This NASCAR Engine Was Built 20 Years Ago and NEVER Used! How Much Power Has It Lost? (Ford C3) 

Some of you are misunderstanding our confusion. We’re fully aware one engine is 9:1 and the other is 14:1. The confusion comes from the comparison of each engines individual dyno numbers then and now. NOT directly comparing the two. That answer is obvious 😂 stapletonautoworks.com

OK, I just spent 43 minutes watching a video of a 20 year old Cup engine run on a dyno and listened to every word intensely.. Yes I do love this stuff as much of you and I love and miss The Golden Age. Going to races with friends and family in the 70`s to the mid late 2000`s is a fond memory of mine.

The man said it himself. "Them rust pits do hold oil". Its the reason I don't worry about them too much.

Lake Jr is a really cool guy! A natural in front of the camera and really enthusiastic. Thanks for doing this whole series.

Like Derek (vice grip garage) would say "this stuff is mind bottling". Your channel evolved into something very few get to see. The relationships you made are opening more and more doors and that's a great thing. Thanks for following your dream and sharing that dream.

THE PLOT THICKENS....We freakin one this stuff. Never a dull moment and these things are completely unpredictable 😂

As a V8 Supercar fan (Aussie) can I just say I am obsessed with these NASCAR videos and how well you cover them Mitch, the people you meet, the way Logan chips in. It is so fascinating to meet so many of these super down-to-earth people and follow the history through your channel. These heyday videos of NASCAR very much remind me of the nostalgia of our own V8 racing series during similar times. They're not too far removed from one another but I've learned so much I didn't know from these videos and can't get enough. Keep them coming! Keep up the great work!

My grandparents house was just through the woods from lake speeds shop and we use to hear them dyno motors sometimes until 11pm at night, was the greatest sound in the world really!!! The paint and body guy Rick was my uncle he worked for lake speed and was the one they mention in the shop tour video

As a long time "budget" race engine builder some of the things I have learned in your "tech" videos are invaluable. As an old school nascar fan (don't care much for what it has become) I am overjoyed to see the history preserved WELL DONE

This series of uploads with Lake Jnr and his crew had been absolutely unmissable, what an interesting group of guys, the knowledge, the passion, the history and the humour all in one place!! Brilliant! Huge thanks to everyone involved, great job guys.

Another stellar video. My stepdad got me into Nascar and Indycar many years ago. He passed last year and I truly wish he could have been around to see these videos you guys make. He would have absolutely loved it. Learning about these old engines and teams has been amazing. The stories told in your videos and the history lessons are simply incredible. I've watched hundreds of races with my stepdad and we argued over many things that happened in those races and laughed at others. Seeing these old cars and driver/owners/techs/fabricators is a total trip in every aspect of enjoyment. I really wish I could share it with my stepdad. Don't ever stop, Mitchell and Logan, this is truly a special thing you are doing.

That is simply amazing for an engine that has “sat” for 20 years. Bring back the 80s and iroc etc. Then watching racing would be fun again. Keep doing what you are doing!!!

I like that you and Logan are young folk but love nostalgia. My daughter is 17 and grew up around me and vintage motorcycles,events etc and she appreciates the vintage stuff too

This is behind the scenes history that fans never seen and it's cool seeing the progression.

l started builing engines in the late 70's . This video was absolutely mind blowing . the rust on the cyl walls i would have thought would have broken the rings at start up or at high rpm's . l could have made this comment a mile long with all i watched . lake speed is one cool dude for doing these videos with you . this video was just amazing and will be in my top favorites . thanks .

As a old school guy myself it’s heartwarming to see these classics from the 90s and 2000s race cars to be rebuilt and saved.

I was amazed how that engine performed. The excitement that Lake Jr has with his new tool is fun to watch. He's like a kid at Christmas. Y'all got a great channel. I really appreciate the history that you are bringing to light for all of us as well as for you.

