I am gathering up odds and ends for my current engine build and could use some help, suggestions on what I need to finish it up

This is what I have so far

383 ci

ls1 block 3.905 bore
Callies 4" stroke crank, Compstar rods, Diamond -25cc pistons.(25 psi)
AFR 225 heads, hollow intakes, inconel exhausts
Melling High Vol/Press oil pump
All ARP hardware
ATI damper
Caddy lifters
3 sets of rockers - oem, oem with harland sharp bearings and harland sharpe roller rockers.

My goal: 800 or better rwhp/t with my 3.3 liter whipple on pump gas w/meth...so probably close to 900 at fly

Some questions:

1) Which rockers to use

2) Head gaskets for up to 18 psi....thinking Cometic .041" (pistons are zero out of the hole)

3) Which timing chain set....would prefer dual roller

4) Who's pushrods?

5) Do I need a stud girdle?

6) What else am I missing?

7) Does arp make the side main cap bolts and are they worth getting?

Any thoughts, advice, etc. is appreciated

Thx

 

1. new yella terra lightweights/harland sharp/etc - check sponsors
3. any double chain - check sponsors
4. doesnt really matter brand name..chromely hardered - check sponsors

 

1) I already have HS roller rockers...is it really worth dumping them?

2) Which roller chain is good/economical, and will require the least amount of mods to run with the melling pump....with respect to possible clearance issues???

 

1. no..keep those

2. umm..not sure about the melling pump issue. most are probably using a stock ported unit.

 

The dual roller plus melling = need some mods to pump cover or timing cover

anyone else???

 

Just my opinion

 

I nixed the girdle

Will be running a Cloyes 9-3159A dual roller hex adjust timing set

 

I bought the YT Ultralights from Ron at Vengeance when i bought my heads from them.....good price too.
defo look nice, and far far far lighter than the old style, even to hold, nevermind actual valvetrain weight when in use.




Im using the Comp cams duplex...no mods to front cover. Just dont forget to adjust oil pickup support.

I see no reason to run Cometics, when the GM gaskets do the same job, at a fraction of the price.

I see no reason to upgrade the crossbolts.

ive a few sets of pushrods here...Manley, Trickflow, and some other make. No big deal who...as long as they are good ones.

Oh..and you forgot a camshaft !!!! that might be quite important !

 

Oh...and check your installed seat pressures on the valves.. Just in case you end up with the **** Ive suffered for past few months or more.

 

Did that solve your problem ?

I have a cam...just didn't list it

 

I am running the rollmaster double roller and melling pump with no mods or problems.

Keith

 

I wonder why it is that some have and some don't have to mod things???

I could see possible differences in front timing covers ????

In any case, I will attempt the melling with cloyes dual and see what happens....hopefully nothing that a milling machine can't fix

 

Im confident it will. But mine is still in pieces.

 

What happened???? thought I read that you blew it up? if so, how bad?

 

I shimmed the valve springs, and car was revving harder, and making more boost. But still not right. So I got pissed off and held it flat out in 4th for a bit to try and make it rev

Got home....and it was down on compression. 5 plugs had melted, although it was stil driving fine. Just didnt sound right when starting. Knew something was up, so I pulled it apart, and found valve seat damage on one of the cyls I tested, that had like 15psi compression. Initially I thought this was the main problem ( hence new heads purchased, although it wasnt the cause of the low compression on some cyls )
Then I pulled the pistons, to discover top gapless ring were damaged on most cylinders, and no longer making contact with the bore, and showing signs of det, and piston contamination on their surface along with at least 1 piston damaged beyond use ( 2nd ring support damaged. Top ring no longer controlling combustion, so 2nd ring was bearing the brunt of the combustion/detonation probably, and forced the support downwards at the pin hole, also compressing the oil ring slightly )
Mostly my fault...too much timing.

So I replaced 4 pistons, new rings, have opted for a new cam and cam gear, new heads and rocker gear.

The pistons arrived quickly, but the stuff I ordered from the US, always takes longer. That said, I do pretty much have everything I need to rebuild, but TBH, at the minute, I cant be arsed.
I have no racing in the immediate future, so Im in no hurry to get it rebuilt. I had to get my decks surfaced too, as somehow I managed to damage one slightly..But thats done now.
And the weather here is pretty shitty too, so to even try tuning it on the road, would be impossible.
I'll get it up and running again over Xmas. I would like a pair of the Felpro's MM is using....but sourcing them isnt as easy as it should be.

Im just waiting on a set of mains, as I wasnt happy with the look of one of the shells I removed. I'll post a pic of that later actually....
And some 5 layer MLS. If I cant get the Felpro's before Im ready to build, I'll just use those instead.

 

WOW

A self-induced meltdown

You are either lucky that you didn't toast the block...or maybe you were trying to?

 

Just didnt care...I was f**ked off lol.

 

Kind of what I finally did to my oem bottom end....went out on a cold nite and saw 13 psi....(up from 9) put the hammer down one time to many and even with a rich tune, when the smoke cleared i had a bent rod.

Was looking for an excuse to install my forged engine, so I got it lol

It was moving pretty well that nite...

 

There is a girdle out there that does not require pan mods... by DM Performance. I recommend that along with doweling the mains. If you elect not to dowel the mains then at least line hone the mains with the girdle installed...

Bill