Chassis Dyno Mania

[Pat] You're watching Powernation!

[Pat] Today on Engine Power we have four projects hitting the dyno, the chassis dyno! [Frankie] Four power plants built by us in four projects built here at Powernation are gonna be put through the ringer on the roller to see what they loose from the crankshaft to the wheels. [Pat] We're gonna thrash each one and show you real world numbers on what they make at the tire. [ Music ] [Frankie] Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Engine Power. Today is gonna look a little different but it's gonna be a lot of fun. We have built several engines over the last decade or so and every single one has hit the engine dyno for us to test it out and see how much it makes at the crank, but these engines eventually go into projects. So today we're gonna switch it up. [Pat] And run everything on the chassis dyno. There's a little something for everyone. You might recognize all of these but the common thread is we built the bullets for all of them. And this is quite the collection. We have stuff from the '60s to the '90s. We have trucks, we have cars, we have big blocks, small blocks, high tech, old school, new school, a combination of old school and new school. A lot that's gonna happen, and they're all gonna hit the rollers but first we're gonna give you a refresher rundown of what we have. [Frankie] For all you truck fans we have a 1985 Chevy K-10 built by Music City Trucks. They call it Faux Guy as a tribute to the Fall Guy series. It has a 496 cubic inch big block Chevy with a carburetor. So that's gonna be a lot of fun to run. One of the prettiest cars to come out of Detroit Muscle is this 1971 Caprice affectionately named Fat Stack because it is a high dollar build and packs a high dollar engine, 419 cubic inch LS-3 with a three liter Whipple on top. [Pat] Moving over to the sportier side we have another project from Detroit Muscle, Project Fast Lane, featuring a 410 cubic inch e-f-i Windsor that made a bunch of power on the engine dyno. Then we come to one of the fan favorites. This is Project Road Burner. This is a Roadrunner that has a 6.4 junkyard Gen-3 Hemi that we spiced up with a cam, tunnel ram, and a couple of four barrels. Now we're gonna run all of these across the dyno but the hardest thing to do is determine which one is gonna run first. I guess that determination's been made. Let's go! [ engine rumbling ] [ Music ] [Frankie] So we got Road Burner into the shop, strapped down on the chassis dyno. So let's go a little more in depth about what we're dealing with here. The engine is actually a 2016 6.4-liter Gen-3 Hemi from a Ram 2500, and this was a junkyard engine that we got direct from a local junkyard and it was quite crispy. It had been in a car fire. So everything on top was all melted. The valve covers, the wiring, the intake was gone. There was gloves plugging the intake ports. It definitely looked rough but we actually wanted to test it out before we put any new parts on it. So we rolled into the dyno, changed the oil, checked the compression, and actually started it up with a single carb and used a Holley Terminator-X to run the ignition. We made an actual dyno pull with this engine with a stock cam all the way stuck in the advanced position and it made 361 horsepower and 409 pound feet. So not bad and it was a way to test out the engine before we pulled it out of the dyno, took it over to the assembly area, checked some bearings, and made sure it was ready to go for our upgrades. [Pat] After that we put our own magic to it and put a few parts back on it to get it running. We used an off the shelf hydraulic roller cam. We changed the lifters. We also went ahead and put a dual four barrel top on that high ram and put on two QFT Black Diamond 750s. Everything else said and done we get it back on the pump and it came to life. Engine made 540 horsepower and 494 pound feet of torque, which was pretty impressive for how many inches this is. After that we took it down to the guys in Detroit Muscle so they could get to work themselves. The car itself has new suspension in the front and back, has a new rear end in it, has a new interior which is spartan but clean, and they mated this engine to a five speed transmission even putting in the traditional pistol grip style shifter. All in all pretty cool. They went out and had their fun. Now we can have our fun with it. [Frankie] We're gonna see what this thing will do. I think I set it at 6,700 if I remember correctly. So get some heat in this thing first and then we'll go. I'm gonna open the cutouts. [Pat] Right now? [Frankie] Yeah, why not! [Pat] Open them up! [Frankie] Ready!

[ engine revving ]

[Pat] The cutouts are my favorite thing. 459 and 433 for torque. [Frankie] That's exactly what it should be making. [Pat] You figure driveline loss from manual and a rear end like this. It's 15-16 percent right? So if the engine makes 540 it's right there. [Frankie] That's killer! [Pat] I'm doing that. [Frankie] Hop in this thing. [Pat] I'm gonna dent the floorboard because nothing cooler than dual four barrels. [ Music ] It's like being back in my childhood. [Frankie] Let her rip! [ engine revving ]

[Pat] Sounded spectacular! That never gets old. [Frankie] 451 and 412. It's got a little more heat in it now. [Pat] Let me close her off here. Back into street status. That is a win all the way around. One down, three to go. Up next, we jump in the way back machine as we kick it back to the '90s with big style and big power.

