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A pair of Gen III Hemi engines dominated the 2014 Amsoil Engine Masters competition with Tony Bischoff’s 401ci bullet winning the crown.
Bischoff, who owns BES Racing Engines, scored 3,017.4 points as his Hemi averaged 688.7 peak horsepower with 611.7 lb-ft peak torque over three runs on the final day of competition. That was a clear winner over Bradley Nagel’s 417ci Hemi that scored 2,920.9 points with average peak numbers of 699.07 horsepower and 615.7 lb-ft torque.
Tony Bischoff, left, won the Amsoil Engine Masters with Bradley Nagel finishing second. Both built Gen III Hemis for the competition.
Last year the Ford Modular engine was an overwhelming force, finishing in the top three positions. But this year’s competition, which is presented by Hot Rod magazine, limited the field to 2-valve engines with a minimum displacement of 400ci and hydraulic roller cams. Twenty-five teams qualified over the past four days with the top five advancing into today’s final.
Rounding out the finishing order were John Lohone’s 401ci LS with 2,913.5 points after pulling 674 horsepower and 595.3 lb-ft torque; School of Automotive Machinists’ 436ci LS with 2904.1 points (725.3 horsepower, 644 lb-ft torque) and last year’s winner Jon Kaase’s 404ci Ford Boss 9 engine with 2,875.4 points (677.3 horsepower, 597.0 lb-ft torque).
Bischoff and Nagel had production blocks and Thitek heads but took completely different approaches with induction. Check out Bischoff's video from Hot Rod above and Nagel's video below to learn more.
Under the competition format, the peak horsepower and torque numbers are averaged over three runs from 3,000 to 6,500 rpm, then fed into a formula that factors in the displacement to generate a final score. Even though the SAM Racing entry pulled more power on the dyno, when the larger displacement was factored in the score reflected the bigger engine.
Hot Rod posted videos of interviews with both Hemi owners after their qualifying runs. Bischoff, a former Engine Masters winner, built his Hemi using a 5.7L production block topped with Thitek cylinder heads and a Drag Pack intake manifold fitted with a Holley carburetory. He also mounted twin distributors to serve the dual-plug arrangement, an advantage Bischoff says help simplifies the timing requirements and improves the engine efficiency. Other engine treats include Eagle crank and rods, custom pistons with Total Seal rings and Comp Cams custom roller (240/245 duration at 0.050, .800/.800 lift, 104 LSA).
Nagel’s Hemi also starts with a production bloc and Thitek heads, but he went with a Mopar Performance manifold to support a new Fuel Tech EFI system. Internals include a K1 crankshaft, Speed Pro pistons, Total Seal rings and a LSM camshaft (240/248 duration at 0.050). One of the key’s to Nagel’s performance was the ability to tune the fuel and spark individually for each cylinder. You can watch the air-fuel ratio for each cylinder on readouts behind the engine during the dyno run.
Reports and videos on all 25 engines in this year’s competition can be found on the Hot Rod blog.
