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The work begins. Enjoy the process. What's the time frame on the heads?
Tony said ~6 weeks for the whole setup to be delivered. I ordered about 3 weeks ago, so I hope to have everything in early November. I want to get everything done by the end of November, but realistically, I'm working towards 12/31.
I'll admit that my timeframe got extended with Tony a little. Part of it was me deciding to have them mamofied and some of it was waiting on the hollow intake valves. Either way I was happy in the end. I'm just sad I couldn't afford a fast intake. Rocking the ls2 intake for a while. That and my longtubes merge into a 3.5" y that necks down to 3". I'll be adding dual 3" cats and keeping it 3.5" all the the back later on. As you can guess I'm willing to sacrifice a little power for acceptable sound levels. Now I REALLY need to get rid of my 4.10 gears. On a 25" tire and
I'll admit that my timeframe got extended with Tony a little. Part of it was me deciding to have them mamofied and some of it was waiting on the hollow intake valves. Either way I was happy in the end. I'm just sad I couldn't afford a fast intake. Rocking the ls2 intake for a while. That and my longtubes merge into a 3.5" y that necks down to 3". I'll be adding dual 3" cats and keeping it 3.5" all the the back later on. As you can guess I'm willing to sacrifice a little power for acceptable sound levels. Now I REALLY need to get rid of my 4.10 gears. On a 25" tire and
Yeah, I'm not in too much of a hurry. I just want to get done before it gets too cold to work comfortably in the garage.
Today I was able to make some progress after work. I got the headers off, all the stupid damn brackets off the back of the heads, and the heads. I almost wasn't able to get the passenger side head off. The rocker bolts were so tight, I rounded the #2 intake bolt off. I was able to get it off using a 5/16" 6pt socket, instead of my 8mm 12pt -- Talk about a high tension moment. The other bolts I had to use a breaker bar on.. I mean, they were on SERIOUSLY tight.
And whatever GM engineer designed the Trans dip stick tube bracket on the back of the passenger side head, I would like to kick you in the *****.
A few pics of the progress. if anyone wants to help clean the graphite gasket gunk off the block, come on down!
Still have the factory cross hatching! Pistons aren't all that dirty....
Also, before I pulled the heads I blew compressed air into the coolant crossover and into the water pump inlet/outlets. This made a bit of a mess, but I was able to catch most of it. When I pulled the heads I left all the bolts in by a few turns and lifted the heads 1/4" - 1/2" -- Only about 2-3 cups of coolant came out from the rear of the heads. Once they were done draining, I removed the bolts and pulled the heads. There was only an ounce or two of coolant in #7 and #8 cylinders and I didn't immediately see any coolant in the bolt holes. I'm still going to thoroughly clean the bolt holes, but I was thinking removing the heads this way would help me a get a head start.
Also, before I pulled the heads I blew compressed air into the coolant crossover and into the water pump inlet/outlets. This made a bit of a mess, but I was able to catch most of it. When I pulled the heads I left all the bolts in by a few turns and lifted the heads 1/4" - 1/2" -- Only about 2-3 cups of coolant came out from the rear of the heads. Once they were done draining, I removed the bolts and pulled the heads. There was only an ounce or two of coolant in #7 and #8 cylinders and I didn't immediately see any coolant in the bolt holes. I'm still going to thoroughly clean the bolt holes, but I was thinking removing the heads this way would help me a get a head start.
I blew out the steam tubes with everything still hooked up except where I was draining. No mess. I also jacked up the rear to let the engine tilt more towards the front and did it again. Just a tiny bit made it into the cylinders after that. It was worth the trouble from what I've gotten spewing out before.
I blew out the steam tubes with everything still hooked up except where I was draining. No mess. I also jacked up the rear to let the engine tilt more towards the front and did it again. Just a tiny bit made it into the cylinders after that. It was worth the trouble from what I've gotten spewing out before.
Never thought of that. I pulled the water pump before starting the head removal thinking the majority would drain. I left my head bolts threaded three turns and broke the heads loose thinking the bolts would keep the water out.
I still ended up cleaning and chasing threads, but it wasn't as bad as with the bolts out altogether. Wish I had thought of the compressed air trick you described. Definitely had your thinking cap on.
I'll admit that my timeframe got extended with Tony a little. Part of it was me deciding to have them mamofied and some of it was waiting on the hollow intake valves. Either way I was happy in the end. I'm just sad I couldn't afford a fast intake. Rocking the ls2 intake for a while. That and my longtubes merge into a 3.5" y that necks down to 3". I'll be adding dual 3" cats and keeping it 3.5" all the the back later on. As you can guess I'm willing to sacrifice a little power for acceptable sound levels. Now I REALLY need to get rid of my 4.10 gears. On a 25" tire and
If you port the runners on the ls2 intake it helps a lot.
Quick question about measuring for pushrod length.
I have read a lot of How To's on the forums about how to measure, but I've never done it before. I decided that before I pulled off the heads, I was going to do a trial run to see what I would come up with on the stock length. With #1 at TDC, I found zero lash to be at 7.300 on the intake side. This would mean there is about .100 preload -- Does that sound correct?
