Engine of the Week is presented by
We know. We know. Steve Morris’ ‘All the Freedom’ engine – a 555 cid big block Chevy – is no longer open for a chance to win it. Hopefully you bought some SME merch and gave yourself a chance at the engine! That said, in case you didn’t, this same engine package will be available to potential customers looking to replicate the ‘All the Freedom’ engine from Steve Morris Engines. And that’s the true meaning of freedom, and why Steve built this engine in the first place – to reach more people looking for the joys of reasonable horsepower.
As Steve points out, not everyone can use a 3,000 horsepower build or has a need for a great big turbocharged or ProCharged engine with EFI, so he wanted to create an engine package suitable for everyone that could be dropped into any vehicle. This big block Chevy could even go in a minivan if someone was so inclined.
What’s in this engine? A lot of quality goodies such as a Dart Big M 555 cubic inch, standard deck block and Dart CNC-ported 355 heads.
“On this Dart iron Big M block, we did all the machine work in-house – we decked it to standard size (9.800” deck), bored it to size (4.560” bore) and align honed it to verify everything was good,” Morris says. “We also deburred the block and chamfered the bottom of the bores. We made this a 555 cubic inch engine with a 4.250” crank. The block features a four-bolt main cap as well.”
In addition to a quality block and cylinder head package, the BBC is equipped with CP Carrillo pistons and rods, a custom solid-roller camshaft, an Engine Pro timing set, solid roller lifters, pushrods and rockers, an Edelbrock intake manifold, an MSD ignition system, a ProSystems carburetor, a Melling billet oil pump, and Stef’s billet aluminum oil pan.
“The block takes .842 lifters, which means it’s a stock diameter lifter,” Morris says. “It will be a solid roller engine, but made for pump gas and driving around. The camshaft that we designed for this is specific for endurance, driving on pump gas and making 810+ horsepower.”
A special aspect of the engine are the billet aluminum valve covers. These are special because they have a custom ‘All the Freedom’ design, but also because Steve won’t be selling these covers separately. You can only get them as part of this package.
“We might be giving this engine away, but we’re also going to be selling this as a complete engine to folks who want it,” he says. “Or, we are also offering it as a package of parts, all machined, so the customer can assemble it. This engine is a simple, easy deal with big horsepower that can be driven anywhere.”
To see much more about the details of the build and to watch Steve and his son Kyle build the ‘All the Freedom’ engine, check out the build series on the SME YouTube channel. And, if you didn’t happen to win Steve’s BBC engine and you want another opportunity to win a sweet street engine, check out Engine Builder’s own twin-supercharged small block Ford – it’s our Dream Engine Giveaway – with a winner being picked during the PRI show.
Engine of the Week is sponsored by PennGrade Motor Oil, Elring – Das Original and Engine & Performance Warehouse Inc./NPW Companies. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor Greg Jones at [email protected].
