pie

Chrysler Long Ram Helps Build A TORQUE KING!

Tue, 05 May 2026 19:18:35 GMT

Worked Then. Works Now.

We built a TORQUE KING, using some classic Chrysler engineering. If you've ever wondered what happens when you combine Chrysler's fabled long ram intake manifold design with some modern engineering, here's your answer: 590 horsepower @ 5000RPM and 700 lb-ft of torque...@ 3000RPM. Yes, 3000. And it carries that torque a significant way through the rev range. Anyone familiar with this manifold knows Chrysler designed it to move heavy cars quickly. These specially, factory "tuned" manifolds were supposed to deliver something of a supercharging effect, boosting low-speed torque significantly. They worked back then, and obviously, still do. And just to be clear, when we say supercharging effect, that's all we mean, because this engine is all natural. No power adders other than 505 cubic inches of raw, MOPAR BB power. As for the build itself, it's one of our "basic" 505 inch strokers with a few key mods. First off, is the use of Edelbrock Performer RPM heads instead of our proprietary TNT BB castings. While the Eddy's don't flow as well as ours, their runner design matches the long ram manifold properly. Next, is the fuel injection. Yes, fuel injection is an option on all our BB packages, but this one is special in that we used a Holley Terminator X Stealth system to tune two Holley throttle bodies like they were port injection. This was necessary because the long ram manifold, while extremely effective at doing its job, also wreaks havoc with carb signaling which meant we had to do some intense tuning to get it to work right. And work, it does, as you can plainly see. Another cool thing about this engine is that it's being dropped between the fenders of a classic MOPAR and will be a street driven regularly. Should be lots of fun. For a rundown of our 505 package, visit

500 Horsepower 318

Fri, 01 May 2026 17:51:12 GMT

An Easy, Off-The-Shelf 500 Horsepower 318 Build

The 318 always impresses us. Maybe it's because we love an underdog or because we like making a lot of power from engines that typically have low performance expectations. Whatever it is, our case in point is this new, fresh-from-the-dyno, .030 over 318 that belted out 500 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque. This engine was built for a customer who will be put it through its paces racing it in a vintage SCCA/Trans Am racing class, think T/A Challenger and AAR Cuda. Class rules mandate a max displacement of 325 cubes and an "old school" intake manifold, aka, no air gaps. One of the best things about this engine is that it makes all this power with basically of-the-shelf parts. Nothing exotic or hard to come by, just carefully selected parts, combined with meticulous machining and assembly. Here's the parts list, dyno run video and dyno graph. In addition to the great power, pay attention to the torque curve which super flat and super fat! This engine is going to give the competition fits, and we know it will be reliable because we dialed it in over 22 pulls!

Block: Factory 318, 030 over
Pistons: Icon forged 10.5 compression
Crank: Eagle 4340 forged 3.31 stroke
Rods: Eagle forged H-beam
Cam: PIE custom ground 242/254, 110 LSA
.575 intake (1.6 rockers); .579 exhaust (1.5 rockers)
Carb: 750 Holley XP
Heads: PIE Level 2 MAXPORT MAGNUM Iron

Ready-To-Run JTEC MAGNUM Crate Engines

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:01:01 GMT

Dyno Tuned JTEC Crate Engines for Your Ram, Dakota & Jeep

These JTEC MAGNUM crate engines are the perfect drop-in, ready-to-run, performance upgrade for your 1996-2003 Dodge Ram, Dakota and Jeep. They are OBDII compliant, bench-tuned for your truck or Jeep and come with flex plate, correct injectors, distributor and "loaded" SCT Tuner. Ready to drop-in and run in 90% of all applications, we offer quick and easy email tuning for those that need a little more tweaking.

In addition to providing an "out-of-the-box" computer-controlled, emmissions-compliant solution, our JTEC MAGNUM crate engines also offer genuine repowering and performance options for your JTEC controlled truck. Our 360/5.9 SR & SR/X Series MAGNUM crate engines are fantastic stock replacements that offer extra kick (365 - 405 BHP) with daily driver manners, while our upgraded 408 Stealth package gives you 485 BHP, and is an excellent choice for street/strip fun with daily driver function.

