Building A Fine Ford Street/Race Mill

A custom intake was needed for this unique application. Lumpy chose a three-piece intake that would allow carburetor mounting flanges to be mounted to the heads, with a belly pan to seal up the lifter galley. The camshaft was ground by Comp Cams for a valve lift of .351 intake and exhaust. With our Jesel rockers, that is a gross lift of .631 on the intake valve and .666 lift on the exhaust valve. The duration at .050 is 242 degrees intake and exhaust.

The intake was match ported to the heads. It is very important that the atomized fuel have an unobstructed path to the combustion chamber.

Another simple thing to do to find a few more horses is to use cog belts and pulleys whenever possible. They require much less energy to turn, because they fit much looser than the standard pulley system.

From the top, you can see just how small this assembly is compared to the standard clutch/pressure plate setup. The small diameter coupled with the light weight has a profound effect on how fast this engine can climb the rpm scale.

Once done, it's time to break it in on the dyno. This is the time to do your first level of tuning and make sure everything is working properly.

Our clutch package is a Magnum Force dual disk from McLeod. The clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel have a combined weight of just over 11 pounds!

The dry sump system is important to maintain a consistent oil pressure when the car is experiencing lateral g-force for more than a few seconds like a long carousel or a banked turn. If oil is forced away from your oil pick-up tube for a split second, it could mean a spun bearing or worse.

Here's the final product: a vintage-looking race engine that will behave well enough for a cruise night and still be all business on the track. Watch for the next build story on No. 33, the road course ready or street cruise capable RCR40 Mk I, in the next issue of KIT CAR.