•

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Ford and John Force Racing have joined forces to create the first new NHRA Funny Car motor in a third of a century. Ian Bamsey gets the inside story from John Medlen, who leads the project at JFR

44

or

The BOSS 500 is the most powerful Ford racing engine in

the company's lOS-year history. Readers unfamiliar with

the NHRA Funny Car motor (a dry sump version of a Top Fuel motor) are invited to consider a naturally aspirated, 500 cubic inch dispiacementV8 running on racing gasoline. If it has

a pair of four-barrel carburettors and push rod operation of just two valves per 62.5 cid (1024 cc) cylinder we can nevertheless expect

this racing engine to attain a brake mean effective pressure (bmep) figure of 200 psi (14 bar) at a realistic peak power speed of 9200 rpm. Our consequent 1156 bhp maximum power figure is in line with the estimates for today's NHRA Pro Stock motors (here we are at the limits of conventional dyno testing and erring on the conservative side).

Now consider that we run our colossus instead on eye-watering, sweet smelling nitromethane fuel. Compared to gasoline, by unit weight nitromethane has just 26% of the thermal energy. However

it carries its own oxygen atoms: it can be likened to a weak gasoline premixed with nitrous oxide (a typical formula for gasoline is CSH,S; the formula for nitromethane is CH,NO,l. Whereas the stoichiometric air:fuel ratio of gasoline is 14.7:1, that of nitromethane is 1.7:1. In other words, all other things being equal we can get over eight times as much fuel into each 62.5 cid cylinder and from that (taking into account its lesser thermal energy) release about two and a half times as much power.

So even if we confine our nitromethane-burning, 500 cid V8 to the 8250 rpm maximum permitted for today's NHRA Funny Car motor we can expect it to be good for around 2500 bhp. But the 500 cid Funny Car motor is supercharged on top of this. Calculations based on the weight of a Funny Car and its aerodynamic drag, suggest that for it to run a quarter mile from a standing start in 4.8 seconds with a terminal speed above 320 mph, it requires in excess of 6000 bhp. If we supercharge our 2500 bhp motor to 2.5 times atmospheric pressure, then (on paper) we will make 6250 bhp.

The 500 cid NHRA Funny CarV8 is surmounted by an enginedriven Roots-type, positive displacement supercharger that takes

air from a forward facing scoop and compresses it into a manifold beneath, which contains a plenum from which an individual runner feeds each of the eight intake ports. At 8200 rpm (keeping off the

PROFILE

FORD BOSS 500

mandatory rev limiter) the nitromethane fuel is pumped by a constant flow mechanical system at the rate of 100 gallons per minute to no less than 42 injector nozzles. Those nozzles are located above the supercharger, in the manifold and in the head. During the course of a 4.8 second, 1320 yard run no less than 8 gallons (US/ 30.28 litres) are fed thus into the engine. That same quantity in gasoline is sufficient for a Le Mans LMP1 Prototype, which has one tenth of the power (circa 650 bhp), to run 150 times as far.

Given the NHRA rules governing supercharger design and operation, gauge manifold pressure is normally in the region of 50

- 60 psi (3.4 - 4.1 bar), the upper figure seen on occasion as the car crosses the finish line. While the pressure in the manifold can thus exceed five times atmospheric we cannot expect the aforementioned figure of 6250 bhp to be doubled. In fact, even that power figure requires more than 2.5 times atmospheric when pumping losses, in particular the supercharger drive, are taken into account. Moreover, with around one third of the charge being less compressible fuel, we physically could not cram five times the volume of nitromethane into each cylinder.

Five times atmospheric can be built as an increasing amount of liquid fuel accumulates in the intake system reducing the room for

the compressed air. Thus while gauge pressure consequently builds over the course of the run the benefit of higher air pressure in terms

of cylinder filling progressively falls off. John Force Racing Funny Car engineer John Medlen notes that it is very important how the fuel is injected, so as to minimise the extent to which it, in effect "blocks" the airflow. "If you are not careful you can build a 'curtain' of fuel, which causes a pressure loss ahead of the intake valve."

It is not only a challenge to get the maximum amount of fuel into

each cylinder but also, once inside to burn it. Nitromethane is slow burning, to the extent that a significant quantity will invariably be lost ~

45

PROFILE

FORD BOSS 500

down the exhaust pipe, which again affects the product of a given level of supercharge in terms of horsepower at the flywheel.

When it comes to igniting the fuel the Funny Car motor is permitted two plugs per cylinder, each fired by its own 44-amp magneto. But nitromethane is not a flammable liquid: drop a lighted match into a pool of it and that match will fizzle out as surely as if

it had been dropped into a pool of water. Hit that very same pool of nitromethane with a hammer hard enough and the liquid contacted by the hammerhead will explode (don't try this at home). In fact, nitromethane needs to be heated to 35 degrees Centigrade before it emits sufficient vapour to be ignited by flame. The fuel for the Funny Car motor is a blend with a small percentage of methanol, which is flammable and which ensures that controlled combustion occurs in the circa-7:1 compression ratio cylinder. Nevertheless, the high boost Funny Car motor lives on the verge of detonation ...

Nitro (as the permitted 90%/10% nitromethanelmethanol mix is colloquially known) is heat and pressure sensitive. When more clutch is added during the course of a (throttle wide open) run, the increase in loading on the engine causes the fuel to burn more vigorously and more horsepower is produced. Renowned Bernstein Top Fuel Crew ChiefTim Richards made this point in Race Engine Technology issue 009. While the throttle is wide open from the word go the clutch takeup, the fuel pressure and the ignition timing are all adjusted on a preprogrammed automated basis during the course of a run (see sidebar:

The Lap).