All our MAGNUM crate engines feature our SuperTune iron cylinder heads, are available with our upgraded MAXPORT MAGNUM, cast iron heads as well as a choice of cams designed to fit your performance goals.

If you have any questions about our JTEC series MAGNUM crate engines, please email or call us @ 302.858.5145.

Mopar MAGNUM Intake Manifolds

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 05:23:11 GMT

MAGNUM Manifold Destiny

It's hard to believe the MOPAR MAGNUM small block is more than 30 years old. It's even harder to believe the lack of ready to bolt-on, performance intake manifolds there are for it. So we did something about it. Introducing PIE Stealth MAGNUM intake manifolds, available in both dual plane & single plane. In addition to helping your MAGNUM make the power it's capable of, they both offer true bolt-on performance that let's you run factory accessories.

Both have brackets to run factory MAGNUM fuel rails, a billet throttle body adapter and offer an A/C spacer kit. Better yet, if you need these parts, they're all also included in the price. Possibly the best part, is that each intake costs less than $600!

The PIE Stealth Dual Plane

Our dual plane EFI intake manifold features a dual bolt pattern for both factory MAGNUM or LA engines. All items are billet machined for rigidity and acuracy. No flimsy stamped brackets to hold the fuel rails. If you are running a factory style MAGNUM throttle body and or A/C please select those options so we can provide the adapter kit.

The PIE Stealth Single Plane

The MAGNUM series engines have been without a commercially available single plane intake manifold that truly fits correctly for many years. We now have it covered. If you are building a hot street setup and are looking for maximum power this is the intake you want to use. You can also add CNC port matching which we have proven to be worth about 20HP on our race eliminator engine.The intake will also fit the LA engine for those looking for the same power potential.

Hard Heads

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 02:06:45 GMT

Our MAXPORT MAGNUM EQs Are Better Than They Should be

The term hard head is characterized by two words: stubborn and practical. Stubborn, because whatever it is that's being described as a hard head, has a tendency to do things its own way. Practical, because that's the way it needs to be done, if it's going to get done correctly, or at all, for that matter. Don't take our word for it though, look it up. If you do, don't be surprised if you see a picture of our MAXPORT MAGNUM EQ performance cylinder heads somewhere nearby, as a concrete, make that, cast iron example of what it means to be a hard head. They're stubborn, because cylinder heads like these shouldn't perform as well as they do...but don't tell them that, they won't listen anyway. And practical, because they rely on making the most of what they have so you can get the most of what you want from your small block MOPAR: serious and reliable horsepower at an affordable price. In fact, if there's a better budget, performance head out there for a MOPAR MAGNUM or LA engine, we haven't found it. If you do, we want to hear about it, but know this: you need to find something that will suppport more than 500 horsepower, for less than $2000. Oh, and they have to be brand new, out of the box, and use all new parts. While you're at it, throw in CNC porting for good measure. Go ahead. We'll wait. In the meantime, let's talk a little more about what makes our MAXPORT MAGNUM EQs the stubborn and practical hard heads they are. And why they're good to have on your side when you're in a tight spot.

For starters, most performance heads on the market have ditched iron for aluminum, and for some good reasons. They're lighter, offer faster heat dissipation, which can allow for higher compression ratios, and often feature revised ports for imporved airflow over what comes out of the factory. All good stuff. The not so good: cost and, more recently, availability. Yes, there are aluminum heads to be had out there, but a recent Google search we did (at the time of this post) for a few different aluminum heads for small block MOPARS, showed them all out of stock. We're sure they'll be back in. We just don't know when. They don't seem to know either.