Quick question about measuring for pushrod length.
I have read a lot of How To's on the forums about how to measure, but I've never done it before. I decided that before I pulled off the heads, I was going to do a trial run to see what I would come up with on the stock length. With #1 at TDC, I found zero lash to be at 7.300 on the intake side. This would mean there is about .100 preload -- Does that sound correct?
No, it doesn't. If you did this at #1 TDC, you might be partially on the lobe. The stock cam does not have overlap at .050, but it does at .006, which means there is probably .020-.030 of valve lift in there.
What I did was to put the PR's in and rotate the engine well away from the valve lift. So, covers off, rotate the motor until you see the valve lift and drop, then the other will lift and drop. Go another 60 degrees or so for good measure, and you're definitely on the base circle. Then, try again.
Good idea running a test measurement to make sure you got the technique!
Quick question about measuring for pushrod length.
I have read a lot of How To's on the forums about how to measure, but I've never done it before. I decided that before I pulled off the heads, I was going to do a trial run to see what I would come up with on the stock length. With #1 at TDC, I found zero lash to be at 7.300 on the intake side. This would mean there is about .100 preload -- Does that sound correct?
It's confusing as all hell reading through the interwebs.
Easiest method I found was when your cam gear and crank gear are lined up dot to dot(12 o'clock crank/6 o'clock cam)...measure pushrod length on #6, not #1. Both intake/exhaust on #6 are on the base circle in this position.
No, it doesn't. If you did this at #1 TDC, you might be partially on the lobe. The stock cam does not have overlap at .050, but it does at .006, which means there is probably .020-.030 of valve lift in there.
What I did was to put the PR's in and rotate the engine well away from the valve lift. So, covers off, rotate the motor until you see the valve lift and drop, then the other will lift and drop. Go another 60 degrees or so for good measure, and you're definitely on the base circle. Then, try again.
Good idea running a test measurement to make sure you got the technique!
Sorry, I didn't explain my process very well. What I did was spin the motor over until I saw the #1 intake valve lift and drop. Once it stopped moving, I took my measurement. Once I pulled the head, it was at TDC so I thought I did it right.
At first I thought I had to wait for the intake to lift and drop, the the exhaust to lift and drop to take my measurement. I thought this was wrong since there might be overlap in the stock cam. Again, I could be completely off in my thinking. Apparently I need to do more research on cam timing events.
Sorry, I didn't explain my process very well. What I did was spin the motor over until I saw the #1 intake valve lift and drop. Once it stopped moving, I took my measurement. Once I pulled the head, it was at TDC so I thought I did it right.
At first I thought I had to wait for the intake to lift and drop, the the exhaust to lift and drop to take my measurement. I thought this was wrong since there might be overlap in the stock cam. Again, I could be completely off in my thinking. Apparently I need to do more research on cam timing events.
I might have jumped the gun. I was thinking you set the engine to TDC and then measured. If you're going clockwise on the crank, the exhaust valve should open and close, then the intake will start to move as the exhaust is finishing closing. Then, the intake will fully open and then close. Normally, this would put you near BDC, though, not TDC
Quick question about measuring for pushrod length.
I have read a lot of How To's on the forums about how to measure, but I've never done it before. I decided that before I pulled off the heads, I was going to do a trial run to see what I would come up with on the stock length. With #1 at TDC, I found zero lash to be at 7.300 on the intake side. This would mean there is about .100 preload -- Does that sound correct?
I personally havent measured length with a stock cam, however soemthing to note is that stock pushrods are NOT 7.4 they are actually 7.38. .06-.08 is in the range for stock preload so I'd say you were pretty damn close.
Fwiw I stick a screw driver or something in the spark plug hole when I see both valves close and SLOWLY crank it over. When I feel the piston hit the screw driver I stop and pull it out. I then rotate a little more and recheck, a couple times and you'll get damn close to tdc which is all you really need.
Yeah, if your rods are 7.375, then you're good to go. TDC works as long as you're on TDC of the compression stroke, not the exhaust stroke.
So maybe my experiment did work correctly. I was in kind of a hurry, so once I got the desired result I thought I was going to get, I stopped and started tearing the rockers off. I was thinking the adjustable pushrod should have been 7.300, and when I measured it, it was EXACTLY 7.300. In hindsight I should have repeated on a different cylinder.
Oh well.
So if I'm on TDC of the compression stroke I can measure both the intake and exhaust pushrods, right?
So maybe my experiment did work correctly. I was in kind of a hurry, so once I got the desired result I thought I was going to get, I stopped and started tearing the rockers off. I was thinking the adjustable pushrod should have been 7.300, and when I measured it, it was EXACTLY 7.300. In hindsight I should have repeated on a different cylinder. Oh well. So if I'm on TDC of the compression stroke I can measure both the intake and exhaust pushrods, right?
correct on all counts. You did yourself a favor practicing now. I was on the phone with Tony for hours because I figured it would be a quick and easy piece of cake. And it isn't bad once you get it. Not intuitive at all. But you're at .075" preload, which ought to be perfect for your stock stuff
10-09-2015, 10:26 PM
