Chev 540 s/c on dyno

[Bigbjorn]

I spent today at Van Dyne Engineering, Huntington Beach being entertained by Stewart & Tres Van Dyne, and Ferrari Bob. They were running in a 540 cubic inch aluminium Chev with engine driven centrifugal supercharger on the dyno. Your ears vibrated inside ear muffs. Showed 1640 ft/lbs at 20 psi boost. I got photos and video which I will post after I get home next week and edit them. I hope the video will show the headers gradually turning red. Usual lot of interesting stuff there. A CanAm McLaren engine fresh from overhaul, big and little Offys in various states of repair and disrepair, a Ford Focus midget engine with a few extra crankcase ventilators, a current Porsche six cylinder getting the heads machined for an extra fuel injector in each cylinder.

[rb30gtr]

I spent today at Van Dyne Engineering, Huntington Beach being entertained by Stewart & Tres Van Dyne, and Ferrari Bob. They were running in a 540 cubic inch aluminium Chev with engine driven centrifugal supercharger on the dyno. Your ears vibrated inside ear muffs. Showed 1640 ft/lbs at 20 psi boost. I got photos and video which I will post after I get home next week and edit them. I hope the video will show the headers gradually turning red. Usual lot of interesting stuff there. A CanAm McLaren engine fresh from overhaul, big and little Offys in various states of repair and disrepair, a Ford Focus midget engine with a few extra crankcase ventilators, a current Porsche six cylinder getting the heads machined for an extra fuel injector in each cylinder.

Awesome. What a brilliant experience that must have been! One of the best places in the world for ridiculous horsepower beasts roaming the streets, and legally. Here you would be heavily fined, hind and quartered and then fined again to make sure you got the fine, and then a fine put on-top of that fine.

Looking forward to the video and pics :D

I just missed out on a chance to visit an NRE dyno day in Cali when I was over last year, I really wanted to see one of their 600+ cube big blocks running their mirror image turbos with the alien intake, 2000+hp and torque off the chart literally, and they put it in a street driven Camaro!
Nelson Racing Engines - Extreme Horsepower Twin Turbo Engines, Supercharged Engines, LSX Engines (http://www.nelsonracingengines.com)

[Dougal]

The torque reading sounds high for petrol. Were they running E85 or something hotter instead?

[Bigbjorn]

The torque reading sounds high for petrol. Were they running E85 or something hotter instead?

LL100 racing fuel. It is forbidden to use this stuff in a street car yet in Arizona you can buy it from the pumps at gas stations. Go figure.

Have a look at Van Dyne Engineering (http://www.vandyneengineering.com) to see their credentials and achievements.

[Bigbjorn]

Attached are photos of two of the big Chevs in the assembly room and one engine on the dyno. Note the size of the blower on the front of the engines in the assembly bay.

[justinc]

Attached are photos of two of the big Chevs in the assembly room and one engine on the dyno. Note the size of the blower on the front of the engines in the assembly bay.

Are these for aircraft use Brian? The drive output looks very reminicent of a prop gearbox?

JC

[Bigbjorn]

Are these for aircraft use Brian? The drive output looks very reminicent of a prop gearbox?

JC

Used on 2/3 scale replicas of Spitfires and P51 Mustangs. Also in offshore racing boats or high speed offshore pleasure boats. Constant or WOT operation rather than varying throttle opening operations. They build about 10 per annum.

Stew and Tres supply and build the core engine and their client supplies all the attachments like blower, drive box etc. They have dual ignition, one plug by magneto and one by an electronic system. Also have two fuel injectors per cylinder, one for running up to around 4,000 rpm and/or part throttle and the second comes in when the engine is angry.

Whilst I was there Ferrari Bob was machining the heads from a late model Porsche race car to take a second injector per cylinder. One won't supply enough, apparently, to match the boost they are getting. Good machinist, Bob. Does nice work.

Met a guy there, Rex, who used to build the rotary engines for Mazda when they had a works team competing in US sports car events. He was then known as "Rotary Rex" until he was set on fire at a Daytona pit stop. Henceforth known as "Rotisserie Rex".