Thanks to Greg for being part of this "experiment ". What a wealth of knowledge 👏

That's wild. I have a 302 that I had built the year I got married, 2003. It's bin sitting in my barn ever since. I got motivated a while back to put it in my first truck, the one I drove in high school that I still have and it was locked up. I filled the cylinders with oil and let it sit for a week. Went out a few weeks ago and it turned over pretty good. I thought the same things that were said here about the valve spring and rockers. It has the biggest roller cam you could get at the time from comp. I told myself no point in throwing it back in its junk. No more than I'd take it out it might be alright. Learn something new with every one of your videos I watch.

Thank You. Very cool learning from you guys, Mr. Speed and Greg Anderson walks in. This is the Nascar I love, today's nascar left us behind.

32:07 Jeffrey would theoretically have 560 hp if he lost 44% of his power. However, if he had a piston break like you said, I'd assume that number to be much closer to 0 hp

I would not mind seeing ANY performance factory tour! Anything from torque converters, balancers. Literally anything performance oriented would be amazing to watch

Was not expecting it to make the same power as it did 20yrs ago. I’m gonna fog a can of that stuff in mine lol. That was #6 cylinder on a ford btw. Lol. Keep up the good work. Hell I’d watch a harmonic balancer factory video.

"Dennis knows more than he lets on" is the understatement of the year I imagine.

Super cool! I love that Lake Jr. spends so much time going through all of this with you guys. Can't wait to see the progress on this bullet. Hope y'all have a great time in Vegas.

Springs do not lose rate from being compressed. Too much heat and/or coil bind are the only thing that will change spring rate. Think about it. Every engine throughout its life ALWAYS has some compressed springs whether running or sitting

I geeked out on the video! I've allowed been told, a seasoned block is the best block. Meaning, a block that was left out back for years and gone through winter, summer, rain, snow, etc is the best block. You proved that.

Well done brother. You are bringing some real gold to people who love all of this. Lake Speed stuff was awesome (former kart racer myself) and Lake Jr. is a revelation. Such encyclopedic knowledge, the piston, ring and cylinder finish wisdom is incredible. You are in fact doing important work and bringing these stories out in a way that is high level but approachable. That feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment you are having comes from doing something that you are really very good at, doing it better than others could because of who you are - thanks for doing what you do.

Each cylinder of a perfectly balanced engine contributes 12.5%. If 1 cylinder is down 10% that equates to that cylinder contributing 11.3%. So the engine is 98.8% of a perfectly balanced engine.

You're passion is contagious Mitchell. This does take me back to working with my dad building and repairing cars. And going to the races as a family back in the '50s and '60s with his stock car on the tow bar behind the family car. BTW mostly at Green Valley (aka North Hills raceway) the remnants of which can still be seen between I279 and Mt Nebo Rd right North of the deck hockey rink.

Nick Ramey is my brother in law. He married my sister Lynn. Love the Videos. I have a few stories if your interested. I’m a Dirt Track Latemodel Fan myself. I had a Rocket Chassis Latemodel. We built our Own Engines. I’m 57 now. Grew up turning wrenches. I sold everything after the 2016 season due to have major neck surgery. Had C5 and C6 replaced with Cadaver Bones along with 2 heart attacks. I still go to the Track on the weekends. My home track is Portsmouth Raceway Park in southern Ohio

I grew up watching NASCAR in the early 70s and moved on to open wheel in the 80s. I’ve always watched it, but I lost a lot of the interest I had as a young kid. I’ve been watching your channel for awhile now and it’s been such a pleasure to seen all they guys that made it what it is today. I have really enjoyed Lake Speed and son and the series of GT40 from Holman Moody. We can’t forget these craftsmen and the work they did without the aid of computers and massive budgets. Keep it up, my friend. So much more to cover.

My mind is blown after seeing the rust and getting the results of the dyno. But his explanation makes total sense to me. I find this channel more and more interesting and fun at the same time! Keep up the good work! Loving it! Things like this is why I decided to wrench for a career.

Great video, I remember watching races with my neighbor, ever weekend, late 80s 90s, early 2000s, he passed not long after that, miss those days. Good ol days, thanks again for bringing it to us, enjoy LV, be safe!!!

This stuff is amazing. Watching you guys thinking engine that hasn't been used it's 21 years and make a gem out of it. I am in ahhhhhh! This rocks my socks.

