We Have A Winner

Last week we saw the completion of the AMSOIL/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge. Eight engines were put through the paces and one came out on top: Indy Cylinder Head. Again.

In 2007 the competition was pretty tight, since the rules heavily weighted cost as a variable. With different parameters, Russ Flagle and crew were able to flex their muscles to demonstrate what 35 years experience can do in terms of MOPAR engine-uity. From cylinder heads, crankshafts, rods, and bearings to short blocks, big blocks and everything in between, these guys know engines.

Without pressing him to give away any secrets, we asked Russ Flagle the key to his success. “The key to our success in this (competition), it was our head. It’s also an engine we like. We’ve got a lot of experience with this 451 cu. inch.”

Flagle also praised AMSOIL. “Your oil worked out great... We bought some up here and broke the engine in with it before we went down there, so it’s had nothing in it but AMSOIL from the start.”

Located on Indianapolis’s southeast side, Indy Cylinder Head employs 26. Their target customers are usually bracket drag racers, muscle car people and Good Guys people. Their business is pretty evenly divided between competition and street vehicles.

Congratulations to a great team. Here’s how their numbers stacked up at the Comp Cams facility last week.

Indy Cylinder Head
Manifold vacuum; 4.0
After initial start-up, confirmed timing at 35 degrees.
First Qualifier; 754.0/601.0—changed, nothing except letting heat get into intake before making second pull.

Second qualifier; 756.5/605.7; changed to a new set of spark plugs—same heat, and backed-off timing to 32.

Third qualifier; 748.9/599.9—Bumped timing up to 38

Fourth Qualifier; 754.3/603.1—put timing back to 35

First scored; 758.01/601.6—No changes made before second scored pull. Allowed engine to cool for 10 minutes.

Second Scored; 751.5/602.1—adjusted lash from 24 to 30

Third scored; 756.5/599.1

Read all the details in upcoming issues of Mopar Muscle magazine.

Mopar Muscle Covers AMSOIL Sponsored Competition

Mopar Muscle magazine is the leading magazine in the MOPAR enthusiast car scene. In 2007 AMSOIL became an official sponsor of the Mopar Muscle Challenge. Every engine builder is required to use AMSOIL products in the effort to build the most cost effective power plant possible.

Jim Foos, publisher of Mopar Muscle recently notified us that their coverage of the Mopar Muscle Challenge competition is the most exciting tech feature in their magazine, according to reader response. This photo shows just a little bit of the action. The Mopar Muscle Challenge isn’t just for motorheads. Follow along in the coming editions of the magazine.

This year will be the Fourth Annual Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge, featuring a 440-based spec engine. This year’s eight builders will display their respective engine combinations at the 2008 Mopar Nationals the weekend of August 8 in Columbus, OH.

Visit the AMSOIL website for more information on AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants.

Mopar Muscle Announces 2008 Engine Challenge Participants

This week Mopar Muscle Magazine announced its selections for the 2008 AMSOIL/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge. The eight builders will have till mid-summer to assemble their creations, which will then be put on display at the Mopar Nationals again in Columbus, Ohio. Testing will take place a month later, with winners to be announced at the PRI Show in Orlando.

The selected engine builders are again from north, south, east and west. We'll wish them the best!

Indy Cylinder Head
Russ Flagle
8621 Southeastern Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46239

Schurbon Engine and Machine
Scott Schurbon
203 South Clark St.
Maquoketa, IA, 52060

Mid America Racing Engines
David Bruns
1945 W 18th Street
Washington, IA 52353

Cederstrand Racing Engines
August Cederstrand
P.O. Box 1653
Brea, CA, 92821

Diamondback Engines
Dave Schultz
7723 FM 723
Richmond, TX 77469

JMS Racing Engines
Mike Johnson
5450 Peck Rd
El Monte, CA, 91732

Chenoweth Speed and Machine
Mike Chenoweth
368 Erie Ave
Morton, IL, 61550

JD Engine and Machine
Jeff Dickey
900 Spencer Ave
Columbia, MO, 65203

Inside the Top Two Engines

If you love a good engine build competition, and especially if you are a Mopar fan, you will want to pick up a copy of the April issue of Mopar Muscle magazine, on your news stand now. On page 30, feature writer Dave Young goes deep inside the makings of the two top engines from the ’07 AMSOIL / MOPAR MUSCLE ENGINE CHALLENGE.

The rules are interesting. These engines must demonstrate that they are capable of the full range of what engines are called upon to do. With multiple qualifying passes and multiple judged pulls on the dyno, the engine must show that it can endure the abuses of highway cruising, and drag strip bruising.

This year’s two top engines were built by Indy Cylinder Head and Schurbon Engine and Machine. It was the closest battle yet in this annual competition, and every picture tells a story in this month’s Mopar Muscle magazine. See how they did it. It’s a pretty cool story with AMSOIL lubricants right in the middle of it.

AMSOIL/Mopar Muscle Challenge: It's a Wrap

The final day has past, and the roaring of engines has ceased. The 2007 Amsoil/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge is in the books. All-in-all, the event went well. Only one engine failed qualify, and they even got done a little ahead of schedule.

First up on Thursday was MRL Performance. He was on a qwest for a big number, but fell considerably short. Mike did have the misfortune of a couple of rocker arm studs coming loose at different times, but was able to fix them and move on.

Next up was Indy Cylinder Head. Russ Flagle and Kenny Lezzarri brought in an engine that required very little in the way of tuning. The engine posted some serious numbers, and during the teardown inspection showed some really cool rules interpretation within the heads.