[ Music ] [ engine starting ] [ Music ]

[Pat] You know I feel like Zach Morris going to pick up Kelly Kapowski at Bayside High in LA sitting in this 1990 Ford Mustang GT convertible. This is another project from the guys down in Detroit Muscle, and it started out as a bone stock car and they've done a lot to it on the chassis side. They added a Maximum Motorsports K-member and castor/camber plates, a TKX five speed, Mosier rear axle, and then the obvious a wide body kit from JBA Speed, giant wheels and tires. This is really cool. Obviously it is very distinct with its Trapper Keeper looking wrap but that's not why it's here. What's under the hood is what we think counts. Take it away Screech. [Frankie] I don't know who that is. Must be a good looking guy though. Under the hood is the coup de grace of this car. This is a 410 cubic inch Windsor that you probably don't recognize but this is actually a project named Old Gray Mare. This has been a classic for several years. Forged crank, forged rods, forged pistons, 10.32-to-1 static compression ratio, big solid roller 252/260 at 50, Trick Flow 225 high port heads, and the last time this was on the dyno it made 597 which is very respectable and the best we ever had it make was 617 horsepower and 537 pound feet. So when the guys in Detroit were telling us about this project this engine seemed like a perfect fit. So we handed it off and they actually reconfigured it for the car. So we have a Vintage Air full front accessory drive, Fox Body oil pan. They painted it up and made it look really really nice and they also switched it over to Edelbrock's Pro Flow-4 injection system. It's a port e-f-i system that uses their Super Victor e-f-i manifolds. We're gonna be really interested to see what this thing makes at the tire. Let's get started, hit it! [ engine starting ] [ engine revving ] [Frankie] Cool thing about the Edelbrock Pro Flow-4 is you can look at all the data on your phone. So I can watch everything on the engine right here while he makes a pull. [Pat] Back in the day all the cool kids had Mustangs. [Frankie] What? [ engine revving ]

[Frankie] Woo! 482 horsepower, 444 pound feet. [Pat] What'd it make? [Frankie] 482 and 444. [Pat] That's good. [Frankie] That's extremely good. That's extremely close to what it should be. There's a lot of variables that have changed as far as header size, induction, full exhaust, really big tire. All that stuff takes some load out of it. [Pat] I'm impressed. [Frankie] Especially in a car this light. I've actually ridden in this car once but never driven it, but I bet at 480 at the wheel in a car this light that's gonna be extremely fun. [Pat] You're gonna experience it. [Frankie] Let me make a hit in this. I'll let you hold that. I'm gonna make a hit in this. [Pat] Make sure you tell AC Slater and Jessie Spano I said hi. [Frankie] I don't know who those people are. [Pat] He's not gonna get any of these references. [Frankie] I'm too tall to ride this ride. This car definitely fits you better. [Pat] This is the kinda stuff when I was in my 20s.

[Frankie] Okay, I know that one. I got that one. [ engine starts ] [ engine revving ] [ shifting gears ] [ engine revving ]

[Pat] 478. [ engine revving ]

[Frankie] I'm not gonna lie, it's kinda fun. I really like it. [Pat] Solid roller small block turning. We're shutting it down at 7,100, 7,200. [Frankie] This thing will turn 7,500 all day long. Hitting peak power, making exactly what it should, curve looks great. [Pat] We're like two for two! [Frankie] We're just plowing through these things. Two down, two to go. [Pat] Now it's gonna get crazy. [Frankie] Stay tuned because up next we become the unwitting, unknown stuntman with the sketchiest vehicle we've ever had on the chassis dyno. I need one of those police riot shields to stand behind.

[ Music ]

