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Project FE
It's been a while since we've updated you on our big-block project car, but rest assured the FE 428 powered Mach 1 has not been sitting idle. In fact, after several months of bracket racing virtually every weekend, this car is still just getting optimized. The 428 had no problems running solid 11.80 passes at 117 mph, but we felt that something was holding it back. You may recall that shortly after the 428 was broken in, the solid flat-tappet camshaft we had spec'd out for the motor bit the dust. We pulled the cam and realized the intake and exhaust lobes for one of the cylinders were wiped flat. The damage was so bad that one of the lifters had a hole worn completely through. It seemed
lifters
The Crane solid flat-tappet lifters are suspected to have hung-up in their bores, resulting in excessive friction and a wiped camshaft.
obvious that the lifters for whatever reason had failed to spin in their bores, resulting in accelerated wear. We sent the failed cam and lifters back to Crane for analysis. Their testing indicated the hardness and taper values on the cam lobes and lifters were within specifications, and they suspected that either some machining debris in the lifter bore, or possibly even a off-center lifter bore, resulted in the lifter "freezing" in place and thus flattening the cam lobe.

In the meanwhile Victor had already replaced the mechanical cam with a Crane hydraulic cam of similar specifications (253 degrees duration at 0.050", and .585" lift.) Although we had look forward to the rpm potential of the solid, for now the hydraulic would have to suffice.
Emerald
Emerald put together a 4000 stall converter to match the 428's power band. The result --see below!
The 428 responded well to the hydraulic cam, with solid 11.80's and eventually low 11.70's. However the sixty-foot times seemed slow for all the torque the 428 should have been putting out. The best the car could manage on slicks was in the mid 1.70's. We theorized that the cam needed more stall speed in order to get the car off the line with the engine in the peak of its torque band. The 3000 stall converter that was in the C6 was probably falling about 1000 rpm short.

With our recent positive experience with Emerald Torque Converters, we decided to have them put together a converter to back the FE. Emerald's converter guru Gary Mladinich studied the Mach 1's specifications, then suggested a 4000 stall donut. A week later Victor had the converter swapped in, and the Mach 1 was back at the strip.

11.39!
The result- how about nearly four tenths off the ET, and three miles-per at the eighth?! The 428 clicked off back to back sixty-foots in the low 1.60's, and responded with an impressive 11.39 ET. By the way, if you're wondering if this car is NHRA legal to run in the 11's, don't worry... a six-point roll bar was installed recently, and we'll have a full write up soon.

What's next?
Project FE still has room for improvement. In fact we think by giving the solid flat-tappet another shot, and possibly experimenting with Dove's FE intake, we should get a solid high-10 second car. So now, who say's FE's are slow? F/M

Go to Project FE: Part 1 | Part II | Part III | Part IV
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