95ONE

iTrader: (1)

I just want to share and have whoever cares, or might want to dive into the same direction, have something to compare to. (OH NO... ANOTHER 500hp thread.. but not really)

I will post all pics and updates on this first post. Anything added will just be notified in a new post at the last page. EDIT: Fail. There is a text character limit on each post. I will exceed this with all my rambling (don't blame you if you just look at pics, think I've ever READ playboy?!) So I will have to post in new postings. I have reserved a few just for that.

My build is for a Road Race vehicle, so many things might be contrary to what many on here are trying to achieve, So there will be things that I try will not apply to most on here.. Like a manual transmission with an extremely lightweight and small Tilton 5.5" button Clutch. and a few other things I will note here. I spent lots of money where I felt most important, and little to no money where I felt unnecessary. Special thanks to Tony Mamo and Patrick G. for being patient and giving their much needed advice.

The Goal;

As close to 500whp as I can get with stock cubic inches. Unlike many who aren't sure, there are many reasons why. I had around 425whp in a turbocharged four and would like to step it up a notch. Another reason is that I am truly looking for 600-650whp eventually. That will be obtained by larger displacement and such. That motor will be going into something a bit more wild, but that's another project. This motor will be a great way to learn how I can't or can get close to that number. But this puts me to a power to weight that I will be competing against in the future, so these numbers were there before I came along this project. Moving on. Some of the real tricks I plan to use to get close or achieve my goal are fairly straightforward. I will have a manual trans, so there won't be a large parasitic loss there. Being a race only car, I do have an advantage. I will be running E-85 only and can increase compression and timing a LOT with no real consequence. My whole clutch and flywheel weigh a total of 15lbs. no drag there. (extremely low moment of inertia) My only accessories are going to be an Alternator and 4 stage dry sump pump. Clearly the Dry sump might give me more power too, but I am certainly installing it to keep the motor alive during prolonged high G cornering. (hopes and dreams there. ) I will have an electric water pump remotely mounted. So.... VERY little parasitic loss anywhere with a proposed compression ration of 12:1. I truly want 15:1, but that will have to wait for a 4.1" Bore and 4" stroke crank. A full custom exhaust smaller than anyone here would try with some flow tricks involved. (I'll detail that later, and we will all know if it worked or not, but not until the end) and a full custom Aluminum intake with dual throttle bodies. My own design, and leaving myself a branch to fall off of on that one, but I'm just not scared to try. That will be a few months off. Hopefully all this will be done by March.

Lets visit the power to weight ratio if I am successful. I'm hoping my car to be 2200lbs filled with fluids. It was already 2300 in its previous version. A ridiculous.. I mean insane amount of work has been done to add a cage and still lose weight. So I'm going to stick with 2200lbs expected weight. It is truly a realistic expectation. 500whp. Math = 2200/500= 4.4 lbs per hp. To put that in this Forums perspective, If your car weighs 3550lbs.. which it probably does or more.. you would need .. 3500/4.4= over 800whp to be as quick. I didn't say top speed, I said as quick. There is a difference. Keep in mind I used to drag race a lot in my import days and nitrous was my friend. I will definitely have a 100 shot in my pocket for some track time. (I'll never be cured of that addiction. ) My launches will suck due to trans / suspension, but my top end speed will be ridiculous. 2200/600=3.67lbs/hp. 3550/3.67=967whp! to be equivalent. Don't make me do the 150 shot numbers.. ROFL>. no..won't happen. - I make fun of desktop racers, but here I am doing it. Numbers are fun.


I pretty much know in advance that the biggest rough spot here will be the fact that I'm starting with a 5.3 liter L33 motor. I had it bored out (had to pay for 2 to get it there) Bores look great, BUT.. I did not have it checked for thickness sonically or however they do it. My machinist knows me well, and might have done it for me since He had never done it before and was very curious if it would work. ( I told him I would pay him whether it worked or not) SO, please lets not fight over this, or decide it's wrong. It is what it is. I'm the one taking the risk, (Clearly I don't think there's much of one) So lets move on and discuss this issue MUCH later in this thread.

