ðH geocities.com /Baja/Dunes/6565/v12.htm geocities.com/Baja/Dunes/6565/v12.htm .delayed x ŸKÔJ ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÈ @þÑ k& OK text/html ÀÃg k& ÿÿÿÿ b‰.H Wed, 22 Jul 1998 03:13:01 GMT 2 Mozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98) en, * žKÔJ k& My Dream Engine
This is My Ultimate engine
All Pictures and Articles Taken From March
1992 Petersen's 4Wheel & Off Road
Falconer V12
The Test Truck
Corvette Throttle Body mounted to seperate intake plenums on each side of
the V12 tuned port-port-injection manifold. K&N air filters were used in this for a neat
look.
The standard V8 next to the V12 shows the 8.8in. difference.
This is the standard Interior with GM tachometer and fuel
mixture gauge on the floor.
These are some extra's that were added to make it more sharp.
The Logos on the door and the Stainless Steel exhaust system
Major Muscle
With Tons Of Torque, is the Falconer V12 the ultimate truck engine?
The GM C/K pickups are some of the best new trucks available. But for someone used to
seriously built engines, stock small-blocks may seem a little shy on torque. But there's a new
name in the C/K power game and it's not an unfamiliar one.
Ryan Falconer has been building Chevrolet and other General Motors engines for every
type of high-performance application --- including offshore power boats, IMSA GTP,
SCORE/HDRA and the Mickey Thompson Stadium Truck series, for more than 20 years. In the
past three years, Ryan's direction has shifted from building racing engines to manufacturing
engines. The result is the Falconer V12, a V12 engine based on the small-block Chevy.
For those looking for the ultimate tow vehicle, the ultimate hauler, the ultimate off-
pavement vehicle or just something fast and unique, the Falconer V12 and the new GM C/K
truck line seem like an obvious combination.
Falconer's developmental mule was a GMC 4x4 pickup, and it's currently undergoing the
rigors of smog certification to allow the V12 to be sold as a conversion and as the powerplant for
a limited production run.
Let's get to the heart of this beast. The all-aluminum Falconer VI 2 engine powering this
GMC 4x4 sports a hefty 800-cubic-Inch displacement, yet it weighs in at a mere 520 pounds.
Inside the block is a 3.75-inch stroke billet crankshaft specially made by Keith Black. Carrillo
rods were chosen for this application, and J.E. forged pistons fill the 4.125 - inch bore.
The splayed-valve cylinder heads, also aluminum, were designed with large ports in order
to optimize porting that might be needed for the high-performance-application V12s. Since this
is one of the "lower-performance" engines, Falconer left the intake and exhaust ports alone. In
order to straighten up the somewhat crooked pushrod geometry common to splayed-valve heads,
special dedicated rocker arms were made, investment cast from 17-4 stainless steel. In order to
give the pushrods correct vertical alignment, the exhaust rockers were made physically longer
than the intake to allow for the straighter pushrod geometry. Camshaft Machine in Jackson,
Michigan, ground the hydraulic-roller profile cam that helps deliver the power all the way up to
the 5500-6000-rpm redline.
Compression was set at 9.5:1 to allow for street gas, and a lay-down-style, tuned-port-
injection manifold was hand fabricated for the dyno testing. Uli Petersohn at Racetronic built the
electronics for the fuel injection, thought interfacing with the stock GM computer may become
necessary for emissions certification. As you'll see in the photos the runners for each side of the
V12 meet in respective intake plenums, each fed by a 42mm Corvette throttle body. Though the
air inlets will be routed through the fenders in the same manner as the stock vehicle, preliminary
air intake was open to the engine bay, capped off with K&N filters for a clean look. The
distributorless ignition is comprised of two sets of Delco V6 ignition coils that are driven by twin
crank triggers.
Now about the power: How does 700 horsepower at 5200rpm and 750lb-ft of torque at
4500 rpm sound? There's definitely no shortage of torque with the V12, especially when you
consider that it offers 560 lb-ft at 1500 rpm. With a smaller bore and stroke (the same as a small
block 400) than an equivalent-displacement big-block, and lots less rotating mass, the V12 is
incredibly smooth. Add to that more valve area than a V8, and you get torque curve that is both
tall and flat all the way up to the 5500-rpm redline.
Since the V12 engine is 8.8 inches longer than the standard small-block Chevy that it
replaces, there was some head scratching as to whether any cutting to the frame or engine bay
would be necessary. Soon after removing the stock engine, the answer came back: No sweat.
There was a little cutting that had to be done, but only to the fan shroud in order to clear he
accessory pulleys. The frame and body remained untouched. Borla performance custom
fabricated a complete stainless-steel exhaust system for the truck, from the headers down to the
mufflers and tailpipes.
Since the V12 has the same front format and rear bellhousing as the GM as the GM
small-block, all of the accessories went back into place without a hitch. Because the forward
engine mounts on the V12 block are 8.8 inches farther forward than the V8, steel plates were
fabricated to relocate the frame engine mounts forward. The 4L60E transmission bolted up nicely
after B&M tightened up the inner components to handle the monstrous amount of torque from
the V12.
Because it's all aluminum, the V12 cools far easier than an iron big-block or small-block;
thus, for the initial testing the stock radiator was used with two 16in Derale electric fans moving
the air. The Derale electric fans have a unique feature that allows them to pull or push the air
(due to a reversible fan blade) with little overall change in cfm. Future plans will no doubt call
for a larger radiator.
The V12 uses the stock oil-filter cap and PVC valve, and the transmission and engine oil
dipsticks remain in there stock locations. This makes for a very clean yet custom installation. The
swap from stock engine to V12 should take eight to ten hours to complete, according to Falconer.
Attention to detail was maintained on the outside of the truck as well as under the hood.
For this, Alan Budnik was enlisted to use his talents on the eye-catching billet aluminum wheels.
BFGoodrich Radial All-Terrain T/As were chosen to replace the stock rubber and provide more
off-pavement grip. A Trader's Truck Accessories billet aluminum inset graces the front of the
truck (perhaps with a Falconer V12 logo for the production trucks?). The Luxxus tonneau cover
is similar to the one found on the Syclone; it installs without drilling any holes in the bed.
After climbing behind the wheel of the very stock looking cockpit, your initial reaction is
to stab the gas pedal and go. This, however, is not the way to drive this truck. (Remember the
560 lb-ft of torque at 1500rpm?) Ignoring the tachometer and driving by the sound of the engine
will get you to 80mph before you know it. The amazing thing is, you only need to use ½ in of the
pedal; any more and the tires start spinning ferociously.
As yet, limited production (50 to 100 trucks) is slated to begin soon, possibly with the
engine downsized to 500 cubic inches. With the increase in production the V12 4x4 will become
more affordable than you might think. There is defiantly some fun on the horizon.
This Article Taken From Peterson's 4Wheel & Off Road magazine March 1992.
Click Here To Download Article in Wordperfect Form As A Zip File
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