Now that it's over, it's time to tally the results. Stay tuned for more details.

Mike Liston was on a qwest for a 550 horsepower 318. Unfortunately, he fell substantially short. Mike had to deal with several rocker arm studs that misteryiously came loose at different times.

The Indy Cylinder Head team was the last team to dyno their engine. Russ, Ken, and the Legendary Herb McCandless were on hand for the testing.

Top of Page: One of the Indy Tuning tricks was placing washers on the spark plugs to vary the depth of the tip into the cylinder. If you're not sure why they would do that, stay tuned for the full story in Mopar Muscle magazine.

Mopar Mayhem in Memphis

Wednesday's dyno action went pretty well. The day started with Schurbon Racing flogging the dyno all morning. The Schurbon gang came prepared to make a good showing, and they did just that. The team was ready, and so was their engine. They had a good day, posting some serious numbers.

Next up was the Muscle Motors entry. This engine, although only 395-cubic inches, made a serious attempt at some high numbers. Mike had to deal with a strangely appearing lean condition, but still made a great showing.

Scott Schurbon and Bob Siegwarth experimented with a couple different carb spacers. all told, they ended up with 4-1/4-inches of spacer on the engine at one time.

The valve adjustment process definitely worked in the Schurbon team's favor.

AMSOIL/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge Underway

Here's the latest report from Comp Cams in Memphis.

The 2007 Amsoil/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge started off a little interesting. The first competitor, Diamondback Racing Engines, had an issue during their first qualifying run when a couple of rocker arm adjusters broke. As a result six of the rocker arms galled on the shaft. Unfortunately, repairs could not be made in the time allotted, and they were unable to continue.

Next up to the plate was RM Competition with his tunnel-rammed 408. After three easy qualifying pulls that consisted of a tuning practice of running the engine with and without an air cleaner, he was able to continue on to the scored portion of the competition. Again, all three pulls were made, and slightly over 500 horsepower was achieved.

When Monday finally ended, Mid America's engine was bolted to the dyno. Today we'll see what last year's winner can do.

Damon of Diamondback prepares to make first pull.

Randy Malik of RM Competition changed his spark plugs between the qualifying round and the scored portion of the competition. His big tuning trick for more horsepower, though, was putting the air cleaner assembly back on. It upped his power number each time he replaced it.

Randy was running quite a bit of compression, so the timing couldn't be set for more than 30-degrees or a substantial rattle was heard.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

This is it. The eight builders are arriving at Comp Cams in Memphis this weekend to get it all underway in year three of the Mopar Muscle Challenge. The engines have all been limited to 410 ci displacement and will run on the same Rockett Brand fuel. The goal is high power on a low budget. AMSOIL synthetic lubricants will help achieve that goal.

Here is a list of the finalists in the 2007 Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge.

Diamondback Engines
Richmond, TX

MRL Performance
Jackson, MI

Mid America Racing Engines
Washington, IA 52353

R.M. Competition
Roseville, MI 48066

Muscle Motors
Lansing, MI 48906

Speed-O-Motive
West Covina, CA 91790

Schurbon Engine and Machine
Maquoketa, IA

Indy Cylinder Head
Indianapolis, IN 46239

Good luck to all!

MOPAR Nation

An estimated 50,000 people from all fifty states are gathered here at the National Trail Raceway celebrating the 27th anniversary of the MOPAR Nationals. The event has been here at National Trail Raceway since 1998, where it also had been held from ’86-’92. Every parcel of turf in this 30 acre compound, is crammed with cars or people gathered to see the sixties and seventies cars they love.

A Manufacturers’ Midway, Swap Meet, parts suppliers, three days of drag racing, burnout contests, parading cars, and thousands of vehicles just being put out there to show, with plenty more for sale -- it’s all Mopar and it’s all here.

People line the streets with lawn chairs to watch these premiere muscle cars rumble into town. The locals use the opportunity to strut their own Mopar muscles as well, adding to the festive air that surrounds this serious venture. One magazine editor estimated that there were more than four million dollars worth of Mopars parked around the grounds. My guess is that the dollar value of the cars is much higher than that since an award winning ’70 Cuda sold for $750,000 at the Barrett-Jackson auction last year.

In the midst of all this maelstrom one can find a display with eight engines assembled by the nation’s top Mopar engine builders. It’s the AMSOIL sponsored MOPAR Muscle, Engine Challenge. The brainchild of MOPAR Muscle magazine, the competition features an engine challenge of an unexpected nature. Who can create an engine with the most horsepower and torque, but at an affordable price? In other words, the contest is designed to help MOPAR Muscle readers get more from the engines they build, on the budgets they live with.

After putting the engines on display here at the MOPAR Nationals, they will then be crated and shipped to Comp Cams in Tennessee. There, the engines, with builders present, will be put through the paces. In the end a champion is honored, though all the builders have a great privilege in being selected.

This year’s competition features the small block Mopar, limited to a 410 ci engine displacement. The block itself must be a production cast-iron block or replacement block. All engines will be running AMSOIL synthetic motor oils.

One of the participants, David Burns, was in the competition again this year with his wife Dianne. As a result of being in it last year, he received many new customers.

MOPAR Passion
As you walk about the pits (where the drag cars are gathered) you can see that Mopar enthusiasm extends beyond the muscle cars themselves. One quickly loses track of how many Dodge Ram pickup trucks there were towing trailers into the event. Brand loyalty is in high evidence here.

Since AMSOIL Dealers are likewise passionate about the AMSOIL brand, a MOPAR/AMSOIL wedding would make sense underneath any hood.