Back to the project;

Like I said, I started with the amazing L33. It's amazing in many ways. You get the stock 346ci crank, a block that shares a ridiculous amount of architecture with a GEN IV block. (Crank case windows, oiling, Chain guard bolt spacing, head bolts, crazy thick Rods and floating wrist pins, etc.) And also of incredible potential.. 799 or 243 head castings. That is a LOT for the $1,200 I paid for it. It came as a long block. All covers, intake, fuel, Throttle, a few brackets and things I had no need for. So for many, this is a DAMN good deal. The Rods are stout, the Bore seems thick as hell. I can't think of a better aluminum block for supercharging or turbocharging. NOT the way I am going, but still. This is a fantastic block for the price.

SO... I took almost everything off the block and heads and tossed it in a box marked, "for sale" then started the real tear down. I took the block to my machinist. Since he had to bore it the equivalent to two bores to get it to the stock 346 bore of 3.898, I had to pay for 2 bores. I also had him install cam bearings and bore it with a torque plate bolted on while we were there. I got the motor back the next week and started on the install.

First thing was to install the cam and crank. I test fit it first. I checked all measurements and plasti gauged it on top of that. It's on the tight end of the scale, but still within spec, So after the test fit, I installed it permanently. I bought the MS4 and a strong adjustable double roller with very little lash. I found two chain guards for the Gen IV motor that fit fine. I did some research and the chain tensioner seemed a bit shady, so I installed the Guard. I'm happy with the decision. The main bolts are re-usable so I did just that. The side bolts for the mains were coated with silicon before installing.

After joining the crank and Cam with the adjustable double roller, I degreed the cam. (with help from an old lifter that I welded a cut pushrod onto so no variable preload to worry about, solid from the cam - in pics) It seems that according to the cam card there was 2.5 degrees advance built in. This motor is intended live in the upper rpms. The car will weigh close to only 2200lbs. large mid range torque will only serve to push the *** out exiting a corner. I do not want the advance. (A small example of where parts of this project will not reflect most other builds) I used a dial caliper and confirmed the advance. It was truly 2.5 degrees ground in. I can only adjust he double roller 2 degrees at a time, so I was happy to settle for 1/2 degree advance after retarding it a total of two.

I'll stop there for the night. My hands are cramping. I'll continue on tomorrow.

And finally, here are some pics of that.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

December 14th, 2011

Moving forward. In my decision to use E-85 (Already done this on other cars.) It was my Goal to increase compression as much as Humanly possible. Remember, My ultimate project is a larger displacement motor, so much of these decisions run on a balancing act for that motor and this one. They are both destined to be Naturally Aspirated. (Road course reason)

My ultimate compression ratio for this fuel (E85) is around 15:1 to 16:1 I ran the very popular compression ratio calculator with imposed limitations due to either safety, or efficiency marks I don't want to cross. Three main factors were;
1.) 4.09 bore max. (LS3 max bore I am willing to go - a budget thing)
2.) 045 crush gasket. (considering the constant high rpm use desired)
3.) Flat top piston (no dome allowed allowing a very efficient burn)
4.) Rod angle ratio (can't be too extreme to allow higher rpms = 4" max)

The above limitations are the results of even more specific requirements that I truly do not want to type. It takes too long and gets into motor building "religion" beliefs. nothing but arguing banter will result. So moving on.

FUTURE motor will be close to square, with an "ok" rod angle ratio. 4.09"
bore with a 4" stroke. With all the other specifics I have calculated in along with a being a high priority I came up with a max 14.75:1 ratio with a 55cc combustion chamber. Magic number for me there. Anything less than that is pretty much un realistic with any hopes of flow. I'm sure there are some crazy options, but NASA isn't at my disposal. So even with a much larger motor, it gets pretty difficult to get a compression ratio higher than 14:1. 16:1 can be had with a thinner head gasket and a dome piston, but not an option in my design.

Point of all that. I need 55cc chamber heads. lol Yeah, this is a long winded post. The rest will be too. Not just for the picture hungry. In the long run, I may end up with larger chambers in the ultimate quest for power. Flow generally rules that realm, so we will learn together on that. For now.. 55cc it is.