So, what about our MAXPORT MAGNUMS. First, we have plenty of them in stock and ready to ship. We also have more on the way, which we'll clean, inspect, CNC port and hand-finish, fit with all new parts, then put them on the shelf, ready to ship. "But they're iron", you say, and we just got done listing the benefits of aluminum. Right you are. And to be fair, we love aluminum heads; we recognize their advantages, but also know that they don't offer enough to make cast iron performance heads obsolete. In fact, cast iron heads still offer the same advantages they always have, things that make them the right choice for so many reasons and applications, namely cost, durability and excellent thermodynamics, aka: heat control. The cost advantage in this case, is obvious. One look at what we sell a pair of our fully CNC ported MAXPORT MAGNUMS for will show you that. Check your pricing here. Then there's durability, which cast iron is legendary for. Yes, modern aluminum heads are (mostly) made very well, but cast iron is a tried and true winner. Last, but not least, is heat control. While aluminum can allow for higher compression ratios due to its ability to shed heat, all things being equal, cast iron can make similar horsepower with lower compression because of how it controls the heat.

Of course, all things aren't equal: chamber configuration, port shape, size and cross sectional area; there's more, but you get it. Many times, the advantage here, also goes to more modern, aluminum cylinder heads. But innterestingly, it's these advantages that help make our MAXPORT MAGNUMS even more amazing. Plainly said, these heads flow better and make more horsepower than they should, better in many cases, than a lot of other performance heads on the market that cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars more. How? Because we refused to believe there wasn't a lot of untapped performance potential left in the as cast, iron MAGNUM heads. And we were right. Flowing around 200 cfm at full song out of the box, our MAXPORT MAGNUM EQs blow right past them on their way to more than 290 cfm at max lift. Even better is the airflow we picked up under and throughout the curve (go back and look at the flow chart in the pricing link we gave you), which helps deliver power you can feel and use everywhere in the powerband. And, truth be told, we also like doing more with less, and these heads demonstrate that perfectly by giving you more performance for less money, plus they give you guaranteed fit and an easy, bolt-on kick in the rear.

But, for all we've said about these heads, and for all there is to love about them, we know the proof is in the performance, so we proudly offer up this easy-peasy, basic 318 build. One of our SR engines (which are usually 360-based), this little 318 belted out 385 horsepower and 389 lb-ft. with little more than a stock build, one of our PIE engineered MAGNUM intakes , our MAXPORT MAGNUMM EQ heads, headers, and one of our mild, daily-driver friendly, SR Hydraulic roller cams, featuring these specs: duration @ .050: 216/224 lift: .506"/.506" 114 LSA.

Watch the video. Smile as the tiny 'teen belts out the numbers, then get in touch with us if you're in the market for perfomance you can actually afford. From complete engines and cylinder heads, to our engineered top-end kits , our hard-headed approach to making the most from "the least", helps you get the most from your MOPAR with the least amount of money.

Executive Decision

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 17:39:55 GMT

The "Boss" Gets A Raise: This 1967 GTX Gets A Performance Upgrade Worthy Of Its Image

The 1967 Plymouth GTX has been called many things: The Gentleman's Muscle car. The Executive Hot Rod. And, for you Sox & Martin fans, "The Boss". Whatever it's called, the 67 GTX was muscle wrapped in refinement. Its sculpted sheet metal, featuring chiseled lines inside and out, along with tastefully applied trim and call outs made the 67 GTX something to see, while its standard big block power, made it something a lot of people saw from behind. It was an iron fist in a velvet glove. It was something special back then and it still is today. Such a beautiful and legendary car, deserves respect and, while we're at it, more horsepower.

The gorgeous GTX you see here, came to us looking pristine and perfect; our job was to pack in more power. Which we did, with one of our 512, 400-based stroker crate engines. For the specs on this brutish B-series big block, click here , but we think the spec you'll find most interesting now is the more than 640 horsepower and 670 lb.-ft of torque this engine made...all below 6000rpm. These numbers beat our previously recorded dyno numbers with these engines, thanks in part to our new, PIE-exclusive, SUPERTUNE/ MAXPORT TNT heads, which we'll feature another time. To the basic package, we also performed a Sniper to Terminator ECU conversion, added a PIE-engineered intake system which consists of an Edelbrock MPI intake, custom spec’d throttle body and injectors, billet fuel rails & brackets designed and CNC'd in-house.

