An ominous feeling looms over that says, "So close yet so far." To be honest, that is exactly where I am. Not much work is needed to bring this project to fruition, but so much still needs to be done. After a bit of a hiatus "Turn and Burn, Part III: The Finale" is nearing the completion point. A few incorrect and remaining parts are being ordered, shipped, and bolted into place, and it looks solidly like there is light at the end of the tunnel. A day to play has already been established and stamped on the calendar for a nail-biting dyno session with the motor lords known as the Vrbancic Bros. Will the horsepower be there?
In the "Revolver" column from Volume 32, Number 1, I gave up the information on what our simple motor project had turned into and why. Now I sit here and can honestly say that Issue 10 is the end of it all. Slated to be our Power Issue, we are putting in features and tech that require a backpack full of you-know-what's in the stainless variety. Project Turn and Burn is coming home and we are pumped. You better be ready to get it on because we are going out with a bang - unbridled and uncaged.
Making the numbers on our motor go crazy is an ATI F-2 Pro Charger. Centrifugal superchargers have been around for some time and we're going to make one work for us. The F-2 body is the second largest body ATI offers and is fifth among its power-making ranks. With an internal impeller maximum rpm of 65,000 the F-2 is capable of moving enough air to support upwards of 1,600 hp. Our goal is to get north of 1,000 hp and settle somewhere in the 1,100 range. According to all the mathematical calculations we have crunched, those numbers are in the bag. Fully polished brackets, hardware, and blower housing means we'll have plenty of "bling" factor to keep all eyes focused on the BBC.
Our original aim was to utilize all the same top-end products over a larger displacement package to show their abilities under different conditions. Making a functional package required a couple minor changes to take place. To better accommodate the blower a different Lunati camshaft was used, and the noisy Pete Jackson geardrive was set aside on the workbench in favor of a Lunati double-roller billet timing set. The reasoning for this was easy: The blower will provide plenty of whine and howl on its own. If we were to run the geardrive with it we could see the decibel levels starting to get out of control. California and Arizona anti-noise regulations now require a quieter boating environment, and seeing as this is where the boat will be operated, we are trying to keep under the radar as much as possible.
Looking at the entire scheme, things are playing out pretty interestingly. Horsepower is our friend and we are not afraid to use it. Our motor is headed for a water rod, but the same motor could easily power a street-driven truck to ludicrous speeds. Imagine your truck project with over 1,000 horsepower under its hood and you might just start to understand the way we feel. There is no cure....