Power Play

How a Big-block and a Big Blower Made an Easy 1,197 Horsepower

- Richard Holdener

As loyal readers of Super Chevy, we know there is no way you missed the first two installments of our Mad Adder series. For those just joining the party, we have subjected our 540-inch big-block crate engine from Blue- Print Engines (BPE) to two different power-adders: nitrous and boost (roots). According to the info supplied with their crate 540 stroker, the BPE combo was ready for boost and/or nitrous right out of the box. We liked the fact that the BPE 540 featured plenty of intestinal fortitude in the form of forged internals. Starting with their own heavy-duty, four-bolt block they added a 4340 forged steel crank, forged H-beam rods, and matching forged aluminum pistons. The forged rotating assembly was topped by a set of as-cast aluminum BBC (rectangular port) heads that featured 119cc combustion chambers. The heads combine with the forged pistons to produce a boost friendly compression ratio of 8.5:1. Also present was a healthy, solid roller cam that checked in with 0.652-inch lift with a 255/262-degree duration split and 114-degree LSA.