RPM Magazine June 2021

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RPM Magazine is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK of Revolution Publishing & Media Inc. RPM Magazine is a worldwide motorsports publication distributed online.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.............................................................. CHRIS BIRO editor@rpmmag.com V.P. MARKETING/CUSTOMER RELATIONS.................. TRISH BIRO trish@rpmmag.com EVENT MEDIA.................................................. events@rpmmag.com EVENT SUBSCRIPTIONS COORDINATOR........... SHERRIE WEBER sherrie@rpmmag.com ART DIRECTOR............................................................

JIM McHARG

Photographic Contributions: MARK goDragRacing.org, GEORGE PICH, MATT WOODS, MATT TROMBLEY, LOUIS FRONKIER, BART CEPEK, BLAKE FARNAN, JERRY GARRISON, NEIL ZIMBALDI, STEVEN TAYLOR, EDDIE MALONEY, WES TAYLOR, STEVEN TAYLOR, DAVID GATES, and ANDREW RADIOTIS Editorial Contributions: CHUCK SCOTT, MARK goDragRacing.org, TOBY BROOKS, TIM BIRO, STAN SMITH, JT, GEORGE PICH, JAY MISENER, EDDIE MALONEY, WES TAYLOR, and SCOTT FORBES Technical Writing Contribution: CHUCK SCOTT, SHANE TECKLENBURG, TIM BIRO and JAY MISENER

For advertising information contact TRISH BIRO...........................519.752.3705....... trish@rpmmag.com

Special Events Manager: Chris Biro events@rpmmag.com Special Events Sales: Trish Biro: 519-752-3705 trish@rpmmag.com Subscriptions/Address Changes: Circulation circulation@rpmmag.com

To subscribe to RPM go to www.rpmmag.com or email Trish Biro at trish@rpmmag.com, or call 519752-3705.

The focus of RPM is to bring a diverse mix of high performance street and race automobiles to life within its pages including race cars, muscle cars, hot rods and street legal machines with an emphasis on the “EXTREME,” including fast doorslammer and outlaw forms of drag racing. Not familiar with these types of cars? They are considered to be the top-shelf of the industry and are on the edge with regard to design, performance, and power!

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RPM Magazine has been a world leader in motorsports publishing for 22 years and has support locations in Ontario, Canada, Alabama, Texas, and Virginia, along with contributing writers and photojournalists worldwide.

If you have a story that may fit within the focus and scope of RPM Magazine’s coverage, please email our Editor In Chief at editor@rpmmag.com.

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Chris Biro

editor’spix

Videos that are too hot to keep hidden

Watch Josh Cook spank 3 other cars in 4 wide racing in his 2016 Blown Coyote Mustang

Watch Eric Warren’s 2013 Dodge Charger Twin Turbo Super Bee make a hit!

Watch Wally Farbaky’s fresh Mustang make a pass at the Snowbird Nationals

“And They Walked Away” .....As the new Red Bull Corvette nears completion, Watch Shannon “Big Dookie” Poole’s Crash Video

Submit your video for the Editor’s Pix: videos@rpmmag.com 4

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ENFORCER-HALF

JW-PERFORMANCE

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June

2021

Often Imitated, Never Duplicated—For 22 STRAIGHT YEARS RPM Magazine has been the ORIGINAL Voice Of Wild Street Machines and Extreme Drag Cars WORLDWIDE! Don’t Settle For Less! We DELIVER Insane Fast Cars and Bring You NO POLITICS... JUST ACTION! Your ONLY “Real Time” “Real World” Car Mag...PERIOD!

Don’t Get Stung ..............................................

54 Eric Warren’s twin turbo 4-door packs a lethal sting

Big BowserDoing...........................................................................

8 more with less; the McCain Brother’s Wild Nitroused LSX Datsun

The Fridge..........................................................

44 Keeping cool under pressure is the name of the game!

White Out...................................................................... 28

4+4 = Fast!...................................................... 76 Adding an extra 4 cylinders and a whole lot more to this Nissan resulted in one bad grudge car!

9 Seconds of Modern Muscle

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S

elect RPM readers might recall the Datsun era, but some may not.

Datsun was in fact an early offering for export-only from Nissan, and by the mid-1980s the name was phased out and future offerings bore the Nissan name.

To see a Datsun anywhere these days is a rare sight, but one that runs a top-level drag race class, and is competitive in it, is all but impossible. Enter Ryan and DJ McCain, who make the near impossible a reality.

Many younger people in drag racing impact the sport, but the McCain brothers Ryan and DJ are at the top of the game in the No-Time scene, and known for taking down the top-tier guys. Ryan has many years of tuning experience behind him, and DJ typically drives, however, both are equally talented behind the wheel or under the hood. They’ve followed in significant footsteps; their father, Lester, has been racing since he was a teenager.

After dominating in a previous typical Fox Body Mustang build, team McCain wanted to be different. While looking for that ‘different’, they happened to stumble across the shell of a 1971 Datsun 1200. Ryan explains; “Arriving at the original owner’s house, our first thoughts were that we couldn’t believe how small the car actually was, and that there was no way a V8 LS would fit in it. But with travelling so far, there was no way we could come back with an empty trailer.” Fun fact; these little cars have a wheelbase of just under 92 inches which isn’t the ideal platform for hardcore V8 power, let alone what the McCain’s had planned for it. Generally, the Mc10

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Menacing

The engine with intake and throttle body sits almost roofline high and the oversized bullhorns out the side are just plain nasty!

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Seeing the 474ci nitrous mill between the tube frame rails looks off at first as the car is so small it makes the motor look even bigger

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PBM PERFORMANCE

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DJ, Ryan and Lester McCain and Marques Hatton

BURNS STAINLESS

Cain family handles 90% of their work, but for this task, they needed help.

Much needed to be done to prepare for the coming drivetrain combination, especially to shoehorn a real motor into the engine bay. They chose some of the best in the business for that endeavor, Bob and Jay at NRC Motorsports.

Initially, the 1200 got setup for a rotary and clutch combination by the previous owner, but the McCain’s had plans for an LSX/TH400. A 25.1 certified cage was thrown into the mix as well as a four-link/coilover

rear suspension and a custom fabricated 9 inch rear-end. Up front, cutting out just enough stock equipment made way for the necessary chassis work and coilover shocks, with attention paid to fitting the V8 and being able to service it easily.

Most peoples’ favorite part of the Datsun is the massive mill sticking out of the hood, which is almost as high as the roofline. The engine in Bowser (during both version 1 and 2.0) is LSX based and both added a lot of nitrous. The first setup saw the team running no-time small block ni-

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TRICKFLOW

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To someone not familiar with X275, I would describe it as ‘a shark tank’...

R YA N M c C A I N

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trous classes and going consistent 4.50s in the 1/8th. “That 434 built by Abby’s Performance Engines sure was a good reliable motor for what it was,” said Ryan. “Mainly local racers know us for doing a lot more with less, and if I had to guess we maybe had $20,000 tops in that combination and we put some of the top engine builder combinations to rest.”

This new setup is equally as impressive, and after slamming down a best of 4.23 at 164mph, in grudge race trim, the move to X275 timed racing seemed 18

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like the right way to go, “To someone not familiar with X275, I would describe it as ‘a shark tank’, Ryan added.

“But there’s no challenge that the team and me can’t overcome.”

Team McCain went all-in with an LS nitrous mountain motor, starting with a billet block from Energy. Ben Men and Robert Abernathy did the honors of machining and assembling the LS billet beauty, and the rotating assembly consists of a Callies Dragon Slayer crank, MGP rods, and high compression nitrous pistons from Diamond to finish

All Business Inside; Party Up Front!

Despite the insane-looking powerplant, inside is barebones equipment to stay safe and get the job done, including a Holley 7-inch dash in a carbon panel and a PPP shifter. The floor and tunnel tin work was done by NRC to fit the new parts into the compact’s limited dimensions.

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Watch this solid hit in McCain’s nitrous X275 Datsun!

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A fabricated Competition Engineering 9-inch rearend with Strange axles hangs from a custom four-link rear suspension with Menscer Motorsports coilovers.

it out. A vital part of any nitrous-assisted engine is a good set of cylinder heads and the team opted for ported Mast Motorsports Mozez heads and a host of top-of-theline parts to complete them; rockers from Jesel, valve springs came from

Manley, Trend pushrods, and Victory valves finish out the package.

Complementing the long block is Mast’s nitrous intake. Speaking of nitrous, now, with 474ci of nitrous sniffing billet LS goodness, an exemplary system had to be

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put in place. Ryan plumbed an entire Nitrous Express direct port system, surprisingly, single stage. He’s a well versed tuner, not only for his own program but for many others, too, and he chose to run a complete Holley fuel system and ECU to fine-tune it.

