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14 CAR CRAFT AUGUST 2019
plug-and-play with each other, which
makes setup quick and easy. FAST’s
system also has a powerful internal
data-logging capability, which allowed
us to view and record what the engine
was doing during each dyno pull.
To help ensure success, we called
Rich Nedbal from FAST Man EFI to help
us build the tune file. As you’d imagine
from the name, Rich has a lot of experi-
ence with FAST systems, and he was
more than willing to look over ourshoulder as we worked on the tune file.
With Rich’s help, the engine fired right
up, and we were able to quickly get
into the tune-optimization process. On
an engine like this with a brand-new
tune, we’ve learned to start off a little
on the rich side and allow the EFI
system to “tune itself” using the learn
function. We cycled the engine through
some different rpm points and
smoothed out the table between those
points on the laptop. Once that processThere is plenty of clearance for the
pushrods once the intake manifold is milled.
We saw no signs of rubbing anywhere, and
there is plenty of space for assembly.We needed intake gaskets that were 0.
inch thick to get the proper port alignment.
Thankfully, Cometic had exactly what we
needed. These gaskets fit the ports perfectly
and were the correct thickness for our build.The new rocker-shaft assemblies from
Comp went together without any issues.
It takes some time to adjust the shims to
get each rocker arm lined up on the valve,
but this is time well spent. Correct rocker
geometry and having each rocker arm
positioned properly over the valve increases
power and reduces wear and tear on the
valvetrain.With the thinner intake gaskets in place,
the ports in the tunnel-wedge intake line
up perfectly with the ports in the Trick
Flow heads. Port alignment is critical
for race engines and attention to details
like this is one reason why the engine
performed so well.Smith Bros. made us a set of pushrods
with tapered ends to solve a clearance
issue we had between the pushrods and
the rocker arms. Smith Bros. has super-
fast turnaround on custom stuff like this.The Bear Block Motors FE intake manifold needed to go on the mill so the pushrod holes could be opened up. The rockers are
moved up on the Trick Flow heads, which shoved the pushrods against the end of the slot in the intake.was finished, the engine was ready for
full-throttle testing.
With a new combination like this, the
log file from the FAST system is very
valuable. Within just a few moments of
running a dyno pull, we can look at the
log and see what’s going on. In this
case, the engine wanted more fuel up
top but less down low, and we decided
to bump the timing up from 32 to 34
degrees of advance. These changes
just required a few clicks of the mouse,
and we were back making pulls. All of
the hard work building and tuning the
engine was rewarded when we saw
the dyno needle spin past the 700hp
mark. The best data we saw during the
first day of testing was 704 peak
power and 643 lb-ft of peak torque.
Not bad for an old FE engine! Now we