Just as impressive as the power numbers, is the way this car drives. The ride was so smooth and comfortable, that if you close your eyes, you'd think you were riding in a new car. Well, except for that glorious, BB MOPAR rumble. Score one for "old tech". Whoever thinks torsion bars and leaf springs are archaic and should be replaced with a more modern suspension, needs to take ride in this car!

It was a treat working on the GTX. Watching it roar to life with more power and performance potential than ever, and helping carry on the GTX Legacy makes us feel good. But we do miss it being at the shop. Without a doubt, this 67 GTX is still something special.

Introducing The MAXPORT MAGNUM MOPAR HEAD

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 21:01:24 GMT

The Best Flowing Budget MAGNUM Head

Our SuperTune MAXPORT MAGNUM Heads are the best flowing EQ-Style Small Block MOPAR heads available. They'll suck in 292 CFM of atmosphere at .550 lift, and also move 215 CFM & 260 CFM through the ports at just .300 & .400 lift, respectively. These mid-range lift numbers are the ones that do most of the work as your engine revs throughout its operating range, helping provide incredible overall performance and flexibility. The airflow characteristics and dynamics of these heads can support more than 500 bhp up top, and also give you a nice, fat, meaty power-punch in the mid ranges. Great for the strip and the street. Hands down, these heads give you more flow for more go and less dough than anything else currently on the market.

MOPAR Small Block Crate Engines

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 05:51:30 GMT

Good Things In Small Packages. Or, Why Small Blocks Are The Sh!t.

When it comes to choosing a crate engine for your next project, you have lots of good choices. But for big power that can fit in small places, it's hard to beat a small block MOPAR. Considering their compact dimensions and relatively light weight when equipped with aluminum heads, intake, and headers, these engines offer an excellent combination of punch for the pound. And while it can be easy to overlook them in the presence of big (make that huge) big blocks and Gen 3 HEMIS, don't forget that for years, the MOPAR small block carried the Pentastar performance torch. There are lots of reasons why this is true, but three of the best are Availability, Flexibility, and Value.

Let's start with the most obvious: Availability. While the big blocks and HEMIS were on hiatus, Chrysler's venerable small blocks soldiered on to fight the good fight. Both the 318 and 360 warhorses saw duty in cars, trucks, vans, tow equipment, emergency vehicles, and more. They evolved from the heralded LA architecture into the equally respected MAGNUM variants, and whether through MOPAR Performance or via the scrap yard, they continued to find their way into hot rods, street rods, muscle cars, and race cars all over the world. Calling these engines prolific is an understatement.

This availability leads us to their flexibility. Like we said, from daily drivers to heavy haulers to race-record setters, MOPAR's small block grew to fill the shoes of whatever role they were asked to play. They ditched carbs for fuel injection, tossed flat tappets for roller rockers, then packed on the inches (did we mention they're excellent method actors too?), growing more than 100 cubes in some cases to meet the needs of performance junkies everywhere. Some even went so far as to shoulder legendary numbers like 426 and 440.

As you might have guessed, their value grew directly from their availability and flexibility. Through years of research, development, refinement, and, let's face it, sheer abuse, the MOPAR small block has become well known and respected for its ability to make lots of power on a budget. And with modern power adders, they can do it with daily driver reliability. Equally important is that they fit into virtually every chassis easily, with plenty of room for maintenance and excellent chassis balance. Equally at home in a truck or a car, they have the ability to work hard and play hard. And thanks to their size and power potential, you can make lots of power with less weight, meaning they're fantastic in smaller cars where handling and stopping are as important as stomping the loud pedal and holding on tight through the rush of acceleration.

So does all this mean you should choose a small block MOPAR crate engine for your ride? We'll leave that for you to decide. But we will say that if you're looking for the perfect blend of power, size, and reliability at an extraordinarily affordable price, it's an engine worth a look.

The Blow Job. Part 1.

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 06:38:11 GMT

The 273 Build That Doesn't Suck

WARNING: Reading this article could produce the following symptoms:

Giggling uncontrollably with excitement
Sleepless nights and neglected work due to hours spent planning your own 273 build
Scrounging vintage salvage yards, the classifieds, and maybe even strangers' backyards looking for abandoned 273 cores
A loss of all rational engine building protocols in the quest to create your own dare-to-be-different scream machine

We are not responsible for any of it. However, if you decide to build an engine like this, we're here to help manage the madness so you can have your very own bombastic, fantastic, little LA .

