Michael Haimandos’s Mustang is the quickest small-block Ford-powered car in the country, with a PB of 6.33@227mph. That was on his old engine, so you can imagine this new one will be something special!

First published in the June 2024 issue of Street Machine

“We were previously running Brodix heads, and that was the limiting factor,” explains Bill Kaglatzis of BK Race Engines, the man who heads up the engine program for Michael’s Mustang. “The old engine had 2.125in inlet valves, and now we have 2.275in, so there’s been considerable enlargement in terms of valves, ports and manifold.”

The move was deemed necessary because the old combo, while willing and able to rev to the stratosphere, would nose over up the pointy end of the rev range. “The sweet spot was always between 8800 and 9000rpm, no matter how much boost we’d throw at it,” Bill says. “The thing would go crazy-fast to 9000rpm, but even though we’d turn it past 10,000, it would just run out of air. Even though the engine had all the gear to get to 10,000rpm, it wouldn’t make power past 9000.”

In addition to the new billet Ultra Pro cylinder heads, Bill opted for a Dart billet block (a Windsor-style block with a 9.2in Cleveland deck height) to ensure he had a strong foundation. The rotating assembly consists of a Bryant crankshaft, GRP rods and Diamond pistons to withstand the monumental 70psi of boost that Bill plans to fetch out of the twin 88mm Precision turbochargers.

The Bullet camshaft is a monster, sporting almost .900in lift and 270/286 degrees duration at .050in. It acts on Jesel lifters, and the heads are fitted with T&D rockers and PSI springs. The inlet manifold is from CID, with a Wilson billet elbow and throttlebody. As you might imagine, it’s a pretty fearsome-sounding thing. “Yeah, it’s a dirty, nasty-sounding, high-revving little small-block,” Bill grins.

The CID inlet manifold runs two sets of fuel rails, which at the moment are loaded with the Precision S225 and S550 injectors from the old engine. Time will tell if this combo will require more methanol than the injectors are able to deliver.

“The whole idea now is to spin it to 10,000rpm-plus and put an extra 15-odd pound of boost than we used to run,” Bill explains. “We were at 52psi and showing around 2200-2300hp in the car with the last combo, so we’ll put near 70psi in it and rev to 10,400rpm. There’s potential to make some power! We’ve probably freed up another 300-500hp, but what will start to fatigue now? You start pushing them this hard and you begin to expose those weak points, so we’ll see what happens!”

BLOCK PARTY

Up front, there’s a Jesel belt drive with an Innovators West crank trigger and MSD cam sensor. The oiling system is quite simple and straightforward – just a single-stage external pump and a wet sump.

BK Race Engines
Bankstown, NSW
bkraceengines.com.au