LSX is ready to be dropped in tomorrow (PICS!)
09-23-2008, 01:21 PM
#745
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That's what I'm hoping I can get away with but I've never messed with pistons so I'm not sure how sensitive they are. I would just like someone who has experience with this to confirm that I shouldn't run into problems with them.
09-23-2008, 02:09 PM
#747
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That doesn't matter right now, one thing at a time. I need to know the pistons are good to go before I start planning what to do next. Once the pistons are ready to go, then I'll decide what to do with the heads. I'm going with shorter pushrods and possibly different heads. Once I get to that point, I'll clay the pistons again, this time with solid lifters. Then I can decide if I need a new cam as well.
09-23-2008, 02:21 PM
#750
Problem with that is the balance will be screwed, and the piston/valve clearance will be inconsistant, so you will have to clay every single cylinder.
The pistons need to come out and get worked by an experienced machinist. At this point, I'd probably leave the entire engine reassembly to someone that has the experience. With an F2 bolted up to it, there's no room for error, that kind of air movement can, and will torch alot of **** quick if it's not right.
The pistons need to come out and get worked by an experienced machinist. At this point, I'd probably leave the entire engine reassembly to someone that has the experience. With an F2 bolted up to it, there's no room for error, that kind of air movement can, and will torch alot of **** quick if it's not right.
09-23-2008, 03:02 PM
#752
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If you were to come up with a flycutting tool (Isky makes one, I think some places will rent it to you), you could put some small clearance eyebrows that would clean up the dings and be uniform on every piston, having the piston slightly lighter will not effect the balance too bad, it is called overbalance. Now having heavier pistons would not fare well. We are talking a few grams here, you should see how the factory balances the stockers . You can do it in the car with proper masking. Valve reliefs/eyebrows are a necessary evil with big cams. Small eyebrows shouldn't compromise the integrity of the piston much, they probably have a lot of material there.
First things first get the pistons fixed, then go about checking to see if that cam will work or not. Remember the piston is not at TDC at max lift, that is where the LSA comes into play.
First things first get the pistons fixed, then go about checking to see if that cam will work or not. Remember the piston is not at TDC at max lift, that is where the LSA comes into play.
09-23-2008, 03:39 PM
#753
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If you were to come up with a flycutting tool (Isky makes one, I think some places will rent it to you), you could put some small clearance eyebrows that would clean up the dings and be uniform on every piston, having the piston slightly lighter will not effect the balance too bad, it is called overbalance. Now having heavier pistons would not fare well. We are talking a few grams here, you should see how the factory balances the stockers . You can do it in the car with proper masking. Valve reliefs/eyebrows are a necessary evil with big cams. Small eyebrows shouldn't compromise the integrity of the piston much, they probably have a lot of material there.
First things first get the pistons fixed, then go about checking to see if that cam will work or not. Remember the piston is not at TDC at max lift, that is where the LSA comes into play.
First things first get the pistons fixed, then go about checking to see if that cam will work or not. Remember the piston is not at TDC at max lift, that is where the LSA comes into play.
09-23-2008, 03:57 PM
#754
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Who was the speed shop you visited awhile back ?
Bring some pics to them or they maybe kind enough to have one of there people see the engine in person ?
Bring some pics to them or they maybe kind enough to have one of there people see the engine in person ?
09-24-2008, 07:05 AM
#755
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Since I didn't purchase the block from them or have them assemble it, I feel kind of bad asking them for help. I got most of the parts online so I'm kind of stuck doing it myself unless I want to dish out a bunch more money that I don't have.
Another thing I noticed that I thought was kind of odd, on both sides of the block, with each piston they hit noticably more. The two pistons to the front of the block barley got touched and then as you go back each piston got hit a little worse. The two pistons at the back are the worst, but still not that bad. The pic I posted is the second to last on the drivers side and it is about the same as the farthest back but the rear piston does have a slightly larger mark. Then the first piston didn't even get touched in the center and just a little nick on the outside. I'm not sure if this matters but I would have thought they would all hit the same.
09-24-2008, 07:19 AM
#756
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I also noticed my head gaskets had some oil on them. I think I was loosing compression from the head gaskets. I sprayed some oil in the cylinders and then cranked it over a bunch to protect them from cylinder wash. I think the compression pushed the oil out throughthe gaskets. I bet these stupid used heads are warped explaining why I couldn't get good compression. The oil was filthy in the cylinders, also from the heads. I'm just going to get new heads like I should have done in the first place. Screw this used ****, it only causes problems.
09-24-2008, 07:33 AM
#757
What size combustion chambers are on those heads? It seems like you should have plenty of clearance with a big chamber head which is what you should be using to keep DCR down. Specially with a small valve and a dished piston, you should have plenty of space. Like I said in a previous post, make sure that you didnt have the slack on the wrong side of the timing chain when you lined up your dots.
It sucks that with all the time and effort that you have into it now you are running into these issues. Specially when you were so close. Dont let the temptation mess with your judgement though. Pull that motor out and have someone assemble the long block for you corrrectly. If you dont, you'll have doubts everytime to push in the gas pedal.
It sucks that with all the time and effort that you have into it now you are running into these issues. Specially when you were so close. Dont let the temptation mess with your judgement though. Pull that motor out and have someone assemble the long block for you corrrectly. If you dont, you'll have doubts everytime to push in the gas pedal.
09-24-2008, 10:08 AM
#758
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What size combustion chambers are on those heads? It seems like you should have plenty of clearance with a big chamber head which is what you should be using to keep DCR down. Specially with a small valve and a dished piston, you should have plenty of space. Like I said in a previous post, make sure that you didnt have the slack on the wrong side of the timing chain when you lined up your dots.
It sucks that with all the time and effort that you have into it now you are running into these issues. Specially when you were so close. Dont let the temptation mess with your judgement though. Pull that motor out and have someone assemble the long block for you corrrectly. If you dont, you'll have doubts everytime to push in the gas pedal.
It sucks that with all the time and effort that you have into it now you are running into these issues. Specially when you were so close. Dont let the temptation mess with your judgement though. Pull that motor out and have someone assemble the long block for you corrrectly. If you dont, you'll have doubts everytime to push in the gas pedal.
I'm starting to think there might be something up with the timing chain as well because I thought I should have clearance as well, plus the 7.4 pushrods should not have been long enough to keep my valves open and I had 0 compression with everything installed. I'm going to pull the timing cover while I have down time anyway. I'm 99.9% sure it's right but with the problems I'm having that .1% is enough to make it worth it to check.
Pulling the engine is not really an option for me right now so I'm most likely going to flycut. Once the pistons are clearanced, I will get a good set of 6 bolt heads and add a touch more compression, like 9:1, right now it was about 8:1-8.5:1. Then I shouldn't have clearance with the fly cutting & I think the cam will like a little more compression & make more power over all. It just sucks that this isn't going to get finished until next season.
Last edited by rufretic; 09-24-2008 at 10:18 AM.