Next piece of the puzzle

[biomedtechguy]

Nice work Mike...

 

[dvw]

Installed pistons to the rods. Enjoyed every minute of installing the Spiro-Lox pin retainers. A notched small screwdriver is your best friend. The bores have been washed several times. But you still can't beat clean trans fluid and white towel. Two towels, start, and finish.

Double checked the piston groove depth. The ring needs to be able to sink beneath the outside of the piston. In this case about .005". Time spent Double checking your piston and rod orientation before the 2nd set of Spiro-Lox are installed will save headaches. As most know the big chamfer of the rod face away from each other towards the edge of the crank. If you start the locks in the right place (notched end next to the pin notch) they are way easier to remove.

You'll thank yourself at freshen up time. Don't need a ton of oil. I use EOS on the pin and bearing. Wipe oil with your fingers on the rings and piston skirt. The cylinders get WD40. It's easier after installing the oil ring expander to install the upper oil ring rail first. This will hold the expander when sliding the lower rail around it. Make sure the rod bearing upper and lower are in the correct side of the rod. They'll fit either way. But if your crank has a large fillet radius there wont be enough clearance. Look closely where the edge of the ruler sets on the rod chamfer. It doesn't touch the bearing. Always check clearance here. I set all 8 in the holse and snug the bolts. Then flip it over for final torque. Don't foget to make sure you have enough side clearance between the rods. I like anything over .012". In this case we had .018"-.020"

Cam degree setting is next.
Doug

 

[dvw]

So after really looking into this deal I ended up with this. This cam has been in the engine for 9 years before this rebuild. I degreed the intake lobe and sent it (108 or so I thought). The intake and exhaust events were checked on #1 and #6 this time around. It appears the lobes may be the next size up vs what is on the cam card. Rx 1819 instead of RX 1718. XCX1864 instead of XCX 1862. The duration at .050" and .200" match the next size lobes in the Comp master lobe catalog pretty close. The last time it was installed the lobes measured more duration than the card. But this time being as precise as was possible, they were even larger than I had recorded previously. It's now at IO 33 IC 75 EO 80.5 EC 34.5 By open/close math the Int C/L 111 Exh C/L 113. When measured at the nose of the lobe at .070", .050", .030" before/after max lift the C/L measure Int 110 Exh 114. I don't know if its the cam itself or my inability to measure more precisely. Though it repeated over numerous rotation checks. Verified TDC again when it was all done. it's now 3 degrees retarded from the last time. Will it be any quicker? We'll see but I learned that I should've been more in depth about checking. With the Jessel it could 've just been moved and then the result verified. Which may happen if this move slows it. Always wanted to get an 8 second slip. Car has been a slew of 9.00-9.07@147-149
Doug

 

[Truperformance]

I think we'll all agree that you will have earned that 8 second time slip (you will get there) with the patience and hard work you are putting into this build Doug! Thanks for sharing all of the details!!!

 

[dvw]

Today the new ATI balancer and associated parts. I had already measured the crank and honed the hub for the suggested press fit of .0007". Hub went right on with the balancer tool. Then came the fun. The outer shell is held on with Torx 40 plus fasteners. Do I have one? He'll no. It's snowing like mad. I found my best std Torx 40 bit and got it on with no damage. Now the crank trigger wheel is to big for the hub pilot. The supplied MSD spacer is to small for the hub. We fab up a spacer. Get the trigger wheel and the pulley installed. Mock up the motor plate to check pulley alignment. It's with-in 1/8". Pull the plate back off. Time to install the crank pick up. Another hurdle. The trigger wheel sets to far rearward. Fab time again. Rough a piece of plate to a round shape and fumble my way to mounting it on a 5/16" bolt to get it round. Then mount a hole saw in the tail stock to rough in the hole. My lathe has a very poor tool holder. Anyway I rough it in. Then manage to eyeball it square as the adapter plate has to be pulled away from the jaws in order to cut the ID. Then layout and drill the 3 holes on the correct radius spread 120 degrees apart. A miracle. It all fits.
Doug

 

[PRHeads]

I don't know if its the cam itself or my inability to measure more precisely.

With asymmetrical lobes, the C/L will “move” when the lobe is measured at different checking heights.

Also, if the master lobe was for a lifter with a .750 wheel, and you use a lifter with an .800/.810 wheel, the observed duration will grow slightly.
You have to specify the use of a “.800” master when you order the cam(which isn’t available for all lobe families).