While many run two-speed glides or TH400s, the McClain crew uses

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an RPM ultra light three-speed unit shedding even more weight off the already light package.

Stopping power comes from Strange drag brakes on all four corners and Bowser rides on spindle mount Billet Specialties 15-inch wheels up front wrapped in Mickey Thompson rubber and bead-locked 15 inch Sander Engineering rears

with the class standard Mickey Thompson 275 Pro Radial tire.

The “look” of the Datsun is the main reason Ryan built it, being significantly different, and it’s also eye-catching to everyone else. It’s small, low, and there’s no mistaking the intake sticking out of the hood or bull horns from each side. The body tub is mostly factory origi-

Ryan McCain’s 1971 Datsun B110 1200 Sunny X275 Drag Car Body & Paint:

1971 Datsun 1200 B110 original body tub with custom front end and wing by Lester McCain. 71-72 Nissan yellow applied by 2 Keys Paint and Body.

Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:

25.1e Certified chassis with back-half 4-Link coilover rear and coilover front by NRC Motorsports.

Engine:

Energy billet block, 474-inch, machine work done by Ben Men and Robert Abernathy. Rotating Assembly; Callies crank, MGP Rods, Diamond pistons. Cylinder heads are Mast Mozez with Jesel rockers, Manley springs, Trend pushrods and Victory valves.

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

Mast cast intake, Holley injectors.

Power Adder:

Nitrous Express single direct port system plumbed by owner.

Transmission: RPM ultra light weight 3-speed.

Rear:

Competition Engineering 9 inch custom housing with Strange axles.

Brakes: Strange drag brakes.

Tires: Mickey Thompson 275 Pro. Interior:

Holley 7 inch dash, Precision Performance 3 speed shifter, custom carbon seat, RJS seat belts.

ET & MPH:

Personal best in small block ntirous no-time trim- 1.00 60-foot, 4.23 at 164 mph. Personal best in X275 trim1.00 short, 4.28 at 162 mph.

Thanks To:

2 Keys Paint and Body and all our buddies, and sponsors.

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What’s so cool about this nitroused big inch LSX Datsun?…

Everything!

The body tub is original and original badges can still be found throughout the exterior. And then there’s the Lester McCain-built front end and rear wing along with chute, bumper and license plate!

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nal and Lester McCain molded the front-end and built the wing, while 2 Keys Paint & Body laid down a slick period-correct Nissan Yellow skin.

On the inside, it’s 95% go and just a hint of show, courtesy of a splash of carbon fiber and bead-rolled steel. Everything Ryan needs to get down the track quickly and safely is in place. Within easy reach sits the fire suppression system and nitrous bottle, and of course the PPP three-

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speed shifter. A Holley 7-inch LCD dash display controls almost everything that Ryan needs to see, and if he can’t see it there, he’ll pull the data log up following the run.

The McCain family has come a long way over the past few years, making a name for themselves across the east coast in no-time racing, and now, with the decision to move into timed X275 class racing they are showing they can walk the walk; qualifying and going rounds

at Lights Out and Sweet 16 events, and clocking a best 4.28 at 162mph run to date in full class trim.

Although Ryan and his team are admittedly fighting some challenges right now on Big Bowser, it’s only a matter of time before they are in the rear view mirror and the crowd favorite towering motor compact Datsun is back on track towards running at the top of X275. After all, doing more with less is what the McCains do best!

RPM

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tarting with the early factory performance cars of the 60s, off-the-showroom-floor offerings to satisfy our need for speed have been getting more impressive with each decade that passes, with the exception of the seventies, of course.

More power, better fuel delivery systems, stronger transmissions – the manufacturers always seem to have a long list of features and benefits to boast about with each new model year, including some cars running the quarter-mile in less than 12-seconds. Ford Mustangs have caught the eye of gearheads through each generation, usually being one of the better appearance and performance versus price options. The

Todays factory performance cars mix style with art and power, and even though the price point is far higher than the original 5 Liter Mustangs, the car is far superior. They are flying off showroom floors, and just like back in those 5.0 heydays, many are being modified within weeks or even days of purchase.

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Check out how snugly those Mickey Thompson 28x11.5-17 tires fit in the rear wheel wells.

Mustang’s most recent redesigns, which include the 5.0 version 2.0 engine, have gained some serious traction in the market once again, and although they are not the lower cost simplistic cars that the mega-popular Fox Body was, there is no denying that customers are buying them up. The new designs are as much art as they are factory muscle cars. Back in 2015, when Ford released its

newest Mustang platform, the S550, it prompted many people eager to start with HP mods in pursuit of that special time slip, to flock to their local dealer. Josh Cook is one of them; after getting used to his Oxford White 2016 Ford Mustang, he definitely wanted more!

Josh grew up working on cars alongside his father for his towing company, so natural-

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ly, he took this path. His family has always had Fox Bodies, but their prized possession is a rare Starsky & Hutch Gran Torino.

The modern Mustang was out of Josh’s reach for some time, he couldn’t afford to have one; “When I got old enough to drive my dad agreed to co-sign on my first car and I chose a 2005 Dodge Neon SRT4,” Josh admitted. “My dad tried his best to talk me out of it, suggesting we take a trip to the Ford dealer and buy a Mustang, but I wasn’t a fan of the new edge body style and the S197 was just debuting and was considerably more money, so I refused.” Using the Mopar to get

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The front grill delete adds a nice touch along with the GT500 spoiler and black 5.0 emblems.

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Billet Specialties wheels have a unique look of their own and just pop with the factory Oxford White paint.

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Inside the mostly stock interior, Watson Racing has safety covered with their 6 point harness, and their rear seat delete looks right at home.

Kicking Ass at Z-Max Raceway 4 Wide The factory 5.0 liter Coyote motor retains its factory internals although it received upgrades to both the oil pump gears and crank sprocket, both known areas of failure when you substantially up the power. Oh yeah, a big blower was bolted on, too! 1000cc injectors work with a completely revamped fuel system and long tube Stainless Works headers with Corsa cat-back exhaust give plenty of free flow for the post-boost gases to exit in a hurry.

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Josh Cook’s Blown 2016 Mustang GT Street/Strip Car Body & Paint:

Factory Oxford White. 2020 GT500 Spoiler -Factory grill delete, black 5.0 badges.

Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:

Viking Warrior rear shocks, BMR Drag lowering springs, Steeda rear toe arms, Steeda vertical links, Steeda IRS bushings.

Engine:

Factory stock 5.0L, 302 CI, with MMR oil pump gears, MMR crank sprocket, other than that it is completely stock.

Power Adder:

2.9L Gen3 Whipple Supercharger w/Griptec 3.375 Pulley.

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

Fuel Injector Clinic 1000cc injectors, VMP return fuel system, Fore Innovations fuel hat w/ dual Walbro 465 fuel pumps, Aeromotive regulator.

Miscellaneous:

Stainless Works 1-7/8” long tube headers, Corsa Performance Sport 3-inch cat-back exhaust, custom catch can, KCWelds coolant overflow tank. Custom coil covers were a joint project between DipShts Hydrodipping and Infinite Machine Concepts.

Transmission:

Factory MT-82 with McLeod RXT 1000 clutch w/ lightened steel flywheel.

Rear Differential:

Factory 3.55 rear gear, Driveshaft Shop aluminum one piece driveshaft w/ BMR safety loop, Driveshaft Shop 2000hp axles.

Brakes:

Baer 11.62-inch Drag Race front and rear brakes.

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Tires & Wheels:

Billet Specialties Street Lite wheels 17x5 front 17x10 rear, Mickey Thompson Sportsman SR 27x6-17 on the front, Mickey Thompson ET Street R Bias Ply 28x11.517 on the rear.

Interior:

MGW X-Spec short shifter, GT350 steering wheel, factory Recaro seats, Watson Racing rear seat delete, Watson Racing 6-Point roll bar, N2MB WOT Box/Launch Control, E-Motion Lund Racing NGauge.

Was there a special reason to build this car?

My dad always wanted me to build a Mustang. I did Import/Tuner cars for 15 years and it was time for a change. I wanted to finally build a Mustang that my dad could be proud of and I think I accomplished that.

Thanks To:

I want to thank my wife Danielle for putting up with me spending so much time and money on this build.

She was there to push me to go further every time I wanted to give up. The crew at Carolina Speedworks.

Jon made all the suggestions for the build with his expertise. Shawn and Zach helped me do a lot of the work. They put in their own time to help me and I will always be indebted to them. Dakota over at Lund Racing for the spot on tune every time. Brandon at Lund Racing for always answering my questions and giving his expert opinion. Wade Smith for any things I need help fabricating or just wrenching, he’s always there.