Craig Gallant at GTP is an old school head porter. I've known him for over a decade now and it was obvious that I go to him for help on my already very decent 799 casting heads. He was priceless on advice for high rpm duty. He is also a fellow road racer. His priorities for flow are the same as mine. A plan was made, we built them with max effort without costing him insane time and without resorting to exotic (stupid expensive) materials. Since 55cc is what I was after and milling over.030 was also a self set limitation, I proceeded to weld in a lot of material to bring the 64cc chambers to about 57 - 59cc. We milled the heads .030 over and hit the nail on the head at 55cc's. Total luck if you ask me. I went with slightly oversized valves with Ferrea Stainless hollow stems. About as expensive as I wanted to get. 2.02 intake and 1.55 exhaust. Yeah yeah, I know. WHY NOT 1.6 EXHAUST!? Flow. That's why. I know your argument and I don't feel like defending mine, so just say "I told ya so" if my power sucks. I'm fully prepared for it, but I'm also willing to listen to a friend whom actually cares about this project who quite honestly knows a retarded amount about heads. (Craig Gallant) So I didn't just ask his advice, I took it.
The rest is just a port. Chambers and exhaust was polished. PAC springs installed with seat pressures /pre loads, and cam lift safety margin set by Craig. Titanium keepers and cut down stock retainers for that little bit extra (less actually - weight) Comp Trunions were installed. After market rockers choice will be revisited. For the moment, I don't see anything under $1000 that is light enough to handle constant high rpm abuse. Lifters are also regular old "LS7". Flow numbers have not happened yet, but will in the next week. I doubt they will be higher than 310. (check out the ramp shrouding from the welded in combustion chamber) I talked Craig into that. I Might change that later if it flows too little. My aim is for RPM. flow velocity vs. CFM is what I'm more interested in. I've been in the import world for an insane amount of time. I've come to appreciate flow vs velocity. But, once again, there is always something to learn. That I will. You can't learn to drive without risking a spin. So.. this brings me to my final compression rating on this current motor. - Using a compression calculator on the internet. ;

Enter Cylinder Bore Size 3.898
Enter Piston Stroke Length 3.622
Enter Head Gasket Bore Diameter 3.910
Enter Compressed Head Gasket Thickness .043
Enter Combustion Chamber Volume In CCs 51
Enter Piston Dome Volume In CCs Negative For Dished Pistons ) -2 (fly cuts)
Enter Piston Deck Clearance Negative If ABOVE Deck -.010

TOTAL STATIC COMPRESSION RATIO = 12.5:1
Quick Dynamic online calculator says = 10.46:1

Bed time again. It's time for pics now. I will go into pistons and rods tomorrow night. Test springs are still on #1 for Piston to Valve Clearance, and flowing. P to V is finished right now, but I will post that tomorrow.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

Dec. 15th 2011

Pistons and Rods.

I didn't go forged. I want light weight and am fully confident in the stock setup to make 500whp reliably N/A. I have some forged rods already purchased for the bigger motor. Eagle H beams. They are heavy as hell. I'm sure they're strong as hell too, but they have to be to hold their own weight together at upper RPM's. So I purchased some LS6 take off pistons and rods. They looked damn good with very little use. I was glad to have them. I knew I was after some decent revs so I looked into stronger rod bolts. I read that the newer designed GM rod bolts I had were stronger than the old style, but I wanted a little extra protection. I then ran into the huge mess and argument over re-boring the big end of the rods after you install ARP rod bolts. After much reading, I felt I knew enough to be able to read between the lines and had a good idea where all this mess came from. (don't even get me started on the LS7 lifter pre-load fun) I went a head and bought the Lowest grade ARP rod bolts. I got the directions everyone was talking about. Rod stretch is better and all that. So, I went to test it all. Not just to install. I needed to know what the hell was going on with this stuff for myself. I grabbed every measuring tool we had. I first needed the test rods. Stock bolts and stock rods. I torqued them down to the letter. I then measured the bore. I did this to 3 rods to make sure things were consistent, they were. I installed the ARP rod bolts and used the stretch method and compared it to the torque method. A few tiny variances, but it always came out the same. Around 42-45 ft lbs in the end. Same damn reading as the Stock GM torque rating. I measured the bores on the three rods with the ARP bolts now installed. Exactly the same results as the GM. 2 bores measured one size, the last one measured a tiny bit larger, (within spec) just like with the GM bolts. Fully confident there is no need to re-bore the rods, which is no easy task, so I moved on to other projects. (I'm NOT saying this for ALL ARP rod bolts. Just this ARP model) So, to summarize parts choice. Stock GM LS6 for light weight and ARP rod bolts (part number 134-6006) for added strength/consistency.