In 1978, I lived in Clinton, MS. One of my favorite things to do was to to Lake's rental track, Speed Carts, and ride the go karts. They were the best rental karts you could find anywhere. One day, one of the guys at the track told me they were needing to hire some help. My work was seasonal and summer time was the on season. I applied and got that minimum wage job of helping operate the rental track. That was the most fun summer job I ever had. I can tell you that Lake Speed is one of the most impressive men I have ever met. He was and I can now see, is still very focused on what his purpose is in life. Lake Jr. was just a little squirt back then. I remember the times they would go out on the track together before opening time. No one has said that Lake Jr. is probably a pretty good driver too. He sure was back then and he couldn't have been more than 4 or 5. He and his Dad would fly around that track at what seemed to be amazingly fast. Especially for a kid! I remember Lake was getting ready to go to the Championship that he won that year. We were told not to disturb him, especially when he was in the engine shop. He would be in there it seemed like for days sometimes. Very dedicated and committed to his goal of winning that race. And he did. That was an amazing summer, having the privilege of getting to know Lake just a little bit. A time I will always remember as long as I have the ability to remember. Verify this by asking Lake about the old man and his very sweet wife that ran that ran the Hot Dog Stand at the rental track. Old man Stewart and his wife were some very sweet people !!!!! I just found this channel and the series about Lake and his team. Lake Jr is a very impressive young man! I always had the feeling that he would be a lot like his old man. I see now that is so. Thank you for making videos about Lake and his career and sharing it all with all of us. I have had some wonderful memories of a HOT summer in Mississippi!!!!

I love this whole series of videos with Lake Sr and Jr. They are very entertaining and informative. The way you guys along with Lake Jr dive deep into the science is awesome. I've certainly learned a lot and hope to be using some of that in the future.

Wow, it's very interesting how this engine retained it's power. Also, any video you make with Lake Jr is fantastic!

Love your commitment to the small details, get in those weeds!! Can’t get enough. Great job. LS Jr is the mad scientist showing the way. Dude’s also a rockstar!

Interesting stuff, thanks to Lake for being so generous and giving you the opportunity to show us all

This is why I watch you both. Because you do cool stuff like this. Who would have known all that we learned today. Thank you for the info about cylinder #7 always being hotter than the others. God bless you all...

I would love to see a balancer factory.... im sure lots of people would like to see the difference between the different manufacturers.

Videos like this are awesome for those of us old enough to remember back in those days.

That is another great video, I wasn't expecting that engine to make the same power as 20 years ago, but again it is not your normal V8 engine, it is a built race engine. I like your interviewing style, as you let the people talk and describe things, and you ask the right questions. You and Logan do a good job bringing us this content. I am enjoying all of your current stuff, as well as the older racing stuff you did, Here you are learning about history and being educated, the racing you can see who won and who lost, but you have to decide what the difference was. Keep up the good work, and look forward to more awesome content.

I am for sure one of the people who likes the newer content. Been watching your channel for quite a while and had lost some interest in the content. The deep dive history and tech content is far more engaging for me personally. Watching all you guys geek out on all the cool stuff your findings hits close to home for me. Hopefully this is true for enough others to allow you to continue living your dreams and interests!

Watching you and Logan do these videos inspired me to start my new shop tour video series focused on Michigan companies for my channel. I was lucky enough to tell you both about it at PRI in 2022 and so far it's doing well. Keep doing what you do!

Amazing after sitting 19 years Thanks for the video ! YES to the balancer shop You help so many people to understand motorsports 🏎

Lake Jr. Is very refreshing to watch. Doing something he obviously thoroughly enjoys and is very enthusiastic about! Love it!!

a balancer factory video would be amazing because factory tour videos are almost always great thanks for the engine content i love seeing work on engines

Nothing better than great engines making timeless pure power! You got a great opportunity to be with such amazing people sharing their knowledge, like the springs 😅 that get fixed just by dropping then 😂

43:58 Incredible , it was like I was out in the shop with ya. Talking engines and just playing around with an old toy. It was the detail, the passion and knowledge of your episode I enjoyed. I grew up around race engine building, it’s my life’s passion. I’m hooked,,, your passion is now my viewing pleasure. Thank-You

Finally someone dyno an old built engine that has stand still with real results. Spring is spring and will only die with heat or over loading it or with fatigue from use! Awesome stuff, just freaking awesome. I buy old nascar drysump pump for my build as it’s top of the line abd still good!