Tim Rombach for all the help doing the little things like oil changes, minor tweaks etc.

his feet wet in drag racing, he hit the track most every Thursday night for test and tune. Cook moved through a few more rides after the SRT4, never keeping one for more than a couple years. “My dad would always suggest I needed a Mustang and just like a know it all kid I would roll my eyes.” But by the time 2016 rolled around, the stars aligned, and Josh bought his white six-speed Stang, used with just 5000 miles on it. That same year, he connected with a high school friend, Danielle,

who happened to have a Mustang that he would tease her about back then. Not too long afterwards the two would be married and today, Danielle has her own modded 2017 Mustang. The family that plays together stays together!

Although Josh was impressed with how his 2016 performed, he caught the bug to build it while going to those same local test and tunes. He searched for a shop to help him along with his goals and stumbled across Jonathan Wilburn, owner of

Carolina Speedworks, who put him on the right path.

The second-generation Coyote 5.0 is strong from the factory, withstanding 1000whp quite well, but a few things need to be addressed, namely the crank sprocket and oil pump gear. These two parts are typically the first to go in a Coyote platform and can often take the rest of the motor out with it. Thankfully, Modular Motorsports Racing has a billet solution; other than that, the engine is entirely stock and the add-

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ed power comes from a 2.9 Gen3 Whipple supercharger capable of pushing the Coyote far past its factory limits. An excellent flowing exhaust is the key to success on a blower application, so Stainless Works 1-7/8 inch long tubes and their catless x-pipe were added along with a Corsa Performance Sport catback for a deep throaty sound, that would still allow Josh and his wife to chat. The entire fuel system was swapped out to support the now double factory horsepower output. A VMP Performance returning fuel system keeps the Coyote happily supplied at all times. Sunk into the fuel tank are two Walbro 465 pumps that work in conjunction with a Fore Innovations fuel hat and Aeromotive regulators.

Since the Mustang’s heart is stock, a few safeguards are in place; an oil catch can and coolant overflow tank help ensure Josh doesn’t get into any liquids.

Ford’s factory MT-82 six-speed transmission remains behind the Coyote, however a Mcleod RXT clutch and lightweight flywheel were swapped in. A BMR safety loop houses Driveshaft Shops’ lightweight aluminum driveshaft that connects to the factory rear end. The Mustangs factory 3.55 gears were kept as they work well with the boosted power and still allow for strip action and comfortable street driving, and 2000hp-capable aftermarket axles make sure launches don’t end badly.

Josh’s Mustang’s overall look is impressive; not over the top, but nicely done. He added black 5.0 badges, a black 2020 GT500 spoiler and deleted the grille for a cleaner look.

Big and littles always set a car off, and Josh wanted something different so he went with Billet Specialties Street Lite wheels, 17x5 in front and 17x10 out back with all four corners wrapped in Mickey Thompson rubber.

Speeding down the track is only half of the equation; slowing down is another part of it and the Ford got a brake upgrade in the form of a drag setup from Baer Brakes on all four corners. They fit and look awesome behind those black and polished wheels, and 42

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The blower is a 2.9L Gen3 Whipple w/Griptec 3.375 pulley.

Baer brakes are used for stopping power on all four corners. stop the car after a 138+ mph pass on a dime.

The stance also comes from a well-equipped suspension that consists of a combination of products from different companies. The entire car sits on BMR drag springs with stock struts upfront and Viking Warrior shocks replacing the factory units. Rear toe and vertical links along with poly IRS bushings were also added.

Once inside, the Watson Racing 6 point roll bar and rear seat delete are the first things you see. Ford offers the Recaro Racing seats from the factory, an excellent addition for gearheads, and the plush GT350 steering wheel is another addition that graces an otherwise stock interior. A Lund Racing NGauge for tune control is used and shifts come more manageable with an MGW X-Spec short shifter. With right around 1000whp on tap, the N2MB Wide-Open Throttle Box with launch control helps keep the launch and shifts in check.

Josh has already had some fun with the blown Stang, finishing in the top 10 at the Street Car Takeover 2019 in Charlotte NC where they saw a record 68-car field entered, but his most memorable experience since owning the car is much more personal. “Taking my dad for a ride in this car for the first time has to be my best experience,” Josh lamented. “I’ll never forget that smile it put on his face as we banged through the gears. Sadly, he passed away in 2020 and never got a chance to ride in it like it is now. My long term goal is teach my son to have a love for cars and keep the gearheads alive for another generation.”

RPM

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o many horsepower junkies grow into this wild world from being around cars at a young age, but in some cases it comes later in life; for Tracey Holtzclaw, it’s the ladder. Tracey didn’t became interested in performance cars and drag racing until he bought an interesting car in 2015, a Chevrolet Caprice, spe-

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cifically a police issue version.

At first, he enjoyed toying with the 2015 PPV Caprice at local races and then at the Street Car Takeover events, however, now the build has gone in the direction of bigger power no-prep racing.

Take a good look at the car and you soon realize why it’s known as

“The Fridge” – it actually looks like a fridge! Not to mention that four-door family sedans aren’t exactly light, so the name stuck on many levels. This specific car is a 9C3 addition, meaning it came from the detectives unit.

Tracey bought the car in very good condition for a bargain at $4,500 with 55,000 miles on the odometer, know-

The Fridge is actually a 2011 Caprice PPV, an ex-police car, meaning it was specially prepared for police service, and this particular car was further modified for detective service.

It’s hard to make out, but what used to be an independent rear suspension is now a triangulated fourlinked 9-inch solid axle with coilovers.

It’s important to honor those who helped make street car drags what they are today, and Keith Szabo was one of them. www.rpmmag.com

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HOW COOL IS THAT!

The Fridge’s original motor trashed crank hangs off the rear for weight/ballast. ing that it needed a motor.

Holtzclaw went through the entire vehicle in search of pounds to shed, and an excellent place to start became the chassis and suspension, which needed updating anyway. A tubular k-member from Maxxed Out Garage shaves weight off the nose and gives ample room for the turbo pipe plumbing.

Viking drag coilovers mounted on JCR Chassis Works strut mounts allow the front end to extend to plant the rear tires.

From the factory, Chevy equipped their four-door V8 rear-wheel-drive cars with independent rear suspension. These setups work well under the right conditions, but a straight axle is a must-have for

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no-prep racing. A chromoly tubular steel cradle replaces the factory setup, saving weight in the process. The Ford based 9-inch straight axle conversion, complete with a custom triangulated fourlink suspension, rests in the cradle, all of it from the guys over at SkyView Racecars. Strange 35 spline axles and spool sit inside the housing while their double-adjustable coilovers suspend it.

Although Tracey’s PPV did come with an LSbased V8, he needed to source one for this build, and had Clay Valentine start with an LSA block from a 2012 CTS-V. They choose to stay with the stock 376ci for a boosted application with strength-

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To save weight, all of the heating and A/C equip. has been removed from the car along with stock seats and a host of other non-essential stuff.

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If you’re looking for fancy bling, look elsewhere, this healthy built turbocharged LS mill opted for stock-looking practical. ened internals. The short block consists of a 4340 steel crank, CP Bullet pistons, and Carillo boosted series rods and is finished with an LJMS Stage 1 turbo cam. Texas Speed Stage 2 PRC heads are stuffed with PAC Racing 660 springs and chromoly pushrods, and a stock LS3 intake manifold completes the engine assembly. Air gets compressed via a Forced Inductions Borg Warner S485 with race cover, and Matt Smith from Performance Fab built the entire kit around it. Tracey plumbed the fuel system himself using hosing from Race Part Solutions, Fragola fittings, and a Pro 11102 pump and regulator that supplies ID1300 injectors.

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Matt also built a trick integrated fuel cell and intercooler in the trunk.

Oh, and by the way, the smoked crankshaft from the original LS has been repurposed as ballast out back of the car.

The factory 4l60e slushbox won’t cut it in most situations; going forward, a TH400 is more trustworthy. Tracey’s Ca-

price does see street use, which is demanding, as well, so he opted for an FTI reverse manual with a Derale transmission cooler and a Cameron’s Torque converter. Tracey has two sets of rear gears he uses – the 3.25s are for the street, quarter-mile no prep, and half-mile races he is planning on running, and for prepped

Tracy has become known in his circle as “No Lift” lengths to take out as much weight as possible, which means some of the factory PPV creature comforts had to go. Although the stock dash, door eighth-mile gigs, the 3.70s go in. no prepped surface. When he does panels, and carpet remain, everything Four-piston brakes hide behind drive on the street or run a prepped else was nixed. Heating and A/C were custom-coated 17-inch Billet Spe- race, a matching set of 15-inch dou- gutted, a race steering column and cialties up front while classic old ble bead locked Billet Specialties with wheel replaced the stock units, and school 15 inch Weld Draglites with Mickey S/S Radials reside out back. seats were upgraded to lighter and Mickey Thompson slicks hook to the As we said, Tracey went to great much safer models. Weight saving

I see you. Just behind the grille sits a Forced Inductions Borg Warner S485 turbo.

