540 Cubic Inch Big Block with a Unique Roots Blower
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We're going outside our usual comfort zone today with a build that will be going into an off-shore powerboat. But that's OK, because we're all about horsepower, and this big block brings it. Featuring a World Products Merlin IV cast iron block, AFR cylinder heads, an Eagle stroker crank and a 250 sized blower from The Blower Shop, this things makes a torque curve flat as the Kansas plains.
Engine Builder: Prestige Motorsports -- www.prestigemoto.com
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Why Build a Supercharged Big Block?
1:46 - World Products Merlin IV big block
2:51 - Eagle Crank & Rods, DSS Pistons
5:19 - What are PVD Piston Rings?
6:31 - Comp Cams Big Block Cam
7:37 - Hardin Marine Oil Pan
10:45 - AFR Big Block Cylinder Heads
17:00 - The Blower Shop 250 Blower
17:50 - Hardin Marine Valvecovers
20:00 - Big Block Dyno Testing
This was a sweet build! Even my two year old son was eyes locked the whole time! Keep em comin!
Thanks a lot! And you must be raising your boy right :)
That is awesome!
This would be awesome in an airboat too, At that power level this I bet this thing will run forever without you having to lay a finger on it. I'd love to see more street oriented builds chase reliability over peak power, Sometimes I like to drive more than wrench!
@anonymous at least 40%!!
Love this motor! The Alloy inkernel was invented by the father of the jet engine Frank whittle. Which made the axial flow engine become a reliable concept!! Whereas the Germans jumo engines would flame out after 9 hours as the compressor blades would stretch and melt reducing the compressibility of the motor! Hence failure. To see this metal used in valves is awesome! And a good idea in racing boat motors where they sit at high RPM for extended periods. The torque curve was a torque line!!! Right at the top of the graph!! This motor will but out impressive speed in a boat!! I had a dateline 17 ft racer with a 200 HP Suzuki power tilt and trim. She’d get straight upto 65 knots on flat water!! This HP MONSTER will carry that boat along at over 140 knots easily! And press you in your seat doing so!! Another great video bud!! Thanks for the share!! Looking forward to the next one!!
No other engine platform I'd trust my life to in the middle of the ocean than a big block Chevy.
Boat motors are so awesome! Made to run red line all of its life vs 2k like most of them. What a monster!
Never thought of it myself, but Gale Banks commented on one of his videos that, boats are always going up hill.
That's a really good analogy. Thanks for watching!
I'm loving this build
Clean build and perfect power🤟
I love the clear distinction you informed the viewer between car engines and boat engines. They are VERY different...
Thanks!
Big block chevy is a simple and yet beautiful motor
Marine vs land racing great video explaining the difference a lot of different parts need
That carb is significantly restricting this SC BBC! Not sure why a twin screw blower wasn't used either. A TS with an intercooler would make a LOT more power. Also, if this is going to have a Bravo drive attached to it (likely), it will blow drives on a regular basis. Nice engine, but not thought out very well for performance marine usage in 2021.
I dynoed 779 with my 540. Granted its making less in the boat with all accessories hooked up but its connected to a bravo xr drive with bravo 28 prop. 7 years and no issues. I dont air it out and no full throttle launches.
The way he says crankshaft makes my day
I love your content. Always very detailed and informative. Thank you from Australia 🇦🇺
Thank you very much! And thanks for watching!
What kind of do Australian enthusiasts often dream about? I loved that people could buy popular RHD cars cheaply in Japan and ship them to Australia. The USA didn't get the WRX until 2002 and the Evo until 2004. Some of the earlier rally cars were lighter. I also found it fascinating to see the inline sixes in Fords that were not sold in the USA. It must have been amazing to have a ~4.0L turbocharged DOHC inline 6 in the Falcon XR8. Some trucks had some impressive diesels, but many couldn't make it to the USA because of California smog.
I need that dude in my pickup for towing my camper!
Whole build is very cool but I love those valve covers. Really clean install.
Another great video, Jeff! You the man!
This was an awesome build video!!
You are probably leaving 100 on the table from the lack of airflow with just one carb.
Just watched this and said the same thing!
