the heads but normally he would at least CC them out of force of habit. The little things like block prep don't seem like much, but they add up.

He spent several hours tuning on the dyno and the HP started around 175, which I thought was good enough. I watched the pull to 209 and have the print out. Unless there was some way he could fiddle with the water pressure from the control panel I don't know how he could rig the numbers. This is a computer controlled dyno in a dyno room, not a rig in the back of somebody's shop.

I, too, was surprised by the doubling of HP while only adding 30 inches. Besides the cam, there's not much new technology in this engine and the cam specs don't seem like anything special. All I'll tell you is this is not a fish story on my part. I was there, I've got the printout, and I've got the motor. I'm new at flatheads and don't want to offend any of the knowledgeable old-timers. I'm open to your arguements. As far as I'm concerned this is just a conversation between the "Can, too's" and the "Can not's".

05-20-2011, 07:26 AM	#20
cuzncletus Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sevierville, Tenn. Posts: 391	Re: Good HP numbers? Oh, boy. I've opened a can of worms here. All I'll tell you is I've used this machine shop before and have hung out there some. I've seen their engines on the dyno and have an FE they built that is pretty strong; 474 hp from 416 cubic inches and it's very streetable. Dennis builds race engines and he doesn't cut corners. The block was line bored, decked, and each cylinder fitted individually. He did lots of port work on the intake and the block. Dennis studied under and was one of Joe Mondello's good friends. I didn't ask if he worked on the heads but normally he would at least CC them out of force of habit. The little things like block prep don't seem like much, but they add up. He spent several hours tuning on the dyno and the HP started around 175, which I thought was good enough. I watched the pull to 209 and have the print out. Unless there was some way he could fiddle with the water pressure from the control panel I don't know how he could rig the numbers. This is a computer controlled dyno in a dyno room, not a rig in the back of somebody's shop. I, too, was surprised by the doubling of HP while only adding 30 inches. Besides the cam, there's not much new technology in this engine and the cam specs don't seem like anything special. All I'll tell you is this is not a fish story on my part. I was there, I've got the printout, and I've got the motor. I'm new at flatheads and don't want to offend any of the knowledgeable old-timers. I'm open to your arguements. As far as I'm concerned this is just a conversation between the "Can, too's" and the "Can not's".