A few years ago the NHRA mandated S5% as the maximum permitted percentage of nitromethane but for this year it has gone back to allowing the use of 90%. Medlen notes that the effect of the higher proportion of alcohol in the fuel was to cool the charge more and thus make the nitro harder to burn. "Running 90% I expect us to make

46

more power with less detonation. With 90% nitro we get less 'spiky', more rounded pressure peaks. Running 90% everything is different - the porting, the camshaft, the blower speed, the volume of fuel supplied by the pump, and so forth."

Note that mean cylinder pressure can be in the region of 10,000 psi, with pressure spikes that can be ten or more times that figure. As the exhaust cam tries to push its valve open against residual cylinder pressure, the force acting on the pushrod is in the region of 7000 lb, according to Comp Cams, which has never seen more than 3000 Ib in its involvement in many other forms of racing.

On the intake side the challenge is not so much to open the

valve but to control its closure so as to avoid bounce. Powerful and highly dampened triple coil springs stop the danger (not unknown) of ignition spreading up into the fuel-laden manifold, which can blow the top clean off of the motor. The Funny CarVS is barely controlled chaos and keeping it alive for just 4.S seconds is a real challenge. In that time, if it runs an average of SOOo rpm it will undergo just 640 crankshaft revolutions to reach the 1320-foot marker but frequently one or more cylinders will give up before that point.

"The race is 1320 feet not 1350," remarks Medlen. "You must constantly accelerate for 1320 feet; you don't want any drop off of power but you can afford for the engine to fail at 1321 feet!"

THE HEMI

Today's Funny Car motor has its origins in the Chrysler Hemi, the design of which in turn was conceptually derived from the Peugeot that won the 1912 French Grand Prix and the 1913 Indianapolis 500. In the thirties Chrysler undertook a wide-ranging study of cylinder and valve arrangements and concluded that the optimum shape of combustion chamber was (at that time) hemispherical, as pioneered

by Peugeot (which in turn had bought the rights to its engine design from Hispano Suiza). However, whereas this crossflow design was normally used in conjunction with four valves per cylinder and twin overhead camshafts, for ease of mass production Chrysler married it to two valves with pushrod operation. Introduced in 1951 displacing 331 cid, the Hemi VB had a 90-degree bank angle and a single camshaft running in the valley, the push rod system operating on each bank via offset rockers inboard intake valves, outboard exhausts.

The hemispherical chamber in the cylinder head was initially used in conjunction with an almost flat piston crown. However, from the introduction of the Hemi in 1951 through its glory days of NASCAR racing in the sixties there was a trend towards higher bore:stroke ratio while compression ratio requirement increased significantly, calling for a pronounced piston dome. This made for an 'orange peel' chamber form, which was not in the best interests of flame propagation. Nevertheless, supercharged Funny Car motors having a compression ratio in the region of 7:1, don't suffer this drawback and run a Hemi head in conjunction with flat piston crown.

The Hemi was taken out to 426

cid as a racing engine in 1964, when

it dominated the Daytona 500. This cast iron 'second generation' Hemi was developed by Chrysler engineers concurrently for stock car and drag racing and with its deep-skirted block and five bolts per cylinder head attachment it proved well capable of handling the demands of nitromethane fuel allied to supercharging. It also

lent itself to a larger displacement,

up to 500 cid. The inherent strength

of the Hemi together with favourable crossflow gas dynamics made it the engine of choice for Top Fuel and Funny Car racers, rather than rival ~

The newcomer: BOSS 500. Photo: Anne Proffit

Medlen makes a point. Photo: Anne Proffit

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PROFILE

FORD BOSS 500

Big Block wedge head pushrod VS designs.

Nitromethane, like methanol has a high latent heat of vaporization so the incoming charge has a beneficial cooling effect, to the extent that water-jacketing is not required for the Funny Car motor. Along the way replacement aluminium alloy blocks and heads were developed, deleting water galleries to structural gain. The first aluminium block was a casting by Keith Black; later came sub-200 lb, machined forgings from Brad Anderson Enterprises (BAE) and TFX, the latter now owned by AJPE. The usual material for the forged block is 6061 whereas the head will typically be forged from stiffer 6013 and likewise CNC machined. The block is invariably

run with press-fit ductile iron sleeves: the Hemi's 4.S00-inch bore spacing then leaves room for a bore that is normally in the region

of 4.19-inches. Significantly larger bores have been found to cost cylinder rigidity and in particular roundness through the implicit loss of liner wall thickness.

A bore of 4.19 inches is married to a stroke of 4.5 inches to keep within the maximum NHRA-permitted 500 cid displacement. The twin plug head's representative valve sizes are 2.45" (34% bore area) intake, 1.925" exhaust. Each head weighs around 40 lb, while with liners fitted the existing Hemi-patterned block and heads together tip the scales at approximately 270 lb. A fully dressed dry sump Funny Car engine weighs in the region of 500 lb.

BOSS 500: THE ORIGINS

Prior to the arrival of the Ford BOSS 500 all existing Funny Car motors were derivatives of the original 426 Chrysler Hemi. Aftermarket

blocks and heads might have replaced the original items but key characteristics had been retained: the various engines were all straightforward, if purpose-designed evolutions of the second generation Hemi. Moreover, the NHRA rulebook insisted upon the original Hemi bore spacing of 4.S00-inches together with the stock 5.400-inch cam centreline (height above the crankshaft axis). The head had to have the intake valve at 35 degrees from vertical, the exhaust

at 21 degrees, retaining thus the Hemi's signature 56-degree included angle. On top of this, on November 11 2003 the NHRA imposed a moratorium upon further engine development.

The moratorium included the intake manifold and supercharger.

JFR already made its own supercharger, which conformed to tight restrictions on intake and fuel system design. The rules also imposed a specific MSD twin ignition system. In addition any new block and heads to be used in Funny Car competition would have to be NHRA approved designs, rather than simply a design that conformed to the published rules.