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Tracey Holtzclaw’s Street/Strip 2011 Chevrolet Caprice PPV

Body & Paint:

Transmission:

Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:

Brakes:

The paint is the original Huron White. “The car is still in good condition overall but definitely shows signs of being raced a lot.”

The front has a custom chromoly tubular K-member from Maxxed Out Garage for weight reduction and room for the turbo downpipe to exit below the car and behind the front seat.

The front struts have been replaced with Viking Drag Race coilovers along with strut mounts from JCR Chassisworks.

The heavy rear IRS cradle has been replaced with a chromoly tubular cradle from Skyview Race Cars and has a straight axle with 9” and four link suspension.

Many efforts for weight reduction were made which included removal of all interior functions not needed for racing; however, power windows along with turn signal, horn, wipers, etc were wired back in for street use.

Engine:

Stock GM LSA block from a 2012 CTS-V – 6.2 Liters (376 cu in)

Rotating Assembly:

CP/Bullet Boost series pistons and ring package, Carillo boosted series rods, 4340 steel 3.622 stroke crank (stock LSA forged crank got hurt and is now used for ballast weight on the rear for no prep), Clevite Calico coated rod bearings, Clevite H-series main bearings, Durabond CH-25 cam bearings, Melling high pressure oil pump, Improved Racing oil pan baffle.

Cylinder Heads:

Texas Speed Stage 2 PRC heads, stock rockers, Dual PAC 660 springs, hardened chromoly pushrods, factory GM valves for LSA heads. LJMS stage 1 twin turbo camshaft.

Power Adders:

Forced Inductions Borg Warner S485 with race cover.

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Reverse manual TH400 from FTI Performance along with Derale transmission cooler, Cameron’s Torque Converter Services converter.

Front brakes are 4 piston race calipers with rotors from Aerospace Components for a 5th Gen Camaro.

Rear brakes are Wilwood street/strip.

Tires & Wheels:

Fronts are Billet Specialties 17 x 4.5 (custom coated

by Tinsley Custom Coatings). Rears for no prep racing are Weld 15 x 10 Draglites with Mickey Thompson 305SS 28 x 10.5 slicks. For prepped track racing, Billet Specialties double beadlock that match the fronts and run Mickey Thompson Street S/S Radial Pro 275/60/15.

Interior:

Interior has stock dash with all AC and heat components removed. Race steering wheel and light race column. NRG race seats, dual Fireade extinguishers in driver’s reach, Precision Performance Products race shifter with CO2 controlled shift, aftermarket tach with shift light, Boost Leash Pro boost controller, custom 8.50 certified roll cage by Performance Fab in Spartansburg, SC.

ET & MPH:

5.74 @ 126.7 mph is the current best timed 1/8 mile run.

Thanks to:

Everyone mentioned above and any other individuals who contributed to the build (chassis fab, paint & body, etc.): Many thanks to Rick Perry, Piedmont, SC for all the help with the complete rewiring of the car.

Matt Smith at Performance Fab for the roll cage welding, turbo fabrication, fuel cell/ice box. Clay Valentine at Valentine Automotive Machine Shop for the engine build. Charles Barber with V8Muscle.net for tuning on the stock E38 ECM. Many other friends that helped along the way with various jobs.

The Caprice makes hits in no-prep, no-time and timed 1/8, 1/4 and soon 1/2 mile events, plus can be seen regularly on the street – now that’s dedication to service!

means nothing without safety and Tracey has all the right equipment in that regard; Matt with Pro-Fab built an 8.50 certified cage, and two Fireaide fire extinguishers are within reach. Precision Performance Products provide shifts via Co2 control, while an after market tach along with the factory gauges keep vitals in check and a boost controller brings boost in at Tracey’s discretion.

Now keep in mind that Tracey races no-time events, so the “published” personal best for The Fridge to date in the eighth-mile

is 5.74 at 126 mph; and they haven’t pushed this setup into the quarter-mile yet.

Tracy has become known in his circle as “No Lift”; he explains, “Well, I mistook tire shake as tire spin and kept pedaling down the entire eighth-mile.” Shredding a rear tire in the process due to Heim joint failure, he learned his lesson after he almost ended up in the wall. Like we said, with Tracey wheeling The Fridge, keeping cool under pressure is the name of the game!

RPM

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As RPM readers know, we don’t discriminate. Instead, we practice brand inclusion, acceptance and openness.

We also never let our own preferences, egos, likes or dislikes get in the way of giving readers what they want (at least we try not to). Yes, we have to admit, we do focus on the Big 3 American offerings, but after all, they are what made this industry great, so no apologies for that. Regardless of brand, though, it’s not often you will witness a 4-door “family car” taking up the coveted main center feature real estate in RPM MAG, unless of course, it is a badass 1,800-plus horsepower twin turbo Hemi Super Bee. And if that’s not enough, there’s just something about a real production line muscle car that still looks, feels and smells like one, and can mix it up on the track or street that pretty much seals the deal for us.

The Dodge Charger name has been around for decades, known for being one of the most popular muscle cars during their heyday. Dodge started production in 1966, and while going through many changes through the mid-80s, steered away from the muscle car realm for two decades before re-

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No wonder the reinvented 4-door version of the Dodge Charger has become a solid candidate for serious power among hardcore enthusiasts.

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introducing the iconic name in 2006 as a four-door sedan. Although purists would turn their nose up at the “family car” styling, powered by a reengineered 6.4 Hemi, the muscle sedan moved quickly for a stock 4500lb car and recaptured the attention of Mopar enthusiasts.

Always having a soft spot for American muscle, Eric Warren made his first pass down the drag strip at just 14 in his aunt’s Oldsmobile Rocket, and his brothers won him over with their

Hemi Cudas, big block Road Runners and Mach 1 Mustangs.

Like many of us, it was part of his upbringing and he was just destined to be a car guy. His first car was a 1971 SD Trans Am 455 and following that he played around with 15 or so more muscle cars as he grew up.

After stepping away from the hobby for about 25 years to work and raise a family, Eric got the itch again, but the hook was set when he was driving by his local Dodge dealership and saw a white

The bodies of the twin turbos poking through the hood are a dead giveaway that this Bee’s got sting!

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moserengineering.com

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Beefy 15 inch Welds make sure the family car has the traction it needs when it needs it.

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It’s not uncommon to see flames from all four exits while on the anti-lag. The Bee draws attention wherever it goes, street or strip.

From that point, the Super Bee was slowly built into the incredible car it is today

2013 Charger with the Super Bee package and just had to have it; the next day, the keys were in his hands.

The first set of rear tires didn’t last through the weekend, and by the first oil change, it got some boost via a Whipple 2.9 supercharger. The car made around 670 whp and was a lot of fun but like all car nuts, if a little was good a lot would be better!

Next came smaller pulleys to up the boost and a 100 shot of nitrous just to make it fun.

“We made somewhere near 500 passes on that combo in the following two years and she made 1100 whp on a 650 hp build,” Eric said with a smile. And from that point, the Super Bee was slowly built into the incredible car it is today.

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After going through the factory 392ci motor, the little Whipple just wouldn’t cut it anymore. From there, Eric went full tilt with the build and John Green, the owner of Mass Acceleration Motorsports, started on getting the car taken apart. Although 392ci is plenty of displacement, by virtue of the Super Bee name, this ride needed 426 cubes of Hemi power to back it up.

Starting with the factory 6.4l iron block, Mass had the block bored to accept the custom 10:1 boost-ready CP pistons pinned to a set of custom Pro-H HD Carrillo rods spun by their stroker crankshaft. The factory 392ci heads got some port work done by RF Engines, while Mass went through the entire top end with their valvetrain package. What you see on the exterior of the Hemi is where it gets interesting. A G1Pro air-to-water intake manifold tops off the long block. Twins replaced the outgoing Whipple, S400 frame 76mm from Forced Inductions, to be exact.

Steven Eades, owner of Rock Solid Motorsports, designed and fabricated the turbo kit, which places both turbos up and out

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Watch this killer Bee lay the sting down!

Running 8.60 in the quarter using just a portion of the available 1,800 ponies, Eric Warren looks forward to competing with cars with two fewer doors and 1000 less pounds in the Bee this year!