Piston to Valve clearance.
This took forever. I had the pistons out and wanted to fly cut them. No where near as easy as you think. I highly suggest anyone thinking about doing this, just buy the tools you replace the valve with and cut it that way. My problem is..I had absolutely no idea how much cut I needed and I only wanted to cut the piston the absolute minimum to keep as much compression as I could while being piston kissing safe. This took a lot of measuring and claying a bunch of throw away pistons. I bought a whole set of used LS1 pistons for $50. They weren't bad, but nothing you would want to run in your newly built motor. I also found it interesting that they rocked in the bore more than the LS6 pistons did. I'm pretty sure these were pre 99 pistons, just a guess. Not sure if that means anything at all. Anyway, they were very helpful.
I had no idea what was going to happen with this combination. I figured with the milling of the head and a thinner head gasket, the valves were most certainly going to smack the pistons. So I cut a large area out of the piston .125 deep. That piston is shown in the pics above next to the "custom" cam measuring lifter. I filled it with clay, oiled the top of the clay, and installed the head with .040 spacers to mimic the gasket thickness (I ended up going to .045) I made two solid lifters out of the old hydraulic ones by removing the springs and using spacers inside the lifter to lock it in place. I also used a COMP CAMS pushrod checker to obtain zero lash. I spun the motor 3xs. I then removed the head and observed the marks. This gave me the distance from the center line of the piston (Radial) that the tip of the valve was going to hit. It also revealed how close or past the piston deck the valves were going to extend. The Intake was something like .014 into the piston. (would have hit) the exhaust was around .02 above the piston. (I apologize, I left all the numbers at the shop) I then knew how much I needed to cut into the piston for either side, and radial clearance. I wasn't exactly sure how far over from left to right the radial center of the valves were. I eventually decided / knew the "guessing" method wasn't going to cut it and found a long bolt exactly the same diameter as the valve stems. I cleaned and polished it. I sharpened the hell out of the tip with a belt sander. I removed both test springs and valve. I oiled up the "Custom" punch and carefully put it in the guides. (piston to TDC) and lightly tapped the spike locating the center line of the valve. (care was taken to make the sharpened tip in the center of the "punch") My guesses were indeed off. A small amount, but off. Something like .02" too far towards the rear of the motor. So that corrected, I made some final cuts into a throw away piston. I installed it in the motor, tested and was happy with the results. I moved on to the real pistons. I cleaned them up to a spotless shine. I marked perfectly where the center line of the piston was so that I could lock the pistons in to the piston vice in the exact same spot / orientation every time with every new piston. That took a bit of doing. In head style valve cutters are clearly much easier.

CNC mill. The rough part was getting everything set up. Once the starting point was established, I saved that point as home. The computer told me how far I was cutting in any direction. Priceless. Once I was finished with that fly cut, I would lock another piston in the piston vice. Set at 15 degrees angled to match the valve angle. I would then just hit go home on the computer. The mill would bring the blade back to the correct starting position and ready for me to cut the desired distances. Priceless again. After I finished all the intake valve reliefs, I changed the set up to the exhaust side. Home would of course be in a different spot and the fly cutter would need to be set for a smaller radius cut. Everything was going well until the 3rd exhaust cut. It seemed that the computer stopped reading my movements on the mill and I couldn't tell how far I had cut. So I thought, no problem, I'll just hit go home and start over.. FAIL. As soon as I hit go home, the software bugged out, crazy numbers popped on the screen and I heard all the servos reset. The mill stared pushing down hard and fast into the piston. Lots of noise and bent stuff everywhere.(I located another piston and rod. It is on its way to my house) I stepped back for about a half hour, came back to the mill, fixed my tools and began again. the rest went smoothly. The next day I wet sanded the pistons so there were no sharp angles anywhere. I had also sharpened the fly cutting blade before all these cuts with a radius in it so the cuts didn't have a hard to sand sharp internal edge, this made the sanding part much much easier.