The concept of the Ford BOSS 500 project came out of the JFR NHRA Funny Car team, of which Ford has been a long-term sponsor. "We petitioned Ford," recalls Medlen, "and Dan Davis (the head of Ford Racing) got behind it. Then Edsel (Edsel Ford II, a member of Ford's Board of Directors) got behind it, too. That was about three years before we launched the engine."

Ford could see the marketing advantage of running its own engine in the Funny Cars it sponsored. The project also permitted

the company to extend its technical partnership with JFR beyond the ~

48

The lights on the Christmas Tree flash green and in slamming the throttle open both drivers react equally fast. Both lanes provide the same amount of grip and both cars are wide open, straight and true all the way to the line. These cars have direct drive, run on the same specification tyre and given this all-other-thingsbeing-equal scenario the one with the most horsepower wins.

Not necessarily. Funny Car racing is less a contest of pure power, more a game of power exploitation over the four-pointsomething seconds it takes to cover the quarter mile (at the time of writing the fastest ever NHRA Funny Car race was that at the 2006 Finals on the Auto Club Raceway, Pomona, California when John Force ran 4.697 seconds, Jack Beckman, 4.662 seconds).

It is true that on a good run all the driver has to do is to release the brake and simultaneously open the (mechanically operated) throttle as fast as his or her reactions allow then unflinchingly hold the throttle open and aim squarely for the finish line a quarter mile straight ahead (where the car should cut the beam at 320 mphpius). But the Funny Car doesn't just wind up to the S250 rpm maximum permitted engine speed and stay there: to effectively transmit its huge horsepower to the track it will have been preprogrammed by the Crew Chief in terms of clutch control, ignition timing and fuelling, all of which are varied through the few short seconds it takes to run the track.

Each MSD Pro Mag system creates a spark that at SOOO rpm endures for up to 26 degrees crankshaft revolution. The normal ignition timing is in the region of 60 degrees BTDC but during the course of a run as much as 30 degrees retard will be applied. For its powertrain, by NHRA regulation the Funny Car is confined to electrical systems that, aside from the ignition and engine shut off, govern the fuel regulator and the position of the clutch release bearing. Ignition retard, fuel pressure and clutch control must all be activated by pre-programmed electrically operated timers. In effect this permits a pre-emptive (rather than reactive) form of traction control, which mayor may not work, according to how well conditions have been anticipated. This applies equally to Funny Car and Top Fuel. Reigning Top Fuel World Champion Tony Schumacher famously put it thus: "My job is to get the butterflies open - the rest of it is the Crew Chief's job".

As the butterflies flip engine speed shoots up taking supercharger lobe speed with it so that charge pressure builds almost as rapidly but off the line the centrifugal clutch

chassis, aero and safety; Ford engi neers contributed to the design of the BOSS 500. Beyond that there is also the potential henceforth to sell the engine in wet sump guise to Top Fuel competitors and thus recoup some of the development cost. For these various reasons Ford enthusiastically came on board.

Medlen recalls a lot of discussion with the NHRA, which would have to approve the design. Since the NHRA strives to maintain a level playing field it insisted that the BOSS 500 would have to follow the pattern of the Hemi. Ultimately it provided a set of tight parameters within which design work could proceed. Guided by Medlen, in 2006 JFR CAD specialist James Greg drew out the BOSS 500 based on those NHRA parameters and JFR's extensive knowledge of this type of motor. Greg's designs were critiqued by Medlen and other members of the JFR engineering team, which includes Austin Coil, Bernie Fedderly, Jimmy Prock and Dean Antonelli, and by Ford engineers, in an interactive process facilitated by the use of CAD.

This was the first time since Chrysler developed the Hemi for drag racing that anyone had designed a new Funny Car motor from scratch. The first block was machined in December of 2006 not long after Davis at the Las Vegas NHRA Nationals in October had confirmed the existence of the project (Race Engine Technology December 2006). However, the project took a setback early in 2007 when Medlen's

son Eric, a member of the JFR Funny Car driver squad, was killed in a testing accident. In the wake of the tragedy, as he came to terms with his grief Medlen understandably concentrated on safety issues and the BOSS 500 took a back seat.

The first running of the BOSS 500 came on the Las Vegas drag strip on October 18 2007. That was really only a systems check and a few days later the engine was formally unveiled at the SEMA show in downtown Las Vegas. After that launch JFR and Ford awaited the NHRA's approval of its design before proceeding any further with

on track development. That approval was not a given thing but it did eventually come in time for the BOSS 500 to contest the 2008 NHRA Funny Car season, initially powering a one car JFR entry with, as at the Las Vegas shakedown Mike Neff at the controls and Medlen as crew chief.

Neff's previous race driving experience was limited to just two 2007 end of season events handling a regular car for the JFR Funny Car team. While Neff had no prior experience at the wheel of any dragster, he was accomplished as a crew chief, having tuned Gary Scelzi to the 2005 NHRA Funny Car Championship. For his part Medlen had tuned Tony Pedregon's 2003 title winner, so both driver and Crew Chief knew how to win in NHRA Funny Car, even if engine, driver and even the chassis were all new at the start of the 2008 campaign ...

BOSS 500: THE BLOCK

The Ford BOSS 500 block starts as an 880 Ib forging, basically a cube of 6061 aluminium alloy, which is machined down to less than a quarter of that weight. JFR has in house a MAG Giddings and Lewis, CNC horizontal machining centre, which removes material at the rate of around 100 Ib per hour. After the first six hours machining, when the block is getting close to its final form, it is sent out for tempering.

Aluminium 6061 has magnesium and silicon as its alloying

50

THE LAP continued

is automatically slipped to avoid wheelspin. According to (anticipated) track conditions the clutch is slipped in the predetermined manner for at least the first half of the track length, perhaps to as far as two-thirds distance. An electronic timer controller progressively reduces slip until the car is (hopefully, since there is no feedback to this control system) ready to accept one-to-one drive.

