Dr.Huxtable

Hey Guys,

I'm having a 396 built for me(Caleb Huxster) by Jim Barth(tpi_421_vette) and wanted to start a sort of build journal for this project. Hope you don't mind me starting this Jim, I'm gonna add some other things in it too even after the motor is built!

This will be a Mini Ram engine with AFR 210 Competition heads. 11.5 compression, a Comp XFI custom ground cam 236/242 .580 .585 lift on a 113 lobe sep. SRP forged pistons, Crower stroker sportsman rods w/7/16" bolts, and a Eagle 4340 crank.

Jim just got the bare short block back from the machine shop eariler this week and what a beaut it is! The machine shop he uses does EXCELLENT work, well worth the extra pennies

All the emmissions have been removed from this motor since i live in SC and there are no inspections The goal of this whole build is to be able to run deep deep in the 11's on drag radials and still be able to pop the top off on a sunny day and head to the store.

Here are some pic's from eariler this week when we got the block and rotating assembly back from the machine shop from being balanced, clearanced, bored and honed etc. I'll keep it up to date as we go along!

Dr.Huxtable

Jim started assembling yesterday! Got the cam, crank, and double roller timing chain in!

mrc24x

Looks great. It will be nice to see these build threads end with dyno runs and time slips.

STL94LT1

flightmate

esham

383vett

Keep em coming.

PLRX

Dr.Huxtable

We have a short block ladies and gentleman! Jim worked on it all yesterday afternoon. I can't freakin wait to get it in and running!! Then again it's so beautiful i may just put it in my living room as a decoration

You'll have to chime in on this for me jim but he was telling me that he needed to file the rings alittle. I'm planning on spraying a 100 - 150 shot next year after i get used to the 396 in it's raw form

I'll let Jim tell you all the details since he's doing all the work and i'm just learning all this new stuff myself here

Dr.Huxtable

tpi 421 vette

The rings gaps were a little tight, so I opened them up with a ring filer. The file on the bench is to debur the ends of the rings afterwards.

tombrammer

Just gotta love these engine builds, thanks for posting.

Dr.Huxtable

Absolutely! I love coming on here and seeing all the pics and info too. Learn a ton!! I said when i came on here that i would contribute after asking a million questions. Time for me to contribute!

93Rubie

Seeing a High Performance engine come together is like gold. Nice.

GREGGPENN

Good stuff!

88BlackZ-51

Caleb.

You have a similar build to mine except I went 421 cubic inches. Our cam, intake, rods, compression ratio, and even heads (I used 195cc competition ports instead).

A few questions........

Are you using 1.6 rockers?
Is your miniram ported?
What power numbers are you expecting?
What computer will be attempting to tune this monster?

You had the right guy to build your motor. Infact I will be meeting him in person as he is flying to meet me for a few days.

Dr.Huxtable

Hey bud, man wish i could have done a 421! How come you decided to go with the 195's?
yes i will be using 1.6 roller rockers
My miniram is not currently ported but i've done a butt load of porting in the past so i'll be tackling that when the old motor is out.
in terms of power i expect to see no more than 450hp to the wheels. Should be in the ballpark of 600 or alittle under flywheel hp. Not exactly sure on the TQ. Jim could better answer that for ya.
As far as tuning i'm gonna work with the stock ECU casue i really can't afford an aftermarket one now. PCMforless just so happens to be only about an hour and a half from me so i'm planning on getting tuned on their dyno. Thats the idea anyway!

Where are you located at? He flying out to vist or do car stuff? I'd love to fly out to where he is to see the motor coming together!

tpi 421 vette

I am going to visit Rick in May to tune his FAST system. I think Caleb's motor will be 550 hp and 500 tq at the flywheel. When I built Rick's 421, we went with the smaller heads because road racing is important to him, and it's not a all out drag car. But those "little" heads still flow over 300cfm, so they will still make decent hp.

383vett

Great job with the builds Jim.

88BlackZ-51

195's? Not only road racing, but I wanted a very snappy throttle response and power anywhere in the curve. Yeah my heads will flow maybe 10 cfm less then your 210's at .600 lift which isnt much at all imo. After speaking to Tony Mamo he claimed that for whatever reason the 195 comp ports were the best flowing head that has come out of his stable given the size (believe mine poured 196cc). If I remember correctly they flowed 303/234 at .600 lift. I thought about going to a 227, but I wanted this motor super tight, and I think it will be after I get a few things ironed out.

So there you have it. You arent the only one who has wondered why such a small head on a bigger stroker. I too should be in the area of 450rwhp but I have a manual so that is probably in the 540chp area, but who knows!

Take care.