After sanding all the pistons, I went back to the motor and installed one. I re-clayed the piston and installed the head with the spacers to mimic the head gasket. I spun the motor over 3xs like always. I pulled the head and was very happy to see what was waiting. Success in every direction. Not that I didn't feel like I earned it, just that even after all that prep, screw ups can happen. luckily not this time.

When I get the last piston, I will finish the valve reliefs and install them. I don't think much will be needed to say about that. I will stay within stock specs on the rings, and torque the rod bolts down to spec. I've already plasti-gauged them and the fit is within tolerance. After all that is done, I will probably not start back on the project until after Christmas. I will then spec out the Head and accessories in a short note and take some more pics.The bigger posts will be the headers, and Dry sump install. The grand finale will be with the extensive intake manifold build / fuel specs / and tuning..and of course the Dyno.

The specs on the Valve clearance I chose.
.08" depth clearance on the Intake. .08" depth clearance on the Exh. .065" radially on intake, .075" radially on Exh. Picture of the Green post it has all the corrected measurements it took to make the fly cuts happen. keep in mind my valves are only 2.02" and 1.575" If your valves are different, then everything changes.
I was going to go .05" on the intake and .075" on the exhaust. I then decided to be safe and go with what everyone was saying. .08 intake and .1 exh. By the time I got to the exahust, I changed my mind and decided that .08 was enough. So, that's how I ended up with the numbers I did. Sadly it was a change of heart in the middle of doing this. Either way, I'm happy with the clearance.

Here are the pics. 2nd to last one shows the carnage of the CNC mill software screw up. The last one shows many of the test pistons for fun.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

I'm hoping this spot will be held so that I can detail out the head install along with accessories needed and their preparation.

Here is a pic of the motor ready for the heads to be installed. The front main seal cover is not installed because I need the Dry sump front pulley and parts on the crankshaft first. That is on its way. I'm hoping to install the heads this week after a bit more work on the mid lift flow numbers this weekend. (01-14-12) ATI super damper and dry sump cog pulley came in shortly after.

03-3-23

Craig at GTP had to have surgery soon after I wrote that. He was seriously ill. He finally recovered enough to get out of ICU and was fit for surgery. He is recovering well. Not 100%, but getting there. In the mean time, he finished what was left on my heads without doing any further custom flow work. I was wanting to do more, but just glad hes still around for everyone including his family. Moving forward.

Here are some pics of accessories I had customized. Powder coating everything after I welded some mounts for the timing pointer I made and polished. I also pinned the crank snout and a couple dowel pins in the front timing cover for consistent and accurate timing if everything had to be removed and re-installed. Heads go on next. I had to re-measure TDC to make sure the pointer was absolutely accurate. I know the ECU does all the timing, but the crank teeth may be off and the pointer will let me know exactly what the timing is in the real world. It will just serve as a novelty after that is learned. Powder coating tried my patience, but I finally came up with an acceptable finish. I will be installing the heads this weekend and finishing up a final check on pushrod length and lifter preload. I will then decide on a pushrod length, purchase them and finish sealing up the motor. Custom install the motor in the car, then on to intake manifold and headers after that.

I also didnt' like the size of the Moroso remote mount coolant adapters. You will see how much better they are at 1/3rd the size. (first 3 pics.) My projects take 3xs longer because of this. - I'm always customizing my custom parts.

Here are the pictures;

Before I cut them down

Cutting them in one of my favorite tools.

After cut down.


First dowel holes


ATI crank Pinning application. Pan was covered. Pic was when finished and cover removed.

welded on timing pointer mounting tabs

soapy scrub after sandblasting

After 3 hours of degreasing, sand blasting, scrubbing some more, and taping up.

I cooked on some primer then this is how "black chrome looks before its cooked"

"Black Chrome" after it's cooked. I then put on clear after this to seal it.

