540 WITH MERLIN HEADS AND HOWARDS CRANK AND RODS? ANY GOOD??

Old 01-25-2012, 06:44 PM
  #1  
SPEEDNEEDS1
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Default 540 WITH MERLIN HEADS AND HOWARDS CRANK AND RODS? ANY GOOD??

I HAVE RECENTLY BOUGHT A 540 WITH A DART BLOCK, HOWARDS PRO SERIES CRANK, HOWARDE ULTIMATE DUTY RODS, DIAMOND 14.8 PISTONS, MERLIN III AS-CAST HEADS WITH MERLIN X INTAKE AS-CAST, .850-.820 CAMSHAFT, 1150 APD ALKY. CARB.

ANY IDEAS IF THESE HEADS ARE ANY GOOD IN AS-CAST FORM, THEIR WEBSITE SAYS OVER 800HP AS-CAST.

I HAVE NEVER RAN THE HOWARDS STUFF, IT ALL LOOKS GREAT, BUT LOOKS CAN BE DECIVEING AT TIMES......... ANY INPUT ON THIS WOULD BE A HELP.

COMBO IS GOING IN A FRONT SUSPENDED DRAGSTER WIITH A 6000 STALL CONVERTER. EST. 1/8 E.T. I AM HOPING FOR 4.80'S-4.90'S
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Old 01-25-2012, 07:30 PM
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zipper06
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Howards has some good stuff in their pro series, i don't know anything about the Merlin heads but if it will make 800 HP, 4.80's/490's is definately in the ball park.

JMO

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Old 01-26-2012, 05:47 PM
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SPEEDNEEDS1
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THANKS, THATS ABOUT WHAT I THOUGHT. I HAVE DONE A LITTLE RESEARCH AND HAMMERTIME RECOMENDED THAT I PUT THE 454-R INTAKE ON.
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Old 01-27-2012, 05:20 AM
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Default Re: 540 WITH MERLIN HEADS AND HOWARDS CRANK AND RODS? ANY GO

Originally Posted by SPEEDNEEDS1
I HAVE RECENTLY BOUGHT A 540 WITH A DART BLOCK, HOWARDS PRO SERIES CRANK, HOWARDE ULTIMATE DUTY RODS, DIAMOND 14.8 PISTONS, MERLIN III AS-CAST HEADS WITH MERLIN X INTAKE AS-CAST, .850-.820 CAMSHAFT, 1150 APD ALKY. CARB.

ANY IDEAS IF THESE HEADS ARE ANY GOOD IN AS-CAST FORM, THEIR WEBSITE SAYS OVER 800HP AS-CAST.

I HAVE NEVER RAN THE HOWARDS STUFF, IT ALL LOOKS GREAT, BUT LOOKS CAN BE DECIVEING AT TIMES......... ANY INPUT ON THIS WOULD BE A HELP.

COMBO IS GOING IN A FRONT SUSPENDED DRAGSTER WIITH A 6000 STALL CONVERTER. EST. 1/8 E.T. I AM HOPING FOR 4.80'S-4.90'S

You'll have no problem getting to that et.
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Old 01-27-2012, 08:13 AM
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coolracing
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x2 with Zip on the howards products! We ran them heads back in the day on a 540 they worked well with the combo we had, Your combo has little higher compression, a slightly different camshaft and we were running a team G intake. Motor was in a 3400lb chevelle, its best pass was a 10.10
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Old 01-27-2012, 11:30 AM
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TheRabbit
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I had a set of World Products heads on my 548. They did make 868hp, but they were ported to the max by Race Flow Development (Flowed 400cfm) I had a Profiler intake on the motor.
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Old 01-28-2012, 05:55 PM
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SPEEDNEEDS1
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I think that I will go on and put the 454-R on the motor with a carb, then put the injection on later.
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Old 01-28-2012, 07:25 PM
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Originally Posted by SPEEDNEEDS1
I think that I will go on and put the 454-R on the motor

Good Intake!
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Old 01-29-2012, 05:40 AM
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SPEEDNEEDS1
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I have ran the 454-R many times on several different engines and rthey all ran well, but the Merlin X is a new design and the same brand as the heads so I thought that the Merlin would better than the 454-R.
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Old 01-29-2012, 08:35 AM
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Originally Posted by SPEEDNEEDS1
I have ran the 454-R many times on several different engines and rthey all ran well, but the Merlin X is a new design and the same brand as the heads so I thought that the Merlin would better than the 454-R.
Stay with a matched set . . Heads and intake . . best place to start, anyway . .
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