[Pat] This is the first time I've had to get on a step stool to tell you about an engine in a vehicle but this is the first time we've had something this big on the rollers. This engine was one of two that Frankie and I purposedly built to hook in tandem inline and have not only big power on the dyno but a very exciting dyno session. This is a 496 cubic inch big block Chevy. A little bit about it. It has all forged internals. It has Trick Flow 320cc Power Port cylinder heads on it. It has a 236/242 at 50 hydraulic roller cam. It also has a Weiand Track Warrior intake topped with an Edelbrock VRS 41-50 carburetor. This was Engine-A of the pair and this one 596 horsepower and 629 pound feet of torque on the dyno. The guys in Music City Trucks added this beautiful Billet Specialties front drive system and a set of headers that fit the vehicle and sewed it together. Now there's a whole bunch more that's done to the chassis that this thing needs big power to motivate it, and Frankie's gonna tell you the rest of what's on this beautiful tribute truck. [Frankie] The guys next door did an amazing job transforming this K-10 into one of the best looking Fall Guy tribute trucks that we've seen, and it's got a ton of great parts in it besides just the power plant. Now that's back by a 4-L-80-E TCI automatic transmission with one of their stand alone controllers, and that's feeding twin Dana 60 axles front and rear with 4.10 gears and lockers. To fit the look of the truck it has a really nice set of '80s chrome wagon wheels with 36s on them. They did a great job with the paint. The interior was done by TMI and it is fully custom and also extremely comfortable to sit in. Now it has all the good '80s amenities that you'd want with the front winch, roll bar, lights. Really brings the truck together. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun to chassis dyno. It might be kinda sketchy but there's only one way to find out. [Pat] We have it hooked down. This is going to be exciting to say least. You know what you're gonna be doing on the shifter? [Frankie] I'm gonna be trying some stuff and trying not to kill us both. [Pat] Don't kill us Clark. I highly advise we don't put it in third because if we have 150 something mile wheel speed on the tire that's gonna be mildly scary. [Frankie] I'm in the safest part, right here. [Pat] Let her buck! At like 50, somewhere in there. [ engine revving ] [ tires whining ] [Frankie] That's a lot of vibration. What'd it make? [Pat] 350 horse. [Frankie] That's great! [Pat] It has a wheel speed of 91 miles per hour. [Frankie] I'm sure it's sketchier out there. [Pat] It's fantastic! [Frankie] You can have the safe seat and I'll take the danger seat. That was scary. This is gonna be scarier. I need one of those police riot shields to stand behind. [Pat] I've never done anything quite like this before. [ engine revving ] [ tires whining ] [Frankie] 357, 355! [Pat] I am the dyno king of crazy dyno runs. [Frankie] Isn't that the craziest thing ever? [Pat] That's sketchy as all get out. [Frankie] Plus with these tires on the road you don't really feel it but on the roller it's very bouncy. [Pat] It's like driving on trapezoids. [Frankie] That's a success. [Pat] That is a unique experience. Coming up, we saved the best for last. The most luxurious, comfortable, and custom chassis dyno session with big blower horsepower on tap.

[ Music ] [ engine starting ] [ Music ]

[Pat] At last it's time for the grand finale. We saved the baddest dude for last. This is a 1971 Chevy Caprice the guys down in Detroit Muscle called Fat Stack. This is full custom frame off. Nothing was left untouched on this car. From its House of Kolor paint, all QA-1 suspension. The car was converted over to a manual transmission with a Magnum six speed. Also it has custom US Mag wheels, 20s in the front, 22s in the back, all wrapped in Continental Extreme rubber. I believe their term for it was pro luxury. So with a title like that it needs some professional horsepower under the hood. [Frankie] That's right. A car that is as big and bad as this one needs a big and bad engine to motivate down the road. With the theme of this build being custom we set up a power plant specifically for this vehicle. What we have is a 419 cubic inch LS-3. So a stock LS-3 aluminum block filled with a Summit four inch stroke crank and a custom set of DSS racing pistons. Stock LS-3 heads top it off, and all the valvetrain is handled by Comp Cams with an off the shelf 239/255 at 50 hydraulic roller. The front accessory drive and these sweet custom valve covers are from Wegner Automotive. The whole engine is controlled with a Holley Terminator-X e-f-i system. And obviously the big piece of jewelry sitting on top is a Whipple 3-liter hot rod supercharger providing the pressure to this power plant. When we put this on the engine dyno it made on the softest, safest pump gas tune-up known to man 838 horsepower and 763 pound feet. Plenty to get this beast rolling. [Pat] You know what they say. That's enough talk. Let's get to the action. So let's see what it puts down. Ever since this car has been built I've been wanting to do this. [Frankie] This is definitely gonna be the highest horsepower one we have today and I think the highest horsepower in the building right now. [Pat] I believe so. Are you ready? On to glory! [ engine revving ]

[Frankie] Definitely, 745 horsepower and 697 pound feet at the tire. [Pat] We did a little bit of drivability tuning on this but never had it on the rollers. [Frankie] On the street that is a lot of power and look at the graph. Even at 6,700 it's making 743 horsepower and 577 pound feet. [Pat] That is a bad dude right there. You're up. [Frankie] If I have to I'll make a run. Definitely not a bad way to spend our time. [ Music ] This is pro luxury. That is luxurious. [Pat] The interior is all nice in this thing. It's all custom. I like the material. [Frankie] Look at the pattern. That's so cool. Oh yeah, here we go! [Pat] Let her buck.

[ engine revving ]

[Pat] Not bad! 721, we'll take that. You can't complain about that. 721. The coolant temp is 200 degrees. [Frankie] And that's street trim. Never heard itself tune up. That will make this thing move. [Pat] This thing is frightening because it's a six speed. This is the biggest and the baddest we've had on here in a while. This was a treat to do. This whole thing was fun to do because look what we got to do. Look what we do for a living. We got to make sure everything ran right. Everything that we've always wanted to know. How it ran in a vehicle we got to do it. [Frankie] Seeing all these vehicles get finished. Seeing them fully functional, and driving around, and strapping them on the chassis dyno, seeing what they make at the wheel and being able to rip them. I literally can't ask for a better job than that. [Pat] These things perform and I think we did a good job too. Great success!