This is a
Blown Gas 454 that I built a test stand for and is taken to high schools and
started. Ron Whitman and I work at Universal Technical Institute and Ron wanted
something exciting to show the kids while giving his presentation for UTI.
There is nothing better than a Supercharged Blown Gas Big Block except for maybe
a Blown Nitro Big Block. This thing rock and rolls real good and it is loud.
When I was building the test stand for Ron he found a ready to go 454 at Rex Hutchinson’s
and I took the carbs off and put a Enderle Bird Catcher on it. I finished the
stand and engine in early 2011 and he took it to many shows and high schools. Ron
says he always gets the principal out of his office when he starts it! About
the end of 2011 the engine started vibrating real bad. Come to find out Hutchinson
put it together with only one keyway on the crank. We didn’t even race it and it
spun the keyway starting it on the test stand! I had to take the crankshaft out
with the hub still connected and had to cut the hub with a carbide wheel. $1300.00
later it is fixed correctly and runs better than ever. I wish people would just do the work correctly
the first time. I would have built the engine for him but time was of essence. Recently
Ron decided to build a bigger engine and I said, “Hey, instead of putting it in
the test stand, let’s just put it in my race car and you can take that to the
shows and high schools and maybe we can race it in between”. He said that
sounded good to him and we now have a 540 that we bought in Oregon that was
supposed to be “turn key”…now that’s another story! Check out the video of the engine running at UTI campus!