Off the line the acceleration is of the order of 4.0-g and over the first couple of seconds that might rise to 5.0-g as the car powers to a speed in excess of 250 mph. However, over the balance of the run with aerodynamic drag increasing exponentially (as the square of road speed) the increase in speed is markedly less, so the accelerative g-force is much reduced. At the same time the tyres will have grown in diameter, altering the effective gearing.

There are almost two distinct phases to a sub-five second run.

Engine speed, having initially rapidly climbed to around 8100 rpm (kept shy of the limiter), it will have been pulled down as more clutch is progressively applied and as aerodynamic drag builds. By the time the car is ready to go one-to-one at perhaps 270

mph the engine may only be running 7000 rpm. Engine speed will thereafter progressively increase towards the finish line, where to make 320 mph-plus on direct drive it should have reached 8200 rpm (hitting the mandatory 8250 rpm limiter causes a time wasting ignition cut).

Fuel delivery is constant flow and the speed of the pump is a function of engine speed. Its supply to the engine increases with its speed as a relationship that is linear in respect of both fuel quantity and pressure. Thus, the pump supplies in the region of 5.5 gallons per minute at 40 psi when the engine is idling at 2000 rpm rising to 100 gallons per minute at 500 psi at 8000 rpm.

During the initial phase of the run when there is a lot of clutch slip a slider valve adjusts the quantity of fuel delivered to the engine. The slider valve is activated by fuel pressure rise and mitigates the initial increase in volume with engine speed, off the line. Thereafter a pre-programmed, electronically controlled fuel supply regulator can reduce pressure to match what the engine can (in theory) handle in terms of air/fuel ratio.

At the same time, throughout the run the ignition is electronically controlled albeit likewise only in a pre-programmed manner and typically 25 degrees or so is taken out after the launch, this reduction in power allowing the tyres to relax, otherwise the car can run into violent tyre shake. Towards the

end of the run timing might be taken out again, to stop the engine hitting the rev limiter.

Even if the driver is able to run wide open, straight and true and the car has been pre-programmed perfectly in anticipation of the prevailing track conditions in terms of clutch, fuel and ignition, it might not enjoy a perfect run. The Funny Car motor lives so much on the ragged edge that ideally it conforms to a famous adage - that the ultimate racecar fails as it crosses the finish line (another foot and it clearly hasn't been used the fullest extent

of its potential). In practice this means that Funny Car engines frequently suffer damage over the second half of the run.

In any case the motor is rebuilt between runs. A re-fettled engine will be warmed up for approximately 80 seconds, after which the valve covers are removed for checks, the oil is changed and the car is refuelled. The car is then fired up again and it carries a burnout prior to the actual run, this and the subsequent staging process taking total engine running time to close on three minutes. A good run from the green light will add less than five seconds under power to its total 'lap' time.

PROFILE

FORD BOSS 500

elements and its mechanical properties depend much upon its temper. During this heating and quenching process the alloying elements diffuse through it and react to form intermetallic compounds, which precipitate, forming small particles. These strengthen the material by impeding the movement of dislocations through the crystal structure of the alloy. The thus-tempered forging is final machined back on JFR's horizontal centre.

Medlen notes that tempering at a late stage in the production of the block not only strengthens it but also ensures that it has uniform density. "Normally the whole forging is heat treated and since it will not cool at the same rate throughout then the core will be softer. By tempering when the forging is less than 100 Ib from its final state we put the hardness back without sacrificing ductility and we get a core with good integrity."

Compared to the existing blocks used by JFR, Medlen believes that the BOSS 500 has superior integrity, strength and durability - essential for the platform of an engine making in excess of 6000 bhp. This is

due both to its manufacturing process (two of the three other NHRA approved blocks are likewise made from 6061 forgings supplied by the same company, Aluminium Precision Products of Southern California) and its design. The clean sheet of paper approach enabled JFR to optimise the distribution of material, according to consideration of mechanical and thermal loading, including the origin and direction of mechanical loads and thermal conductivity and thermal expansion.

"We took into account where loads are generated and the direction and magnitude of the various loadings," remarks Medlen: "within the parameters we had we were able to place material where necessary to best accommodate them."

The parameters in which JFR had to work included not only cylinder bore spacing, bank offset and camshaft centreline but also deck height, main bearing and camshaft bore diameters, lifter bore diameter and spacing and head stud position. In all these respects the BOSS 500 had

to follow existing engines, which in turn followed the original second generation Hemi. "We started with these bare bones," recalls Medlen, "and we modelled around them, to find the optimum structure."

Given the lack of coolant passages, each bank of the block is essentially solid aside from the cylinder bores, the lifter bores and the head stud holes, the positions of which were predetermined, and also the pushrod passage apertures and oil drain back holes. Nevertheless, Medlen notes that there was some scope for design variation within the tight parameters set by the NHRA. He gives the example of the lifter bores; while these were defined in terms of spacing, the actual distance relative to the cylinder bore was not prescribed. However, he explains that caution had to be paid when exploiting any such design scope. "The NHRA had the right to disallow the engine, even if it

was within its parameters, if it didn't like the intent of what had been done!"

On the other hand Medlen notes that over the years aftermarket block development had exploited a permitted tolerance of 100 thou in terms of lifter bore location. It was noted that the intake lifter could be moved this full amount rather than moving also the exhaust, to advantage. "We made a very slight gain here".

Medlen notes that main bearing distortion and alignment is a crucial consideration of this type of engine. "Historically we have not found keeping the cylinder bores round and in alignment to be a problem - the biggest hurdle has always been to keep the main bearings alive, especially when the tune up is less than perfect."

In this respect it is crucial that thermal expansion is the same all around the bearing housing and that all of the journal bores stay in position as temperature rises. This consideration is reflected by very subtle differences between the BOSS 500 and existing blocks. For example, just above the oil pan on an existing block can be observed pocketing of the external wall, to save material and thus weight. There is no comparable pocketing on the BOSS 500 block. That is a

51

PROFILE

FORD BOSS 500

WHAT IS A FUNNY CAR?

