Mast Motorsports Engine Epic Part 3 – the top end

Our third installment of the Mast Motorsports Engine Epic Part 3 shows some of what goes into building up the top end of this fire breathing 440 cubic inch LSX mutant. We all see the finished products in these “Super Hero Cars” blasting around the auto-cross and race tracks on-line and in the magazines, but we don’t get a chance to dissect them. What does it take to make a Super Hero Car? Its not just a cape and fancy clothes, they have a super power (usually in the form of horse power and torque) . Check out these photos and videos, as I show some of the highlights of putting together a genetically superior engine.

The LS family of engines really get their fame and glory from the head design. The easy flowing, massive cfm of air molecules the LS heads allow into the cylinders create a very efficient suck, squeeze, bang, blow event.  Mast Motorsports has taken this event to the next level with their fully assembled and ready to bolt-on, out of the box line of CNC heads. No matter which series of  heads one obtains from these guys, you’re guaranteed to be satisfied with the quality of the parts and power they produce. On this LSX 440, he chose the LS7, 6-bolt rectangular port 305 series CNC heads (part # 510-209). These are part of the Black Label line and utilize Gen IV LS7 valve train with a 2.25 inch intake valves and 1.60 inch  exhaust valves, and a deck thickness of 0.750 inch.  Seen in this photo below, these pieces are billet beauties!

twinsJust a quick check on the intake valve, but I really just like the way CNC parts look. Gotta love machine work!circle gets the squarew

In this video, Perry Kiritsy makes valve spring assembly look fun! The valve springs are PAC part # 1221X with titanium retainers. Check out the Goodson tool supply pneumatic vavle spring compressor! Don’t you wish you had one of these in your Garage?

Back to the block… One more important item goes in before we cap the cylinders. Lifters! Mast Motorsports uses race quality parts because they know the kind of duty cycles these engines quite often see. Perry again explains some of the well thought out engineering and assembly that takes place at Mast. This is why all the big name builders use Mast Motorsports!

Time to put a lid on it.

In the next set of photos, I show a simple solution to a simple problem of parts not intermixing as we thought they would. The GM intake does not exactly match up to the Mast Motorsports Black Label heads. Keep in mind Mast Motorsports sells a cast intake that is designed for these heads and outperforms the GM intake hands down, but my past friend wanted to use the GM intake due to his height requirements and wanting everything to fit under the hood.

Seen here in this photo is the GM carburetor intake and the Black Label head not matching up exactly.

gm intake issue

Shown here is the simple solution… Mill it!  This process can be performed using various tools, but since they have a milling machine, why not use it.

gm machine

Once a minimal amount of material was removed from the GM intake flange, it fit perfect. Problem solved.

gm intake fit

We were told to take a good look at these rockers and springs, because it would be “The last time we should ever need to see them”! – Perry.  That’s a pretty bold statement, but considering he has built several engines that make over 1000 hp and have been racing in the field for several years without a single complaint, I tend to believe him.

gm rockers rockNow that the top end has been completed with the GM pieces (which will change upon engine install – come back for more details), it was time for the Quick Fuel Technologies BDQ-950. This carburetor is part of the Black Diamond Q – series and has high temperature black coating technology, is impervious to virtually all automotive chemicals, and lowers fuel temperatures up to 6%. This final piece is the cherry on top! We all passed this beauty around the shop and were amazed at its’ construction and light weight. It didn’t make sense how light weight this carb felt when holding it!

You won’t believe what this carb can do right out of the box with ZERO  adjustments. Please come back for the amazing dyno run!

qft black diamond

Mast Motorsports typically builds fuel injected or boosted engines for most customers. Once you see the numbers produced by a simple carburetor, and the ease of installation in the LSX G-body; you may see more of these combinations being produced.

Next step, Dyno run! Perry, was very happy when this was finished and very excited to see the results! Keep checking back or subscribe to the Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest feeds at the top of the page to make sure you don’t miss the dyno run of this LSX 440 with a 950 carb in Part 4 of our epic.

Thanks for following www.HotRodRegal.com .

-Matt

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