After the success of 2009, The Dodge Boys were cautiously optimistic about 2010. It was decided early-on that we would supercharge the Fast Four and switch to the Blown Roadster classes. As in the past, The Freewwheelin' Tony Smith volunteered hundreds of hours to make the necessary internal engine modifications, while Pedro handled the chassis modifications and designed and fabricated the supercharger engineering. Chris King wrote the big check for a new one-off crankshaft from Moldex. Carl Strong www.strongframes.com fabricated the aluminum intake manifold. Earl "EDGY" Edgerton cast a new low compression cylinder head and ground a blower-friendly cam. To add a bit of bling to the Dodge Boys, Nat Cundy at King Designs www.kingd.com made some really cool graphics for t-shirts, stickers, and the car trailer, and JRod www.jrodart.com did a sweet rendition of the car for the team's mechanic shirts.
The Fast Four Special went to the DynoJet www.dynojet.com chassis dyno a full three weeks before Speedweek 2010, giving us what we thought was plenty of time to sort out any glitches. And glitches there were...
On the first dyno run, running only 4 pounds of boost, the car barely ran, and the air fuel ratio was all over the map - from 10:1 at 2500 RPM to 16:1 at 3500.
After jetting and blower pulley changes, the second dyno pull went a bit better, and the Fast Four officially made more horsepower and torque than 2009.
The third dyno run was astounding. The Fast Four ran strong and pulled effortlessly to 4700 RPM. It sounded absolutely amazing! We ran to the computer screen and were elated to see dyno numbers beyond our wildest expectations. 198 HP and 245 ft/lbs of torque! An astounding 62% increase over the naturally aspirated 2009 engine!
The elation was almost immediately stiffled when one of the DynoJet employees pointed out that he saw "sparks" coming out of the front cormer of the head. When we replayed the video, we saw them for ourself, and immediately tore into the motor to analyze the carnage. We were amazed to find that combustion was leaking past every available route - around head studs, into water passages, and out the side of the head. Bummer...
Video of 2010 Chassis Dyno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYa4zNWCW_o
An emergency plan was made to o-ring the head, and a call was made to Matt McCune at AutoPilot www.autopilotdesign.com to CNC the head. Their attention to detail was phenomenal and they returned our precious one-off cylinder head in less than a week with precision-machined o-ring grooves. The engine was reassembled, and with only a week left before we made the trek to the Salt, we dragged the Fast Four back to the dyno.
Thinking we had the problem licked, we strapped the Fast Four Special back on, decreased boost with a bigger pulley, and let 'er rip. Well, the o-rings worked. Combustion had no where to go but out the exhaust, but the old block couldn't handle the pressure, and cracked under the stress! Disassmbly revealed three small cracks in the block - two around the front head stud and another at the rear.
Panic set in! We debated not even going to the Salt, but in true Dodge Boys fashion, a manic last-minute emergency plan was crafted and wrenches started flyin'. Pedro had the idea to make a head sandwich, and clamp a piece of one-inch steel over the cylinder head to spread the clamping load. Stretch at Custom Two Fabrication in Bozeman came to the rescue and fabbed a beautiful 1" steel plate on a Sunday afternoon. Tony made numerous trips back and forth from Lewistown to do more machine work, and JB weld was enlisted in mass quantities to seal cracks. The engine was finally started and idled in the driveway (to the dislike of the neighbors) only hours before the Fast Four Special was loaded on the trailer.
The Fast Four Special went to the DynoJet www.dynojet.com chassis dyno a full three weeks before Speedweek 2010, giving us what we thought was plenty of time to sort out any glitches. And glitches there were...
On the first dyno run, running only 4 pounds of boost, the car barely ran, and the air fuel ratio was all over the map - from 10:1 at 2500 RPM to 16:1 at 3500.
After jetting and blower pulley changes, the second dyno pull went a bit better, and the Fast Four officially made more horsepower and torque than 2009.
The third dyno run was astounding. The Fast Four ran strong and pulled effortlessly to 4700 RPM. It sounded absolutely amazing! We ran to the computer screen and were elated to see dyno numbers beyond our wildest expectations. 198 HP and 245 ft/lbs of torque! An astounding 62% increase over the naturally aspirated 2009 engine!
The elation was almost immediately stiffled when one of the DynoJet employees pointed out that he saw "sparks" coming out of the front cormer of the head. When we replayed the video, we saw them for ourself, and immediately tore into the motor to analyze the carnage. We were amazed to find that combustion was leaking past every available route - around head studs, into water passages, and out the side of the head. Bummer...
Video of 2010 Chassis Dyno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYa4zNWCW_o
An emergency plan was made to o-ring the head, and a call was made to Matt McCune at AutoPilot www.autopilotdesign.com to CNC the head. Their attention to detail was phenomenal and they returned our precious one-off cylinder head in less than a week with precision-machined o-ring grooves. The engine was reassembled, and with only a week left before we made the trek to the Salt, we dragged the Fast Four back to the dyno.
Thinking we had the problem licked, we strapped the Fast Four Special back on, decreased boost with a bigger pulley, and let 'er rip. Well, the o-rings worked. Combustion had no where to go but out the exhaust, but the old block couldn't handle the pressure, and cracked under the stress! Disassmbly revealed three small cracks in the block - two around the front head stud and another at the rear.
Panic set in! We debated not even going to the Salt, but in true Dodge Boys fashion, a manic last-minute emergency plan was crafted and wrenches started flyin'. Pedro had the idea to make a head sandwich, and clamp a piece of one-inch steel over the cylinder head to spread the clamping load. Stretch at Custom Two Fabrication in Bozeman came to the rescue and fabbed a beautiful 1" steel plate on a Sunday afternoon. Tony made numerous trips back and forth from Lewistown to do more machine work, and JB weld was enlisted in mass quantities to seal cracks. The engine was finally started and idled in the driveway (to the dislike of the neighbors) only hours before the Fast Four Special was loaded on the trailer.
Video of 2010 Engine Break-in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAd89iKXn98
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAd89iKXn98
     Record Plaques  Intake welding by Carl Strong  bling  Blown Fast Four  Let's kick some Ford banger ass |
 The new Moldex crank!   Tony's torque plate   Blower mock-up  Thanks to AutoPilot for CNCing the head  What's wrong with this picture? A. Chris is out of wine B. The head is off the engine for the 3rd time C. There's a wine bottle in the cylinder |