In effect a Funny Car is a version of a Top Fuel dragster that

has its 500 cid, supercharged V8 engine ahead of the driver (in traditional fashion) and which has a much shorter wheelbase. This allows the machine to be clothed in a carbonfibre body fashioned after a street car. The maximum permitted wheelbase is 125- inches and at the end of a run the car must weigh at least 2455

Ib including driver. Aerodynamic devices are confined to those incorporated into the body, which does not include a floor and no underbody airflow manipulation is permitted. The body is confined to a maximum of 40-inches front overhang, with a minimum ground clearance of 3.0-inches. The chassis is based on a tubular frame with integral roll cage. The car has direct drive through a rear end with a mandatory 3.2:1 gear ratio. A reverse gear has

to be provided. The engine feeds its power through a centrifugal clutch, the take up of which is automatically controlled. The

rear tyres are 'spec' slicks provided by Goodyear; front and rear suspension is prohibited. The car is fitted with hydraulic brakes on all wheels and retardation is also parachute assisted.

place where JFR wanted to retain material. Medlen explains: "here we keep mass in the block because it all helps tie the main bearing caps together more rigidly. Operating temperature is more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (55 Celsius) above room temperature and that can lead

to distortion. You want the main bearing bores perfectly round and perfectly aligned at operating temperature."

On top of this in further change from established design practice, the main bearing support was made more symmetrical. Medlen notes that normally thin side walls flank the main cap: "We didn't just look for the lower walls to carry the oil pan; we looked at the structure of the sides of the block in terms of how it supports main bearing loading."

Consequently, instead of straight-sided lower crankcase walls,

those of the BOSS 500 are flared internally. "This is better in terms

of mechanical and thermal loading," observes Medlen. He adds that the depth from the crankshaft axis to the BOSS SOD's oil pan is, "very similar" to that of JFR's existing engines. However, the BOSS 500 block wall extends right down to meet the pan rail (where a flange atop the wall of the pan meets a flange extending from the wall of the block).

At the same time the block skirt extends further down beneath the pan rail height, inside the pan. "This gives us more purchase on the main bearing cap," explains Medlen; "its web is deeper and we have more mass of material supporting it on the interior of the block."

Medlen reports that the BOSS 500 has the same pattern of four main cap bolts as the existing engines (two vertical, two horizontal) with studs of the same material and dimensions. "Thread pattern, depth of engagement - all the same." There is no room here for additional fasteners, or even for more substantial ones; "which is why we focussed on the distribution of material around the cap, to give

it more support. Where the cap meets the wall of the block we have doubled the contact area."

Externally the BOSS 500 block is readily distinguishable (aside

from a coat of Ford blue paint) by additional ribbing between opposite lifter bores. "We considered it important to provide better support for the lifter bores," remarks Medlen. "It is important to keep the bores in

52

correct alignment under thermal expansion." This alignment affects the functioning of the entire push rod system. The pushrod itself flexes under the extreme loading created by this type of engine and is even designed to rub against its passageway through the head so as to control its deflection.

At the rear the V8 is mounted into the Funny Car via a flange:

here the nine bolts attaching the block to the clutch bellhousing

have to resist the rotation promoted by engine torque. The BOSS

500 eliminates the normal cut out in the flange to accommodate a starter motor, in favour of a more symmetrical bolt pattern. It all helps in structural terms. Medlen admits that, having taken this general approach throughout the design of the BOSS 500 block initially it came out some 3 Ibs heavier than the BME and TFX productions otherwise used by JFR. "Through careful removal of material we will be able to get down to their weight in due course".

The BOSS 500 has started life with the same 4.1875" cylinder bore as other JFR motors. Medlen says that a 4.250" bore is feasible, leaving a 0.550" (14 mm) cylinder wall thickness. He does not feel that this

is insufficient in terms of cylinder rigidity but he does report that JFR has not found a 4.250" bore to be a gain in terms of performance. "In theory it should help as it unshrouds the valves but over the years, using that larger bore size we don't seem to have made as much power. I think the reason for that is the effect of the shorter stroke in terms of piston velocity in the region of peak cylinder pressure. Using the smaller bore and longer stroke, the consequently higher piston acceleration takes advantage of the rate of nitro pressure increase. That is the current thinking."

Compared to existing JFR motors, the BOSS 500 has thus the same cylinder spacing and bore size and the deck height is the same, too. "The regulations permit deck height to be 100 thou tall but we have never considered this advantageous," remarks Medlen. Thus the new motor started life with the same Darton ductile iron sleeves (dry liners) as used in existing JFR motors. "To save weight we might try trimming material from the sleeve that we think this engine can do without

but initially we wanted interchange of components such as these," explains Medlen. Not only did that policy help demonstrate to the

FORD BOSS 500 SPECIFICATION

NHRA Funny Car 90-degree V8

4.1875" x 4.5" = 495.5 cid

(106.3625 mm x 114.3 mm = 8120.5 cc) Roots-type supercharger

90% nitromethane fuel

Aluminium block and cylinder heads Iron liners

5 main bearings, plain Steel crankshaft, 4 pins Aluminium con rods

Light alloy pistons; 3 rings

Pushrod; gear driven single camshaft 2 valves, 2 plugs/cylinder Hemispherical chamber

2.450-inch inlet, 1.925-inch exhaust valve Electronic twin-plug magneto ignition Mechanical constant flow fuel injection 7:1 compression ratio

Maximum rpm 8250

NHRA the extent to which the BOSS 500 retains the Hemi concept, it was also clearly prudent from a logistical point of view during the initial development phase.

The sleeves push into the block, retained by a flange at the top.

When cold the flanges are an interference fit but running hot, since the thermal expansion of the aluminium block is around twice that of the iron there is something like 15 thou clearance between adjacent sleeve flanges. The sleeves are uncoated, JFR never having found a bore coating to be advantageous in this type of engine.

