Oh you should! Could you do like a signature as well?
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Tonight I managed to get the block cleaned up from the grinding that happened Wednesday night. Once that was done I measured both the cam bearings and the came journals to make sure there would be enough "love" left in the block. Meaning that the cam journals are .0045" smaller than the bearings. I also measured the small end of the rod and found that there was .0008" of clearance between it and the wrist pin.
This is the gauge I used to measure the small end of the rod.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps27990710.jpg
So now all of my clearances are set and I'm ready to install the cam bearings. Wait a second, I didn't double check to make sure the rods would clear the block, so it's mock up time again.
The rods clear the block, but when it came to cylinder #8 I noticed that the reluctor wheel was hitting the piston. My heart just sank. I'm thinking, "Great I either get to clearance more stuff or buy one piston." Right about then it was time to leave the shop. I figure by Monday I'll be able to find out what to do about the piston and reluctor wheel issue.
Of course the first thing I do when I get home is search and find out that the number 8 piston should have a little more clearance than the rest of the pistons. Now I have to wait until Monday to find out for sure. If that is the case, more building and less grinding will happen Monday.
Here's a photo of the rod bolt clearing the block.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...pse6c73792.jpg
Ugh Oh, are those pressed on the shaft ? Is it too tall ? ( bottom of piston hitting on top of reluctor? )
Yet another interesting night in the shop.
Of course I could hardly wait when I got there to inspect the #8 piston, and all turned out great!
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps6dd97653.jpg
So after I saw that I finished my dinner...LOL Once dinner was consumed I mocked up two pistons and gave the crank a turn and all is well.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps04e1d247.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...psf3cf5998.jpg
The fun with cam bearings will start tomorrow. My height is a disadvantage right now because of how tall the workbenches are in the shop. I'm going to have to have help installing the bearings. I'm okay with that. Since I couldn't really do that tonight because of some other instruction going on in the shop, I found other things to keep me occupied tonight. I forgot to get pictures, but I'll get them posted tomorrow.
Looking forward to pics, I'm glad the #8 piston issue was not an issue!
I mave much respect for any female that is willing the get those pretty nails dirty, let alone one that will tear into an LS motor. Well done, looks like you may have alot more upgrades waiting. as the whole bottom end looks rather beefy. reminds me of the bottom end of my old el camino, but that was the old SBC. sweeeeeet
See the first page, it doesn't appear that she tries to keep her nails pretty...:fear:...That's not an insult in the least, because it is an inescapable truth that anyone's hands will be fubar after working on cars. Male or female, if your nails are pretty, you're not working on cars. :proud:
Yesterday I "fixed" a stuck parking brake on my brother's girlfriend's truck (by fixed I mean that I took it apart, put it back together, and now it's not stuck anymore...). My brother was watching me, and said something about how easy it is to cut your hands in the cold. I agreed...then he says..."...you know you just did right? You're bleeding." Woops, no I didn't notice that lol.
No I don't subscribe to the manicure bit. I keep my nails short and clean. In fact, I usually stop what I'm doing and go wash my hands. I don't mind getting dirty, I just hate it when they get too dirty. I can't feel what I'm working with.
Now that that's out of the way.
Tonight was a busy night. I finally got cam bearings installed!
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps4da64207.jpg
The camshaft turns butter smooth. That's a big relief. I will tell you that swinging a 5lb hammer will tire you out pretty quickly.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps0c1bb324.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps2e28ecef.jpg
The crank was also installed.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps95628808.jpg
Tomorrow I have to shift gears and finish porting the intake side of my cylinder heads. I need to check piston to valve clearance before I get too far along in this process.
Don't get no purtier than that ^^^^^^^
nice work, it's great your doing your own work and know the details, very impressed
Many congratulations on the progress!
Tonight I did more porting on the heads. I know I said I was done, but I fibbed. I'm not sure what's more nerve wrecking, porting or finding out your bearing clearance isn't what you thought it would be. Uggh.
I am incredibly fortunate to have people that know way more about porting than I do helping me out. Jason porting half of the intake ports on one head and I was left to follow his lead. From what I'm hearing, I've done a pretty good job. :)
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps6d67dcbc.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps33740695.jpg
I've got at least an hours worth of work left on the heads. I'll tackle that tomorrow.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps49ae324c.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps4d16dc72.jpg
I'm hoping the last of the parts I need to assemble the cylinder heads show up tomorrow. If that's the case, I may get the valve job done and start the surfacing process. It will be nice to have another part of this build completed.