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of the hood (a look made famous back in the NSCA days

by Annette Summer on her Corvette). Two Turbosmart blow-off valves and external wastegates regulate pressure and one of the more unique (and cool) things about Eric’s Charger is the wastegate and exhaust exits. Wastegate gas exits right before the front tires, while the exhaust exits straight out of the hood, not something you see every day on a street/strip car. On big boost, the Super Bee is capa-

ble of 1800whp and is entirely streetable!

Fuel delivery comes from a Radium Engineering fuel surge tank and regulators with three Walbro pumps supplying 1700cc injectors.

A MoTec M150 integrates with the factory system with the help of Modern-EFI and Mass Acceleration Motorsports. Under the hood, everything is nice and neat, and the turbo kit is painted flat grey to blend in with surroundings, although the snail www.rpmmag.com

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Twin 76mm turbos hang off each side of the built 426 Hemi.

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The interior remains mostly factory, including the rear seat; even with a cage, passengers can ride in the back.

A MoTec display keeps check on additional vitals.

bodies poking through the hood is a bit of a giveaway.

There are two main things to consider when you want to make a car quick and fast; power and weight. The power is more than adequate, but quite frankly, Eric is comfortable being overweight as he wanted to keep the car real.

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transmission backs the Hemi, complete with a Reid case, billet internals and manual valve body. A Greg Slack converter sends power through a Driveshaft Shop carbon fiber driveshaft and into Strange Engineering’s 9-inch conversion.

Independent rear suspension stays in place, and the Strange pumpkin is stuffed with a billet Motive gearset and spool. The Driveshaft Shop also supplied half-shafts strong enough to take the abuse. BMR trailing and lateral arms along with

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Viking Crusader coilovers help put all that power to the pavement while custom Delrin bushings support the subframe and rear end, further helping traction. Other than Viking Crusader coilovers, the front suspension remains stock and surprisingly, the factory Brembo brakes still supply adequate stopping power up front, while the rears were swapped out in favor of a set

that would clear 15-inch wheels.

Outside of Eric’s Charger, the twins catch your eyes first, and then its Weld’s Drag Pack, all hinting to onlookers that this Bee will sting.

Super Bee trim and stripes remain, but the hood was modified by Bad Grandpa. Weld Racing wheels sit on all four corners, 18-inch skinnies up front allowing clearance for those big factory brakes and a

Carlyle Racing 15 inch conversion for the rear. Mickey Thompson provides traction while keeping things street legal.

Almost all the factory interior remains intact, including the rear seat. Front racing seats are equipped with driver and passenger harnesses to keep thing safe and Mike Bright of Bright Fabrication did a spectacular job of snaking an

Eric Warren’s 2013 Street/Strip Dodge Charger Super Bee Occupation:

Welding and fabrication shop manager.

Body & Paint:

Factory Body, hood chopped and massaged by Bad Grandpa.

Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:

BMR rear lateral/trailing arms & Viking Crusader coilovers front & rear. Custom Delrin subframe & diff mounting bushings.

Engine:

Original Dodge 6.4L cast iron block, bored/stroked to 7L. Callies stroker crankshaft with custom Carrillo Pro-H HD connecting rods & custom CP Pistons – 10:1 CR. Original Factory Dodge 6.4L cylinder heads, ported by RF Engines, assembled with Mass Acceleration Motorsports valve/valve spring package. Factory 6.4L rockers.

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

G1Pro air-to-water intake manifold, Radium Engineering fuel surge tank with triple Walbro fuel pumps, Radium Engineering multi-pump fuel pressure regulator & ID1700 fuel injectors. Engine control is Motec M150 Integrated and tuned

by Modern-EFI & Mass Acceleration Motorsports.

Power Adder:

Twin Borg Warner S400 billet 76 turbos by Jose @ Forced Inductions. Custom turbo kit designed & fabricated by Rock Solid Motorsports using Turbosmart BOVs & external wastegates.

Transmission:

Transmission is a full option Performance TH400 with Reid case, billet manual valvebody, conveter dumps & transbrake.

The converter was custom built by Greg Slack Converters.

Rear (differential type, axles/brand & specs, ratio): Rear differential is a 9” conversion (still IRS) with Strange Engineering billet spool & Motive Pro gear. Using Drive Shaft Shop axles and custom carbon fibre single piece driveshaft.

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Brakes:

Original Brembo 4 Piston fronts & rear are from Carlyle Racing.

Tires & Wheels:

Weld 15 inch rear conversion & 18 inch skinny front runners with Mickey Thompson Street R Pro 275 rears & SS Front Runners.

Interior:

90% of the factory interior remains, including the back seat.

8.50 Certified cage by Mike Bright of Bright Fabrication with race seats & harnesses. Only non factory gauge is the additional C125 MoTec display, which displays all additional critical data.

Thanks To:

The team from Mass Acceleration, Modern-EFI, and Rock Solid Motorsports for coming together on this massive undertaking.

ET & MPH:

8.60 at 165mph in the ¼-mile to date. Only able to utilize maximum 1,500hp of 1,800 so far.

Out back, the trunk area is caged and braced and underneath, the Charger retains the factory style independent rear suspension, albeit heavily fortified.

8.5 certified cage through the interior, allowing adequate room for Eric and all his passengers. The factory gauges are still there, and the only addition is a MoTec C125 display to monitor vitals and warn Eric of any other issues.

It seems that no matter where Eric and the car end up; the track, cruise night, show or burger joint, a crowd

gathers, mostly because a Bee with twins and a killer stance just isn’t something you see every day. Keeping in mind the weight, John at Mass Acceleration and Steven Rankins have helped push Eric deep into the 8-second zone in the quarter mile at over 160mph, and it’ll only get faster from here on out. Even at over 4,000 pounds, with some tuning (as they

have only been able to utilize 1,500 of the 1,800 horses), and maybe, just maybe, a small diet, it’s only a matter of simple math to realize that this is a solid 7-second capable ride. So while Warren’s license plate may say “Get Stung”, we highly recommend against tempting this Bee to exercise its options to do so.

RPM

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D

rag racing has become home to all types of platforms and configurations, and mixing and matching has become the norm. Almost gone are the reactions in the early days of engine brand swaps when your buddies would disown you for dropping a small block Chevy in your Fox body. Nowadays, so many hardcore enthusiasts are in on it, swapping brands with engines, bodies, transmissions, rearends, you name it!

The Nissan 240 SX to the import world is typically a drifting platform known for sliding controllably through turns, however, Chris Becker saw things differently with his 1994 240 and went for the swap!

Chris followed his dad around the drag racing world as a youngster, watching and tinkering with him while building cars in their garage. That set the stage for him when he finally got a project of his own. Thinking differently, Chris sought out to find a 240 because he liked the body lines and, of course, it was a rare sight at the drag strip.

A Nissan 240 comes with a four-cylinder engine backed by a five-speed transmission from the factory and Becker knew that with his vision for the car, everything would have to change, so the entire powertrain was scrapped.

With the GM LS platform becoming one of the most popular swaps for power ver-

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Lightin’ up the hides. Great for traction, and fans love it, too!

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It was time for a massive makeover... sus budget, Chris went all in and for 2021 upped the ante even more. He originally built a 410 LS with twin 62mm turbos but the new heart for the 240, built by TKM, started with a half-filled 6.0L factory GM block.

A Callies crank spins Manley rods with custom TKM pistons and their Black Sheep cam. Trick Flow heads were massaged and oversized Manley valves were added with PAC springs, and for mating block and head surfaces, a half-inch head stud conversion ensures a less likely chance of a separation at big boost.

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Chris uses motorcycle tires up front; some racers claim they track better on the no-prep surfaces he races on.

A twin turbo V8 LS mill sits where 4 cylinders once resided.

The Competition Orange wrap pops in the sun and is accented by a black hood, roof, trunk lid and wing.

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A minimalist interior is supported by the massive Holley Pro dash and some carbon fiber panels to help keep weight in check A Holley High-Ram intake tops the high boost capable long block and Comp Turbos 7276 triple ceramic ball bearing turbos replace the smaller units. Billet Atomizer injectors are fed by a 14 GPM Waterman pump supplying a healthy dose of M1 fuel. A Holley Dominator ECU and digital dash display control the combination and relay data to the driver.

Backing the iron block LS is a Powerglide 2-speed built by Cameron Converters. Originally, Becker stuck with the factory independent rear, but after a garbage pile of blown diffs, Chris and some friends decided it was time for a massive makeover. The factory rear end came out, and a custom 4-linked Fab 9” rear end replaced it. They mocked and built everything by hand, a task in itself. QA1 coilovers keep the rear planted; Chris credits Jonathan Owensby for that. The front suspension received an upgrade from Import Drag Solutions by way of their custom coilovers for the 240 platform.

