The 2008 Amsoil/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge - Cedarstrand Racing Engines

To top this solid short-block, Cederstrand Racing Engines was required to use the same Indy SR aluminum cylinder heads as the rest of the field. Starting with Indy's CNC ported castings, August installed S.I. Silverline stainless steel racing valves with undercut stems and performed a full-radius valve job before hand-lapping the valves. Isky PN 9357 double valvesprings were used to control the action of the .728-inch lift, 260-degree duration at .050-inch lift, Comp custom ground solid roller camshaft. T&D 1.6 ratio roller rocker arms were used for their durability and ratio accuracy, and the rocker shafts were shimmed .030 inch for perfect valvetrain geometry. Manley 3/8-inch chrome-moly pushrods with a 7.65-inch overall length were used to actuate the rockers. To spin the camshaft, August chose an accurate Milodon gear drive instead of the conventional double-roller timing chain and gears, stating that for valvetrain accuracy and durability, nothing beats a gear drive.

Topping this combination, August chose Indy's tunnel-ram aluminum intake manifold with a pair of 650-cfm Holley HP series carburetors. The intake was port matched in house, and Magnaflow anti-reversion plates were installed before bolting the carbs on. To light the fires, an MSD Pro-billet distributor and MSD 8.5mm race wires routed the spark to the NGK platinum race plugs. Like most of our competitors, August says there's no one part or technique that helped him build such a powerful 440, but rather a well thought out combination of parts and techniques that helped his engine achieve its impressive power numbers. At over 670 hp, this is one bad 440 and would be fun in any street car or bracket racer. We congratulate Cederstrand Racing Engines for placing fourth in their inaugural Engine Challenge and wish August success with his new business.