Mopar Feb05a

Mopar Magazine
Mopar Dyno Combos

By: Marko Radielovic and Eric Sokolowski
Photography by: Marko Radielovic
Reprint from Mopar Muscle Magazine, February 2005

    Back in the day, 396 inches meant big-block. Fast-forward to 2004, and 396 ci means a moderately sized stroker small-block. Enter Len Sole and his bad-apple ’73 Challenger, powered by what appears externally to be just another 340 with a single four-barrel. Hell, it even has a functional A/C unit, so how serious can it be? Well, when his E-body spun the rollers of the Werx dyno, we found out just how serious it is indeed, laying down a cool 393 hp and a whopping, tire-melting, axle-twisting 453 lb-ft of torque! Sporting a 10:1 compression ratio and digesting a steady diet of pump premium, Len relies on a set of fully ported Indy 360-1 rectangular port aluminum head to make the power. Valve actuation is handled by a modest Engle solid roller cam, and feeds it fuel with a 750-cfm Demon carb sitting atop and Indy 360-1 intake manifold. All this power is fed through a 727, sporting an ATI 3,500 stall converter into a Gear Vendors over/under-drive unit. Obviously Len has built his Challenge to drive-and haul the mail. -MM

The Werx Motosports crew travels to a whole slew of shows around the country, dynoing mild to wild combinations. They’ve pretty much seen it all.

Engine: 396ci small-block stroker (340 small-block based)
Approx Compression Ratio: 10:1
Cylinder Heads: Indy 360-1 rectangular port aluminum, fully ported, Indy roller rocker arms
Camshaft: Engle mechanical flat-tappet, 244-degrees duration @ .050-inch valve lift, .575-inch valve lift
Induction: Indy 360-1 single-plane intake, 750-cfm Demon carb
Ignition: MSD 6AL ignition box, MSD billet distributor
Exhaust: Owner designed 1 7/8-inch headers, 3-inch dual exhaust system with X-pipe
Transmission: 727 automatic, ATI 3,500-rpm stall converter, Gear Vendors over/underdrive unit
PERFORMANCE
Best e.t.: 11.63 @ 117 mph
Owner’s Guess: 400 hp
Dyno Results: 393 hp, 453 lb-ft of torque