Project Off Road Buggy Small Block Chevy Engine - Dream Machine Power

10. We also mocked up the ceramic-coated Sanderson Headers that were recommended for the Fast Burn heads because of the thick mounting flange and exclusive D-port inlets that match the exhaust outlets. I chose a block-hugger design since I'm not sure how the exhaust will end up being built. Finally, before heading out to break in and test this torquer, we installed a set of MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor Plug Wires. They come as a set, but are not at complete lengths so that you can cut them to your desire. These wires have a Copper Alloy conductor with less than 50 ohms of resistance per foot. Plus they have a High EMI suppression, which refers to the electromagnetic interference that radiates from plug wires and can interfere with onboard electronics and computers. I will show you the MSD 6 off-road ignition-control box and blaster coil when they are installed in the chassis.

11. We finally hooked up the ACCEL engine control module (ECM) and its wide-band O2 sensor. The ECM and wiring harness is simple for initial installation, and it also comes with various fueling strategies such as sequential, bank-to-bank, batch, or staged batch. The O2 sensor is installed in the exhaust and measures the oxygen so the computer can determine how much fuel to inject for the desired air/fuel ratio. A wide-band O2 sensor not only tells the controller whether the engine is rich or lean, but also how far from optimum it is so that the computer can more accurately fix the problem. This is especially useful if the computer is put in a closed-loop program, where the information from the O2 sensor is recorded and the ECM adjusts the fuel ratio automatically. Once on the dyno stand at Sunset Racecraft, I began to feel like Dr. Frankenstein. Here was this beautiful engine with all types of hoses and wires running all over it so that Tracy Dennis, the owner of Sunset, could monitor what was going on and tune the ACCEL computer for maximum performance. An engine dyno is a fixture that puts a load on the engine in order to see how much power and torque it can turn at certain rpm. Dennis and his crew are used to building big-block engines for drag racers that push around 1,000 hp, so my little monster was not gonna scare them. Since the engine runs a 9.7:1 compression ratio, we could still test it on pump gas, but we were sure to run premium 92 octane.

12. After hours of assembly, it was finally time to start the engine. We set the timing and calibrated the dual-sync distributor, hooked up the fuel, spark, electric dyno water pump, and exhaust. With Dennis at the controls, it was fired up and rumbled to life. What happened next was a complete whirlwind to me as Dennis dialed in the ECM. The goal was to get an optimum air/fuel ratio and spark timing. This is done by monitoring the manifold pressure, throttle position, intake air temperature, engine coolant temperature, manifold surface temperature, and exhaust gas oxygen and then by adjusting fuel, air, and spark accordingly. To simplify things, the initial setup is done by inputting basic known features of the engine such as compression ratio, displacement, camshaft specs, and fuel pressure into a Windows-based computer. Then the ACCEL software will determine a base-line program for the ECM that will get the engine running. After that it is up to the tuner to dial in the best program. This crate engine from Scoggin-Dickey comes with a base program that should be roughly 405 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque. Then once it's installed in your vehicle you can turn the key and drive. If you want even more, just take it to one of the many Engine Management Installation Centers (EMIC) across the U.S. and Canada where ACCEL/DFI has trained technicians who can always help you. Or you can get a Windows-based laptop computer, load the software, and begin making adjustments on your own. Since the program can be saved on your ECM or laptop, you can always return to those initial settings.

Dyno Mighty
Our first dyno pull on the computer-written program gave us 395 max horsepower and 473 lb-ft of max torque. Not bad for preliminary testing, especially since we expected the horsepower numbers to be lower and torque numbers higher than GM's carbureted 425/449 catalog digits. Since I was trying to learn all the available options for the program, as well as what all could be adjusted, Tracy Dennis took the time to run 13 different dyno pulls on the 383. And since the laptop could record the different results of each pull, he was constantly adjusting numbers to try and get more power. I followed along and, by the end of it, was catching on, barely. We eventually surpassed even Scoggin-Dickey's claimed numbers on this crate engine with 413 hp at 4,800 rpm and 491 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm. Better yet was the fact that the torque curve was flatter than the military haircuts my dad gave me growing up. In fact, we couldn't even get the dyno to adequately brake the engine under 3,000 rpm since there was so much torque. Check out the numbers below and you will see that this engine should pull hard and still peel out with the big dogs. Now that sounds like fun.