GatorDog72 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Hi guys, just wanted to upload some pics of my engine build. I found a short deck 454 big block engine searching on craigslist one day for a decent price. It knew it was in pretty bad shape, but I took a gamble and bought it anyway. Once I got this thing home, I realized that the engine was in far worse shape than I thought. This thing was seized up hard! I soaked it for about a month with a mix of ATF and PB blaster and finally decided I had to smash the pistons out with a hammer. Every bearing in the engine was smoked. Some were so bad they were spun 180 degrees from where they should be. Not having any clue what I was about to get myself into, I brought this thing to my local machine shop to see if it was worth messing with. They shot blasted and magna-fluxed it and they said with some work it would make a great engine. I bought an internally balanced 489 rotating assembly from them and had tons of block work done. They bored .030 over, align bored and honed, and zero decked the block. I will be doing the final assembly. Im saving money right now to buy the final parts to make it all work. This was supposed to be a budget build, but I got a little carried away. When its finally done, this engine should move my Monte Carlo pretty well. Here's some pics of what I have so far. I have a ton more to upload too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 come on!.... tell us more! what heads, cam, intake, what's your general purpose for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 come on!.... tell us more! what heads, cam, intake, what's your general purpose for it ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Well it was supposed to be a mild build, but it turned into something way more extreme. When I bought the core, it came with a set of 781 iron oval port castings I was going to rebuild and install with a mild cam and a q-jet. After finding out how much it would cost to redo and port the heads, I decided to just save up money and buy new ones. I ended up going with AFR 325 cnc ported heads, a comp cams solid roller cam 248/254 duration @ .050, .653" lift, and a 1050 ultra dominator carb on a single plane eddy intake. The bottom end is a 4.25" stroke 4340 forged crank, 6.385" forged H beam rods, and 4.280" bore forged aluminum pistons from SRP. Right now im in the process of file fitting my rings. The block needs to be at room temp for this and when its -5 in my garage it makes it sort of difficult. The purpose of this build is to get my Monte into the tens at the track and still be able to drive the car to work in the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 how many CC's are the domes on the pistons and what size combustion chambers on the heads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 The domes on the pistons are 18cc and the heads I had milled to 118cc. Static compression worked out to something like 10.5 to 1. I want to keep this thing on pump gas and i think im pushing the limits on whats safe to run. Heres a cool pic of the giant 2.300 intake and 1.880 exhaust valves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreese Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 That is going to be a stout B/B for sure. Ought to make some serious steam !!!!!!! Keep us up to date with the build. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 very, very nice!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Sounds like a fun build. I like my AFR 325s. What are you doing to the chassis to support your quest for 10s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Sounds like a fun build. I like my AFR 325s. What are you doing to the chassis to support your quest for 10s This is where im going to need a little guidance. I know im going to need some sort of a roll bar/cage to stiffen the chassis up. Im going to keep the stock suspension for now and just put in some boxed trailing arms and adjustable shocks. I plan on running 28x10.5 slicks at the track and DOT slicks on the street. I have a few questions about rear end options, i'll start a new thread for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Today I finally got around to fitting some rings and ran into a problem almost right off the bat.... The first ring I filed was the 2nd ring down on the piston. That went perfectly. It fit nicely inside the bore with no overlap before filing but with a very tight end gap.( <.010") I really didn't have to file much off at all. After that, I moved on to the top compression ring for the same piston. This ring wasn't even close. Heres what the overlap looked like.... probably 5/8" or more. This can't be right... I'm thinking my machine shop gave me the wrong compression rings. Anyone know whats going on here?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Definitely the wrong rings. What brand of ring package? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Very nice build, keep us updated. Can't wait to see the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Looks like 502 rings! This thing should run strong....what trans and rear? I've got 10.6 cr and it seems fine on 93 octane, you should be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostnFound Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 You guys certainly know your engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Thank you for all the replies/support everyone! I stopped into the machine shop today and they are going to get me the right set of rings. Very strange, it was a brand new, sealed box of rings and had two different sizes in there....must have been boxed wrong. The top rings were definitely for something with a larger bore. Definitely the wrong rings. What brand of ring package? These were a set of Liberty Performance Components racing rings Hopefully I will have the new rings by this weekend so I can get the short block completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Just got done messing around in the garage, here's an update. I stopped back into the machine shop and they replaced my rings no problem, even though I accidentally broke one taking it back off the piston. Don't work on engines in a hurry, only bad things can happen. I successfully filed and installed the new rings to the pistons without breaking any this time. (having the right tools helps a lot) After that, I installed the pistons into the engine. I bought a summit racing piston ring compressor- the type that