Jason Line's Biscayne Blog (4/7/2010)

Editor's note: Jason Line is transforming a 1968 Chevy Biscayne station wagon into an 800+ horsepower, grocery-grabbing beast. Jason will detail the build in a series of blogs, including this installment which covers the engine build up.

In our earlier blogs, we took you through the process of finding and acquiring our station wagon, as well as the initial stages of disassembly. In this edition, I’ll take you through the one part of the build for which I am particularly qualified, namely the design and assembly of the engine.

As you may recall my initial plan was to take an original 427 engine from a donor vehicle, refresh it and drop it between the frame rails of the “new” wagon – a relatively quick, simple, and inexpensive procedure. Naturally, that idea was quickly scrapped once everyone here at the KB Racing shop got involved. 

Our motto is “Anything that can be done can be overdone," and this project is a perfect example. Almost from the start, the guys were hacking on me about putting a relatively stock engine into the wagon. That started me thinking, with one thing leading to another, and before I knew it, I was starting to assemble the pieces for a completely new custom motor.

You see, part of the problem comes from what I do for a living. Driving a Pro Stock Car skews your perception of what’s fast. For example, I drove an eight-second car right after the Pro Stocker, and suddenly it didn’t seem as quick as it used to be. Still, my plan for the wagon was to have something I could drive every day and having fun doing so, which, naturally means having plenty of power under the hood.

Of course, once I decided on building a totally new piece, I went overboard. Take, for example, the size.  Everyone builds a 572, 565 or 540, and I just wanted something a little different, cubic-inch wise, so I paged through the Summit Racing catalog and came up with a 557. My original ultimate goal for the engine was that it produce at least 750 horsepower on pump gas, but as with everything else on this project, that changed to where I now want it to run in the 10’s in street trim. I don’t know why, but it sounds like a good number.

I started with a Gen 6 502 block and increased the bore and stroke a little bit. To that, I added some Trick Flow cylinder heads, which are awesome right out of the box. But I couldn’t just leave them alone, so I worked on them as well. In keeping with the philosophy of using the best parts available, it has Diamond pistons, Comp Cams camshaft, Eagle Specialties rods and crank, Jesel valvetrain and a Stef’s oil pan. Finally, I had Wilson do the manifold for it and put a Willy’s carburetor on it--all part of my personal insurance policy to make sure it will go fast enough. 

Basically, it’s a race engine with low compression, so you can drive it on the street. It has a mild enough camshaft in it so it won’t be wearing out parts or breaking things all the time--a good, durable, high performance package.

Naturally, we have capabilities here at the shop that go beyond what is available to the average hot rodder, which not only made it easier, but also allowed us to indulge in our need to exceed. Even so, you could duplicate this build using parts right out of the Summit Racing catalog just as I did, bolt it all together without the extra work and get close to the horsepower we’re making which would certainly be enough for most people. In fact, anyone who wants the recipe for this engine can have it.

If you plan on undertaking any sort of an engine build, even if it’s not as extreme as this one, I recommend you choose good parts and find a good, reputable machine shop to work with you throughout the process--after all, that’s the foundation, and quality machine work will limit the amount of issues you’ll have down the road. In addition, as with anything else, preparation is the most important part of any project. Before picking up the first piece to start the assembly, have everything laid out, with a clear plan as to how you are going to proceed.

One of the neat aspects of our involvement with Summit is that we were able to shoot the engine assembly for an upcoming episode of Horsepower TV, which airs on Saturday and Sunday mornings on Spike. Although it is a little strange to have someone filming while you work on your stuff, it all went pretty smoothly, with any hiccups kept to a minimum. 

The best part is that when we were done, we put in on the dyno, pumped it twice, hit the key and it started like it had been running all day, which is always the goal. I’m not going to give you the exact numbers so you’ll watch the show, but let’s just say I was more than pleased with the results.

In the meantime, Jimmy Smith and his crew at Street Customs & Restorations have been doing a great job on the bodywork, with the body being painted as I write. I’ve stopped by a few times to check on the progress, and I have to say it looks awesome.  We’ll bring you up-to-date on that aspect of this build in our next blog.

Well, we’re getting near the end, and I’m getting even more excited, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. I hope you’ll stay with us as we work to assemble what I think will be the ultimate grocery getter. Talk to you soon.