Sure let’s be blind to the fact a 250 is undersized and should be on a small block and this should have a 8-71 minimum….
they're not spinning the thing very fast to have a bigger blower because they arent going for max power this thing will run all day and nigh. and two carbs he already said is more complex. this is a simple big block in a boat
Don't stop making videos please.
Will do, thanks a lot!
Just want to point out that you can use head studs in tight places. Head studs are keyd at the top with an allen. I have done this in the past and had to do a valve and cam upgrade and just twisted the studs back out and pulled heads.
Top notch as usual 👍🏁
Thanks!
Would love to know what boat this engine is going into so we can follow it even on race day. Please provide that information for all of your viewers. Thank you and keep up the awesome work you folks are known for.
awesome build great looking blower i think the would be a great addtion under a hood of any car or truck to make a sleeper......
Thanks
@@TheHorsepowerMonster up
Great video as always👍🏻 maaaan, that is one serious motor, torque curve indeed as flat as Kansas plains😜
Thanks! And thanks for watching!
Awesome!
Great video but I am curious as to what power valve you ended up with and what jets you ended up with. I see thats the 950 holley bloer carb with 80 primary and 86 secondary jets. Also 10.5 power valve but that seems more like something that would be used for non boost referenced carbs. I am have a similar build but with dual 950s.
I love every episode man
Thanks so much!
PVD is sweet stuff. TiAlN is hot stuff.
would love to see you guys build up a 1960's GMC big V6 the 351ci six comes to mind.
Maybe even the big block 467ci
Here"s one for Motor Heads. I built a 540, 25 years ago and used a Lunati Crank. When we Dyno'd the 540 the rear main bearing got beat out and spun the rear main. I v-blocked the crank and the dial indicator showed the rear pilot bore was .012" out of center-line, the dyno spline shaft used the pilot. Goes to show that even proven performance parts need double checked to avoid major engine damage. I had to send the crank back to Lunati for them to believe the pilot was that far out. Of course they wouldn't cover any damage "RACE APPLICATION" and all.
Had to be running two to one pulleys on that bad boy for 7.5 lbs on a 540 with dyno headers . Running a thermostatic oil cooler ?
Is that a 3 barrel Holley with the huge oval secondary?
I love big blocks.turn key supercharger what is the cost
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Can you comment on how much power is lost with the Marine exhaust manifolds verses the dyno headers. Stainless steel water cooled marine headers would give similar power to the dyno headers but they are expensive. Also the maximum hp rating on a stock Mercruiser Bravo XR outdrive is 600. Do you know what drive is being used? A single engine boat puts a large load on the drive .
- Å fan! 👍
Always curious why you'd opt for a classic straight lobe PD blower vs a more modern/efficient 'Twin-Screw' design from someone like whipple? Especially since the whipple units can be run dry with an intercooler + efi for far better fuel economy. Also the whipple units are generally much lower profile than the old-school GM X-71 units. Also since twin screws feed air in the rear or front, you're able to further reduce the stack height. And in a Boat where you have an infinite supply of cool water to pump through an air-liquid intercooler. Why you'd not take advantage of that?...
@@StarrGladiator If they are so far behind, why are they still being used everywhere? Modular Fords do not work for shit in boats. Boats require lots of torque as they do not have transmissions. Having only a single-speed requires a broad RPM range. Small displacement big RPM has no place in the boating world. Pretty sure a BBC can be built way cheaper than a modular Ford in this application. 7PSI and pump gas making 700 HP/Tq all day long at low RPM.
@@kx454 A forced induction modular makes a lot of torque, even down low. The GM pushrod engines are still used because that is what Mercury used for years and still does. Mercury has the bulk of the shrinking gas inboard and I/O market and has had it for decades. Most of the aftermarket parts are for mercruiser and GM motors. I4, V6, V8 and even V10s are still put in boats and their lack of a forward speeds or power output really doesn't matter. The motor is sized to the boat, the propeller is sized for the motor. If you have an engine that needs to spin say 7000 rpm for maximum power, it is propped to achieve that. Mercury has abandoned GM completely for their highest horsepower engines and built their own.
@@sdvten Take a look at drag boat motors in 2023 kzhead.info/sun/pddvdcmHaqWkamg/bejne.html
How about the inline 6 jeep engine update/revisited?
Idk about blowers bit I know those heads can spool up some bad ass big boy turbos
Would love to see a diesel build some time :)
Fingers crossed! Hopefully have a diesel SEMA build coming up soon. Thanks for watching!