Becker has the current version set up for no-prep racing; he runs in big and small tire classes. The small-tire set up (seen here) consists of Billet Specialties 17” front runners while the rears are Weld Racing 15x14 Alphas with 28/10.5/15 slicks stretched onto them for maximum contact patch. Stock brakes remain up

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In place of the factory independent rear, a custom-built backhalf with four-link and coilovers suspends a custom 9-inch rear end.

Built Not Bought. Chris’ wife had a plate made for him to mount on the firewall to clarify the terms of the build.

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No time grudge events go by different rules. Here, the close proximity crowd is fully enjoying the Nissan as Becker runs through his burnout.

WATCH Becker’s Turbo Nissan slam down a blistering night pass!

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Chris Becker’s Twin Turbo 1995 Nissan 240sx Grudge Car

Body & Paint:

Originally the cars paint and bodywork was all done by Eric Burdette, now it is wrapped by Thomas Wishon at Sticky Graphix.

Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:

Rear is back-half 4-link with coilovers. Front is stock with coilovers.

Engine:

TKM-built stock cube 6.0 Liter LS. Half-filled iron block, 1/2 inch studs and Black Sheep cam with a pair of new Comp billet triple ball bearing turbos on M1 fuel. 550 injectors and 14gpm Waterman pump from Chris Singleton.

Cylinder Heads:

TFS with larger valves and PAC springs.

Power Adder: Twin turbos Transmission:

Custom built Powerglide by Cameron converters.

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Rear Differential:

Fab 9’’ with 3.89 gears

Brakes:

Stock fronts and Willwood rears.

Tires & Wheels:

Billet Specialties 17’’ fronts, Weld Alpha1 15x14 rears wrapped in 28 x 10.5 x 15 tires.

Electronics:

Holley Pro dash.

Thanks To:

So many people I could thank for help along the way...they all know who they are. My dad comes along to help at all the races as well as my wife and kids. Thanks also to all the fans who enjoy seeing me race.

front and Wilwoods were swapped in out back along with a parachute to help bring the 240 to a safe stop.

The car is finished in a Competition Orange wrap and a large cowl hood, roof, trunk lid, and wing are finished in a contrasting black. The color scheme is found under the hood and into the interior, as well.

The cockpit is as simplistic as a racecar could be, and carbon fiber door panels support power windows. Cup holders are also a part of the interior, and a light bar has been installed to add substantial light as needed during nighttime action.

Race seats along with RaceQuip harnesses keep Chris in place and a carbon fiber dash replaces the factory unit. The trunk space houses a custom 15-gallon fuel cell, a platform for ballast/weight, which is a must for no prep, and a 16v battery.

Chris never thought he’d take the 240 to this level, but his efforts have not only brought his family closer than ever – his wife, kids and dad help at every race, but he has also earned some airtime on TV with the car. Of course, because Becker races no time and grudge, we can’t tell you what the car is capable of, all we can say is do the math; 4 + 4 + T2 = Fast!

RPM

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H

ello fellow gearheads. I pray this finds you all enjoying wrenching, racing, and finding more ways to make money to wrench and race. I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I just hate that I can’t leave my car alone.

I mean, I get it performing perfectly and looking like a show queen but still find ways to completely stress out and rip her apart. When I parked it in the garage and put the cover on this past fall, she was in 100% perfect condition, but by the first snowfall I had a list of upgrades that my new Covid-induced budget could not afford. Believe it or not, that cold hard realization of having no money to make the upgrades actually made me stop

dreaming. I made peace with leaving the car alone for all of another week or so. Knowing that I was pursuing more 1/8-mile no-prep situations than ¼-mile track races left me with an unsettling urge to maximize the potential of my car for little money. I have plenty of horsepower to get the results I need, but do not have the miles per hour I want. Let’s face it, weight reduction is at the top of my list but is insanely costly to do correctly.

What does that leave me with? Hmmm? There is always the dark secret, voodoo black magic called gearing. Yes, math will get me what I need, but I’m a creative person, an artist and a writer. The skillsets I possess use an entirely different part of the brain than math does.

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Due to top secret classified information, I was forced to work by myself. That means finding ways to get creative in order to make my life easier. My homemade rear end support does a great job enabling me to drop, work, and install that heavy Dana 60 by myself with the help of my mid-rise lift. Torquing the ring bolts to 90 ft/lbs is a challenge by yourself, but this old wheel I got for free does a great job keeping my carrier solid while I pull on that wrench.

There she is all disassembled. I made sure the inside of that housing was hospital clean before putting any new parts in there. I had to purchase that little seat as it has the same name as our car.

I remembered a conversation I had with the great Dan Fletcher about RPMs, tire size and gear sets. He knew the math of that black magic instinctively. It was so impressive listening to him rattle off what difference a gear change will make in rpm and mph off the top of his head. I was probably too star-struck and knowledge-impressed to have fully paid attention during this priceless conversation and retained virtually nothing other than how to gain more mph using the set up I have. Thankfully there is such a thing called a gear set calculator out there in cyber world. You simply punch in your tire size, gear ratio, rpm and it will tell you the mph, (or solve for any one of those variables). Now, I apologize for being vague and secretive, but the kind of racing I do relies a lot on negotiating and having

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someone think my car is not what it really is. So forgive me for not giving exact specs on what my most recent changes were. Allow me to give you the two extremes of gear ratio changes and how they affect mile per hour.

A 3.73 gear with a 33” inch tall tire at 6200 RPMs will produce a mph of 163.25. Now simply jump to the other end of the spectrum and use a 5.13 gear and your mph is a meager 118.70. That is a 44.55 mph difference in the ¼-mile. My gearhead friends, who knew as a teenager that math was going to be an extremely important part of my racing addiction? I certainly didn’t! Football, wrestling, my car and girls were way more important at the time.

So much research, thought, and planning went into finding the perfect gear ratio, tire size and yes torque converter, to make Big Red do what I needed her to do. It’s no secret as I have written about it many times, but I absolutely love paying attention to the details. The things that some people overlook or find boring, I take to another level and find peace in it.

Setting a rear end up with a new gear set is one of those tasks that fully embraces who I am. The intense amount of detail that is required to do it properly excites me. This same amount of detail frightens other people or bores them to death, possibly because they can’t appreciate the beauty in it. I am talking about producing the perfect back lash and getting your shim count so perfect that your pinion depth has its own theme song. Don’t even get me started on torque specs. I use three different torque wrenches when setting up my Dana. I use one for ring bolt and main cap torque, one for pinion preload, and one giant hunk of metal 90

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With attention to detail and some much needed math, perfection was achieved. Every spec from head to toe was exactly where I needed it to be. At this point I just wanted it in the car.

I was able to set this in place completely by myself with the help of ingenuity and cool tools. By no means was it easy and at times things went wrong, but I was able to do it. The last time I rebuilt the rear my wife helped me get it in and out. The help of one more person goes a long way when working with a home shop.

It is hard to believe that this entire rear end was in a million pieces. I thoroughly cleaned, and/or painted, and waxed everything under the car once again.

To me, the attention to detail is not to impress anyone, it is to simply give me peace. It also helps me get some good grudge races from people who think she is just a show car/trailer queen.

Here is a staged mock-up of what my workbench looked like when I was setting up the pinion pre-load.

Like I wrote about, I am sorry I did not take the actual picture but things were way too intense at the time for me to think of anything else. Just imagine every shim and its size laid out in numerical order.

It took me forever to measure each one and do that. This is why this mock up picture only has a few.

But hopefully you get a better idea of what I meant.

that is capable of achieving the 250 ft/lbs I need to tighten my pinion nut.

I’m not the kind of person that is okay with “it feels right” or “this usually works.” No, I’m a detailed to the exact numbers kind of guy. It took me over 30 times of taking the pinion in and out just to achieve the preload number I was shooting for. When you work by yourself, that resulted in hours of what some would say “mindless and mind numbing” work.

Not for me, I call it peace. The math that was involved with those damn little shims and trying to achieve the perfect inch pounds was crazy, (yes, inch pounds). A word of advice, I highly recommend spending the money and buying a complete set of shims in all widths. If you are working with what you have laying around in your shop like me, trying to obtain a .043 inch shim stack is going to take some creative math solving. I am so mad that I didn’t take a picture for all of you to see how my brain functioned at that moment, but I was way too involved at the time to be thinking of future magazine pictures. But imagine a shop towel laid out on my workbench with all of my shims organized numerically on it. I had a calculator and a sharpie so I could take notes in case the current shim count did not work.

My new set up took me a little longer than I had wished for, but as they say,“the juice was worth the squeeze.”

