February Updates

It has been a cold winter in my part of the world. I have made less than progress due to my 2 degrees celsius garage. Once the temperature warms up a bit I’ll be able to post some pictures of the engine progress. The block, crank, rods and pistons are back from the machine shop and ready for assembly. As I await the delivery of the rebuild kit I’m planning for the upcoming cylinder head work. This is very important because in stock eliminator racing there are big power gains come from valve job, valves, and the camshaft. However, you are very limited with what can be done. You must run stock lift on the cam, stock valve size, and use a “stock style” valve. In fact, for many years the NHRA (and IHRA) limited the valve job to a prescriptive 3 angle job with the bottom cut not to proceed further than .250 of an inch below the seat. The 2009 NHRA rulebook has done away with this valve job ruling and now allows for any valve job and any angle(s). This is very good news for those of us who use the E7TE head on their 302. The stock heads flow pretty well despite having small valves and ports. However, they really wake up once the bowl to seat transition is improved. Although a stock eliminator class legal valve job is not to be any deeper in the bowl than the valve guide boss, this still leaves lots of room to create more air flow by smoothing the transition of the air from the port, to the bowl, around the valve, and into the combustion chamber. The problem with doing a good valve job is finding a knowledgeable machine shop to make your specific heads flow. The angles, depths, and processes used by machine shops are some of the most secretive knowledge in the racing industry. I intend on using Ferrea valves with Crane valve springs. As for the machining…well I would mention my machine shop – but that’s a secret ;)