Pinning the crank with the ATI kit. No slipping of the ATI Super Damper now. Empty hole was an unfortunate mistake.

For the hell of it, I threaded the oil inlet from the stock pump ( not being used) and plugged it.

Pics of some of the powder coated stuff on the engine.



Pics of the progression of the custom pointer itself. I used a pointer off an ebay part for older 350s.







More work from yesterday;
This first one is of me making sure my timing pointer is set true to top dead before I install the heads.
Then Cleaning the old thread lock out of the holes.
Cometic MLS gasket. .045 with copper spray coated on it.
Heads attached.(One held on by the old bolts until new one comes in) Valvetrain not assembled yet. Lifters are installed. Rockers are waiting for the proper sized pushrods to come in before I can install them permanently. Intake and exhaust manifold to be custom made.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

This one should be reserved for the custom header install. Detailed information on the collectors and specifics of why / how I came up with the sizes and numbers I am using. I will also combine the dry sump information and maybe the Clutch / accessory info.

I'm going to run stepped. The ports off the chamber will run straight with the head port angle, not the flange angle and might be as small as 1 5/8". The collectors will be top notch with runners connecting in firing order to attempt a swirl and will neck down and back out.

10-12-13
Most of the car is done and the paint is finally finished. I have some more red accents to make, but I got the car completely painted before the Paint booth got town down. Shop is closing this month.
Now that that is done, I can move back to the motor part of the project since the car is ready to receive it. I will start with the Engine Mounts and Headers;

The engine mounts I made were solid. I decided against it and rebuilt them to include an Isolator bushing and clear the dry sump pump, steering rack, and Leave lots of room for the header. That part took a long time. But, in a rare moment, I will leave all that explaining out and just post some pics of the final result.

1 5/8" is the size of the ports even though they are "D" shaped, so I made some 1 3/4" tubes into smaller D shapes on one side and kept the full "O" on the other. This mates the head side of the flange and port to the full tubular size of the Header. It took me quite a while to weld in all the excess space. The Header flange Kit I have is a Full "O" port and is way too big for the "D" shape, so after I made the adapter tubes, I tacked in the tubes and filled in the gaps. I then did a quick port and clean up job to keep things tidy. There is still a small amount of mis match, but It will have to stay since I don't think I will be able to bolt it up the exact same way every time. The bolt hole tolerances and fitment will be too random. So I left a little more room rather than less. I will leave the header flanges like this until the motor is in the car. I can then tack up the rest of the header at that time. At this point I get a stepped up header with hopes of scavenging. And hopefully it keeps the exhaust velocity at it's highest.

Next is the driveshaft pilot bearing adapter to fit the Porsche input shaft, a Canton Dry sump Oil pan, Clutch set up and release bearing alignment, 153 tooth starter adapter.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

this one will be very large for the Custom aluminum intake manifold. lightly covering my math and reasoning for sizes and shapes. Fuel, timing and tuning will be here also. Next one down will be Costs, part numbers, alternatives, and Dyno.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

Thank you sir. If things fail it will suck, but I am happy to let everyone know so they don't have to go through the same thing. (I will omit the REALLY stupid mistakes though. No ego is going to get hurt here. (not too much anyway) In the end, it will get worked out. ok, time for some updating and pics.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

Hope to god I don't need this one. Cuz if you read this far when it's all said and done, YOU SIR >> ARE A BAD A$$. or dumba$$.. not sure which yet.. I thank you for bothering either way.

RezinTexas

nice work. I always like to see the math and the DIY combined with these engines.

91sonomast

Holy crap, I can see you being Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory. Very impressive numbers and radical ideas, interested to see how this plays out.

'02 WS6

iTrader: (73)

I dig thread and idea. I've ran two sets of Craigs heads and can vouch for his knowledge as well. Refreshing to see someone go against the grain once in a while with a build. My only question is, why not go with a custom cam over the MS4? I know you stated high rpms is where it will live, which in general is what the MS4, TRex, and others are prime for, but they're also brutal on valvetrain. I figure you would go custom on LSL or even EPS proprietary lobes, with less aggressive ramp rates than the XERs or the like resulting in less force and abuse to the springs over time.

