A Complete Rebuild! Part 1
Extraordinarily powerful, the 1,000HP Hellephant crate motor is cherished among Mopar enthusiasts. This video affords us the opportunity to observe as nationally recognized performance guru and Forza owner Brenton Brown tears into a 1,000HP Hellephant engine and explains the intricacies hidden therein. Take a look.
All-Aluminum 3.0 Liter Supercharged HEMI Engine
The 1,000HP Hellephant is an all-aluminum 426 cubic-inch HEMI engine with a 3.0-liter supercharger on top. As advertised, the Hellephant is capable of delivering 1,000HP and 950 lb.-ft. of torque. The Hellephant engine block is made of cast aluminum with four-bolt powder metal main bearing caps. The crankshaft is forged steel, and the connecting rods are of a forged H-Beam design with forged aluminum pistons. Bore is 4.125-inches and stroke is 4-inches. The hemispherical chamber cylinder heads are all aluminum with 54.3-millimeter intake valves and 42-millimeter exhaust valves. Compression is 9.5:1. That’s the technical specs. Let’s see what the Exotic Car Doc can add to the equation.
Forza Hellcat Performance Packages
Many of the high-performance components found on the Hellephant crate motor closely resemble those used in Forza Performance Packages. For example, since 2015 Forza Stage 2 through 4-R Packages have included an oversize harmonic damper pulley that is pinned to the crankshaft. The Hellephant comes from Mopar Performance with the exact same setup. This arrangement provides increased pulley-to-belt surface area and guards against slippage (crankshaft to damper) at high RPM. Note the Gates Green belt. Forza uses this belt because it has proven to be the superior option. Brenton points out that the timing cover on the Hellephant engine is also configured to accommodate the larger damper. Other Hellcat engine timing covers must be modified prior to oversize damper installation.
Supercharger Removal
Next up, Brenton removes the supercharger from the Hellephant. He then points out key differences between the Hellephant supercharger and the typical Hellcat supercharger. Brenton gives us some insight into supercharger porting strategies involved with various Forza Performance Packages and notes how they remind him of the factory castings found on the Hellephant supercharger. Spoiler alert: this particular Hellephant supercharger will be replaced with an aftermarket upgrade.
Keep watching as Brenton rips into the top end of this 1,000HP Hellephant engine.
