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engine block prep

grumpyvette

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2001
Messages
841
Location
Loxahatchee, FL, Palm Beach co
read. it will help,
first thing to do is buy these FIVE books, it will be the best money you ever spent, read them, and you will be miles ahead of the average guy.
HOW TO BUILD THE SMALL BLOCK CHEVEROLET by LARRY ATHERTON&LARRY SCHREIB
.
HOW TO BUILD MAX PERFORMANCE CHEVY SMALL BLOCKS ON A BUDGET by DAVID VIZARD
.
JOHN LINGENFELTER on modifying small-block chevy engines

how to build & modify CHEVROLET small-block V-8 CAMSHAFTS & VALVTRAINS BY DAVID VIZARD

SMOKEY YUNICK,S POWER SECRETS



http://www.sa-motorsports.com/blockdiy/blkdiy.htm

http://www.hardblok.com/info.html


http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1...Bchamber+design

http://www.speedomotive.com/building%20tips.htm

http://www.se-r.net/engine/block_prep.html


http://racerhelp.com/article_racing-10.html

now in addition to that info , heres what I do
(1) get the block totally cleaned, DEGREASED and CHECKED by a GOOD MACHINE SHOP BEFORE INVESTING MONEY IN IT!
(2) have new cam bearings and freeze plugs , oil plugs,installed only after all other machine work is done and after a extensive recleaning of all the oil passages just prior to starting assembly
(3) screens over the oil drain back holes are a good idea ONLY if your willing to change oil and filters very frequently
(4) several powerfull magnets in the oil pan and one in the rear of each cylinderhead to trap small metal parts is EXCELLENT INSURANCE
(5) polishing and smoothing the valve edges and combustion chambers helps prevent detonation
(6)never fill the water passages higher than the bottom of the freeze plug holes on a street engine
(7) 7 or more qt oil pans with BAFFLES AND A WINDAGE SCREEN like MILODON MAKES are a GREAT IDEA
(8)personally I use standard voluum BIG BLOCK OIL PUMPS or high voluum sbc oil pumps in those 7 qt plus oil pans
(9) ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS UNLESS YOUR TRUELY POSSITIVE YOU KNOW BETTER
(10) measure everthing at least 3 times and get the clearances CORRECT, not close!
(11) use all ARP studs and bolts and get EVERYTHING BALLANCED, take your time ,ask questions and do it correctly the first time
btw heres where you get the magnets and use no smaller than 1/8" grid screen EPOXYed IN PLACE,
http://www.wondermagnet.com/dev/magnets.html

(I use the #1,2 and #42)

check all measurements three times, lube the crap out of the cam, lifters,bearings and distributor gears with molly lube, make damn sure your ring gaps are correct,throw several magnets in your oil pan sump, remember to pre-prime the oil system, pre- set the valves, check the piston to valve clearances, and generally torque everything to spec. twice to make damn sure you did it correctly, and stop! the instant things look wrong and find out why! don,t just ignore things that seem wrong!if you have a question do a search on the site archives or ask questions,....never wing it!!!!!! http://members.tripod.com/torquespecs/gmfs70-88chv8.htm
http://www.carcraft.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=4503

http://www.kb-silvolite.com/speclear.htm

. you can always buy some more MOLY ASSEMBLY LUBE and a can og G.M. E.O.S. here read this,
while general motors (engine oil suppliment)(E.O.S) is not a good long term oil additive, it is a very good additive to have mixed with the engine oil durring the breakin/initial startup or when breaking in of a new cam and lifters. E.O.S. can help along with the moly lube to plug up the oil filter element under some conditions so its a very good idea to add a can to your oil just before starting an engine with a new cam installed, run it for the first 2 hours or so as the rings seat and the lifters lap in to help provide extra wear protection and then change your oil and filter to a good synthetic or at least a good mineral base oil to get it out of your engine after it has done its job!this procedure also removes any metalic dust from the cam breakin and further helps protect your engine. but remember to remove it because after breakin the engine cools and it can cause problems as it thickens, draining it and changeing your filter while the oil is still warm is the best advice! the very small amount that is left in the engine after the oil change will not cause any problems.BTW be sure to coat ALL the cam lobes and lifter contact areas with MOLY CAM LUBE if your building the engine, the factory already does it, on crate engines.
http://www.chevytalk.org/forums/Forum64/HTML/008887.html

