Henry's Heroes: The Summit Ford Engine Builders Challenge Dyno Results

Slide Show

Four 347 cubic inch small block Fords. Twelve dyno pulls. Sixteen anxious engine builders. One winner. That pretty much sums up the of the Summit Ford Engine Builders Challenge as  we head into the exciting, nail-biting ending on the Superflow engine dyno at Mike’s Racing Engines in Macedonia, Ohio.

Let us recap the Challenge up to now. Four teams were given the task of building a 347 cubic inch Ford. Each team started with a machined block, a $3,500 parts budget, and the mandate to make the most power possible on pump gas.

Now we’re at the point where the motor meets the dyno. Each team was given one session to test its engine. Each session consisted of a break-in pull and three power pulls; the teams were allowed to make changes between power pulls to fine-tune their combinations. Torque and horsepower from the three pulls were then averaged and added together to arrive at a final score. Each engine was also judged on its overall power curve from 4,000 to 6,500 rpm.

The 347s were originally set up to use a 750 cfm carburetor provided by the Summit Racing Tech Training department. When the carb proved to be tough to fine-tune, Michael’s Racing Engines graciously offered its Holley 750 cfm double pumper dyno carb for the sessions. The ignition system was a tried and true MSD 6AL/Pro Billet distributor setup; the headers were Michael’s Hooker Super Comp headers with 1 3/4 inch primaries.

All of that stuff is nice to know, but we know what you really wanna hear about—the test results. Here’s how the Summit Engine Builders Challenge teams finished:
• First Place: Team Troche (496.5 peak horsepower, 806.36 total points)
• Second Place: Team Williams (463.5 peak horsepower, 768.25 total points)
• Third Place: Team Pritts (454.4 peak horsepower, 754.60 total points)
• Fourth Place: Team Harwell (442 peak horsepower, 725.93 total points)

As all four 347s were basically the same when it came to block prep, reciprocating assembly, oiling system, and induction, the results reflect two factors—camshaft and cylinder head selection, Not surprisingly, these are the most critical aspects when it comes to performance.

Take Team Troche’s winning entry. Despite its problems with piston selection, the team pretty much nailed its combination solid. As you’ll see in the dyno results, the engine’s relatively high compression (11.5:1), Crane solid lifter cam (244°/252° duration @ .050, .553/.572 inch lift), and mildly ported Trick Flow High Port cylinder heads proved to be about as well-matched a combo as you could want.

This was reflected not only in power production, but also in the 347’s Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC). A measure of engine efficiency, BSFC is the amount of fuel used to produce one horsepower per hour of operation, expressed in pounds of fuel per horsepower hour. The BSFC for an average street engine is around .53 pounds per horsepower hour. The BSFC for Team Troche’s 347 never exceeded .46 pounds per horsepower hour—a figure more closely associated with naturally aspirated racing engines than budget street motors.

And so another Summit Racing Engine Builder’s Challenge comes to a close. Team members got valuable experience they can use to help Summit Racing customers with their performance engine buildups, and you got to see how a hard-hitting 347 goes together—and hopefully some ideas for your own project.