is specific to the bore size. Best $25 ever spent. That thing made installing pistons super easy and saved a ton of time. I still need to torque the rod bolts to spec, because I realized I don't have the socket I need in 12pt. Doh! I decided to just move on to the cam. I installed the cam without issue but I had to call it a night when I ran into another problem. The two little half-moon keys to index the crank gear and harmonic balancer are the wrong size. I will have to get new ones the before I can go any further. I am also waiting for different head studs to come in the mail. Some of mine are too short. (Wrong head stud kit, originally for OEM iron heads) Its always the stupid little things that hold up a project...can't wait to hear this thing run! I will update as soon as parts arrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 are you going to degree your cam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Sam- I will definitely have to degree the cam. I do have an adjustable cam gear in 4 degree increments. If its within a couple degrees, i'm just going to leave it alone. This will be a learning experience as I have never done this procedure before. I watched a few videos on youtube on how to do it. So far I ordered a moroso pro wheel, its the largest degree wheel I could find. Also a comp cams dial indicator with magnetic base. My engine uses solid lifters, so i'm all set there. Any advice is very much appreciated! So far I have learned a lot. I have had lots of engines apart before but I have never done anything close to this build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its Just Me Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 If you don't have a crank socket by now... get one. It makes life sooooo much easier when it comes to rotating the engine precisely while degreeing the cam. I would NOT, NOT, NOT buy the proform aluminum socket #67492. You can read my review on summit website (Scott from WI). I highly recommend the STEEL moroso socket , tho I see summit doesn't have it listed anymore. Be sure to get a socket that will clamp your Pro Wheel to it. Also be aware that not all degree wheels are the same. Some will be indexed 0-90 degrees, some 0-180 and some 0-360. Just be aware of what your indexing is vs. what the instruction video is referring to. This may not make sense right now, but when you begin degreeing, it will become clear (hopefully). The Pro Wheel looks like a nice set-up and clearly marked as to what the valves should be doing and when. Nice build. You seem to be on the right track, grasshopper. I can't wait to hear how it runs. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its Just Me Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Found it...The summit part number for the Moroso crank socket is #61756 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-61756 Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420ponies Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 We are on the same plan with Dan's motor for his '89 chevy truck. short block is done ready for his "blower" cam . Have to dial his in as to have more bottom end torque to move the behemoth weight of his truck. he is using a 496 kit and will have his 6-71 blower on it still. Any chance on selling those wrong head studs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 Scott- thanks for the heads up on the crank socket! I ordered it, just waiting for it to arrive now. I also received some other parts earlier this week. I decided I wanted to run a rocker stud girdle. I was told that it was a good idea to use one with a solid roller cam. I assembled one of the heads with all the hardware, rockers, etc. with the girdle attached to make sure everything would clear, and now my valve covers hit. I have the tall Moroso stamped steel covers and they need about another 1/8" to clear the girdle. I will have to send these back and get different ones... anyone running a stud girdle know of a set of covers that will fit? As far as the head studs go, I just bought the 8 longer studs I needed. The only ones that are different are the holes next to the exhaust ports, they are 1" longer than stock height. Once that crank socket gets here, I can get the cam dialed in and move on to putting this thing together. Hopefully we will hear it run in the next few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 The crank socket arrived last week and I finished setting up my cam over the weekend. At first when I watched the videos I thought this was going to be complicated. Its actually very easy once you get started. The whole process took about 45 minutes and now I know for sure where my cam is at. I forgot to buy a piston stop to find "true" TDC, but I was able to find it with the dial indicator with pretty good accuracy. After I found TDC, I zeroed my degree wheel on the pointer. (I bent up a piece of solder wire and wrapped it around a water pump bolt.) I carefully set up my dial indicator on the edge of the intake lifter and zeroed it. (Make sure the cam is on its base circle, I screwed this up at first.) At .015" lobe lift, the degree wheel should read 37 degrees. If I read my cam card correctly, it says my cam was cut 4 degrees advanced from the factory. I wanted to install the cam with a little advance anyway for more torque. After installing the cam in the "straight up" position, it checked out perfectly 4 degrees advanced. I went through the entire process again to check it and got the same result within 1/4 degree. Hopefully, I didn't screw anything up! (Don't bump into your pointer like I did and have to start all over!) I will update again soon, 1 step closer to done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 I'm checking piston to valve clearance today and also measuring pushrod length. I took a chunk of play-doh and put it on the piston and turned it over with the head installed to see the valve imprints. I'm happy with the clearance from piston to valve, but it looks like the intake valve gets close to the edge of the cylinder wall. I have seen the top of the cylinder on some big blocks notched where the intake valve is. I know theres a little power to be had there, but I would rather not modify it if i don't have to. Should I be worried about the valve hitting the cylinder? Is there an easy way to check that clearance? Any advice would be greatly helpful. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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