When we left off, we were wrapping up day-one of the EngineLabs Giveaway Engine build live at the 2023 PRI Show. This 1,200-horsepower Gen-III HEMI engine is packed full of some of the best parts in the industry thanks to Summit Racing, all in the quest for an easy 1,200-horsepower dyno pull, before giving the engine away to a lucky entrant in the giveaway.
Starting Thursday, Late Model Engines’ Vinnie Monighetti expertly assembled the Mopar live on the show floor, right in the Power Automedia booth. As Friday rolled in we started putting together the top end of the engine and valvetrain, along with the piece de resistance, the monster Whipple Gen-6 3.8-liter twin-screw supercharger. But, before that could happen, the top end of the engine needed to be installed.
Killer Flow From Modern HEMI Heads
For this application, we obviously went with a head stud kit from ARP over standard head bolts. Between the 190,000 psi rating of the 8740 steel the studs are made from, and the inherent clamping benefits offered by a stud, our heads should easily hold up to the cylinder pressures we’ll be making with this combo. Sealing the heads to the block are a set of .054-inch-thick Cometic MLX head gaskets. The MLX line adds an additional layer in the MLS stack to prevent the yielding of the combustion seal, along with a number of coatings and embossments to seal the water passages.
The Cam Motion VVT camshaft uses the factory VVT cam sprocket, albeit with a cam phaser lockout installed, while providing both extra lift and duration, with a minimum of overlap, to keep all the cylinder pressure where it is most useful.
The heads we chose for this combination are a set of the Thitek GenIIIH “Bear” cylinder heads. Cast from 356-T6 aluminum, the castings are an entirely bespoke design, created by Thitek. The casting has an increased deck thickness to handle more combustion pressure without worry, as well as increased port-wall thickness. The heads have reinforced rocker arm stands and are interchangeable from left to right.
The Thitek GenIIIH “Bear” cylinder heads are completely unique castings, with Thitek’s proprietary CNC chamber, intake, and exhaust port designs.
They come with bronze valve guides and ductile-iron valve seats. This set of heads features Thitek’s 205cc intake porting program, which uses a 2.165-inch stainless steel intake valve and a 1.650-inch exhaust valve, both with a…
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