A few months ago, Chris Sockriter stopped into our shop with that glint in his eyes and a plan in his head to build a hot 273 for his '69 Dodge Dart. Now, if this was 1965 and the 273 was still a serious D/Stock contender, we might have been just as excited as Chris to build this engine, but the fact is, MOPAR's tiniest small block is just that - tiny - and as anyone who builds or has had an engine built for them knows, bigger engines make more power for less money. In other words, why build a 273 when you can build a 360 that will make more twist for less tender? While you're at it, why not build a 408? In comparison, they're even cheaper than 360s when it comes to producing power for pesos.

But like we said, Chris had that glint in his eyes, a plan in his head, and money in his pocket (that he wanted to give to us), all targeted to build the 273. So we kept listening. And that's when things started to get interesting. Turns out Chris didn't just want us to build a hot 273; he wanted us to build one with a hair dryer - aka - a turbo (or two), for some stick-shifted silliness in that Dart we mentioned earlier. Now we started getting that glint in our eyes too. This could be fun. Sure, the 273 is small, but throw some turbos at it and it gets quite a bit bigger. Factor in the advantage that Chris already had the engine and that its factory forged crank is plenty tough for boosting and beating and suddenly, the higher costs generally associated with building small engines might not be so high. So we devised a plan to build a simple, stout, small block that's just a a few boost bars away from becoming a huffed-on hero.

Building For Boost:

With the plan established that this was going to be a turbo engine, we got to work on prepping and building for boost, which means building a solid, excellent performing naturally aspirated engine. To do this, we spec'd out a package that included a mix of tried and true components, some creatively applied out-of-the-box thinking and parts selection, and our requisite high accuracy prep, machining, and assembly procedures.

HARDware

The Block:

Since everything is built to go on or in the block, we started there. From the beginning, we were concerned about the 273's small bore size because things like bore shrouding, air flow, and even basic piston availability were major considerations; custom pistons, for example, can add huge costs to a build. As it turned out, we had little to be concerned about. Here's why: sonic checking the walls on this particular 273 revealed a thrust side cylinder wall thickness of about .280. Better yet, core shift seemed non-existent on this block because the numbers were consistent from front to back in both banks. If nothing else, this solved our piston selection and price problems because we could safely bore the block to stock Chevy 305 size which meant our piston options grew almost exponentially while the price point plummeted with the selection and availability of the much more common pistons.

The Crank:

This was almost a no-brainer. We know from experience the factory forged steel crank can take a beating thanks in part to its robust construction, material, and relatively short overlap. Provided it was in good condition, this would prove a near-perfect part for this build. Fortunately, the crank was in beautiful shape. Done.

The Rods:

Yes, Chrysler's factory forged steel connecting rods can be excellent choices for high-performance engines but the reality is, once you factor in the cost of reconditioning them, new forged steel performance rods are a better and more economical choice. We gave SCAT I Beam rods the nod.

The Pistons:

Knowing we were gonna get blown dictated several custom design parameters be built into the pistons which is why we went with custom-designed PIE/JE units. Even with the custom design, however, the more common bore size kept costs within reason for this type of build.

The Camshaft:

Yes, getting blown is truly awesome. For all the reasons you might think, here's one more to add to the list: turbo engines provide excellent street manners vs. performance potential allowing for great power while offering unmatched drivability. This allowed us to select a reasonably mild, off-the-shelf grind from COMP. It specs out with 218/226 Duration @ .050, .525 I/E lift and it's all built on a 114 LSA. This is a cam we knew would make great power in naturally aspirated form, offering a wide power band and operating range, and that wide LSA would also make the most of what the turbo has to offer.

