The first step to any good engine building project is to plan it all out first. Too many times we have a customer come in with a set of heads, a camshaft, or a set of pistons they got from a buddy or at a swap meet, and want to build an engine around their bargain parts. It’s not bad to get a bargain, but have a plan first.
For anything other than a stock ''grocery getter'' rebuild, we plan the engine out on Dyno software first. Keeping in mind this is a computer simulation, not real life numbers, we set out to design an engine to meet our customer's goals.
We would start asking questions like:
There are more, but these are the main questions we will need answered before we can begin. All too often, a customer has a picture of building a 600 HP engine on a 300 HP budget. The dyno software puts into perspective what parts and labor are going to be necessary to get to the objective after which the adjustments can begin. These adjustments can be to get more power, move where the torque range is, or to put things more in line with the intended budget.