What Alternator Bracket are you using?
All that available cool water and you dont run an air to water intercooler... it would also help out reliability/ detonation since its on pump gas.
They did need an extremely low profile, maybe the added height of an air to water intercooler was too much. I suppose it could have been done if it used the weird setup in the Mazda Millenia S/C, but with an air to water intercooler where the air to air unit was. They would have needed to create a weird intake manifold to do it, and might have need to use multi port fuel injection. I'm glad you brought up intercooling. I wondered why the engine had significantly more cubes than a Dodge Hellcat, but not more horsepower. The air to liquid intercooler in the Hellcat may explain it.
@@skylinefever hellcat has more boost too. thats another part of it. those low profile blowers dont make a ton of boost. probably less than 10 PSI im sure hellcats are more than that
Surprised not to see a blower chiller/intercooler especially being a boat motor
I know right and you have got a point also , hope you are having a blessed day there?
I agree, but it can depend on how much boost is being used,-----and also people have budget constraints as well.
@@DuneWest budget and room constraints
The cnc finish is like that on purpose rougher surface = better flow
In the intake ports but not the chamber or exhaust ports. I have never seen any AFR Heads like that. I even called my Buddy that works for AFR as a CNC Operator. After seeing the video, he said that it looks more rough than actually is. He said that they do that if there is some blemish’s in Chambers. It’s looks way worse than is.
Yes correct
4:23 Does this use the usual 5/64 5/64 3/16 ring pack? Some BBC pistons have a 1.5mm 1.5mm 3mm ring pack so that the piston pin bore doesn't intersect the oil ring groove. 5:52 I didn't realize that gas nitrided rings were common in performance applications, other than engines that already held boost well. Nissan sixes often had them and lasted for ages. I was used to seeing those older engines getting ductile-moly rings. I'm glad there is something even better than gas nitrided rings. 6:30 I love it. When dealing with many stock blocks, clearancing means putting stuff together, trying to turn it, and grinding off a little. It often requires multiple tries, but grinding too much can ruin the block. 8:27 I would think 14 quarts of oil also helps to cool the engine. Sure most of the cooling is done from the water or antifreeze, but oil does help. 8:42 in addition, some of those gaskets came in multiple pieces, and required RTV on the corners. Having one unit makes things easier. 9:09 Do you have to have a machinist make the second wodruff key groove, or does the crank have that option factory direct? 9:30 I have heard that Johnson Hylift is the solution to questionable lifters from other companies. 11:45 Interesting. When the Mitsubishi Evo X final edition came out, their solution was to use sodium valves to take the extra boost. Some engine builders will recut the valves seats of brand new heads, it has been said they are more accurate and seal better. Some heads have been said to leave the factory with such a garbage valve job, it doesn't even work. People can do the vacuum test or fluid test for valve sealing and find that the factory valve job won't hold compression.
I think the sodium filled valves are lighter than inconel and won't float as easily but still transfer heat away from the valve head and into the guides for the cooling jackets to do their thing. But this thing here had some fairly light springs with the inconel valves so maybe I'm off on the lightness thing...!
@@dangoldbach6570 All vale materials will transfer heat to the valve guide, however, sodium has a heat conductivity rate that is much higher than other metals. Also, sometimes the valve is not 100% filled with sodium, and evaporative cooling helps transfer even more heat. As far as lightness, I'm not sure. It seems that intake valves will almost always be heavier than exhaust valves due to size, yet both intake and exhaust have the same spring rate.
@@skylinefever you NEVER us gasket on the end of intakes. they'll just blow out. ALAWYS USE RTV there and i dont hear of many (if anyone) people using sodium filled valves on the the water. just iconnel. thats the go-to and there probably a reason for it that we dont know but marine heads do know.
I wannt one RIGHT NOW
what specifications does the camshaft have? or what number is the camshaft of comp cams? many thanks from europa austria andy
I think it was a custom cam.
I believe they mentioned the cam specs in the video to be; 256*/268* @.050" lift, and around .660" lift on 116* lobe separation angle... (Comp Cams hydraulic roller)
is there a codeine you can put inside the water jacket of the block and other cast on your parts to keep them from rusting on the inside
You mean Coating, right? Codeine is dat Sizz-a! Sipp’n on Sizz-a-Sizz-a! Lol. Call Polly-Dyne in Houston ,Tx. They have a coolant & water jacket coating that a lot of boat Guys use. You will have to Google their #, sorry, I don’t have it in my new phone. Good Luck!