Make sure someone takes a picture of your ear-to-ear smile when you start this up ! Shauna
the headwork looks immaculate. I am sure you are proud already, and rightly so. great work
Today the shop was finally open and it was a short day due to weather. I got hit by every major holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years) and that interfered with getting the build done. It felt good to be back at the build.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps9d128cdf.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps14c4db06.jpg
This is the cool and nerve wrecking part for me.
Tomorrow I will degree the cam and finish up the short block install. Hopefully I'll be able to measure for proper push rod length and get my push rods ordered tomorrow too. We'll see.
It is looking GREAT
I had an awesome day in the shop today! I am rather surprised at how quickly the build is coming together now. The first item on the to do list today was to get the camshaft degreed.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps00f971f6.jpg
The camshaft is installed at 110 and did not need to be advanced or retarded. The Hex-A-Just timing chain actually made me get the destructions out so I could make sure I was installing the crank gear properly.
Once that was done I was shocked at how fast everything went together.
Setting rod side clearance:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...psa34a940b.jpg
Moving along with assembly.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...psc349d490.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps564115ff.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps40e2e421.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps37d8e183.jpg
I've gotta get this assembled and installed:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...psca46726d.jpg
At that point the short block will be done.
I need to finish porting the heads and get them assembled which will happen next week. After they are done I'll check piston-to-valve clearance and for proper pushrod length. After that's done and I've got the right length push rods, I'll get the engine on a cart and get it ready to go on the engine dyno.
You're not done with that silly thing? :brick:
I'm much closer to being done than I was. :)
Proper attention in prep work is time consuming but makes the job easier once you actually start it. This seems to be true for any mechanical assy. Looks like you have things well in hand.
Looks great shauna!
Thank you Paul.
Nothing was done yesterday because of the snow storm that hit us. Today I got by the shop and did a little bit.
Now what I didn't realize is that the o-rings on the valley tray didn't come with the valley cover gasket I bought. The search for those pesky bastards began. I was surprised to find that all of the dealers I talked to only stocked 2 o-rings. I understand not having a lot of room, but if you're going to replace two you should replace all of them. Anywho the part number for them is: 12610160. It looks like the Fel-Pro kit that Speed Inc sells comes with the o-rings. I ended up order 8 from the dealer and calling it a day.
Once the valley cover was installed with the new o-rings it was time to tackle the balancer. I made a mistake and forgot to put the accessory pulley on with the hub, so it had to be removed.
Fortunately for me, I had the GM balancer install tool so I assembled the balancer and used the tool to push it on.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps3a8409f4.jpg
That was the end of my day in the shop.
Tomorrow I will be in the cylinder head room finishing up porting the cylinder heads.
Looking better !
Looks like you'll be making racket in no time! Congrats miss all that hard work is coming together.......I know you're getting excited!
Is there an over/under for the dyno pulls?
What are your expectations, shauna?
I don't know enough about this stuff to even hazard a guess
I can see 600hp as there is headwork being dont and the build looks super. 600lb/ft is a shit-ton, and if it makes that it will be crazy. I am looking forward to seeing the results. My guess is 585hp/550tq
It took two of us to get the balancer bolt torqued down, but it's done. After that fun stuff, I went upstairs to finish off porting the intake side of the cylinder head.
Thankfully the last bit I needed to do went by rather quickly, and I didn't end up with metal down the back of my shirt. :)
Finishing up some port work:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps3509d92c.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...psec707e3e.jpg
Not too bad.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...ps06c07a83.jpg
So now that the porting is done, it's time to test out the flow.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...pscf44f07a.jpg
The intake side flows 297 cfm with a 3.910 bore.
Monday I'll start getting the valve job done. Depending on PTV and push rod length, I could have this engine on the dyno by the end of next week.
nice, but have to ask- tell me you didnt use the machinist dye as lipgloss
You need to post a video of this mother on the dyno when all is said and done.
we would also like an spl recording of the exhaust. I would imagine this thing will sound rude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_kvTlmCY3Y
That's a Holden Commodore ^^^^
Her's will sound similar, I'm guessing ?