Awesome idea, I love the in depth detail.

Subscribed.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

I feel the same way. Exactly why I am doing this. I also hate it when they don't post results. So what if you don't reach your goals. Let everyone else know so they can learn. I will certainly post with goals achieved or failed. I don't care. It's interesting either way.

I just started watching that show. ROFL. Not quite, but funny.


I appreciate that truly. And the custom cam. Yeah, definitely. For the record, this isn't a fully true MS4 cam. It has been tweaked in very minor ways. I just haven't mentioned it. Too many opinions to argue about how it should be spec'd. So I just left that out. I'm trying to avoid arguments on theories in this thread. BUT if I need to go full custom, I can pull the whole front end off my car in 5 minutes. (Dzus fasteners on full road race car) No water pump in front. A cam change will probably take 30 minutes. In the end, I will almost certainly end up with a full custom cam. So, I won't disappoint you. It will probably happen unless this cam just does a damn good job. I have very little limits in this project, so many change outs will probably happen. results will be posted. MUCH will be learned.

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

updated tonight with a ridiculous amount of reading. Last long winded one for a while. (POST #4)

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

I finally made more progress. Head install this weekend.

Short (er) explanation of work and pics in Post #4.

RezinTexas

Great progress! Looks really good.

Are you using a special tool to align the front cover? How are you doing it?

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

Oh, I forgot those pics. I added dowel pins. First you have to bolt the front cover to the motor with the oil pan on. (including gasket) Tighten the bolts to the cover evenly allowing it to become flush with the pan first. I then added the dowel pins when in it was in its best sealing position. This pic is just before I pressed in the dowel pin completely in. I have since powder coated and added sealant to the corners for the final install. I just added more pics above to include this

garygnu

have your heads flowed and get a custom cam from Patrick-G.for all the great work you have done get all of the power out of this project with a newer cam lobe.

wildcamaro

iTrader: (15)

As an engineer I appreciate your ability to think outside the box...also glad to see you lending your skills to great engine platform rather than those little rice motors...lol I had to throw that in there...I will be following your build as it isn't like anything else I have seen on this site which is refreshing to see...any solid modeling or computer elemental analysis that could help I would be willing to do to help you out just let me know...good luck man great work!

95ONE

iTrader: (1)

Heads flowed at 317 max. It was a different valve angle that brought them up from a 309. It was weird, but they flowed way more than what I've seen from any other head below .200 lift. They then fell on their face (relatively, still way more than stock) and then picked back up. I might be giving away secrets here, but Craig laughed and said, "yeah, Ill get you more in mid lift, but flow characteristics on a bench and flow characteristics on a high compression (12.75:1) motor won't be the same. Its that initial pop that gets it in there, and the mid lift will raise considerably in the real world from the motor. I guess the proof will be in the pudding. But I like his approach initially anyway. It's a way of thinking that tries to take in every aspect, - multi dimensional, and not just one from a bench point of view. Real world answers will be told eventually.

I live in Houston. Patrick is only 2-3 hours from me. I will be having Patrick tune the thing. I'm pretty sure I will get lots of input from him on that. It will be very welcome.


Not insulted at all on the ricer comment. I started on small motors, then total ricer, then Turbos, (heavily) then Porsche/German stuff, now Chevy. (I look over at Motorcycle and Diesel stuff to get some fresh ideas) But you and I both know, that well calculated different approaches, can also just give you an interesting way to fail. but my ego has been beat down in my 40yrs, good riddance, and I don't mind admitting defeat and sharing so others don't follow or can avoid.

My easiest design challenge will be the headers. The hardest will be the intake. I plan on a double shotgun/intake type design. Around a 10" Runner cross pattern. Well tapered runner, Double Throttle body with balance tubes. I'm working on volume and final length math. But the more I learn, the less I know sort of thing. It may just end up an artsy piece that may or may not make more power up top. I will most likely dyno my intake vs fast for comparison to know for sure. Average power between 3500-7K rpm will be the concern. Any advice you may have on that would be great! I will be testing between flange mounted injectors, and a Distance cooling type position. (E-85 fuel)