After just a few test hits, I was able to not only see the data I had hoped for, but I actually felt it in the seat. The 1-2 shift is more violent than ever, and the new top end actually scared

Video of the first time those wheels turned after the rebuild. My daughter was sitting behind the wheel as I was outside listening to the freshly built rear and feeling things out. She had a blast piloting Big Red during this warm up / break in. www.rpmmag.com

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Here are some sample gear set changes that all affect MPH. I urge you to take a look at your current set up and see if you can make some tweaks. Be sure to know your transmission ratios, and where your torque converter flashes before entering the data. me. The change tamed my launch but increased the 60 foot time. I still need to experiment with air pressure for maximum traction.

The old pressure I used to use does not work at all on the big end as the tall tire is way too sketchy at a low pressure. I am confident

that with a little more testing and a lot more math, I will find the numbers and results I am looking for.

Dare I say I am finally done making changes? Ha! Who am I kidding?

Until next time – Keep Wrenching,

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The rotating assembly finds it’s new home in our World block!

W

ith race season approaching, it’s good to see that most tracks and events are open and running, now there is more of a push to get our projects done. I remember in business, this was the craziest time of year – customers want to go racing, other customers want to get their cars on the road and some just want to make simple upgrades.

As a business operator, you need to juggle all these jobs and make it all happen with the help of your hard working staff. This year, we have covid to deal with once again and I’m not sure what most of you have experienced, but for me, it has been a heck of a spring. Parts supply is tough, and we are still in the third wave of covid, locked down in our part of North America. I think I am not alone when I say, I want this all to end so we can do the things we love to do.

Other than my first Vaccine shot, thanks to the front line workers and the friendly folks at Pfizer, I have been knee deep in racing projects.

The World Domination short block has come together flawlessly with the help of the boys at Kraushaar Machine Services

■ Ross Racing Pistons supplied Gas Nitrided top rings for our World Domination Project, these rings are very hard and can stand up to the combustion heat this engine will generate.

Performance Centers Throughout Eastern Canada

WATCH IT RUN...CLICK HERE NOW!

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■ Doug at KMS, set up the crank in the grinding machine to polish the PBM 4.0 inch stroke crankshaft before final cleaning and assembly. This procedure brings back the mirror-like finish to each crankshaft journal.

■ The KMS ring filer beats my old machine hands down, here you can see the ring setup correctly in the grinder ready to grind.

(KMS). In this issue, we will discuss the remaining parts of the World Product short block, getting everything to spec, assembled and ready for cylinder heads etc.

Ross Racing Pistons has supplied us with steel gas nitrided top rings that are an excellent ring in terms of durability and strength. They are formed from forged steel for strength and ductility, and the nitriding process makes them extremely hard and detonation resistant. I generally do not gap the top ring as tight as they recommend, but after a conversation with one of their engineers, I am willing to tighten up that gap.

Some may have experienced rings butting together from insufficient gap, usually due to extreme heat caused by high compression and power adders such as nitrous oxide. When rings butt together, it can be catastrophic, damaging the cylinder walls as well as pistons. At minimum, there will be a drastic loss of power. Ring gap is critical and should be dealt with individually, custom to each engine build. Our top ring gap is set to .021” and our second to .025”.

I have gapped rings for a lot of engines, usually with my own modified hand turn-

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ing ring filer that I place in a vise, connect a drill to the turning wheel and start grinding. Then I trial fit them in the bore 4 or 5 times, at minimum, obviously this can be time consuming. So I set this contraption up in KMS, and they all started laughing at me, “ok ok, I get it, it looks archaic but it gets the job done”. Cody hands me their ring grinder and a ray of light shone down from the heavens. Let me tell ya, I am never using mine again after using the KMS electric ring grinder. All you do is a little initial setup, it clamps the ring in place and just turn it on and sweep the ring end by the wheel. You are able to monitor the amount removed by a dial indicator mounted to its fixture, cool! By the end of the 16 rings for the World Domination engine, I was a pro and was really able to file the last couple sets of rings to the correct gap in a single grinding.

We’re using a number of parts from PBM/Erson Cams for the World Domination engine - the connecting rods, crank, balancer, flexplate, rocker covers, cams and lifters, as well as many small hard to get parts.

Erson Cams in itself has some serious history behind it. Those from my age group will remember them originally as Sig Erson Cams established in 1964, a well-known cam company grinding camshafts for all the fast racers for almost 6 decades.

Sig Erson Racing Camshafts had a huge following in both the racing and hot rod scenes of the 60’s and 70’s. It was simple, if you wanted an engine that made incredible power yet was easy on valvetrain parts, an Erson Cam was your choice. PBM is part of Engine Parts Warehouse, Inc./ PBM Performance Products of Louisville, KY. Merging with Erson Cams in 2006 enabled PBM Performance Products to carry a complete line of valve train and related components along with their already diverse se96

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■ After Cody and I installed all the appropriate plugs and cam bearings, we tried our new Erson camshaft in the World block, just a little bearing scape and it fit perfect! I installed the PBM crankshaft into the block on a table, now it’s off to the engine assembly stand to ease the piston installation.

■ I like to organize the rod and piston sub-assemblies, this kind of preparation is key to success. Correct lubrication, tools, as well as a clean, organized work space are a must. Pay attention to ring orientation during the piston installation.

■ The Ross Racing Pistons gas nitrided ring has been filed to the correct gap and is placed square in the bore.

The feeler gauge should just drag through the gap for a perfect fit. Make sure you file the ring gap straight, as both ends of the ring should be parallel with each other. with the 4340 forged steel H-beam rods. These rods from PBM are no different and we again chose their H-beam rod and decided to go with their new lightweight design that was in■ A good torque wrench that you know and trust spired by Formula 1 racing. should be a tool used in your engine assembly. This is a We also pay close attention tool that will cost money but pays for itself with confito the hardware used to dence and consistency when torquing hardware. I have clamp the rod cap to the many torque wrenches but only one I use in engine asrod. The PBM rod uses sembly. Our ARP2000 fasteners are torqued to 70 ft/lb dowels to locate the cap to with plenty of lube. the rod and is supplied with the ARP 8740 bolts, which lection of performance en- United States, they are able is great for most street and gine parts. Their product to provide superior custom- strip applications. Knowline offers state of the art er service and fast delivery ing the forces that can be valvetrain systems, rotating times to most areas of our placed upon the rod bolt assemblies, blocks, cylinder great continent. PBM also in the World Domination heads, engine kits and all offers online shopping as engines operating range, the other parts required to a great way to get the parts though, I upgraded the rod complete any race and per- you need to your door. To bolt to the ARP 2000. The formance engine package. check out PBM/Erson/ ARP2000 bolt is capable of The staff at PBM/Erson/ World Products online just achieving a clamp load at World Products have been click on the link below.

220,000 psi. Better safe, than a pleasure to work with, ofBack to the rods… As you sorry. This set of rods were fering their vast knowledge know, every part, whether in stock at PBM and as notof their parts in the plan- new or used, needs to be ed in a previous article, the ning and execution of this checked before it can en- rods balanced up perfectly World Domination engine ter the project and gain my with just minimal material project. With six warehous- confidence. Over the years, removal from a couple big es located throughout the we have had a lot of success ends. What we found most

amazing was how close the big end measurement was to our standard. After we disassembled the rods, cleaned them, reassembled, lubed and torqued the ARP2000 hardware, there was no rod out more than .0002” - that’s two tenths of a thousandth of an inch.

As Cody said, “Man that is a close tolerance” With the correct bearings installed, that brought in our oil clearance to the rods at .0026 to 0027, perfect!

Click here to read more on rod bolt design and forces at work Now that our PBM crank has been balanced and measured and has been placed in the World block 6 or 7 times to check and recheck, it is time to polish the crank which may remove one or two tenths of a thousandth of an inch, but will bring back the mirror finish on the crank journals. And that will take care

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of the PBM crank.

Regarding the World Domination oiling system, we will not be going with a with a stock style pump but rather we want to take full advantage of the World Products block’s main priority oiling system by pumping the liquid gold through an external belt driven pump into the rear entrance of the block, down to the crank, then finally to all the other critical parts of the engine. This system takes a little more planning but the big payback is that you will experience consistent oil pressure across the whole rpm range.

We are now ready to send the crank home inside the

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World Products 9.200 deck block. First, the block is placed in the jet wash tank to thoroughly clean it inside and out. Then, after blowing air to dry the block I always spray it with the ole WD40 and set it on a stand or table. I lube the bearings, place the crank in, seat all of the main caps and torque all the studs and bolts to specification, except for the thrust bearing cap. In this case, the inners and outers all torque to 70 ft/lb except the 4 smaller end bolts which are at 35ft/ lb. In the Ford engine design, the thrust is your center cap. With two pry bars, I pry the crank forward and aft twice, and then torque

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the thrust main cap hardware to specification while prying forward on the crank. This will ensure our crankshaft end-play check will be correct. After lubing up the piston pins and placing our Ross Racing pistons on the PBM rods, with all the spiral locks in place, they are finally ready to pop into each bore. After carefully installing the rings on each piston, set your assembly in the ring compressor insuring the ring gaps are orientated as specified by the piston/ring manufacturer. Start with 1 and 5, then move to 2 and 6, followed by...you get the idea.