The Lake Speed series never fails to educate and entertain! So glad I got the time to see this video. Learning so much about engines, it's so awesome. I did not expect the results of the Dyno on the engine, it's awesome

Mitchell, your insight and introspection at the end was spot on. The videos capture a genuine deep-felt feeling. From start to finish, I am 100% engaged. I pause and repeat to get the points that you are bringing. These videos are far more interesting than the "go faster" types. Your collaborations with Lake Speed and Lake Speed, Jr. are top-notch. I think your blend of doing projects that showcase your build and fab talent with the NASCAR history is going to take you far.

That era of NASCAR in the 90s was the greatest in my mind, cars looked like cars and engines were more like what we can purchase and to be honest I've got a 89 notch fox body that my grandpaw and I built. We bought at auction a 9.5 deck Yates c3 headed engine with the 55mm cam tunnel bearings. He passed last year and I've left it alone but watching these has got me motivated again. I ordered my new cam for drag racing and I'm going to stick her together. Ty guys love the vlogs u got a new sub here💯

Exactly why I watch your videos I go back in history with my dad and I building and working on cars and my dad. You did the Hydro planes and my dad had one of them. We used to race it together and he was so proud of it to see all of those was dude. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Thank you

Jeffrey lost 440hp leaving him 560hp out of his 1000hp motor. That one was easy to figure out because 1000 is easy to start from. Now if you said 711hp and lost 44%, I'd be grabbing the calculator... This was good for me to watch as I have a Ford FE that I had rebuilt like 8 years ago [probably really 10] and its been sitting like this one was. So I can either have it rebuilt now or soon after I get it all running, haha... Thank you for the content.

If I only learned one thing from racing and dynoing lots of engines you don't know until you run it period. Thanks again for doing these videos as it is things that many people enjoy and would never ever do on their own.

This engine quietly waited 'til it could roar again, and at near 9,000 rpm no less. What an awakening !!

Listening to Lake Jr. I was hearing his dad back in the mid 70's,,,that accent is unmistakable.. thanks for the memories.

All I can say is thank you so much for these videos. Love the history stuff but really enjoy videos like this as a gear head. You and lake break things down to the simplest level and also focus on stuff that isn’t just nascar but even matters to drag racers like me! I would have never thought a rusty 20 yr old motor with the valves lashes for that time would run so well.

Just wanna say what a great video today. I'm been a subscriber for a while and remember the escale and the newell video but what really grab me was the technical stuff from the nascar. Just so much information that this channel is sharing that was such a secret back in the day that to me is mind blowing. Keep it up man i do appreciate all of it.

Without question as a bracket racer meeting Greg Anderson for the first time and him sharing adult beverages with us at Gateway just one memory that comes up. So so cool thanks for sharing. Love it.😊

Couldn’t of gotten a better guy than Lake JR to do this with man such great content you all. Stay blessed an keep up the great work thank you

Top content ,did you overthink that you would be pulling down a NASCAR Engine when you started out with your channel, love the passion you all show,im in the uk and i appreciate what you are doing here,i have learnt a lot from your NASCAR content and to me this is the golden yrs of NASCAR, keep the great work up 👍

First engine was 9.5-1 compression this one is 14-1 compression. Bush engine compared to a cup engine. The bush engines where detuned for that racing series. Just like nascar truck series. Totally different engine specs. It’s really bad ass to see that the engine sat with rust on the cylinders and it made damn near the same power from 20 years ago. Truly amazing.