Medlen notes that each time a cylinder fires, pressure in excess of 10,000 psi tries to push the head off of the block. The Hemi pattern doesn't pass any of the head studs right through the main bearing caps but some bolts do go down into the crankcase. In the past JFR has experimented with shorter studs that save a little weight but this is not its normal approach these days and initially at least this is not the

approach of the BOSS 500. "However," adds Medlen, "we might find that the Ford block offers better alignment, so that we might not need the long studs and be able to save a little weight."

The steel head studs that the BOSS 500 employs are currently identical to those of JFR's existing engines. "The main studs need

a degree of elongation yet high tensile strength", remarks Medlen. "Through more than 20 years of evolution UFR has been supplied by ARP since 1984) we have developed an exotic material specification, which works".

BOSS 500: THE HEADS

The BOSS 500 employs the same Hussey Copper gasket for each head as existing engines (the thickness is varied to adjust compression ratio). As per established practice for this type of motor each head is attached by 13 studs, having a row of five taller studs towards the inside, the others in another row on the outside. The head is closed by a titanium valve cover; reshaped to help give the BOSS 500 its own identity.

While the general pattern is the same, weighing 35 Ib bare the head is lighter than existing designs. It is a subtle redesign in consideration of the mass distribution of material and in particular its thermal conductivity. "The existing head can be cooler at the end of the run than at the launch," observes Medlen. "That is the cooling effect of nitro. We have taken mass out of the head so that it operates at a gradually increasing rather than diminishing temperature. A warmer head means there is better opportunity to keep the nitro lit up."

The head is CNC machined atJFR from a billet. This is an aluminium alloy developed by material supplier ThyssenKrup, which is considered superior, particularly in terms of tensile strength compared to existing head material specification. At the same time there is no loss of weldability: "we do weld heads to repair them," notes Medlen. As per the regulations the valve and plug positions echo those of the

54

PROFILE

FORD BOSS 500

FORD BOSS 500 COMPONENT SUPPLIERS

Heads! Block: JFR

Liners: Darton Sleeve, Carlsbad, California Blowers: JFR

Crankshaft: Bryant Racing, Inc, Anaheim, California; Winberg, Denver, Colorado

Timing drive components: Casale Engineering, Santa Fe Springs, California

Pushrods: Manton Pushrods, Lake Elsinore, California Tappets: Morel Lifters, Cleveland, Ohio

Inlet Rockers: Stage V, Walnut, California

Exhaust Rockers: Bill Miller Engineering, Carson City, Nevada Pistons and Rings: Venolia, Long Beach, California

Piston pins: Bill Miller Engineering

Con Rods: Bill Miller Engineering

Rod bolts: ARP, Ventura, California

Crankshaft bearings: Clevite, Ann Arbor, Michigan Fasteners: ARP

Valves: CV Products/Xceldyne, Thomasville, North Carolina; Manley, Lakewood, New Jersey

Valve springs: Manley

Head Gasket: Hussey Copper, Eminence, Kentucky Gaskets: Fel Pro, Southfield, Michigan

Ignition system: MSD, EI Paso, Texas

Spark plugs: Autolite, Fostoria, Ohio

Fuel system: Rage Fuel System, Higganum, Connecticut Oil pumps: P&P Fabrication, La Habra, California

Exhaust: Jet Hot header coatings, Quakertown, Pennsylvania Filter: Fram, Danbury, Connecticut

Fluid lines: Earls, Long Beach, California

existing heads, the two 14 mm plugs positioned between the two valves, with their axis perpendicular to valve axis.

JFR uses a 2.470" intake valve and a 1.940" exhaust. "We could reduce the exhaust to fit a 2.5" intake but as it is the valves are very close to hitting one another on overlap," Medlen remarks. He notes that the overlap period is particularly critical: "the blower shoves fuel into the cylinder and on overlap we need a pressure wave from the exhaust to stop it going straight down the exhaust port. A big diameter exhaust pipe can over-scavenge and there will be insufficient pressure on overlap, whereas a smaller pipe can under-scavenge; the pressure will be so high that exhaust gas gets trapped in the cylinder, leading to detonation. You have to strike a careful balance."

Also critical, he notes, is the timing of exhaust opening. Too early and the pressure is still so high that the valve can get damaged: "The stem will be hot and the pressure on the valve head as the cam tries to push it open can be so high that the valve gets shortened by half an inch!" JFR has experienced this when opening the exhaust valve at 87 degrees BBOC. "You need to let the pressure blow down - 83 degrees is about right. The engine is a lot happier there - even at 85 degrees often it won't live".

The BOSS 500's porting is "only slightly different" from that JFR

has developed for its existing engines. "We experiment with different port shapes all of the time," remarks Medlen. "We do a lot of research using a sophisticated blow-through flow bench. At high boost the intersection of the port and the combustion chamber bowl are critical,

as is the shape of the bowl itself."

The BOSS 500 port shape and cross-sectional area are only subtly different from established practice while the design of the manifold above is likewise constrained by the rules and the BOSS 500 commenced life with the existing item. "We have worked with the same design of porting and manifold for about six years," notes Medlen. "We are used to tuning this combination. But we will see what the Ford engine needs ... n

BOSS 500: THE RUNNING GEAR

Like JFR's existing engines the BOSS 500 employs triple steel valve springs. "We don't like the spring rates of titanium coils," remarks Medlen; "we continue to evaluate titanium but currently we don't

see a gain". From new, unlike the exhaust the intake spring set is

not shimmed; it runs comfortably against the head material. On the exhaust side the heat can lead to annealing, hence the protective shim, although Medlen thinks that the BOSS 500 head's new alloy will assist in this respect. This engine has a slightly deeper spring pocket - "that gives us a little more operating room. But there was not too much scope to deepen it. .. n

The BOSS 500 head carries steel valve guides that are each fitted with a bronze liner. In general the valvetrain follows the specification of existing engines so the intake valve is solid titanium, the exhaust solid Inconel. Manley and CV Products! Xceldyne supply the

valves (JFR often has a dual supplier policy). While the exhaust is always machined from solid, the CV intake uses different material specifications for head and stem with the two parts fusion welded together. No valve coating is employed and the head is fitted with nodular iron based valve seat inserts. Valve lift is 850 thou on the intake side and 780 thou on the exhaust.

