Longtime friend and customer Mike Leech Dyno tested his Pontiac engine this month, and the results are impressive! Mike’s 554CID Monster ripped to 8400RPM to make 1137HP on BES’ engine dyno. Great Job Mike! The engine is topped by a set of Edelbrock Wide Port RPM heads massaged to the limit by John Marcella of Marcella Manifolds, as well as a cast intake prepped by John. Here is a rundown of the combo:
All Pontiac iron block
4.600 Stroke x 4.380 Bore
Custom MGP Aluminum Rods
Custom CP Pistons
Total Seal Rings
Cometic Head Gaskets
Custom 55MM Roller cam from Scott Brown @ Competition Components
Competition Components is pleased to announce the availability of Total Seal’s Advanced Profiling ringsets. The complete parts listing is here. We are stocking many of the most popular bore sizes. In addition, we can special order any Total Seal product you are looking for. Please email us for a quote and availability.
Competition Components is pleased to announce the release of two new Buick 455 Pistons. CP is a leader in racing pistons, and their new Bullet line of pistons maintains that winning tradition at an affordable price. Bullet pistons are packed with features:
Balanced to + or – 1 gram
2618 alloy for strength and durability
Dual forced pin oilers
Contact reduction grooves
Accumulator Grooves
Contemporary ring set included
Forged side relief
Chromoly wrist pins with wire locks
FEA designed forging
Tight tolerances
USA made
Competition Components worked closely with CP to get these pistons manufactured to meet the needs of Buick enthusiasts. We have dished pistons available for both 455 (4.350 Bore x 3.900 stroke) and the 470 (4.350 Bore x 3.950 Stroke) combinations. They are in stock for immediate shipment.
Recently had the opportunity to test Lloyd’s Stroker HEMI at Steve Morris’ Engine Dyno. The engine was built specifically to run boost, so it was pleasing to see that this combo made 640HP naturally aspirated, and we didn’ t really chase the tuneup. Mainly we were just trying to get a couple things sorted out before we put on the blower. The torque curve stayed above 550ft/lbs from 4100-6000 RPM. A nice street motor by itself! Then we hooked up the Procharger F1A Kit. With the 4.6 diameter pulley that was supplied with the kit we ended up with a solid 10PSI of boost and 992HP. Unfortunately, the other pulleys we had were a big step, and we were running out of time. Stay tuned for more boost !
Steve Stankus is relatively new to the Buick performance world, having owned this beautiful 72 GS for only about 2.5 years. But he really hit a home run on his first effort. Steve purchased the Black GS from a GSCA Member in Ohio and started on his ideas for a street warrior. The engine is a mild combination that works extremely well together. The shortblock houses a stock crank, and resized stock rods with ARP bolts. Wiseco Pro-True pistons and rings round out the rotating assembly. The compression ratio is 10.25 to 1. The cam is custom hydraulic from Scott Brown at Competition Components, 226/239@ .050 with a shade over .510 lift when used with the1.6 ratio Comp Cams Ultra Pro Magnum Rockers. Machine work and assembly was done at Finishline Motorsports. Steve sent us the heads, for our full CNC porting treatment and blueprinted assembly. All of the standard Edelbrock Components were used. The Intake is an Edelbrock B4B, and both the heads and intake were painted Buick red to somewhat hide their origins. The Norm Dihle rebuilt Q-jet underneath a stock GS air cleaner rounds out the sleeper costume. The car currently has headers, but Steve plans on going to a set of ported stock exhaust manifolds. The Turbo 350 transmission was rebuilt by Joel’s on Joy, and uses a Kenne-Bell 10″ torque converter. The 10 bolt rear houses the original 3.42 gears. Mickey Thompson 275/60R15 Drag Radials try to get all that Buick torque to the ground. They have done a good job so far, with Steve recently laying down some passes in the 11.90’s at 112MPH on the first outing. Steve also wanted to thank good friend Rob Ross for lots of tech support. Great Job Steve, keep up the good work!!
