To help me communicate the Engine and Drive Train plan for the Boss 9 project,,,, I added Brent Lykins (my engine builder), co-owner of B2 Motorsports, note to this post….. as he said it all very well. Brent is also supplying me with flywheel, clutch, bell housing and transmission. I’ve done business for a past build of a ’65 Cobra 427 S/C…. In the Cobra build site…. You can see what Brent has built & supplied to me and why I chose him…. http://www.uniquecobra.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=68 After Brent and I had many conversations on the Boss 9 project, its engine and drive train, he sent me this note:
“Mark,
I’ve sat down and formulated a plan of where I want to head with this engine for you. I know that this is going to be your “cruiser” and we will treat it as such. My goal is to make as much horsepower as we can within the rpm range that you will be driving the most in, and I will pick the engine components with that in mind.
My advice on the rotating assembly would be to go with the forged crankshaft for this build. The Scat cast crank is indeed a stout piece of metal, but if we do approach 800hp with this build, I would rather have some safety factor built in. This would also allow you to add power later on down the road (like you’d need to). We will also use Scat H-beam rods to hang the custom Diamond forged pistons on. Total displacement with the 4.300″ crankshaft (stroke) and the 4.420″ bore will be right at 528ci. We’re going to hit around 10.7:1 on the SCR (Static Compression Ratio). Very pump gas friendly.
Keeping our goal in mind, I will use a hydraulic roller camshaft for this build. The idea here is to build a high-horsepower engine that is also very low maintenance. I think I’ll go with a Bullet camshaft as they have a lot of hydraulic roller lobes to pick from with different degrees of ramp aggression. I’ll put the LSA (Lobe Separation Angle) probably at about 112° and if piston/valve clearance allows, I’ll run it way ahead. The combination of the long LSA and the advanced cam timing will cut down on overlap and will help with off-idle and low rpm engine characteristics.
Jon Kaase Racing is sending us bare Boss 429 heads with valves, so I’ll be choosing the springs/retainers/etc. to match the camshaft. I also requested the 4500 flange on the Kaase Boss 429 intake manifold, so we’ll spec a custom Quick Fuel 1050 Dominator carb.
That’s about it for the major parts of the engine. Of course we’ll use the Moroso high capacity oil pan to match your front suspension and we’ll keep the fires lit with an MSD pro billet distributor and coil.
I’ll get with you soon about the other details of the build: engine color, plug wire color, valve covers, which accessory kit you want for the front end, etc.
I did proceed with ordering a lot of your drive train components today. I spec’d a McLeod flywheel with a McLeod RST twin disc clutch kit. The Quicktime bell housing has an older style Ford pivot on the driver’s side, so we can use a conventional clutch fork along with the mechanical linkage that your Mustang already has. I’m having my Tremec supplier disassemble a TKO 600 and send off the gears/shafts/associated parts to have them cryogenically treated. Combining that with some upgraded blocking rings, shifter forks, etc., will increase the capacity of the transmission by about 15%.
So anyway, the pistons and cam are custom items and they should be arriving in the next few weeks. After that, I plan to jump in with both feet and I should have the engine ready to dyno by about the middle of April. I have already talked to my dyno guy and told him that he may have to widen the door to the dyno room….
We should be able to put down some serious horsepower and torque, while keeping it under 6000 rpm. All in all, this will be a very streetable, well-behaved engine with gobs and gobs and gobs of power. I like it.
Thanks again for your business and I will keep you posted as parts start arriving.
Brent Lykins
B2 Motorsports
http://www.b2motorsportsllc.com/
(502) 759-1431”
So, stay tune for many more details and photo’c as the engine build progresses. I can’t wait for the dyno results…..
Thanks Mark