"These engines respond to 20 thou variation in lift," remarks Medlen. "We would like more valve lift but we cannot get a higher rocker arm ratio given the space envelope that we have to work within. We couldn't alter that parameter with the BOSS 500 due to the rules."

The intake valve rocker has a ratio of 1 .700:1, the exhaust of 1.580:1. The intake rocker is a steel production by Stage V with a roller wheel operating the valve whereas the, likewise steel, BAE exhaust rocker has a plain 'wiper' tip. The force required to open the exhaust valve against the enormous cylinder pressure is such that a roller would quickly fail.

Located on the inside of the head, the intake valve rockers are on

a common shaft; likewise the exhaust rockers on the outside. Those two shafts are supported by a row of five shared stands, with each stand bolted directly to the head. There is a bronze bush between each individual rocker and its respective fixed shaft, about which it is free

to rotate. The shaft is OLC coated using Extemeion Carbon Raptor (the only OLC in this engine).

The rear of the rocker carries a cup that is contacted by a ball at

the top of the pushrod. Cup height within the rocker is adjustable

with a lock nut fixing the chosen tappet setting. The pushrod is solid

steel with a 7!16-inch diameter. In the past gun drilled pushrods have proven less successful; the feeling, says Medlen, is that the additional ~

55

PROFILE

FORD BOSS 500

mass acts as a valuable dampener. "We have found that the rocker assembly works better with a solid shaft".

Medlen says it is accepted that the push rod flexes as it operates, to the extent that it rubs against the hole that provides its passage though the head casting. "When you consider its situation you see that the pushrod is a crooked column. Without that design it would flex more; rubbing against the hole reduces deflection and keeps it better centred at the rocker. That way it pushes more on the rocker from mid lift and we gain rocker velocity."

The alloy lifter bore carries a steel Morel roller lifter that has a Polydyne low friction coating on its outer surface and runs in a bath of oil. On the exhaust side the lifter uses Ed Morel's dual wheel concept in view of the loading involved. The camshaft is produced from

9310 billet steel by Comp Cams. It runs in five shell bearings. While its journals are the same diameter as those of the existing engine, sufficient material has been provided in the block, should the NHRA permit the use of a larger diameter.

Medlen reports that JFR is currently experimenting with the socalled 'Swap Firing Order' whereby (numbering cylinders 1-3-5-7

front to back on the lefthand bank; 2-4-6-8 on the righthand) the normal 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 becomes 1-8-7-3-6-5-4-2. Swapping cylinders 4 and 7 in this manner means that three rear cylinders are not firing successively and is felt to be beneficial in terms of the distribution of pulses in the intake, given that all eight cylinders share the same single supercharger fed plenum. "Testing this with the existing engine has shown promise," remarks Medlen.

The BOSS 500 block can take the same camshaft and crankshaft

as the existing JFR aftermarket blocks. It uses Ford main bearings. These are Clevite 77-Series bearings similar to those employed in existing JFR motors but they fit a regular Ford engine and consequently have a Ford part number. That particular Ford engine has the same, 3.0" main bearing journal diameter but a marginally larger diameter tunnel than JFR's existing engines. The difference is only O.OOll-inch so JFR's existing Clevite bearings would fit but, observes Medlen, would be slightly loose, given that the BOSS 500 block is machined specifically for the Ford bearing. While interchange of parts was a major consideration, the integration of an existing Ford component was understandably an overriding consideration.

Following by regulation the existing design the crankshaft has 2.5" diameter big end bearing journals. With a lightening hole drilled through each big end journal and the webs that support it and the same approach through the central axis the steel crankshaft weighs 65 lb. It is undergoing re-evaluation; "we are looking at a revised counterweight design for improved balance - this is an ongoing process that applies equally to the existing engines," remarks Medlen.

"The front and rear webs are counterweighted with a lot of Mallory tungsten alloy. We only have room to add Mallory to the front and rear counterweights, so that creates a considerable couple trying to whip the crankshaft. It hurts the rear bearing, it stops the clutch running

true and typically the life of a crankshaft is only four or five runs. The location of the counterweights relative to their adjacent crankpin is the key, together with pin arm mass. We are looking at rotating the front and rear counterweights and altering pin arm mass".

56

JFR is working with its suppliers, Bryant Racing and Winberg, to develop its crankshaft. At the front the BOSS 500 crankshaft has a splined rather than a keyed drive for the camshaft and blower drives, to increase contact area. Medlen remarks that it takes 1000 Ib.ft torque to drive the blower. At the other end the flywheel is attached

to an integral flange by eight bolts, a time honoured solution. There

is no crankshaft vibration dampener. "We run out of room!" remarks Medlen, who denies the suggestion that the blower drive belt acts as a form of dampener.

"We see such severe vibration that it is hard to maintain the blower drive shaft. The supercharger rotors run at up to 12,000 rpm. When the engine slows the rotor that isn't directly driven by the engine tries to drive the belt-driven rotor. That in turn tries to send the drive back to the crankshaft through the belt..;"

Medlen points out that the magneto drive shaft does help dampen torsionals. "We once tried a 1.0" rather than 0.5" diameter shaft. That took torsional activity out of the shaft but all of the vibration went straight through to the magneto, which broke. I think also the camshaft absorbs engine vibration in the same way as does the smaller diameter magneto shaft. The camshaft twists and protects the valvetrain from crankshaft torsionals and the magneto driveshaft works in the same way. However, the torsional activity means that the camshaft only lasts 19 runs whereas we get 150 runs out of a magneto driveshaft."

