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After a full day of speaking to Builder’s Brawl competitors about their big block Chevy or Hemi engine setups, we got a breath of fresh air courtesy of Jeremy Mifflin and his ProCharged 427 small block Ford. We caught up with Jeremy on the morning of race day to get the full details of his supercharged Ford engine.
Jeremy, who races under the Mifflin Racing name, was at Builder’s Brawl competing in the Small Tire class. He joked with us that most people expect to see an LS engine under the hood of his 1986 Mustang, but seeing a Ford in a Ford was great. His 427 cubic inch small block was outfitted with some solid components.
“My small block Ford has a Dart Iron Eagle block, a billet crank, aluminum rods, aluminum pistons, some very low compression Trick Flow high-port 240 heads that have some hand porting on the exhaust, Jesel rockers, a mechanical fuel pump, and FuelTech engine management helping us make all the boost we can,” Mifflin told us.
Jeremy went on to tell us that people get pretty shocked when he mentions how low his engine’s compression is. It’s primarily a result of it being older technology.
“It’s an older technology motor, so it’s only like 7.5:1 or 8:1 compression,” he says. “We just run a ton of ignition timing in there to make up for it, and right now, we’re running Q16 fuel. The pistons are actually down in the hole quite a bit to get the compression low enough. I think we’re going to switch to a canted-valve head next year. We’re going to up the compression a little and try to get with the newer way of thinking. The plan this winter is to also switch to methanol, but I need bigger injectors, a bigger pump and I have to get rid of the intercooler in the car and try to lighten it up for No Time racing.”
One of the standout aspects of this small block Ford is a sizeable ProCharger system right up front, which Mifflin says is a reverse rotation, belt-driven F1X.
“We’re spinning it at max, and maybe a little more,” Mifflin says. “We also run an external wet sump oil system, which is a carryover from Outlaw 10.5, and a cable-driven fuel pump in the back. It started out life as a legit streetcar and I’ve kind of exceeded that with the exhaust and everything. I have street driven it, but it’s pretty loud.”
Thanks to the ProCharger F1X and the VP Racing Q16 race fuel, Mifflin says this 427 SBF is capable of more than 1,200 horsepower. Out on the track, Jeremy was simply hoping for a clean A-to-B pass as fast as possible.
“That goal depends on the track surface,” he admitted. “I would be happy with some low-5s. We’ve been faster, so we’ll see what happens.”
All of the engine machine work on the build was done by Jeremy’s buddy Jamey Swanson of Flying J Racing Engines.
“Jamey does all the machine work and a lot of the R&D for us,” Mifflin says. “He experiments on his own setup and then I benefit from what he learns and we work together really good.”
Aside from the ProCharged Ford engine, Mifflin’s Mustang features a garage-built Powerglide transmission, an 8.8 rear end and a 25.5 cage, making this one very cool 1986 Mustang.
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].
