Mike Moran ignited quite a storm of interest eight months ago when he introduced a new all-billet engine design at the PRI show in Florida. EngineLabs‘s first report (which was updated with a time-lapse video showing an engine assembly) on the engine that is capable of 4,400 horsepower still remains the most viewed story in site’s young history. A followup call this week to Moran Racing Engines (MRE) discovered that the fourth all-billet hemi-head engine just left the shop, and Moran sent us a few more photos for an inside peek into this design and engineering marvel.

MRE has shipped four of its all-billet engines to customers eight months after introducing the engine at the 2012 PRI show.

From the beginning, Moran wanted to clean-sheet design an engine that didn’t fit the traditional framework of a single heritage or was forced to work within a tight set of rules.

“Everything to do with the motor is based on 25-plus years of experience,” says Moran. “You’ll see Ford ideas, Chrysler ideas, Chevy ideas and then my ideas.”

The billet block features a 10.5-inch deck height, 5.3-inch cylinder-bore spacing and only 10 head-bolt holes per side — but those head bolts are a massive 5/8-inch diameter. The huge 85mm cam tunnel has only six bearings, compared to nine some other big-bore billet blocks. This arrangement allows for easier maintenance and opens up more room to improve valvetrain geometry.

“It spreads everything out and there’s tons of room to do whatever you want,” says Moran. “We can put the lifter bores and pushrod angles where we want.”

Moran works with favorite suppliers to round out the short block, including Bryant Crankshafts, GRP connecting rods and Diamond pistons — all machined from billet steel or aluminum. Lubrication and pan vacuum is supplied by a Dailey dry-sump pan integrated with a 6-stage pump.

“That really saves on weight, plumbing and mess,” adds Moran.

Moran designed the cylinder head with 120cc hemispherical chambers that are “forgiving” enough to slow down the burn and reduce the chances of detonation. Dan Jesel was called on to design the shaft-mounted rocker arms — aluminum for the intake and steel for the exhaust. Induction is through a billet intake manifold with plenty of smooth, rounded surfaces to prevent the high boost levels from catching any edges. Each runner supports a pair of Moran-designed billet 550-pound fuel injectors, which are controlled with a BigStuff3 ECU.

Of the four engines, the smallest is 604ci and the largest is 670ci. They are designed to run on alcohol and fed with a pair of 94mm Garrett turbochargers.

Here’s a look under the valve cover at the cylinder head design. The head is secured with just 10 fasteners for quick removal, but each stud is 5/8-inch to provide plenty of clamping force.