Video: Blown Big-Block Chevy Shooting For 1,500 HP!

The internet allows us to see and hear things we might not otherwise be exposed to without its existence. Case in point is this nasty 515 cubic-inch big-block Chevy engine from BG Engines in North Richmond, New South Wales, Australia. Built specifically Australian burnout competitions, this beast looks like a cross between an old-school Pro Street powerplant and a modern-day Pro Mod engine. Prior to the dyno session in the video, the engine made 1,422 horsepower, but the owner, Rod Waters, brought it to Damian Baker of BG Engines because he was searching for a nice round power figure: 1,500 horsepower.

Images Courtesy of StreetMachine.com.au

Its foundation consists of a Dart block, Manley crank, Callies rods, and JE pistons. 24-degree AFR heads sit atop the short-block, and are force-fed 17 psi of atmosphere from a 30-percent overdriven 8-71 roots blower from The Blower Shop. As if a Roots blower alone wasn’t visually-imposing enough, the JBR carbon fiber injector assembly not only feeds the combination all the methanol it can ingest, but really gives the engine a certain modern-day Mad-Max appeal. It’s not just about looks, however, as the Australian burnout competitors push their hardware so hard it borders on abuse.

A solid roller camshaft measuring in the neighborhood of 265-degrees intake, and 275 degrees exhaust duration at .050-inch, with a stout .780-inch lift figure controls the combination, while the valvetrain is made up of Crower Severe-Duty lifters, Trend pushrods, PAC springs and titanium retainers with Harland Sharp roller rockers and stud girdle. It also features a dry-sump oiling system as the crazy engine speed and G-forces experienced in the burnout contests can lead to fatal oiling issues.

As Baker ran the engine on the SuperFlow engine dyno, looking for that 1,500 horsepower number, he realized the supercharger was maxed out, and that they’d have to settle for coming up 17 horsepower short. The blown big-block Chevy pegged the needle at 1,483 horsepower at 7,200 rpm and 1,239 foot-pounds of torque at 5,900 rpm on a safe tune-up. “The tune-up is critical on an engine like this,” said Baker. “So is keeping it off of the limiter. Rod is pretty good about that.” So while it fell just short of the sesquimillennial horsepower club, it will undoubtedly destroy an unimaginable number of tires and put smiles on countless faces, including Waters, as he campaigns his burnout car “Cranky” to yet another season of burnout competition down under.

About the author

Greg Acosta

Greg has spent nineteen years and counting in automotive publishing, with most of his work having a very technical focus. Always interested in how things work, he enjoys sharing his passion for automotive technology with the reader.
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