I am a 73 yo fossil from Canada and have followed Nascar since I was 12 yo as my Dad was a fan. In those days they shared the race time on TV with some other sport, skiing, basketball etc. The first few years was in black and white but I didn't care. As the years went on I was obsessed with cars and went to every paved and dirt short race I could. I became an Automotive Technician and worked for next to nothing but I was happy. Eventually I started building racing engines and was fascinated with NASCAR engines. I went to Daytona three times in February and to Michigan several times. I watched Maurice Petty pound a chilled cylinder sleeve into a hemi block in the infield grass at Daytona as it was away from prying eyes. I knew who he was from pictures and as I got closer I think I said something about never seeing that done before. He glared at me like I must have just landed from Mars and then kept walking. Like you and Logan, I loved the sound of those BoomTube engines and I even messed around with different header configurations etc. When Canada made racing mufflers mandatory at the tracks we gave up on making them as loud and unique sounding as possible. We didn't care so much if won or not as long as it sounded cool. What I find weird today is that teams use to protect their technology and cheating with their lives. To see those engines and gimmicks from that era fully exposed, and the restrictor plate Intake manifold from Marlin's #4 car makes me chuckle. I love people who think outside of the box. A huge thanks to you and Logan for what you do. I really enjoy it.

I freaking love how casual everyone is doing 9,000rpm pulls back to back like it’s a crate engine🏁

Yes I would really like to see the ATI Super Balancer's being made or here from the Company if you can get a tour. I've used there products for years. But you never see or hear too much about them. Thanks Mitchell & Logan for all you bring us ...... Jeff @ Strickland Speed

These videos make me reminisce with a very good friend about the good old commercials from the Cup racing broadcasts. A far cry from what we have to put up with. We've never found our favorite one yet. It was a Rusty Wallace commercial from about '98. Not even sure what the product was they were selling. The line that cracked us up was in some northeastern accent, spouting off about spilling "Deadly Microbes all over the grass". It really makes me wonder if Rusty remembers the commercial. These videos also make me reminisce about watching, what is to me, the best era from about '82-'00. I'm such a sucker for the old factory deck lid and roof panels, and the GM aero coupe homologation cars. Any of the G body based cars just do it for me. It's those and the Lumina era. Just badass race cars built by creative minds. Thanks for your continued efforts to collect these stories!

Old tech still teaching us new tricks

Fantastic job guys!! Amazing! Thanks for making Lake a RU-vid personality. He is great! Top notch guys!

Thanks. Please use that stuff, microscope & profile thingy on the RINGS! They're the difference between the two. One was dyno'd & put up & probably oiled a bit, and one was races then set aside, causing similar but different cylinder conditions. Newer fuel & lube helped a lot.

Lake Jr seems like a really fun friend to have. Great energy!

Thanks so much for the amazing content! I know nothing about nascar but I love engines and learning about what makes these old nascars so great! I genuinely appreciate all you show

Your channel continues to grow just as your talent as a presenter grows. Thanks Mitchell another captivating video.

The more technical and detail oriented the better. Great job.

Me and my dad have a bowtie block with the dart Buick 10 degree heads and old NASCAR crank. It's getting rebuilt currently. Absolutely my fave engine especially with the zoomies on it at 8500. Love the channel man

You are preserving history in my opinion. Until you done the nascar series, how many people had heard the stories from all the drivers you have met. I’m from northeast TENNESSEE and not far from the old Morgan Mclure race shop in Abingdon and we also run a late model race car. And haven’t heard of half the things you touch on. So Thank you for the great videos and keep up the great work.

Love this kind of content, glad to see you guys were able to get all this interesting stuff down in a video for us all! Appreciate you both as well, and I'm there with you guys in all this watching this video! Thank you very much for the great tech video!

AMC 390. NHRA Super Stock build. Built about 5 years ago. installed in car as chassis builder wanted it in the car for chassis, steering and header build. Promised 4-6 months to completion. Two years later after diddly squat work done (and what was done required much re-do), we part ways. Chassis shop #2 has it 12-14 months and great work (added plumbing and all new electrical). Two shops in Arizona and both with swamp coolers. I was always worried about that. Bought a bore-scope and cylinders looked better than I thought. Now racing. Left bank has horrendous leak-down. Ready to tear it apart and hone w/ new TS rings. I was always concerned about rust and even before I saw this video was convinced it was a problem. I’ll be calling Keith Jones @ TS soon...GREAT VIDEO!

sorry for so many comments but here is another: I have never seen a Nascar race have no history to fall back on, but the content you are creating is superb. I do miss the Escalade making hits though.