Double and triple check your hardware torque. I always place a mark with a

black marker on any hardware I have torqued to not lose track of what I am doing. The rotating crank, rods and pistons are now together swinging in the block.

After checking our rod side clearances and crankshaft end play, which fall into specification, we know that we have quality parts and this gives the confidence of a job well done by everyone in our team. Next time on Project World Domination, we will deal with installing the Erson camshaft, lifters, BMP cylinder heads, and Jesel timing belt and rocker system.

Have a great June and enjoy the sunshine, warm weather and any track time RPM you can get!

■ PBM crank, rods and Ross Racing pistons are now home in the World Products block, time to move on to the camshaft and top end of our World Domination project 427 ci. small block Ford.

PBM/Erson/World Products http://www.pbm-erson.com/ Technical Support Lines: Erson Cams 800-641-7920 PBM Performance 800-588-9608 World Products 877-630-6651 Ross Racing Pistons https://www.rosspistons.com/ (310) 536-0100 www.rpmmag.com

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Our naturally aspirated LS makes almost 1,000HP! Yes, it’s only been 2 months since our last update on “Project Homegrown COPO”; a tribute build to the venerable Chevrolet COPO Camaro, RPM style! As you might guess, everything finally started rolling along well with the engine build and the guys at New Generation Engines were able to work their magic. We have now completed and dynoed the mill, and the results are amazing…this thing is a monster!

You might remember back in our April issue that we had just ordered pushrods and tall valve covers, and needed to locate a crank mandrel and install some fittings to facilitate the vacuum pump install.

Here’s how things went down…

We received our Comp Cams 8.500 length push rods and after a thorough inspection (we inspect every part, new or used), we installed them along with our shaft mount Jesel rocker arms (part # KPS430173 – 1.7 Ratio Shaft Mount Rocker) that are specific for our Mast Motorsports heads. Next, we took care of remaining items such as installing the We uncovered the almost complete Project Homegrown Camaro LS engine. It had only been 2 months, but seemed like forever. Back at the start of April we were waiting on pushrods, rocker covers and a few other odds and ends to finish it up.

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Check out these bad boys!

Our Jesel rocker arms (part # KPS-430173 – 1.7 Ratio Shaft Mount Rocker) are specifically made for the Mast Motorsports cylinder heads. Al went to work, checked everything over and installed the rockers.

Next up, we worked on cooling with our Meziere water pump and also installed the vacuum pump, and then carburetor. The project motor will be Holley EFI once installed, but it was easy to be able to use one of Al’s tricked out 1150 “Dyno Doms” on the engine dyno.

Watch Now as the RPM Magazine HomeGrown COPO Engine Gets Dyno’ed

fittings in the valley pan for the know we just had to lay some vacuum pump system, valve cov- cash bets on horsepower numers and we fully dressed this mo- bers before we lit the candle! tor to prepare it for the engine dyno at New Gen. I can’t explain the excitement starting to build in the shop as we realized that this motor, built mostly during the pandemic, was finally coming into its own. You www.rpmmag.com

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Hoses, belts, valve covers, plugs, coils and wires were next up.

This gives us a great base reference point as to what this badass naturally aspirated mill can do...

Once we got it over into the dyno room and set up on the New Gen system, we primed it using Maxima Racing Oil’s Semi-Syn 20W-50. We started using Maxima products in earnest last season and have been very impressed with the results in our Coyote Mustang drag car. When we tore the engine down at season’s end for regular maintenance, the bearings looked like virtually new; we were sold and have been using Maxima products on our engines, including this RPM Project build since.

For the dyno, to keep things simple and easy, we used an MSD ignition box to control the timing and spark and we installed one of New Generation’s “Dyno Carbs”. Specifically, we used one of their 1150 cfm Dominators that has been tricked out by Al from New Gen. Now, if you’re sharp and have been following along with RPM Project HGC, you know that the engine will be fed and controlled by a Holley EFI system, and you would be correct. But, with

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We used this Moroso 85500 1-quart Billet Breather Tank to contain any potential fluids from the vacuum pump and used Maxima Racing Oil’s SemiSyn 20W-50 race oil. Now it was off to the dyno room for final hook up and dyno sessions.

As you can see, once you get to the dyno room there is still some work to be done. Fuel, cooling, and dyno control connections must be made, but when it was time to go we were all ready to rock! www.rpmmag.com

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As they say, numbers don’t lie, and as they say in racing, dyno sheets don’t lie. The first sheet is the 912hp run and the second is our 969hp pull.

We were shooting for 2hp per cube (2 x 440ci = 880hp) and got a standing-ovation 2.2, and we are very happy with the results here!

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the EFI system already fully wired and installed in the HGC chassis, we opted for dynoing at this stage with the carb. Once the mill is between the Camaro rails, we’ll be running it on our in-house chassis dyno at Misener Motorsports. Also, this gives us a great base reference point as to what this badass naturally aspirated mill can do.

Engine dynoing serves many purposes along with getting us gearheads all jacked up at the sound of horsepower! It allows us the opportunity to get a feel for the combination and provides a good indication of how the parts we have carefully chosen (with the manufacturer’s technical support) are working together. Is it making the power we anticipated, and if not, what do we need to change to maximize the potential before the engine goes in the car? Also, and we consider this a positive as opposed a negative, if something is going to fail, we’d rather it fail on the dyno.

All bets were down, and on first fire up the motor sounded clean, crisp and smooth, surprisingly smooth actually, it didn’t sound as radical as we expected considering the cam specs. First, after proper run in, we made a couple easy pulls and then a fullout pull and we hit the rev limiter about 6800rpm, making 892hp! Sweet! Keep in mind that we have seen similar combinations like this make about 850hp and our goal with the RPM project motor was to actually make 2hp per cubic inch, which would put us at 880 flywheel hp with our 440-inch motor.

We already exceeded our goal on the first pull at a paltry 6,800 rpm!

Now it was time to tweak this bad Hombre. The MSD box we were using was set up for a different motor that had been on the dyno, so we made some changes there. At this point we are feeling real good and we know this thing should easily hit right around

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SOURCES (Engine): ATI

http://www.atiracing.com/

MEZIERE

https://www.meziere.com/

800-208-1755 MOROSO

410-298-4343

https://www.moroso.com/

DART

203-453-6571

248-362-1188

MAST MOTOR SPORTS

https://dartheads.com/

CANTON

https://www.cantonracingproducts.com/

203-481-9460 COMP

https://www.compcams.com/

https://www.mastmotorsports.com/

866-551-4916 MAXIMA RACING OILS

https://maximausa.com/

901-795-2400

619-449-5000

HOLLEY EFI

NEW GENERATION ENGINES 905-892-3255

https://www.holley.com/

866-464-6553 JESEL

ROSS RACING

https://www.jesel.com/

https://www.rosspistons.com/

732-901-1800

310-536-0100

LUNATI

TOTAL SEAL

https://www.lunatipower.com/

https://www.totalseal.com/

662-892-1500

623-587-7400

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A job well done! From left to right: Al Blanchard (New Generation Engines), Jay Misener and Andrew Blanchard (New Generation Engines).

8000rpm, so we checked some plugs and made a timing adjustment so we can hit this big boy again. We ended the night at 954hp and 715ftlbs! We were ecstatic to say the least, as we had ready well surpassed our goal of 2hp per cubic inch. We let the oil drain overnight so we could get back at it the following afternoon with fresh oil and plugs.

For day 2, on top of the plugs and oil, we tightened up the valve adjustment just a touch and added a carb spacer that was hanging in the dyno room and that bumped us up to 108

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969hp at 7750 RPM and 731ft. lbs. at 6550rpm! We were blown away!

The engine delivered over and above our expectations, however (and there is always a “however”), a race engine like this should ideally make peak horsepower about 1500rpm above where it makes peak torque. We’re at about 1200, so all things being equal we have a bit of room to grow, just a little. We believe this could be one of two things, or perhaps maybe even both. First, is that although we have a header with 2-inch primary tubes, we only have a 3-inch collector and that’s

a lot of power to make for that size collector. Secondly, the valves may be a little heavy. We used stainless steel valves whereas many naturally aspirated builds like this use lightweight titanium valves. I truly believe that with a bigger header and titanium valves we could make north of 1000 flywheel hp. Will we do that? Probably not, as we are more than happy with what we have made (2.2 hp per cubic inch) and its time to put this bad boy home under the hood of the Camaro!

RPM

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