Inside Information

1 The large cheeks, or pockets (A), in the lower part of the water jacket are similar to the R-3 blocks. New for the small blocks is the skirted area (B) below the crankshaft centerline, similar to the big-block Mopars. The five holes (C) just above the oil-pan rails are for the cross-bolted mains. All five are cross-bolted. The large opening (D) at the lower left is the oil supply from the dry-sump system. This pattern shows no evidence of the ability to use a wet-sump system at this time.

2 The driver’s-side view is similar to photo No. 1. Again, note the cross-bolt holes (A) on all five mains. The four protruding (B) bosses are core plug locations.

See captions next two captions below for picture explaination

3 The isolated and siamesed (for now) cylinders will increase the cylinder’s strength and rigidity and reduce deck and cylinder-wall distortion. This will make gasket life easier under racing conditions and boost power. The cylinder walls are more than 5/16 inch thick, and photo No. 2 confirms that they are not flanged. The two small holes (A) between each pair of cylinders are called steam holes; they prevent air pockets in the areas where the coolant normally flows between the cylinders. Siamesed cylinders bring some coolant-flow problems to the table; this is one of those places and the solution.

The 20 head bolts (B), six around each cylinder and seven around each end cylinder, is another R-3 feature. This will help tie the block and heads together for a stiffer assembly. The four outer bolts (C) are out of the water cavity in the warmer thrust areas on both sides of the cylinders. The cylinders are numbered in the conventional manner (D), but the firing order will probably not remain the same. The distributor (E) is in the normal location at the rear of the block.

The large opening just below the distributor (F) is part of the oil drain-back scavenging system. The oil hole (G) at the front of the intake end-seal area is part of the feed for the cam bearings and the mains. It will probably be a pickup point for the oil-pressure gauge.

It is not shown here (see photo No. 4), but the returning oil from the top of the engine cannot drain back to the pan through the cam and lifter area (H) like it does in other V-8 blocks. It will flow into a channel just below the camshaft and run to a collection point just below the distributor. It will be drawn out of this collection point through the scavenging port (F).

Very interesting are the staggered lifter bores (I) a la Pro-Stock Hemi engines; suggesting some new head, rocker, and intake arrangement (Maybe an I_E-I-E-E-I-E-I (SB2 Chevy) or an E-I-E-I-I-E-I-E arrangement)—at least new for the small blocks. A lot of this has to do with air/fuel distribution. It is always a problem with one centrally located four-barrel carburetor.

The angled hole (J) near the No. 7 cylinder appears to be an oil drain-back hole from the heads to the collection point. A similar hole (K) at the front drains into the timing chain area—more provisions to keep oil off of the crankshaft.

The small holes (L) above the lower outside head bolts are block-to-head dowl pinhole locations. This symmetry indicates that the heads are interchangeable from the left to right sides. The familiar oval openings (H) above the camshaft are still drain-back openings for the top-end return oil, only in this case the oil will be channeled to the collection point at the rear of the block, decreasing the windage on the crankshaft. One thing is for sure—the cam will see plenty of oil. In a NASCAR engine, that can’t be all bad! I wonder if the cam will get it’s own scraper.

4 A wooden pattern is fragile. The skirt on the passenger side (A) was broken off before this photo was taken; the skirted area looks different on each side. The center three mains appear to have four bolts (B) plus the cross-bolts (C). Is that a six-bolt main? The main bearing bulkheads are quite thick (D)—like the R-3 blocks. This will be no lightweight. The main-bearing bores are grooved (E) on the top, and the main-bearing inserts will probably have three or more holes. This will keep the pressure to the rods a little higher.

The bolt-on “jet” holders (F) at the bottom of each of the cylinders are really trick and will supply a pressurized oil spray to cool the underside of the piston tops. This allows for higher ring positions and lighter pistons without the fear of piston failure that would be encountered without this oil cooling spray. These jets are feed-through, side-oiler–type galleys. The bosses can be seen (G) at the lower edge of the cylinder block between the cylinders No. 6 and No. 8.

Where are the cam bores? They are on the other side of the casting. In this view, the raised areas (H), where you would expect the cam, are the bottom of the channel that isolates the cam and return oil from the lower end. This also adds to the strength and rigidity of the block and reduces windage. The lower edge of the cylinder walls (I) do not extend below the water jacket area, which results in a smooth surface, again reducing windage power losses.

Interestingly, the rear seal (J) remains two-piece—not the currently popular one-piece design favored by many manufacturers today.

See captions next two captions below for picture explaination

5 The front of the block, as far as the timing cover, looks like more R-3 carryovers. The wooden pattern’s broken skirt (A) on the 2-4-6-8 side is again apparent here (see the masking tape note). Also, on this side are the fixings for a mechanical fuel pump (B) and a pushrod (C), an oval track rule.

The oil system becomes a little clearer up here. Oil will enter the block from the dry-sump pump in the drilled boss (D) just above the odd-side skirt (also seen in photo No. 1, (D)). The intersecting, longitudinal hole (E) just above the skirts will feed the piston-cooling jets. The oil will continue up at about a 10:30 angle and intersect with what could be called the main and cam galley supply (F). Just before this junction, the oil branches off at about a 7:30 angle (G), and this will supply the jets on the passenger side.

The vertical passage is both obvious and mysterious: obvious that it feeds the longitudinal main and cam galley (H), but mysterious in that it could also feed what appears to be a lifter oil galley (I) for the odd-side bank. This leads to speculation that hydraulic lifters might be possible. However, the plot thickens when we try to figure out how the oil would get to the passenger-side oil galley (J).

“My, what big cam bearing bores (K) you have,” says Little Red Riding Hood.

“All the better for roller-cam bearings and large-base circle cams that reduce valve train harmonics for more stable rpm valve control,” says the wolf, uh, engineer. And they appear to have the same large diameter.

When you look at the tiny main-bearing bores (L), you think someone (the wolf) has decided that crankshafts that run in ultra-stiff blocks don’t need large-diameter, power-robbing journal sizes—or it could just be an optical illusion!

See captions next two captions below for picture explaination

6 The rear of the block answers a lot of questions. The oil drain-back collection point will have a bolt-on cover, and the oil will be scavenged up the 10:00 passage (A) by the suction side of the dry-sump pump.

The one-inch hole (B) below the cam bores runs through all the bulkheads and channels the top-end drain oil from the cam and lifter area back to this collection point. Also shown is the rear end of the galleys (C) that feed the piston-cooling jets.

This is not a standard small-block bell-housing bolt pattern. It is more common to NASCAR racers and cheaper than the custom parts that Mopar racers have had to wait months for in the past.

It is obvious that this is a well-designed, purpose-built engine block that will be the standard for iron V-8 racing blocks well into the future. All it needs are provisions for a wet-oil system and passenger-side tappet oil galley to make it perfect.

This block is being cast at a small remote facility in rural Illinois—its only other connection to racing is the name on the hood of Ward Burton’s car. The company also cast blocks for some drag racer named Warren Johnson. I hope this doesn’t let the cat out of the bag!