BNR Engines, appears to be on a winning
formula, with no less than 18 cars heading to
the Summernats burnouts.
You cannot argue with Brett’s winning record,
and if people want him to do an engine for them
the condition is that they must bring the car to
him and let him go over it.
“To make these motors live you need to do
everything 100 per cent,” the Victorian says.
“It’s nothing for my motors to do 70 burnouts
before we like to give them a freshen-up. You
need to be on 8000+rpm to be in the zone,
and most of the engines we build now are 510
cubes, 3.75 or four-inch stroke, and we like to
go with a tall deck so we have a nice long rod
with lower piston speed.
“We’ve got our tune-up pretty good and
overheating is not an issue despite many of
the motors punching 1400-1700hp. Dave
Cufone (1FATRAT) is now heading into his
fifth Summernats with the same motor; many
of the guys do the basic servicing on them and
I just like to run my eye over them before a big
show like this.
“As for cost, they normally come in around
$65K, hat to pan, but it depends on what
blower and hat you want to run; blowers can go
$12K for a 14/71 or 16/71, and $8K for a hat.
“Limiter-bashing is not good for them, so
generally the driver plays a big role in longevity
- that, and no shortcuts in the car build.”
For Victorian competitor Peter Grmusa,
Masters preparation has been a little shaky,
after losing a transmission behind the 702ci
big-block Chevy in his F-DIS F100. Running
no chip in the ignition, the motor went to
11,000rpm and sprayed the bottom end out.
The engine rebuild has been expensive, with
new Oliver rods, titanium valves and all the
good bits.
Pete has won the Burnout Masters once and
the Burnout Championship twice, making him
one of the sport’s most successful competitors.
For 2018 he is retiring the F100 and has gone
back to his legendary XR Falcon, ATRISK,
which has had over $60,000 thrown at it, with
new paint, front end, brakes, power steering
and the rebuilt motor.
The engine just sounds insane on the pad,
and that’s because it’s punching over 2000hp!
“If you want to win, you need the sound. To get
the sound, you need power,” Peter reasons.
“That motor has all the good gear, from blower
to Big Chief heads, and Johnny Pilla from
Powerhouse does a great job building it.
“Because I changed cars this year, I couldn’t
use my third-place finish from last year, so I got
a Wildcard entry, and this time I want to go all
the way to the win on a Wildcard. I almost did
it once before, but this time I’m going to do it.”
One thing’s for sure: You’d be a brave man
betting against a top-three finish for him. sAfter the trans fell out the
bottom of Peter Grmusa’s
wild F-DIS F100, he’s
decided to return its (much-
freshened) engine to his
classic ATRISK XR Falcon
for his ’Nats 31 Burnout
Masters campaign
CALENDAR
WILLOWBANK
05 JAN Test & Tune
06 JAN New Year Thunder 2018
13 JAN Test & Tune
20 JAN Race Ya Mate
24 JAN Test & Tune
http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au
Phone (07) 5461 5461SYDNEY DRAGWAY
10 JAN Race 4 Real
17 JAN Race 4 Real
20 JAN Santo’s Summer Thunder
24 JAN Race 4 Real
31 JAN Race 4 Real
http://www.sydneydragway.com.au
Phone (02) 9421 0 700CALDER PARK
19 JAN Fast Friday
26 JAN Australian Nationals
27 JAN 400 Thunder
http://www.calderpark.com.au
Phone (03) 9 091 0777HEATHCOTE RACEWAY
17 DEC Test & Tune
http://www.heathcoteraceway.com.au
Phone 0416 072 478ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL
RACEWAY
12 JAN Fast Friday
http://www.adelaideraceway.com.au
Phone (08) 8280 8154SOUTH COAST RACEWAY
20 JAN ANDRA Summit Sportsman Series
http://www.southcoastraceway.com
Phone 0417 374 274PETER GRMUSA’S BLOWN ENGINE IS
PUNCHING OUT 2000HP. “IF YOU WANT
TO WIN, YOU NEED THE SOUND. TO GET
THE SOUND, YOU NEED POWER,” HE SAYS