Competition Components is pleased to announce the availability of CNC porting for all Buick aftermarket cylinder heads. In addition to our very popular porting for the Edelbrock 455 Castings, we have now completed programs for the TA Performance Stage 1 Heads, Stage 2 Street Eliminator and Track Eliminator castings, Stage 3 Heads, and the Stage 4’s will be wrapping up shortly. In addition to the porting, we can provide you with quality parts as well as meticulous assembly and race winning camshafts.
Curt Connors and his family are well known around the Mid Michigan Motorplex. They are die- hard bracket racers that make the weekend a family event. Curt’s wife Melissa and his parents all spend the weekends at the track most of the summer.
Curt’s 84 Monte Carlo is back halved, with a Mild Steel Cage. The Dana 60 houses 4.56 gears spinning 14×32 Goodyears. The car is all steel except for the hood and decklid, with stock glass throughout, but Curt has managed to get the weight down around 2700lbs. Just right for the Transmission Specialties Powerglide and 8” race converter to do their jobs.
The engine combo is a straightforward setup. It is 403 CID, based on a 6.0L LS1 truck engine. The stroker kit consists of 4” stroke Callies Compstar crank and 6.125 rods, and Autotec flat top pistons. Final compression ratio is a hair over 13 to 1. The heads are CNC Ported RHS units from Competition Components, with 230CC Intake runners, 2.080/1.600 stainless valves, and optional solid roller springs. The cam is a custom solid roller, with 260ish duration, and .750 lift. Lunati roller lifters and Trend heavy wall 5/16 pushrods make sure all of the cam’s lift gets to the T&D 1.7 ratio rockers. The engine is topped off with a hand ported Edelbrock Super Victor intake and a Holley 950 gas carb. The stock LS coil packs are run by an MSD timing controller. Headers are modified Schoenfeld Circle track headers, that were coated at QC Coatings in Utica, MI.
Curt’s first time out with the new combo was at the final test and tune day in 2012. Baseline passes were in the 9.80’s @ almost 138MPH. There wasn’t any time for any real tuning, just a few shakedown runs. For those first few hits, Launch was 5200RPM, and shift points were 6700. For next season, Curt has a new converter from Lenny at Ultimate Converters in the works, as well as some other refinements in the works. We are as excited as Curt to really put this combo to the test during the 2013 season. Stay tuned for more results!
Customer Chris Lee got some really nice chassis dyno numbers from his 302 Mustang. The best pull was 329RWHP and 353 lb/ft which was 19HP and 21 lb/ft better than his old camshaft. So far, the car has run a best of 12.11 at 112mph. The engine is a stock shortblock 302 with untouched GT40P heads, and a custom camshaft from Scott Brown @ Competition Components. Definitely not trick. Chris works really hard to maximize the efficiency of his total combination and keeps meticulous records. That’s what it takes to build a strong runner. Hat’s off to ya Chris, great job. Looking forward to working together in the future.
Competition Components friend and customer Bruce Kent got some well deserved ink for his latest engine build, a 540 CID Buick that belted out 950+ HP. Great Job Bruce! You can read the full article here:
Congrats to long time Friend and Customer Mike Leech on his recent updates to his race engine! Mike’s trip to Holbrook Racing’s Dyno yesterday netted a best pull of 971HP at 7400, and 760lb/ft at6100 on Q16 fuel. The Engine is a well thought out combination using a Moldex Crank, Custom GRP Rods, Custom Ross Pistons to add up to 496 cubic inches of Pontiac Power. A CNC Ported set of Wide Port Edelbrocks and matching intake developed by John Marcella round out the top end . The port work on these heads is top notch, and we finished them off with PAC 1300 series Springs, locks and retainers. (These heads are also available through Competition Components) The Cam is also a Custom unit from Competition as well. Great Job Mike!
