552 Motorsport A460 build

First off, I must say what pleasure dealing the Charlie, Lem and Adney Brown. This project has gone so smoothly having them involved. I can't recommend enough their services.

Charlie has completed the heads and shipped both back already and Lem has already delivered the cam and intake. Currently bottom end parts, are with our machine shop and in process.


This car will be driven 80% on the street but we need it be a beast at the track, when the time comes. We can straddle that line between tame enough for the street and almost too racy for the street.


What do you think about this build, as far as HP capability and how you think it will perform? We are hoping it will make mid to high 700 and be somewhat street able on 93 pump. It's being built as driver to been seen on the street, but put to full use at the track.

Thanks for any feedback!



Bore 4.420 * Stroke 4.500

Eagle 6.700 rods (ARP 2000)

Scat 4340 4.500 crank (Adney Brown)

D1VE Thick main web block with 4 bolt Milodon caps, bushed pass side lifter bores

Keith Black ICON IC-954 Dish 2618 Pistons, 10.9:1 with 83cc compression ratio. (Our compression a tad lower with 86cc chambers. May use small plate nitrous kit. No more than 250, but more of a N/A engine than nitrous engine)

Total Seal CR ring set 4.425

New (vintage 1993) Ford Motorsport A460 heads 2.300/1.880, 86cc chambers (Fully ported by Charlie Evans)
Flow #'s 45 degree on both intake and exhaust no test pipe
I .500 425
I .600 429
I .700 428
I .800 426

E .500 312
E .600 312
E .700 317
E .800 318


Ford Motorsport ported A460 Intake Manifold (Lem Evans)

Cam: CC Tight Lash solid roller, 264/274@.050 , .715/.715, 111 lsa (Lem Evans custom specs )

Transmission: Built TH 400, t-brake, w/JW Bell

Converter: Unknown at the moment

Rear Gears: 4.10:1 (currently 28” tire)

Car: 1989 Mustang GT Street Car (approx. weight with driver 3400 lbs) full body car, nothing stripped, only roll cage added and suspension work done.

What carb?
A nine second bracket car.
I like this and you got the best doing the work behind you.

Let me make a correction with flow #'s. When transferring from paper to my fingers, I did not use the correct valve lifts. I used the individual port #'s and moved across the flow sheet. My apologies. The correct #'s are below.

I .200 153
I .300 232
I .400 296
I .500 347.6
I .600 387
I .700 415
I .800 425.8

E .200 114.6
E .300 155
E .400 205.4
E .500 249
E .600 283
E .700 304
E .800 314.8

No carb or no convertor yet. Bottom end machining is still in progress, so we still have some time for those decisions, but will definitely be some type of dominator. We're at the point now, where we need to get roller lifters, so the bushings can be honed. Our machine shop here in Houston, is recommending Isky roller lifters. What do you guys say; good, bad or otherwise with BBF solid roller lifters? Has anyone used solid rollers in a similar street application, that can recommend or advise? I've used Crane in the last two solid roller engines with no issues, but those where 100% track only engines, and those lifters are available anymore. This engine will see a moderate about of street driving and we hope to get the best lifter for longevity, even though we will keep a CLOSE eye on them no matter what they are.

bbfguy1 wrote:No carb or no convertor yet. Bottom end machining is still in progress, so we still have some time for those decisions, but will definitely be some type of dominator. We're at the point now, where we need to get roller lifters, so the bushings can be honed. Our machine shop here in Houston, is recommending Isky roller lifters. What do you guys say; good, bad or otherwise with BBF solid roller lifters? Has anyone used solid rollers in a similar street application, that can recommend or advise? I've used Crane in the last two solid roller engines with no issues, but those where 100% track only engines, and those lifters are available anymore. This engine will see a moderate about of street driving and we hope to get the best lifter for longevity, even though we will keep a CLOSE eye on them no matter what they are.

Ive heard good things about Isky rollers. My experience with Comps EndurX and Morels has not worked out well. Right now I'm running BAM's that are bushed. They are only one season old. I've also gone to a Jones cam that only needs 550 pounds over the nose in an effort to keep the lifters alive. Previous loads were 800 pounds. Mike Jones is popular in the roundy round applications so if you're looking for longevity over all out performance check him out. It looks like I didnt lose anything with my cam change from my quarter mile comparison. It's also nice to go back to aluminum rockers.
I do drive it on the street. It goes 9.0's at 149 and spin it to 7,000.

