The 2010 Amsoil Engine Masters Challenge is set to start rocking the dynos at
the University of Northwestern Ohio, Lima campus next week. One entry, the team
of Hot Heads Research contains a couple legit hot rodding legends and as well as
a couple of BangShifters! Engine owner Dan Miller has been working with Gene
Adams and John Beck, Scott Courtney as well as BangShifters Scott Clark
(dieselgeek) and Bob Holmes (Horsewidower) on the forums.
These guys are
showing up to the party with an early Hemi displacing just over 300ci that
sports an EFI intake manifold sure to turn heads and a custom, competition-spec
Megasquirt ECU that Scott assembled from scratch.
In typical BangShift
fashion, it took a big thrash to get this “small” motor completed in time
because frankly, this one is plan B:
The original engine was another early
Hemi, but it displaced 387ci. On the last day of dyno testing, after getting the
engine dialed into the zone, a routine leakdown test turned up two slightly
fractured pistons; the team believes that testing of fuel injector placement at
certain heights may have caused lean conditions during the dyno pulls, causing
heat and the resulting damage. The shame of it all was that the motor was
making 2500 points on the EMC grading scale – more than enough to make a good
showing at the event next week.
The team is going to apply their acquired
knowledge on the new “small” motor and use the 20 minute tuning period, normally
when the teams make final, minor tuning adjustments, to fire the engine on EFI
for the first time, and try to get a basic tune. The team will make a couple of
quick pulls and do the best they can before making their competition pulls on
the pump.
Long odds? You better believe it! That being said, Dan Miller,
Gene Adams, John Beck, and our two boys in the mix are not giving up hope for a
strong finish.
Stay tuned, things will get really interesting when these
guys strap onto the dyno next Thursday at 2:30pm. We’ll keep you posted with
results!
The team wanted to give a heartfelt thank you
to Hot Heads Research and Bob Walker in
particular. His support on this project has been without compare and every
member of the group recognizes that! They also wanted to thank www.DIYautotune.com, the Megasquirt experts at msextra.com, and all the Hemi
lovin’ Mopar freaks that have been sharing knowledge, lending ideas, and
cheering the boys on.