Some of the finest, real world, plain English explanations of engine performance cause, result, possibilities in these videos. Sometimes I think all of the gentlemen you have introduced in this series have a far better understanding on the science of engines than the designers in Detroit ( and maybe they do ). Talking piston Rockwell hardness, cylinder surface, spring rates, fuel, vacuum, tolerance etc etc. WOW !!

Awesome! Can’t get enough! I loved your channel when it was just drag racing, it has taken quite an amazing and unique turn. You guys are definitely on to something big and finding your own niche! I love to see it, keep up that hard work! The past couple years I’ve been watching lots of old racing and reliving some nostalgia, your videos are a great compliment to that. It’s also exciting to share it with my two year old son, we have another boy due July 4th and I can’t wait to take them to Daytona.

my CHRIST i cannot get enough of the sounds of those NASCAR ENGINES!!! the best sounding engines in the world.

Have showed and found nascar history stuff that no one has ever done and would have never found which makes the channel even more great and value able

I remember a story from one of my teachers back as a kid doing my apprenticeship, it was about an engine that dominated! I can’t remember if it was sprint car or nascar or something else he built but it had rust pitted bores and no expectation’s of performing but apparently it did very well!

All these NASCAR vids are AWESOME. Thank you for making all these !!

In Dec. 2022 my Grandpa's lady friend got put in a nursing home and he moved into a small apartment. He built and co-owned dirt race cars back in the late 60's and early 70's running against the likes of Daytona 500 pole sitter Ramo Stott. I started having him over for dinner at least once a week. Your videos on NASCAR history gave me things to talk to him about during dinner, especially the videos at Holman-Moody where he bought all their engine parts. He passed at the beginning of February, and I am so thankful for the conversations that were started by the information I learned on your channel. One of my fondest memories with him was standing in line at the old Iowa State Fairground Speedway for hours with him to meet Richard Petty in 1993. I still have that autograph and am hoping to install a Holman-Moody camshaft in my early 65 Mustang within the next year. Thank you all so much for preserving this history.

I would LOVE to see how they rebuild a harmonic balancer, new knowlege is always appreciated

I love these videos! Lake Jr. seems like a cool dude. Y'all keep up the good work!

I look at you and Logan like a modern day Indiana Jones for engines and NASCAR. You two are going behind the curtain to talk and see the wizard and show us all what you find. God bless you both.

Dennis and I go back to the 1970’s ! We worked together and I traveled with him some when he drag raced. 50 years of experience with various engine builder shops. He knows race engines!

The amount of shivers I got from that sound!

Mitchell im THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME ! ! 👌 I love the details in the future can if you can video different angles of the beautiful parts Crankshaft,Rods,pistons, rockers,cylinder heads Ect. I love geeking out on the design details and what different companies parts designs are Amazing stuff THANK YOU ! !

I had no idea STEVE-O knew how to run a dyno.

i love your work. keep it up. such knowledge only comes from asking the questions, having the conversations and learning all the time. you seem to have a good grip on reality and that is a great feature of your work and you should be proud of it. my best automotive memory is building a 351 Cleveland with my dad in the shed at night over about a month. i didn't tell him the "whole truth" about the head work, the oversized valves, the cam grind and a few other pieces. lol. a few weeks after the build i had run it in a bit and took my father for a drive in the car. he was very quiet the whole drive. as we pulled into the driveway he said, "what have i let you build!" a few months later he also offered to in stall windscreen wipers on the side windows so i could see where i was going when it rained. cheeky old bastard. i still have the motor 30 years later to go with the memories.

I ordered that profilometer system from total seal and it's June before they will have all the pieces for it. They only had 5 of them and they sold.

That was AWESOME 👍🏼 also a Balancer factory tour would definitely be something I'm interested in, hell I'm interested in everything y'all have been uploading, thank you!

And here I get paranoid and rotate my motor over during winter storage lol.. I also fog the shit outta it when I park it.. kills me storing a very expensive motor out in the cold up here in Canada but I don't have any heated options sadly.. what a cool and informative vid!! 👍👍