We recently upgraded the front...
We recently upgraded the front suspension of our B-3 project, and this month we'll freshen and install a 500-inch Wedge, and upgrade the rear suspension with Calvert Racing Suspensions' CalTracs system.
If you've been following the B-3 project, you know that we originally built this '67 Barracuda to run ten second elapsed times, on a budget of under ten thousand dollars. Having accomplished that goal, we've decided to upgrade the car and see just how quick we can go without cutting the car for larger back tires. Last month we installed new CAP Auto tubular suspension components up front, and this month we'll freshen up our "Wedged to the Max" 500-inch Indy headed big-block and put it in the Barracuda. To get our Barracuda to hook up with this additional power and torque, we knew we'd need the best bolt-in suspension components available for our A-Body, so we called Calvert Racing Suspensions and ordered their CalTracs system for our car.
The engine we'll be installing in our Barracuda is a 500 cubic inch 440 with Indy SR cylinder heads that we built some time ago in our "Wedged to the Max" project. With a big roller cam and 12.5:1compression, this engine makes more than 750 horsepower and has a bunch of torque, so it should really test our Barracuda with its bolt-in suspension components and relatively small tires. Since the engine had some 400 passes on it though, we decided to disassemble and inspect it before dropping it in. Fortunately, our tear-down and inspection revealed no real engine damage, so we visited Summit Racing Equipment's website and ordered all necessary items to overhaul our big-block.
Since our engine was so clean, we simply honed the cylinders to break the glaze, and installed Total-Seal file fit piston rings. The only problem with the crankshaft was an area on the thrust surface where the thrust bearing was showing some wear. We sent the crankshaft to Auto Performance Engines and had it repaired, then installed Federal-Mogul FEM-119,
1 Our B-3 project has run...
1 Our B-3 project has run a best of 10.13 in the quarter mile, but we wanted more. Feeling the need for speed, we'll bolt in a 500 cubic inch Indy headed wedge, and Calvert Racing Suspensions CalTracs to hook it up.
2 The engine we're installing...
2 The engine we're installing in our Barracuda is the Indy-headed 440, stroked to 500 cubic inches that we originally built for our "Wedged to the Max" project. We called Summit Racing Equipment, ordering new rings, bearings, timing chain, and gaskets for our big-block. This engine was running fine, but with more than 400 dragstrip passes we took the opportunity to freshen it up. At over 750 horsepower, this engine will certainly test our bolt-in CalTracs rear suspension.
3 Total Seal file-fit piston...
3 Total Seal file-fit piston rings were utilized for this application, with napier cut second rings and low tension oil rings. We run a vacuum pump on this engine which allows us to take advantage of the lower tension oil rings, freeing up a little power.