If you follow or have seen Cleetus’ McFarland’s exploits on his YouTube channel, you will know that Mullet the Chevy El Camino drag car blew its engine this year at Sick Week.
Following horsepower outputs of 3000 hp running 40 lbs of boost – both above the operational limits of the engine (by 500 hp) the engine suffered a catastrophic failure and Mullet the muscle car was out of the game.
Since then, the Chevrolet has gotten a new lease on life with the arrival of a new heart: a Steve Morris AMX. This engine is one of the top dogs in racing that can still get driven on the street, and the team unbox this special engine in the latest episode of Cleetus McFarland.
Behold The Steve Morris SMX Big Block V8
Steve Morris engines are well-known to those interested in racing and fast cars, and Cleetus’ previous engine was also a Morris – until the Chevy El Camino eventually decided to destroy its engine on the quarter mile.
If you’re familiar with Tom Bailey, the brain behind the Sick Seconds car, the fastest streetcar on the ¼ mile with a 5-second time at 250 mph, then you may know he used the SMX engine.
The SMX is Steve Morris’ top-dog engine as Cleetus puts it, a cut above even the 3000 hp engine from Mullet, this one capable of up to around 5000 hp and 70 lbs of boost – more boost than even the turbos in Mullet can probably muster – for now.
At the start of the video the SMX crate arrives and Cleetus fills us in on the engine and the why and the what of the new mill.
Cleetus McFarland’s Most Powerful Most Expensive Engine Yet
Cleetus says that after speaking to Steve following the Mullet incident, he got offered Steve’s very own SMX engine from his wagon, refurbished and sent over in 7 days; on the condition that Cleetus would try and help him get 400,000 subs (subscribers) on the Steve Morris YouTube channel (200,000 more than he currently has).
This new engine is a big block, 9.4-liter all aluminum mill, one that according to the website can get driven everywhere even on pump gas, to and from events and is bulletproof. Cleetus and the gang will need it to be bulletproof if they go chasing 5-second quarter miles with the boost turned up to 11.
It probably makes 1000 hp stock with no turbos or supercharger Cleetus says, and is an immense engine. Some sources say that the Steve Morris SMX engine is around $75,000 for the package, which seems like a bargain for the potential on offer in the right hands.
Cleetus McFarland finishes up the video with a snippet of the team over at Bradenton’s Freedom Factory where some school buses will tear up the circuit later along with many other vehicles and mini-events.