The Heads:

Almost as much a no-brainer as the crankshaft or conrod selections, we went with the EQ Iron Magnum heads because these things can't be beat when it comes to bangin' for the buck. EQ's key durability upgrades that addressed the Magnum's shortcomings combined with an LA style intake manifold bolt pattern, make these heads outstanding and economical performance pieces. The iron construction also gives these prodigious power producers, long-term reliability in a turbo engine. For our part, we added our exclusive Stage One Porting which includes upsized intake valves and flow bench tuning to help unlock even more power potential. Throw in a set of our adjustable roller rockers and this part of the combo is good to go, go, go.

The Intake:

An Edelbrock Super Victor will help handle the deep breathing induction duties. It will be drilled and set up for EFI once we go boosted. Until then (and for dyno testing) we'll use a 700 cfm carb.

The Oiling System:

A Melling standard volume pump is all we need to keep everything moist. And remember: lube it or lose it! This is especially important when things get hot and heavy.

Prep, Machining & Assembly:

We get that machining isn't all that exciting for most people, so we won't bore you with too many details here except to say that exciting or not, proper machining is critical to an engine build's success or failure on the dyno, the road, or the track. Both power production and durability are greatly affected by the quality of the machine work. With this in mind, all you need to know is that we spent a painstaking amount of time, the way we do with every engine build, inspecting, cleaning, machining, and prepping every element of this little 273 before putting it together.

Dyno Time:

Naturally aspirated, this diminutive, sweet-sounding 273 made a stout 360 bhp and 355 lb-ft of torque. This works out to about 1.3 bhp per cubic inch, which means this little beast is pretty efficient at sucking, squeezing, banging, and blowing air, fuel and spark into a highly compelling, combustive cocktail. To put these numbers in perspective, we made more power than the legendary 340, with not much more than a slightly hotter cam and tweaked iron heads, all while maintaining daily-driver reliability.

It's Blow Time!

Well, almost. Soon we'll plumb in the power maker, pour on the boost and see how many more horses show up to show off. In the meantime, though, Chris is getting ready to drop this little hummer into his Dart and drive it as is for a while. We know he's gonna have a blast with it, but we can't wait to get those turbos installed. Once they're on, the rear tires on the Dart are gonna hurt so good.

New Dakota Coming?

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 05:42:06 GMT

We Hope They Do It Right

There's been talk that Dodge is bringing back the Dakota. We're saying Dodge because RAM Dakota just doesn't sound right to us, although in all likelihood, that's what they'll call it. Whatever name they slap on it, we hope the pictures we've seen floating around of what it might look like are not accurate because so far, we're not impressed. In fact, we dislike them so much, we're not going to re-post them. Although, to be fair, we're huge fans of the 97-2004 Dakotas. We think Dodge hit on the perfect combination of size and looks with that one. It looked muscular and svelte at the same time; tidy proportions with brawn in all the right places. FULL DISCLOSURE: we're also partial to these models because of how many we've helped build over the years. From custom crate engines, both naturally aspirated and blown, transmissions, fuels systems and exhausts, we've had lots of fun with the Dakota, including our very own turbocharged Dak that you can have a look at here .

While we're waiting to see what FCA does with the Dakota, we'd like to remind you all that we're still very much involved with the ones from the last generation. We have all the go fast goodies you could want to make your Dakota run hard and drive well. Our PIE spec'd and built supercharger systems are the perfect way to add easy, reliable horsepower to your mid-size muscle machine. Have a look at the kits and let us know if you have any questions.

Dodge Releasing Wide Body Charger

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 04:53:56 GMT

Performance, Now in Wide(r) Widths

We're MOPAR guys at PIE. Sure, we appreciate performance cars of all types, but there's something about MOPAR. The cars. The performance. The attitude . Definitely the attitude. Nobody does attitude like MOPAR through its Dodge brand. It's why the owner of PIE, Chris Hitchens, just bought his very own Challenger Hellcat and why we're pretty juiced that Dodge is getting ready to officially release the long-teased widebody Charger. Even better, it'll be available in two flavors, the mouthwatering Hellcat & the luscious Scat Pack.

