SMALL-BLOCK CHEV
CAROLYN HAYES, SYDNEY, NSW
WHEN we last caught up with Carolyn Hayes (People Like Us, SM, Oct ’17), she was just getting started on her LH Torana Drag Challenge build with her then-partner (and now-husband), Aussie pro street legend Mark Hayes. The car is now nearing completion, and this 900hp small-block is what will power it.
Carolyn was one of our OG Drag Challenge combatants back in 2014 in her previous Torana, which ran a staunch, naturally aspirated smallblock. But with Mark being a devout nitrous man, it should come as no surprise to learn that Carolyn’s new combo will be helped along by a healthy shot of the good stuff.
The 415-cuber was assembled at home by Mark and Carolyn, with machining performed by Westend Performance. Starting with a Dart block, the rotating assembly comprises a Callies crank and rods and JE slugs, with Moroso and
Melling bits sharing the oiling duties.
AFR 210 heads wearing Yella Terra Platinum Rockers are used up top, along with a Holley 750 carb and an Edelbrock Super Victor manifold. Sandwiched between those is an Induction Solutions billet nitrous plate to inject the special sauce.
With hassle-free motoring at Drag Challenge the main priority for Carolyn, a Comp Cams hydraulic-roller keeps the top end happy, while the fire is lit by an MSD 6AL-2 with an MSD Power Grid controller.
“That’s what we’ll use for power management; Carolyn knows how to use it because she does the data when we race,” Mark says. “We have the same system in my race car, as well as Rob Godfrey’s car. Say no to EFI!”
What makes this combo so impressive is its simplicity: it’s a traditional small-block Chev with a hydraulic-roller camshaft, cast manifold, single carby and a basic plate nitrous system, but it makes some lofty numbers regardless.
“I also built the 383ci small-block in Alysha Teale’s Drag Challenge HQ, which has been really solid. This combo is very similar, just a little bigger,” Mark says. “Carolyn’s engine has more cubes, but the heads, carby and camshaft are all very similar between the two. Carolyn wanted a hassle-free engine; she wanted to be driving it, not working on it. There’s nothing at all exotic about it, and it makes peak power at only 6500rpm. With the gearing, converter, tyres and the weight of the car, it should be a very simple yet effective package.”
The engine made 665hp naturally aspirated and 900hp on the bottle, and with tune-ups for both pump fuel and E85, the goal is nines on the motor and mid-eights with spray.
Impressive numbers indeed for such a modestlooking, low-maintenance street engine!