The crankshaft is driven by Venolia pistons and BME pins and con rods, which follow the normal pattern of this type of engine. Rod length is varied according to compression ratio: 6.966" is typical. The rod weighs 993 gm complete with bolts. The complete piston and rod assembly weighs 2260 gm while each big end bearing shell weighs 26 gm.

BOSS 500: THE ANCILLARY SYSTEMS

In the past JFR, which has its own blower dyno, saw unacceptable variances between the superchargers it was supplied. "We can keep tighter tolerances by making our own supercharger," remarks Medlen.

The exhaust is open; an individual pipe for each cylinder has a length of 34" to clear the Funny Car body and a diameter of 2.5-2.75" according to tune. In addition to the mild steel pipe there is a mild steel outer tube to provide support and insulation.

Supplied by Rage, the fuel pump is driven from the nose of the front end gear-driven camshaft, ahead of the oil pump/magneto driveshaft. The oil pump is driven off the rear of the shaft from which both MSD Pro Mag magnetos are powered.

As we noted, the BOSS SOO's pan rail depth is comparable to

that of JFR's existing engines. In turn the pan depth itself is the same due to the regulations that call for a Funny Car to have a dry sump

and for minimum ground clearance height. The BOSS 500 started

life with a single oil scavenge from the rear of the sump pan, Steve Plueger's P&P Fabrications supplying its 'Dual Pump' with a single scavenge and a single pressure stage. This two-stage pump uses gerotor technology. However, JFR was meantime also developing a three stage, twin scavenge pump jointly with Waterman and Rex Erp and using Waterman's gear-type pump technology (as used in the Funny Car fuel pump). The second scavenge stage is for the valley area.

Medlen explains that a number of factors make scavenging a Funny Car motor particularly challenging. Nitromethane fuel squeezes past the pistons, to the extent that there are always a couple of gallons of

it found in the pan at the end of a run and at all times there is positive pressure in the crankcase. At the same time the extreme accelerative force makes it very hard for oil to return to the pan. "With acceleration up to 5-g the oil stacks up at the back of the block, where you get a

lot of oil in the valley. There is a port in the block to take oil from the lifter bore area to the pan but it is very difficult to scavenge under

the conditions we have. The forces push oil in the pan towards the scavenge pick up but also push it away from the cylinder bores."

On the pressure side the oil flows to the engine via a filter with a bypass lest the filter clogs up. "The filter has a screen that must cope with oil that goes from 70W to 20W as it is diluted by nitro through a run", Medlen notes: "it is quite a compromise". He also notes that the oil is undergoing that drastic change in viscosity within the course of less than 700 crankshaft revolutions from start to finish line!

Inside the engine oil is sent via galleries to each head and to each main bearing and thence via a crankshaft drilling feed to the adjacent big end, in conventional fashion. The BOSS 500 staggers the size of the orifices feeding each main bearing, the rear bearing's orifice having 18% greater area than the front.

"This bearing sees the most load so we give it the greatest volume of oil", notes Medlen. He adds that this and "a more consistent clearance around each bearing" should avoid the BOSS 500 running an additional oil line from the pump to the rear of the block, a solution sometimes employed on existing engines. Consistency of clearance with thermal expansion of the block is a function of the support the BOSS 500 gives its main bearings and is particularly significant given the loss of viscosity through the course of a run. "There is over a gallon oil loss per main bearing journal," remarks Medlen. "This oil goes up through the drain back holes into the cylinder heads. You do want a lot of oil in the top end - but how much?"

The fact that the BOSS 500 uses an Extremeion DLC-coated rocker shaft permits reduced clearance between the shaft and the rocker body and this has increased the pressure of the oil feed to the pushrod

cup. Oil passes from the shaft through the rocker to the cup and in the other direction to the spring, where it creates splash lubrication. Not that there isn't generally a lot of oil in the head: "typically the valve cover is half full of oil!" Medlen acknowledges. "We try to return oil to the pan without spoiling the splash lubrication of the top end. But the car accelerating from 0 to 270 mph in 660 feet makes the oil 'stand up': it is a unique challenge!"

Externally the blue-painted engine is characterised by its different design oil pan and, up top, by valve covers that have Ford BOSS 500 lettering, which recalls the glory days of Ford Racing.

THE BOSS 500 ON TRACK

The necessary NHRA approval for its participation having been granted, after four days of testing on the drag strip at Phoenix, Arizona the Ford BOSS 500 made its competition debut at the opening race

of the 2008 NHRA season. It would be nice to be able to report that the new motor won first time out at this Winternationals meeting on the hallowed quarter mile at Pomona, California February 7-10 but remember that it is not feasible to test such a power plant on any dyno. After running part-track passes during the Phoenix test days the BOSS 500 had as its first proper quarter mile test, qualifying for the Winternationals with Medlen as Crew Chief and Neff at the controls.

The BOSS 500 came out of the box very strongly. Neff qualified at 4.850/321.65 mph on the Thursday, fastest at that early stage of the proceedings. He backed that up with 4.840/317.64 mph on the Friday to end the second day fourth overall. Both days he was the fastest

of JFR's four-car squad, in spite of an inevitably conservative set up. Alas, on the Saturday both qualifying runs were troubled leaving him 10th overall with the Friday time. On Sunday he launched well but at about 1000 feet the blower belt came off and the result was a losing 5.374/205.72 mph.

The second 2008 race was at Phoenix, February 22-24. Here Neff was a splendid second in qualifying with a 4.798 run at 322.73 mph and again he was top dog of the JFR runners. Sadly he went out in the first round of eliminations suffering tyre smoke and shake within the

first 20 feet. The BOSS 500's time will come. •

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