Pro-Filer Performance, Smitty Smith and Eric Blakely at Edelbrock, Chad Speier of Speier Racing Heads, Dave Fussner at Wiseco Pistons, Scooter Brothers, Billy Godbold and Trent Goodwin of Comp Cams. My longtime friend Chase Knight at Crane Cams. My friend of 43 years, the late Harvey Crane. Mike McClelland late of Professional Products, Bryce Cegielski at Professional Products, Zac Collins from Scorpion Performance, Kevin McClelland of K&N, Matt Hartford, Keith Jones and Kevin Studebaker of Total Seal, Jack McInnis at EPW and Erson Cams, Jerid Suchy at PRW, Mike Jones of Jones Ams, Mike Downs at TFS, Scott Clark (my freelance fuel injection programmer), Paul Yaw of Injector Dynamics, Bill Tichenor and Blane Burnett of Holley, Jeff Harris of AED, Mike Laws of BLP, Mark Dalquist of Throttle’s Performance, Jim Wright of Motorhead Engines, Clint Gray of TFX, Randy Lucius of the University of Northwestern Ohio, Chris Osborn of PAC Springs, JC Beattie Jr. at ATI, Chris Quellette at BHJ, Eric Haugland of Engine Quest, Manny Grijalva and Silver Gomez of MSD, Steve Davis of Performance Distributors, Dan Jesel and Dave Grob at Jesel, and Nick Filippides of American Racing Headers who carried the day for the exhaust chapter. Last, my editor at CarTech Books, Paul Johnson, whose thoughtful coaching is always such a help toward reaching the final goal.
There may be more who should be on this list. If I missed you, I apologize; you also get my thanks and apologies.
Prime Movers
Any book that receives as much effort as this one received is usually brought about by a few individuals who act as “prime movers.” Although everyone in the preceding list played a role, there are those who gave plentiful and generous assistance. If that assistance had not been given, this book would not have come into existence. First on this short list is Dusty Kennett, whose inspiration and assistance has been invaluable. Although more in the background now, he continues to inspire and physically help make things happen.
David McCoig has been instrumental and his face is seen throughout this book. David builds his engines in my shop and helps out with the photography and whatever else I have needed with my work for the past five years.
Then there is Tom Lieb. Tom has been in my life for more than four decades. Every time I have a major project he is there to support my efforts. Without Tom’s support, at least half of the thousands of hours of research dyno testing I have done simply would not have happened.
Jack Sain, chief engine builder at Terry Walters Precision Engines (TWPE), has come to my rescue many times by helping out with a build or machining that had to be done before an ensuing copy deadline. He has also allowed me, to a great extent, to draw on his comprehensive engine building knowledge acquired over some 35 years.
Finally, there is Terry Walters. Terry has an insatiable desire for knowledge concerning performance engines. In that respect, I suppose we make a great match. Being a workaholic and probably obsessed with what I do, I have a tendency to try to impose what I want to do on those around me. For most race-oriented people, it’s okay for a while, but it becomes wearing after a couple of years. On the other hand, Terry has stuck with it through the production of a Holley book and two big-block Chevy books without so much as a flinch. Here we are after five years and he is still going strong. I can say without a shadow of doubt that without the strength of purpose he has displayed you would not be reading this book. Thanks Terry. I much appreciate all you do.
by Terry Walters
During my 40-year career as an IHRA Pro Stock race driver and race engine builder, I have read the works of many automotive tech writers. Only a precious few come remotely close to carrying the technical credentials that David Vizard does, and there are good reasons why this is so. You don’t have to spend much time with DV to realize that high performance is an overriding passion with him. Also, he is a born engineer with innovative talents that landed him a job as a research engineer in the aerospace industry. He got into the business of producing performance magazine articles because a publisher saw the results he was getting on the race track. In other words, he is an engineer who kind of slid sideways into a second career as a writer.
DV claims he is no great talent when it comes to writing. He claims his work is easy to read because he has great editors to work with. If the average enthusiast thinks like me they probably don’t care that much about how elegantly DV may (or may not) be able to use the English language. What the enthusiast wants is tech that works, and if necessary can win races. Uniquely, that is exactly what he delivers.
There are many power moves in this book that, prior to working with David, I had no idea about. As a competitive Pro Stock engine builder I was sure that I was well past learning anything from a popular press publication! But DV’s credentials go well past innovation and theoretical analysis of data. DV can run virtually every machine in a well-equipped auto machine shop. He has done hundreds of thousands of dyno tests over a period of some 50 years and has more than 55 years of flow bench experience. Four of the many championships his engines have won were done so by winning every race. He holds many, many patents ranging from fuels and lubes to cylinder heads and turbo tech that has been used in Formula 1. That’s not all, but it is enough to make my point here.
Do you want to read a performance book written by a writer with a journalism degree or by a qualified engineer with more than 50 years of doing what race winning engine builders are supposed to do: win races? A lot of the advice given in this book goes contrary to current thinking because the tech concerned is truly “cutting edge.” Whatever you may hear to the contrary go with the book. Many others and I have learned over the years that things Vizard explains work just as he says they will. With this book, you have just acquired the most significant tool toward building an exceptional big-block Chevy, whatever your budget may be.
What makes one racer/engine builder a winner as opposed to another? In my experience, which is now spanning some half a century, I’d say it is attention to details. Not just any details but relevant details. That is what much of this book focuses on. It could be said these details come under the heading of “speed secrets” but within the top echelon of the performance industry’s big-block specialists pretty much all of what I talk about is well understood. But don’t assume every big-block specialist if they already knows what is revealed within these pages. There are maybe a couple of hundred at best, and if that sounds like plenty, consider how hard it is to find one of these specialists. They are spread out over the United States in about the same manner as the populace at large. Even if you found one, what are the chances they would part with any of their so-called speed secrets?
Often the reasons some speed moves are categorized as “secrets” is that their details are far from obvious. Indeed, they are very likely to be things you never gave a second thought to, assuming that it was a given and thus could be taken for granted. Well, you are probably going to be surprised at what you may learn within these pages.
Most of my engine building is for commercial clients who want the effectiveness of their products demonstrated by being used in a well-spec’d engine. Almost all of them comment on the amount of torque and horsepower I achieve because it is almost always 40 to 50 more than they had expected or hoped for. On one occasion a nationally known and well-respected Pro Stock cylinder head designer/porter was overwhelmed by the fact that Terry Walters, Jack Sain, and I made 105 hp more on his heads