 

[LemonWedge]

 

[dvw]

The Cometic head gaskets arrived. Perfect size 4.350" bore on my 4.530" block . Installed the pan studs with some blue locktite. Checked the head gaskets on the block to make sure they didn't intrude into the bore. A little lube on the studs. Hand tight only. Lubing up the studs with ARP before sliding the head on is alot easier and less messy. . I torque stuff different than most. On high torque items I like to start at 30lb/ft. Then go directly to full torque. In this case 70lb/ft. Then when it's completely torqued I crack each fastener losses and retorque at the full torque spec. You wil notice it always takes more wrench movement to reach torque the 2nd time. Valvetrain tomorrow.
Doug

View attachment 1247436

 

[biomedtechguy]

Doug, when you torque to full spec, loosen, and retorque, there aren't any stretch factors of the bolts and studs that have a negative impact on the strength? Just asking, trying to learn. I know you know what you're doing.
By coincidence or providence maybe, I was just watching a Mopar engine build on "Engine Power" and I know the ARP rod bolts have to be measured before and after to meet spec.
I await a dusting of your genius

 

[dvw]

It's impossible to measure Fastener stretch in a blind hole. Heads, main caps, etc. The purpose of pulling a fastener to a certain torque is to approximate its stretch. This method of tightening was taught to me years ago by Dave Koffel. The torque wrench I used today was digital. The head stud/nuts were pulled to 70lb/ft the first time. When they were loosened most came loose at about 55lb/ft. Not every one of them will move the same amount on the second pull. But they all moved further than the first pull. Torque is affected by friction. That's why there are different specs when using different lubes. I checked the stretch of every rod bolt. I made a standard to measure against. The gauge is set at 0 with the standard. Then each bolt is measured for free length before it's tightened. The individual lengths varied -.008" to +.008". Each is recorded as to which hole it goes into. These particular ARP 2000 bolts called for .0060" to .0064" stretch. They were torqued to 30lb/ft and then pulled 60 degrees more. All were in spec with-in a few .000X". The wrench recorded torque values from 79-91lb/ft. So as you can see torque isn't as accurate as torque angle. Or better yet measuring stretch. Though measuring is a time consuming process. It's also difficult to measure accurately.
Doug

 

[biomedtechguy]

Thanks Doug, that helps my brain.
Much appreciated.

 

[Endangered Species]

The Cometic head gaskets arrived. Perfect size 4.350" bore on my 4.530" block . Installed the pan studs with some blue locktite. Checked the head gaskets on the block to make sure they didn't intrude into the bore. A little lube on the studs. Hand tight only. Lubing up the studs with ARP before sliding the head on is alot easier and less messy. . I torque stuff different than most. On high torque items I like to start at 30lb/ft. Then go directly to full torque. In this case 70lb/ft. Then when it's completely torqued I crack each fastener losses and retorque at the full torque spec. You wil notice it always takes more wrench movement to reach torque the 2nd time. Valvetrain tomorrow.
Doug
View attachment 1247440 View attachment 1247443

View attachment 1247436

The torque and Re-Torque my machinist showed me last summer. It's amazing how much further that nut turns on the re-torque... you're stretching the stud.

With that being said, you really need to write a book. You're post have more real life assembly information than any book I have ever read.

 

[bearman]

Dvw, we even do this torque turn method for a few years now. Finding head bolts and main caps do stretch so they're replaced. Parts are not what they use to be. The practice in the shop also to have all torque wrenches recalibrated after every four engines.

 

[dvw]

The good, the bad, the dumb. I trusted the person who ordered my pistons. Bad move. There is not enough radial clearance on the intake pocket. The valve clears depth wise. First head is back off and the valve centers are marked. The exhaust are fine. So now what to do? Cut them by hand in the motor? Make a fixture out of an old head. Then fab a cutter on an old valve and cut them in the motor? Pull the pistons and rods. Disassemble the pistons, rods, pins and rings and machine them on the Bridgeport? They need about .050". And for more fun the pushrods are too long. We'll cross that bridge next.
Doug

 

[bearman]

Myself would cut them in the block. Problem then becomes the unbalanced piston with home made type can't control like you can with piston out and a machine doing the cut.yes it's starting all over again but you have put a lot of time to make everything just right. But it's your call you know better than most.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Man...
Sorry to hear that. Do what is "right" Do it now, as it won't get easier later. Advice from a novice who hasn't done an engine assembly, but if the requirement to get it right is like my 60 years experience, no time as good as now.
Hey! You're not alone...

 

[RemCharger]

Smack some smaller seats and valves in the head?

Just kidding. That's a bad situation. I have die grinded out reliefs before.. not on an 8 sec engine though

 

[padam]

I had to notch my pistons last year. I didn't want to buy a cutter so I used some old valves.
Of course then no radial clearance, s I took it all back down and opened them up with a die grinder.
I took a lot of care, but still got a lot of chips in the cylinders. Had to spend a lot of time cleaning it up.
12 second car though. This stunt makes Uncle Tony look like Joe Gibbs.
Any chance you can send them back to mfg for mods?

 

[bearman]

Nice work but I don't have the balls to do it.

 

[dvw]

Trust me I've die ground reliefs before. I decided this morning its coming apart.
Doug