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Forging Ahead

Inside the development of a game-changing Top Fuel crankshaft

Parts survival is a constant battle in the unforgiving world of 11,000-horsepower nitro engines that run in the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. One of the more costly consumables has been the crankshaft.
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Forging Ahead

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Inside the development of a game-changing Top Fuel crankshaft

Cool Fact: Conventional billet crankshafts in Top Fuel engines rarely survive more than four-to-six passes; the new Callies cranks have turned up to 18 runs

What You'll Learn: How Callies moved away from machining steel billet to developing a new forging that more than doubled the life cycle of nitro cranks

Best Quote: “When the engine had a happy run, the crankshaft was happy, too!”

Parts survival is a constant battle in the unforgiving world of 11,000-horsepower nitro engines that run in the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. One of the more costly consumables has been the crankshaft.
Read More

Heart of the Beast

Inside the game-changing 1,015-horsepower 632ci big-block crate motor from BluePrint Engines that runs on pump gas and comes with a warranty

Cool Fact: All BluePrint 632 engines are dyno tested before shipping to the customer.

What You'll Learn: How BluePrint Engines added 200 horsepower to its popular 632ci street-friendly big-block package

Best Quote: “We spent the better part of six to nine months working on camshaft and valvetrain dynamics to get that additional 30-40 horsepower that we needed to hit the advertised 1,015 mark.”

The concept of a 1,000-horsepower street engine has been around for more than a decade; yet, the definition is just now coming into a clearer focus for performance enthusiasts. Boost and E85 used to be the only pathways to such power numbers in a boulevard cruiser.
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Speed & Beauty From Granatelli Motor Sports

This twin-turbo, 421ci LS from JR Granatelli’s shop is not only machined for speed, it also looks damn good!

Cool Fact: Granatelli Motor Sports designed the headers, intake manifold, throttle bodies, ignition coils, spark plug wires, valves covers and more.

What You'll Learn: Details on a 2,700-horsepower LS engine.

Best Quote: “It’s a testament how much power these LS motors will make today.”

Aesthetically pleasing engines have become somewhat of a dying artistry in the hot rod and racing worlds. Most of the OEMS have certainly forgotten how to design an attractive engine under the hood.
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Kenny Duttweiler’s Most Frustrating Engine Build

There’s one record that keeps eluding the celebrated Speed Demon land-speed team, and that bothers engine builder Kenny Duttweiler

Cool Fact: With a 2.350-inch stroke and a 6.300-inch connecting rod, the ratio is a rule-bending 2.68:1.

What You'll Learn: What failures have kept the Speed Demon streamliner from breaking a 29-year record.

Best Quote: “By 9,000 rpm it’s up to 15 or 18 pounds, and by 9,500 it’s up to 50. The graph looks almost like a two-stroke engine.”

Using a diverse selection of twin-turbo big-block Chevy, LS and small-block Chevy engines—along with a Mopar four-banger—the celebrated Speed Demon 715 Bonneville streamliner holds six land-speed records, and over 12 years has won the Hot Rod trophy each event as the fastest car on the salt flats.
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Interview: David Freiburger Talks About Engine Masters

The co-host of Engine Masters and former editor of Hot Rod shares thoughts on his enthusiasm for fast cars and turning wrenches

Cool Fact: Freiburger has held 12 land-speed records at Bonneville, and all but one were achieved with an engine he built.

What You'll Learn: Freiburger’s favorite engine builder and favorite episode of Engine Masters

Best Quote: “I like engines more than the rest of the car.”

It’s unlikely that anyone is more recognized among performance automotive enthusiasts than David Freiburger. His media presence was first established as the editor of Car Craft, 4-Wheel & Off-Road and Hot Rod magazines.
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Ed Pink: The Old Master Tells All in a New Book

Perhaps the most talented and creative engine builder to ever spin a wrench shares his life story

Cool Fact: With a wife and two children, Ed Pink had just $34 left to his name when he opened his engine shop.

What You'll Learn: How Ed Pink’s engines came to win in Top Fuel, Funny Car, IndyCar, Midgets, USAC Silver Crown, IMSA and more.

Best Quote: “You know, Ed, the best way to get these guys to come to you for engines is to beat ‘em enough that they have to come to you.” – Tony Nancy

Early in his autobiography, Ed Pink laid out the strategy that has led to the long-term success of his engine-building operation.
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Slick Secrets: Analyzing NASCAR Motor Oil

Guess what we found after analyzing oil from a Ford NASCAR engine that won a 500-mile race in the late ‘90s

Cool Fact: The concentration of oil additives can actually increase throughout a race.

What You'll Learn: How racing oil has changed significantly in the past two decades.

Best Quote: “Even though we went from 20W-50 down to 0W-20, the wear rate on the new race oil is half what it used to be.”

Did you ever wonder what the racing oil from a Ford NASCAR engine looks like after winning a 500-mile race? Ever wonder what kinds of debris and impurities could be found in that used vintage oil?
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What Happened to Wiseco’s Caged Piston Concept?

The piston manufacturer showed off a patented design 13 years ago that drew lots of attention, but why didn’t it go into production?

Cool Fact: This design was raced and tested in a flat-track motorcycle application.

What You'll Learn: The background behind Wiseco’s concept that combined full-round and strutted strategies.

Best Quote: “That 450 flat-track engine was one of the hardest applications imaginable because they’re always wide-open throttle.”

With the potential to provide a lighter yet stronger reciprocating component, Wiseco Pistons introduced a unique “caged piston” concept at the 2012 SEMA Show. Beautifully machined, the design revealed minimal skirt area compared to a full-round piston while maintaining overall stability and stiffness with a cage-like support structure.
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Forging Ahead

Parts survival is a constant battle in the unforgiving world of 11,000-horsepower nitro engines that run in the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. One of the more costly consumables has been the crankshaft.

Heart of the Beast

The concept of a 1,000-horsepower street engine has been around for more than a decade; yet, the definition is just now coming into a clearer focus for performance enthusiasts. Boost and E85 used to be the only pathways to such power numbers in a boulevard cruiser.

Speed & Beauty From Granatelli Motor Sports

Aesthetically pleasing engines have become somewhat of a dying artistry in the hot rod and racing worlds. Most of the OEMS have certainly forgotten how to design an attractive engine under the hood.

Kenny Duttweiler’s Most Frustrating Engine Build

Using a diverse selection of twin-turbo big-block Chevy, LS and small-block Chevy engines—along with a Mopar four-banger—the celebrated Speed Demon 715 Bonneville streamliner holds six land-speed records, and over 12 years has won the Hot Rod trophy each event as the fastest car on the salt flats.