The Superstar Stroker's short-block...
The Superstar Stroker's short-block assembly is based on a World Products Man O' War block with a 4.155-inch bore. We filled it with a 4.100-inch stroke crankshaft, 6.200-inch connecting rods, and forged pistons.
The bottom of the Man O' War block is covered with a Canton Racing Products oil pan and windage tray. A quality pan keeps the oil under control to limit windage and improve oiling and horsepower. Every nut and bolt was sourced from ARP, including the head studs and the Meziere electric water pump flows enough volume to keep our supercharged engine cool on the street.
Induction System
The upper half of the engine consists of TFS Street Heat heads, an Edelbrock Super Victor EFI manifold, a Comp Cams hydraulic roller camshaft and valvetrain, and a Wilson Manifold's intake elbow and 90mm throttle body. The camshaft was designed by Groh to be mild sounding and easy on valvetrain parts. That mission was accomplished, as the engine purred like a kitten on the dyno. One would hardly think such a mild-sounding engine could make over 1,000 hp.
Canton supplied us with a...
Canton supplied us with a windage tray to help keep the oil off the crankshaft and in the Canton oil pan. Less oil on the crank means it will spin easier.
The camshaft profile has 0.570/0.575-inch intake and exhaust-lift values with a duration of 242/248 degrees at 0.050-inch lift. Two values that have a tremendous impact on the camshaft's street appeal are the lobe separation and lobe profiles. Lobe separation is 115 degrees, and Groh says that's perfect for a street engine. He used a lobe profile that he refers to as "quick" and that keeps the idle even and smooth. The part number for the lobe is unknown as Groh preferred to keep that information tightly guarded.
We chose the Street Heat heads because they work well despite having been originally designed in the early '90s. TFS has made some updates to them over the years, but the same basic design has remained. We opted to get regular, off-the-shelf CNC-ported heads (225 cc) right out of the TFS catalog. The flow bench showed these heads flowed 330 cfm through the intake port and 251 cfm through the exhaust port at a valve lift of 0.750 inch. We're using a camshaft in the 0.570-inch range, and our flow chart showed these babies were pushing 317 cfm and 238 cfm at 0.600-inch lift.
Fel-Pro MLS head gaskets were...
Fel-Pro MLS head gaskets were used to form a seal between the heads and block. ARP head studs have been employed to fasten the TFS Street Heat heads to the sturdy engine block.
The Super Victor intake is a carburetor-style intake manifold, and Edelbrock offers it in a variety of ways. Ours came with fuel-injector bungs and 11/42-inch fuel rails. We used FAST 83-pound fuel injectors-they were nearing their limits during our dyno testing. If we step up the blower size, then we'll have to upgrade to FAST's 95- or 160-pound rated injectors. Wilson Manifolds supplied us with a cast-aluminum elbow so we could mount their 90mm throttle body easily to this engine. An MSD distributor was modified for EFI use, and we also utilized a crank trigger system from said ignition manufacturer.
Vortech Superchargers came through with a V20 YSi-Trim supercharger that we thought at first was a bit small for this engine. The company's Media and Race Relations Manager, Ricky Best, assured us the YSi-Trim was up to the task, and from the start of the project, he thought the unit would help the engine produce 900 or more horsepower. It is the company's Renegade kit that includes brackets, idlers, and strut brace, and Best upgraded us to a 10-rib blower-belt combination. Despite the large 445ci displacement and high-flow heads, the engine saw 20 psi of boost. If we took the engine to redline, we are sure the dyno would have read 1,100 hp. If that's not enough, Best recommended the XX-Trim blower. "The larger supercharger should, conserva-tively, pick up the power to around 1,250," he says.