From the pics, you can see the difference the new widebody kit makes. What you probably can't tell is that the new widebody treatment adds 3.5 inches to the overall width of the already girthsome Charger. Regardless of trim level, Hellcat or Scat Pack, the new widebody looks more aggressive, solid and planted, as in planted to the road. And with 305 wide rubber all around along with enhanced suspension mods that include 27% stiffer springs, a 3 mm larger rear sway bar, and revised calibration to the Bilstein shocks, the new widebody performance program hustles the hefty Scat Pack through the road course 1.3 seconds faster than a standard version. Kinda' hard to imagine anything that comes with 485 bhp can be considered standard .

Anyway, what we're wondering now is when someone, maybe Dodge, will release a widebody kit for all Chargers. When they do, we'll be here ready to help you go "wide-out all the way" with performance mods that will help your widebody-modded Charger run with the factory's heavy hitters. How? Let's start with our easy Gen 3 HEMI upgrades that'll have your ride putting down some serious power. Enough that the Scat Pack's 485 bhp might just start to look standard .

See some of our HEMI stuff here .

Too Much Horsepower?

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 04:12:49 GMT

What's The Best Horsepower Number For A Street Car?

HOT ROD Magazine recently posed the question "What's The Best Horsepower Number For A Street Car?" in a sidebar article it published inside a feature article about 1,000 bhp crate engines. Ten of the top engine builders in the U.S. weighed in on the subject, first on making 1,000 bhp then on what the perfect amount of horsepower is in a street car.

While the ways each builder reached the 1,000 bhp mark varied, most seemed to think between 600 - 800 was the perfect amount to have in a street car. We're not so sure they didn't open Pandora's Box with this one. After all, it's unlikely that any two people will agree how much horsepower is enough or too much, yet alone what's perfect.

Then there's the "street car" concept to consider. Just like horsepower, everyone's answer is probably different. Is it a daily driver? How 'bout a car that can do HOT ROD'S Drag Week? Do you demand it have to have a smooth idle, great street manners and power everywhere in the curve or would you be satisfied with a lumpy cam that sounds like every exhaust note is a gun shot and needs a high stall and gears just to get from light to light?

We're interested to hear what you think and if you want to share, email us . And just so you know, we can meet your "perfect" power level, whatever it is.

Bigger Is Better

Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:39:24 GMT

Our Shop & Our Service Is Expanding

Fifteen years ago, PIE was born out of the passion to engineer and build the best engines and engine-related components we could. Since then, we've had the privilege of working with great people on great projects that have included everything from street-driven, slightly warmed-over crate engines to race-ready, forced-induction beasts. Along the way, our skill has grown with our experience to include complete drivetrain services, like performance-built transmissions and differentials, fuel system management systems including tanks, pumps, and lines, to complete fuel injection conversions. We also offer advanced engine diagnostics and dyno tuning, thanks to our in-house chassis dyno along with remote, computer-based engine tuning programs. Our shop has grown too, from our very first 1,200 sqft shop to our current 3,500 sqft space. And now, thanks to growing customer demand and market needs, it's growing again, this time to 8,000 sqft.

Our expanded facility in Georgetown, Delaware, is opening space for us to include some truly unique services, chief among them is the addition of a 4-axis CNC machine that will enable us to meet just about any custom machining challenge any of our customers might need. From specially designed engine components that can't be found anywhere else to custom brake hubs, you'll no longer have to worry about finding what your project needs or spend countless hours searching for it because it will be right here at Performance Injection Equipment.

Project SST

Sat, 01 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Tire Fryer 101

Built from 1996-2002, the Dodge Ram SS/T was created to continue the legacy (and capitalize on the sales) of when Dodge's Ram served as the Official Pace Truck for the Indy 500. Carrying a specially prepped 5.9 (360 for you classic cubic inch fans), the SS/T also featured special aluminum rims and performance tires, a lowered suspension, special call-out body and interior badges, and the Viper's outstanding blue with twin white racing stripe paint scheme, later expanding the color lineup to include black, red, and green paint options, all featuring twin white racing stripes. Speaking of the Viper, some consider the SS/T the precursor to the Ram SRT10 pickup, and while there might be some truth to that thought, one thing is certain: the 245 bhp that the "tuned" 5.9 put out was significantly less than the 500 bhp the Ram SRT10 managed. But hey, 8.0 liters can do that. This got us thinking: MOPAR's 5.9 has a pretty good performance pedigree of its own, able to belt out cheap, reliable horsepower when treated to the right combo of parts. Sure, the Ram SRT10's big V10 still packs way more displacement, but nothing that some forced induction can't handle. Besides, the Ram SS/T is just a super cool truck with a heritage worth preserving, and since we have one sitting at our PIE headquarters, we figured, "why not?" and decided to see just how far we could go on the cheap.

