Heckeng Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Hey all, it has been a very busy past 12 months for me and I have been absent from much of my forum hopping unfortunately. sorry about that, but I have still been stalking the site when I can. I am excited to say that I am replacing my 454 which was asking for a rebuild with a new 502 short block assy. It is already in my garage on an engine stand, partially disassembled. I am waiting on my new cam to come in (Lunati 60622, 231/239 and .6"/.6"). I am also going to be trying Quarterbooty's (Nick) old Edge Racing Converter which should stall around 3800 rpm instead of my current ATI converter. All I need is the cam, and some time to actually work on things but hopefully sometime in the next month it will be running again. I'll post some pics when I get some time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Sounds like a nice build in the works, should be more powerful than my 502 with that cam. Sell any houses lately... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Sounds like fun times ahead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 good to see you Scott, saw your post over on TC. That should be a really nice combo, the motor will love the 600 lift and give those 265's something to do now. Now save up for one of those new Holley HP series carb's, word is they did their homework on those and they are pretty good out of the box.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 Hey Bill, this spring has been the busiest I have ever been in the housing industry. I have high hopes that the huge interest in housing in our area (Mid Missouri) is an indicator that the rest of the economy may be about to make a turn for the better in the next 6 months or so. I sure hope so anyway. Â Dave, your engine has inspired me a little with this build. I too want a lower rpm engine that runs well. I was going to go with a bigger cam until I saw how mild your new cam was. I hope your stock 502 wasn't in too bad of condition when you rebuilt it. I know you said you were surprised at some of the things GM did from the factory. I hope I don't have any issues! I haven't looked at the new HP's but will have to give it some time. I had debated upsizing carbs anyway but have held off so far. Spending too much money elsewhere on the engine. I had called Chris Straub to have him make me a cam but he never returned my call so I just went ahead and ordered this Lunati. It ought to be an ok cam. The engine is not a max effort deal anyway--I just want a good performer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 454 to 502? Hey, this story sounds too familiar! Dave had suggested that cam for me too, but I ran out of money. Are you going to use your AFR heads on this engine? Is this a brand spanking new short block? Does it have the mech fuel pump provision? Â I'm interested in your times with that cam (its on my list). Â I have the stock ZZ cam and run street tires most of the time with a 3.31 gear and a 2400 stall - couldn't imagine 3800. Maybe if I break out the slicks I'd be shopping for a similar converter! Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreese Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Hey Scott, Â Sounds like a wicked build . That Monte will be a rocket. Keep us posted with the build and transplant. Â Â David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 more cam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 It is one of the new blocks with the mechanical fuel pump provision. I didn't want to have to run an electric again--didn't like the noise. I will be reusing my AFR 265 heads and I think they will be nice and torquey on the engine. It is hard to believe they will be large enough for the engine but I have to keep reminding myself that they flow more than my old iron rect. port GM heads that they replaced, even though they were much larger. Â Sammy, I know, I am wussing out on the cam but I really want to keep my power brakes and keep it nice and streetable. We will see how the cam is in the engine and how the new stall is with the engine and I may need to do some tweaking of the combo but I'm going to see how it all feels together before I change anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Scott, are you just using the stocker GM lifters? I'm also curious which head gaskets you will be using. Good Luck! Â I prefer a mechanical pump too, but didn't have a choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
680HPStroker Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Hey Scott don't worry about your power brakes being an issue with a big cam. Heck mine is .702 lift solid roller and with a canister my power brakes work just fine. All you have to do is bump the idle up a little. I run about 800RPM in gear and no brake issues. If I had it to do all over again my build would have been milder, but I had intentions of going racing. Now that isn't going to happen. With a Dominator carb, 4,000 stall converter, and a reverse manual valve body I can still cruise just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Hey Bill, this spring has been the busiest I have ever been in the housing industry. I have high hopes that the huge interest in housing in our area (Mid Missouri) is an indicator that the rest of the economy may be about to make a turn for the better in the next 6 months or so. I sure hope so anyway. Dave, your engine has inspired me a little with this build. I too want a lower rpm engine that runs well. I was going to go with a bigger cam until I saw how mild your new cam was. I hope your stock 502 wasn't in too bad of condition when you rebuilt it. I know you said you were surprised at some of the things GM did from the factory. I hope I don't have any issues! I haven't looked at the new HP's but will have to give it some time. I had debated upsizing carbs anyway but have held off so far. Spending too much money elsewhere on the engine. I had called Chris Straub to have him make me a cam but he never returned my call so I just went ahead and ordered this Lunati. It ought to be an ok cam. The engine is not a max effort deal anyway--I just want a good performer.  well the block issues just came to light because Scott was blue printing the thing. The cylinder angles were not lined up with the crank all that well and there was evidence of the mains walking some. We were planning on taking it 30 over anyway but it took that much to get things lined up properly. IIRC you bought some of the Morel street lifters last time you had it apart. They might work okay with that cam (they will be marginal at .600) but you might try and see if you can find a buyer for them and upgrade to the good Morels while you have it apart, just a thought. If Scott were building a motor for your needs he would use the 265 heads so I think those will work very well, he would probably just clean up the bowls. If you ever decide you want a Straub cam or the lifters I can help you with that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Lifters are Morel Sportsmans, I got the good ones last year when I changed heads luckily. My head gaskets are Felpro standard ones for a Gen VI 502. I just found out my cam is on back order, so I'm not sure what I want to do now. I may try calling Chris again and see what he says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Lifters are Morel Sportsmans, I got the good ones last year when I changed heads luckily. My head gaskets are Felpro standard ones for a Gen IV 502. I just found out my cam is on back order, so I'm not sure what I want to do now. I may try calling Chris again and see what he says. Â good call on the lifters..let me know on the Straub cam..I can help you with that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Straub cam will be here in 12-15 days. I have no idea what it will be spec-wise but he is putting it together for me. I am pretty excited about it! He said he would shoot for 600-625 lbft and keep it pretty tame. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 I was surprised that he actually answered the phone--last time it was his assistant. Dave, I know you and he have a good relationship going but I hate abusing that by having you tell him to call me back or harass him about some little bitty cruiser cam but I appreciate the offer. Luckily he was there today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 no it wasn't that...I sell them....it's a business deal... ....hardly a itty bitty cruiser anyway.... I'm allowed to harass him, it's my job..he's got so many things going right now I even have trouble keeping him on course...he's a really busy guy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Question: about how much more is a cam from Chris? 1.5 times or 2 times more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Hey Mike, it depends on what kind of cam you were looking at and what kind of blank he is building it on--cast or billet. HR cams at Summit range from just under $300 up to $500, so while we didn't discuss it this time, I have talked to him in the past and what he told me earlier (a year or two ago) was in this range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I was thinking with that 3800 converter the cam you mentioned was a bit small  I loved the cam Chris did for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Some pics: Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 looks real purdy Scott... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Nice!!!!!! That 8.2 on the side says it all. Besides the fuel pump pad, I noticed they added an oil plug in the front above the timing chain. Â Did you have fun getting that balancer off? Are you keeping it black? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 It will stay black. I am hoping that black valve covers and a black air cleaner will look good and not cheesey too. I saw the new (I would assume) oil passage in front of the intake too, not sure what the deal is with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.