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=1377&prmenbr=361

http://www.cranecams.com/master/lube.htm#Super%20Lube

1052367
Vehicle Care
ENGOILSUP
12
$6.85
$5.14
$4.11
$0.00


EOS - Engine Assembly Prelube
Specifically formulated as an engine assembly lubricant. E.O.S. provides outstanding protection against run-in wear and piston scuffing as well as run-in camshaft lobe and lifter scuffing resulting from insufficient lubrication
sure I use it all the time, that mr moly grease and the ms molly spray is great stuff
[image]http://www.mrmoly.com/breakin.JPG[/image] <P><A HREF="http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/moly2.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/moly2.html</A><P><A HREF="http://www.msmoly.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.msmoly.com/</A><P> [image]http://www.msmoly.com/Image1.jpg[/image]
 
Great bunch of info on block prep. I followed all of the links and read all of the information. These 2 links were dead ends but the rest worked fine.

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1...Bchamber+design

http://www.carcraft.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=4503

One question I have relates to the Kieth Black piston site. They stress the importance of proper ring end gap and show a damaged piston due to too little clearance. What is your opinion of using either a Total Seal or Childs and Albert gapless top ring? I am aware of the benefits of a gapless top ring and even gapless top and second rings are now available. Do you think they would be a good match to the Kieth Black pistons and are they worth the extra money on a street engine?

Tom
 
Im useing the TOTAL SEAL gapless second ring on my 383 now. I have used them with K.B. HYPER PISTONS in the past with good results. but I think youll need to make your own judgement as to the money spent versus the results to be had. personally they (gapless rings)give a small benefit for the extra costs but still a measureable one! I use them because the extra $50-$70 for an extra 10-12 hp is no big deal to me but I doubt most people see it that way.
 
I have to agree with you completely. Given the costs of doing an engine right the extra money is no big deal. When I build an engine for the '59 it will be right from start to finish.

Have you ever used thermal barrier coatings on the piston tops, combustion chambers and valve faces? I have seen the product in Hot Rod that can be applied at home and cured in a common kitchen oven. I need to get one for the shop for powder coating smaller parts anyway. They claim it is as good as sending parts out but I would suppect that it is all in the proper prep work and having a good thermometer to make sure the curing temps are correct. What is your opinion?

One other thing. I have seen the Kieth Black pistons available with the dry film lube on the skirts. Would it be safe to bake on the thermal barrier coating on these pistons or would you want to do the thermal barrier first and then apply the dry film lube?

Tom
 
just some info
Ive broken a few rings over the years useing this type compressor
CDefault-44.jpg


this type works much better

saegK-D850.jpg


but this type is the easyist to use fom my expeariance

77866766.jpg

just some extra info,
I normally use piston skirt coatings that retain the oil film better and heavily coat parts with MOLY SPRAY during assembly and polish the combustion chamber and piston crown surfaces and smooth and round off the valve edges and pistons valve clearance knotchs. I personally have seen no big gains from piston dome and combustion chamber coatings the few times Ive tried them, and don,t personally think they are worth the extra expense on engines most of us build for street strip use.

http://www.msmoly.com/

http://www.sandstromproducts.com/Tigs/e720.pdf

BTW don,t think that theres no gains or that they (6" rods)are a waste of money, keep in mind that the .3 longer 6" rods run lighter and shorter pistons that tend to raise your POTENTIAL rpm range and rate of engine accelleration if you already have 5.7" rods use them but if your buying new rods and pistons 6" is the better choice. yes youll need a lower oil ring support style ring due to the lower ring passing through the piston pin hole upper edge but thats not a problem.
look over the pistons on the K.B. site. youll notice the 6" rod pistons AVERAGE ABOUT 10-12% lighter in weight than the similar 5.7" rod piston in hyper style pistons and can be much lighter with a change to forged pistonshttp://www.jepistons.com/pdf/2002-srp-chevy.pdf

look this site over , there can easily be over almost a 200 gram differance in some of the piston weights from 5.7" hypers to forged 6" rod pistons that can be almost 30%
 

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