In today’s world of high performance power boating and boat racing, basic high performance and competition racing engines start out at approximately 500 ci(cubic inch) to 670 ci. For those in the hard core Drag racing or poker run extremists 700 plus cubic inch has become common these days. Unfortunately, we have all been pigeonholed due to the fact engines do not have the physical square inch needed to accommodate for the larger parts. In layman’s terms we need a larger engine block! Traditionally, standard style blocks just have never been built large enough to house the oversized parts needed.
Until now!
After being repeatedly goaded by his long time customer, Craig Olson, to build something bigger, Sonny Leonard did just that. He created a monster 1,005.8 CI engine. Sonny Leonard of Sonny’s Automotive Racing, is known for making “Big” engines; smallest being 611ci up to 940ci for the street.
Leonard hit the drawing board and came up with the “biggest big-block on the planet” a 1,005.8ci, 5.220-inch bore, and 5.875-in stoke monster called “Godfather”. With 2,150hp at 8,000 rpm and 1,500lb-ft of torque at 6,200 rpm on 112-octane fuel, this is one bad boy to be reckoned with.
With the help of pro marine engine builder Alexi Sahagian, of popular Boostpower USA Marine in California, Sonny and Alexi teamed up on the new 800ci product and soon 1000ci designed for poker run engines. Sonny consulted with Alexi on the block and popular wedge head and created an all new design for what’s referred in the marine industry as the 800 cubic inch monster. Boostpower Marine produces all of the parts for this monster with his partner/mentor in Big Inch, Sonny Leonard.
The question is “Does size really matter”? Let’s look at the size difference used to make this bad boy happen. The Godfather is 34″ wide at the valve covers’ out edge. From crank centerline to the top of the throttle body 26.5″. From the flywheel flange to the crank bolt the Godfather is 32″ in length. Making it only a merely 1.4 inches larger than a stock big block Chevy. Having that additional 1.4″ means the difference in allowing bigger and better parts to fit.
The Godfather uses a CNC-ported hemispherical head with a 680cc intake runner, volume ports flow at 740 cfm with 1.300 inch lift. While the standard Big Block Chevy uses a Brodix Big Block head with only a 475 cfm at 1.3inches.
The Godfather is 8 inches wider at the top of the valve cover. The cam bore is raised 2 inches just to accommodate for the crank’s monolithic throw. The Godfather crank centerline stands at a whooping 12.225 inches from the deck. The GM crank only comes in at 9.80inchs. The Godfather uses a cam with an advanced 121-degree lobe separation angle with a 118 degree centerline. With an intake advance of 3 degrees. Made from titanium the intake valve is 2.900″. The big block Chevy is 2.250″.
The roller lifters come in with a 0.950 inch wheels in a 1.095-inch body. GM uses a 0.842 inch body with 1 inch plus lift. The pushrods had to be enlarged from 3/8″ to 5/8″ to keep up with 11.30″ on the intake and 12.735″ on the exhaust. Just as the pushrods had to be enlarged, so did the Crank, coming in with a 5.875″ stoke. Making the crank 1.625″ larger then the standard 4.25″ crank in a 454. They did leave one thing in common with the Big Block Chevy, the bearing surfaces. The bearing surfaces still matches the main and rod bearings of the Big Block Chevy.
Made from titanium the intake valve is 2.900″. The big block 2.250″. Most 540ci Big Block Chevy’s strokers use a 6.385 rod. The Godfather uses a rod around 8″. The Godfathers pistons measures in at 5.220″ while a 454 big block measures in at 4.251″.
To help fuel the Godfather, the intake mounts four 2.750″(id) two-barrel Accufab throttle-bodies, with a flow of 924 cfm each, eight 65bl/hr main injectors, and eight 35-lb/hr supplemental injectors. Last but not least the cam. The Godfathers cam comes in at 1.300/1.315″ valve lift and 290/319 degrees of duration at .050. The standard Chevy? Only .700″ range. The Godfathers cam is definitely a beast.
Both the Boostpower Marine Big Inch Motor and the street Godfather are scaled up big blocks. Alexi designed a rod ratio to prove the fairy tale about big inch motors not revving! The Boostpower 800 ci engine revs 8000rpm with no problem as the rod ratio is one of a small block Chevy. A custom crank, rod and pin location is the answer to this issue Alexi states.
With Sonny the master of producing the engine blocks and hardcore big inch castings and Alexi producing the entire marine engine assemblies and specialty tuning, the future will be seeing some big thumpers out on the water.
For more information contact:
Sonny’s Automotive Racing
www.SonnysRacingEngines.com
434-239-1009
Boostpower USA Marine
2560 Calcite Circle
Newbury Park,Ca 91320
Boostpower.Com
877-Bpower-4-u
