Meeks and Joehnck elected to return to a single carburetor for test six. They changed the manifold to a Victor Jr. (PN 2975) with an 850-cfm Holley carburetor. They also swapped camshaft designs, going to a flat-tappet, solid-lifter Isky Racing Cams camshaft (PN 201070). This combination offered the best results to that point, raising the horsepower reading to 530.2 at 6,938 rpm.
The seventh and final test featured a return to a Victor Jr. Tunnel Ram intake manifold, two 660-cfm Holley carburetors, and the flat-tappet Isky Racing Cams camshaft. This proved to be the most powerful combination-four runs of seven recording over 500 hp. The highest was a reading of 563.2 hp. The team didn't achieve their goal of 600 hp from off-the-shelf products and pump gas, but they came very close.
We'll fast-forward to the spring of 2005. The engine used for the off-the-shelf horsepower experiment had been resting in a parts bin inside the dyno-room at Edelbrock Corporation-untouched since 1998. After some conversation between the original crew of Meeks, Joehnck, and Jung, it was decided that the engine would be resurrected, refurbished, and refitted with some off-the-shelf 2005 technology and given a second chance to hit the 600hp mark on pump gas. Vic Edelbrock Jr. has given the green light, and at this writing, the engine is in the process of being checked out and refreshed. In another series of tests, the engine will again be tested on the dyno with various combinations to see if the magic 600hp mark can by reached. Stay tuned.