One of the tricks we're using in this combination is the use of a Moroso crankcase vacuum pump. There are many benefits to a vacuum pump in a race motor, including improved ring seal, prevention of blow-by, and a less contaminated intake charge. An additional benefit is the elimination of valve cover to header vacuum lines for a cleaner-looking engine bay. The Moroso unit is billet aluminum and requires very little horsepower to drive. The kit we ordered was complete, easy to install, and included an adjustable vacuum relief valve. The main benefit that we've noted by running a crankcase evacuation system is the ability to achieve ring seal with lower tension compression rings. The reduced friction of a lower tension ring frees up more than enough power to drive the belt-driven pump with power to spare for the back wheels.
As far as an oiling system, our experience dictated that a serious wedge engine-revving in the area of 7,500 rpm-benefits from a Milodon dual-line external oil system with a swinging pickup and rear sump pan. The Milodon system has been the standard for race wedge and Hemi motors for more than thirty years-and aside from a dry sump system-it's the best race oiling system that we've seen for a big wedge. The system is so good and so frequently used, some of our parts were back ordered. If you plan to use the Milodon system, call early so that you can get the parts in a timely manner. We always run a windage tray, so a special Milodon unit with additional clearance for our extra stroke was ordered. In addition to chamfering the oiling holes on our crankshaft's journals, we had our crankshaft knife edged and scalloped so that it would shed oil quickly. No other special oil-system modifications were performed, other than plugging the internal pickup and removing the casting flash from the valley and heads to aid the oil's return to the pan.
For cylinder heads, Indy was our only serious option. Indy Cylinder Head offers a great selection of aluminum street and race heads for every power level and budget, and a quick call confirmed the aluminum SR heads, ported to Max Wedge size, would be the best selection for our engine. We won't be revving this engine above 7,500 rpm due to our stock block, so we couldn't justify the extra flow and cost of the 440-1 heads for our combination. In engines larger than 500 ci or in applications revving higher than we plan to rev ours, the 440-1s are a great choice, but for our engine we'll maximize the SR heads. The ported SR's flow numbers are very close to the 440-1 numbers, and the SR heads offer a great, heart-shaped, quench area in the combustion chamber, large 2.19/1.81-inch valves, and shorter intake runners than the 440-1 heads. An added benefit of the SR heads is the ability to use factory style rocker arms, shafts, valve covers, and intake. The exhaust port of the SR head is also the factory pattern, but is raised slightly requiring custom headers in some applications. We will be using Hooker Super Competition fenderwell headers for this project, which actually fit quite nicely in a big-block A-Body with SR heads and without modification. Aside from expensive custom-made race headers, the Hooker fenderwell pieces pretty much set the standard for race exhaust.
 Since we're cheap, we install...  Since we're cheap, we install our own cam bearings. Learning to do this yourself will save you the cost of the tools after about four engines. If you're not comfortable with this task leave it to the professionals at the machine shop. |
 |
 File fitting the piston rings...  File fitting the piston rings for each cylinder is the only way to precisely gap the rings in a race motor. We gapped our rings to drag race specifications per the instructions with our Perfect Circle ring set. This job is time consuming, but will ensure a good combustion chamber seal and even cylinder pressure among all eight cylinders. |
 |