I have a fresh batch of BAM on the way.

Lem Evans wrote:I have a fresh batch of BAM on the way.

Hey Lem ..I'm thinking there isn't a BAM  (Z Bar) solid roller lifter for us Boss Nine guys yet..?

nascar429 wrote:

Lem Evans wrote:I have a fresh batch of BAM on the way.

Hey Lem ..I'm thinking there isn't a BAM  (Z Bar) solid roller lifter for us Boss Nine guys yet..?  

I do not see a Z bar unit in their price list.

I did speak with guy over at BAM earlier this week, and he gave me this part#, 2010-16-BB1. Lem, are these the batch you have on the way? If so, the guy at BAM said to get with you for pricing. I also spoke with the guys over at Isky, about their solid bushing lifters, part# 3172RHEZMAX. These are $1,352.99 through one of the big box hi-po stores.

I know BAM is fairly new to the market and I've never used Isky anything. It's highly possible this engine could see 40+ miles in a day, on certain weekends. We're in South Texas, so winter is our time to really be out and riding. We just want a good durable reliable lifter. Again, they will get regular inspection no matter what they are. Lem, I will PM you about the BAM's.

Got a set of bushed BAM's (2010-16-BB1) on the way from Lem Evans. It's probably more lifter than we need but after talking with several BAM users, and Brad over a BAM, I am confident they will be a durable lifter for our application. We are a about 240 ish on the seat and 625 open; give or take with PAC 1243 springs.

I think you are right on the money with your HP goal of mid 700's. This is a very similar build to mine with less compression, slightly less camshaft and I'm running AFR 315's which flow roughly the same-ish. Made 796HP at 6200 RPM. It was a riot in my 78 Bronco so in a car that should be a lot of fun.

If this engine makes in the 750-775 range, we will be delighted with it. We kept the compression conservative for 93 pump, and are using good valve train parts for reliability. This engine will see a fair amount of street use.

Finally fired this engine on the stand a few days ago, and noticed it takes a moderate RPM to get oil to flow out of the drivers side rockers. We fired it with Valvoline 20w50w. We did prime it and get oil up top but my drill did have enough power fully prime the top end. Fired it up for a few seconds, and it (85 lbs oil pressure) oiled from pass side fine. Driver side was only oiling the intake rockers until I cracked the primaries a bit, them we got oil flow through exhaust rockers.

Anyone see any potential issues here or is it normal with restricted lifter bores? Just to keep from having to scroll back to top, I put our build below in this reply also. Motor sounds beastly. Running it on the stand, to double check everything before going in car. Thanks for any feedback!


Ken



Bore 4.420 * Stroke 4.500

Eagle 6.700 rods (ARP 2000)

Scat 4340 4.500 crank (Adney Brown)

D1VE Thick main web block with 4 bolt Milodon caps, bushed lifter bores .080 hole, High Flow Dynamic oil pump .std volume, Moroso Kaase oil pan for Fox Body

Keith Black ICON IC-954 Dish 2618 Pistons, 10.9:1 compression ratio with 83cc chambers. (Our compression is a tad lower with 86cc chambers.
Total Seal CR ring set 4.425

New (vintage 1993) Ford Motorsport A460 heads 2.300/1.880, 86cc chambers (Fully ported by Charlie Evans)
Flow #'s 45 degree on both intake and exhaust no test pipe
I .500 340
I .600 384
I .700 417
I .800 429

E .500 251
E .600 295
E .700 304
E .800 314


Ford Motorsport ported A460 Intake Manifold (Lem Evans)

Cam: CC Tight Lash solid roller, 264/274@.050 , .715/.715, 111 lsa (Lem Evans custom specs )
BAM Roller lifters (Lem Evans)
Comp Cams Ultra Pro Magnum Roller Rockers

thats a nice engine there!should make 800+ but might need more cam at .050.also,roller lifters on the street need lots of oil to live.do the lifters have pin oilers?did you restrict the front galley plug or the cross over to drivers side anywhere?
it also depends on valve spring as well.you should try to dyno it to tune it and get the results you need to know.well worth the money imo.