Our idea is simple: use the SS/T to have some fun with and to answer questions we get all the time about some of the parts we already sell. Things like how much horsepower the EQ replacement Magnum heads can support in stock form, or how to hit a streetable 500 bhp with a small block Mopar on a budget. Another question we always get is how effective our PIE supercharger kits are and how easy they are to install. But maybe the one we get asked the most when it comes to the Magnums is how much power can the factory-issued beer barrel intake make and how does it compare to some of the other bolt-on performance intakes available for the Magnums.

If you haven't figured it out by now, our plan is to give our SS/T's 5.9 a simple, solid rebuild which will include our meticulous prep, machining, and assembly procedures along with a set of good, but off-the-shelf forged pistons wrapped in a factory-sized package. Then we'll top it with a set of our PIE prepped heads (okay, so they won't be 100% stock, but they'll be as "stock" as we sell them and cheaper than you can get just about anywhere else) and we'll top it with Dodge's ubiquitous beer barrel intake. Next, we're going to send some boost through the whole thing courtesy of one of our PIE centrifugal supercharger kits.

After we run the numbers, who knows? We're thinking maybe some intake comparisons, boost-level exploration, and more. And remember, it'll be a build anybody can do on a budget, even piece by piece if they want. Stay tuned.

MOPAR Hellephant Crate Engine

Thu, 02 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT

The Price of Power

MOPAR's Hellephant is an impressive crate engine, and the big numbers it commands are certainly worthy of attention: 1000 horsepower, 950 lb-ft of torque...and a $30,000 price tag. Like we said, all big, impressive numbers. Here's another potentially impressive figure - the lot of Hellephant crate engines slated for production sold out in less than 48 hours. We say this is potentially impressive because nobody seems to know how many engines are actually supposed to be built. So whether they sold 1 or 100 in 48 hours is anybody's guess. However many they sold, the fact is some people think the Hellephant is worth the coin. Obviously, that's a personal call. But if you're one of the people who think the demonic pachyderm's power-to-price ratio is kind of steep, we'd like to present you with a powerfully affordable alternative, PIE's 840 bhp Supercharged MAGNUM 408 Crate Engine. The price? About $15,000. And yeah, we know, our SC MAGNUM 408 is making 840 bhp to the Hellephant's 1,000, but think about this: our 408 crate is making 85% of the Hellephant's power at less than 50% of its price. With these kinds of numbers, we think our SC 408 crate engine is looking pretty impressive itself and worth considering for your next barn-burner, street-stormer, or track-terror project.

This isn't marketing hype either. These are real engines, built to order, ready to go when you are. In fact, here's a little rundown of one we just finished twisting the engine brake with. It made 843 hp and 740 lb/ft of torque on 15lbs of boost with our unique centrifugal supercharger kit. Built for Trip Boughtnight, the block started as a stock block that we hard block filled above the freeze plugs then fit with a set of billet 2 bolt main caps. We performed our basic performance prep machine work, which consists of square decking the block as well as boring and honing with a stress plate. The crank is a SCAT forged crank swinging a set of Chevy H beam rods and our custom JE blower pistons with Hellfire rings. The cam is one of our PIE grinds with 236 / 242 duration @ .585 lift and cut on 110 LSA. Sealing the cylinders is a set of Cometic head gaskets and ARP head studs. We utilized a set of Edelbrock heads that we CNC ported with 2.08" intake and 1.60" exhaust valves. Topping the engine off is an Indy 360-3M intake manifold."

Click the link for build pics and the dyno sheet: 840 bhp SC 408