Blue Oval Brawler -- Technical Article -- Engine Masters Magazine

With the Ford's tall deck and Livernois' choice of a short rod, the piston compression height was relatively tall at over 1.600 inches. Note the full skirt on the custom Bill Miller piston. Lateral gas ports were employed, and the pistons were fully coated.

Total Seal gapless top rings handled the sealing of combustion gasses, while the Napier-faced second ring worked as an oil scraper. Both rings are 0.043 inches, while the oil control ring measures 3 mm.

A small-block Chevy sized piston pin joins the piston to the rod. The small end of the rod is not bushed, depending instead on a casidium coating to prevent galling.

Keeping parasitic losses to a minimum, Livernois machined the oil pump housing and gears, reducing its pumping volume. The oil pressure was kept to a minimum.

Inside the crankcase, it's easy to spot the cylinder bore sleeves. The sleeves project 0.500 inch below the original bores, providing extra support to the piston for improved ring stability and seal.

Reduced main journals ride in 340 Mopar bearings, with bearing spacers fitted to the block to take up the difference.

Custom main bearing caps were machined by ProGram Engineering to accept the small-block Mopar main bearings in the Ford block.

A custom Moldex crank transforms the push of the pistons to useable power. The crank was fully profiled for minimum windage.