Why run a Roots rather than a twin screw?
How much does a build like this usually cost if you don't mind me asking thanks for sharing by the way awesome build 🙂
I'd guess in the neighborhood of.. A LOT X 2.. ? Perhaps X 3.. ? That Billet blower is probably 15k alone. Just a guess.
Why 18 thou for the plugs?
Flat torque curve but mighty tame for a performance offshore motor. Should live forever even with three of them in a deep vee.
I thought it was on the lame side myself, hell my na 582 makes 780hp torque curve is no where near as flat but its in a lighter boat
Power steering on a boat?
How about doing a full build video on a Mercury Racing SB4? Edit: A full build video of a PME street RO7 with EFI would be appreciated as well.
Over 750 cubic inches of total air potential will do it for me.
I always wonder about the damage done by the performance tests on a brand new engine. No running in period and then revved to the max.
They always break the engine in before they do the dyno tests. They just don't show you that part
Exactly! Nobody wants to watch break-in
@@TheHorsepowerMonster bold of someone to assume an engine builder would take that much money in parts and labor, then risk their payday by not priming the engine like you mentioned in the video, and breaking it in.🤦
"Instant on blower tourqe " guy's.
Not sure what is unique about the blower as the title reads. It's still straight lobes. I thought those went away with stone and chisel. The valve covers are cool thou.
had this same motor in my boat, makes no sense without an intercooler roots make way too much heat for the long term RPM in a boat, I'd never build another roots set up dependability and roots don't go together at least not for long maybe real low boast and low RPM
thats exactly what this was. low boost and low RPM. thing would run forever and not blow up
Surely it should of been a aluminium block? Alot lighter.
A big block Coyote would be pretty sick!
Who woulda' thunk it ... a power steering pump on a boat motor.
Yep, you think its hard to turn a car without power steering, try turning a boat sharp at 40mph without it, takes some real muscle,
Where does the pressure escape that is created by the piston travel under the dome? inside the crank case?
Whoa. Hold on.... 8.8 liters making 700hp WITH a blower? Okay. I get it. 700hp isn't a small amount of power, but at this displacement, it's absolutely not worth it, NA, much less blown. You can get a blueprint crate engine that makes this much, at this displacement, WITHOUT a blower.
I was thinking the same but this is for marine gas which is notorious for being trash so that may be why it seems so conservative
But the 540 with 700 HP and a supercharger will make much more power in the lower RPMs compared to a NA 540 with 700 HP...a simple pulley swap could get the supercharged 540 in the 1000 +HP range ... with a torque curve flatter than the desert...
@My Name A 1100HP supercharged 540 would get about the same MPGs or maby slightly better MPGs because of a few reasons......for starters...the CAM in the supercharged engine would have more valve overlap 114 vs 110 or 108 duration..which would create more velocity for better torque and fuel mixture...allso when the fuel mixture enters the rotors of the supercharger it gives better fuel mixture...plus supercharger carbs from Holley carbs..are boost referenced for even better fuel economy and performance...EVEN...if the supercharged 540 got a little worse gas mileage..the benefits would far exceed the cons...like TONS!!! of low end torque... driveability... and the power would not have to be peaking high in the RPMs...
Why were the EGT holes on the headers left open?
To much pulsation in the plenum, the High Helix design does much to eliminate those pulsations which affect tuning...
Most people don't know that Eagle Crankshafts are made in China, that's right, the Peoples Republic of China.
@22:22 (paraphrase) "boat motors don't run at high RPM.... JUST 5800 RPM for hours on end". heh 😄
And yards per gallon.
Some polishing to do on all that aluminium in salt water... But i suppose the owner will let his ”man” do that (In the same way as most things where supposed to be done by your ”man” in Jay Lenos episode about the 1918 Pierce Arrow....) Americans and expensive marine sports always make me think about estates by the sea, senators and someone who do the polishing..... (Or maybe just someone who likes to drive in big circles around those fancy politicians in their yachts.....)
I'm making better power than this on a NA 598 std deck.