*Raises hand* On a stocker anyway. They're damn tough, and can handle tons of abuse before blowing up. It took me a while, but I finally did blow one up. I even held my foot to the floor until it wouldn't rev any higher and held it there for about a minute. Did this many times over the span of several weeks (I was beginning to believe the thing was indestructible), until it finally turned loose, and even then, still ran with a knock. It never floated the valves, and tach was pegged @6000. It revved higher than that, but not sure how much. Maybe ~6300-6500? Did it for effect. Was curious just how much it would take before blowing (I was trying to blow it up). I had a 455 waiting to go in the car. I was young and foolish, but I did learn from this experience. "Normal" full throttle driving, best shift point was around 5100-5200 RPM. Stock springs. Stock cam. Stock everything. 1968 4v engine. Gary
I am still leaning towards the Crower cam but I do want to fully itemize what is required for both choices. The ability to just swap a cam without break in or changing lifters is appealing considering I plan to build another engine in a year or so. i definitely want to see this motor surpass 450hp on the stock shortblock so anything I can do now to help reach my power goal will help keep the motor together if I don't have to run more boost then needed. What would cause clearance issues? What would make the roller profile different from a flat tappet cam enough to cause clearance issues?
Maybe just get the flat tappet cam for now because you don't know what kind of flow numbers the new heads will have and you don't want to regret buying the wrong grind for the new combo? Dealers choice. The clearance issues would be that a roller cam in most cases will have more lobe lift and a wider lobe than a FT cam and the real estate inside a sbb 350 between the cam and crank is very tight. I have read here people having trouble removing a stock cam with the crank set at zero on the balancer would hit the crank throw on the way out making a pita to remove. GL Derek
Took the plunge and went with a roller setup. I spoke with Mike and he said it is possible for the crank to hit the cam but it's only certain crank castings that cause the issues. It's best to check every cam during install but worst case if there is any clearance issue it takes minimal grinding to solve the problem. I asked about these rockers working with the future aluminum heads and he said he is pushing to make sure there is accommodation for multiple styles of rocker setups. I trust Mikes judgment as far as cam grind and told him what I am shooting for.
Also decided to rebuild bottom end. Spending all this money it's so hard to say I'm going to put it together with cast pistons and with the shortblock sight unseen. So I'd like to know if you guys could recommend any reputable machine shops in the northeast area? Once I have cam specs from Mike at TA I'll know what I can do as far as forged pistons.
Gary, budget is getting tight since I didn't plan on going roller and certainly didn't plan on touching the bottom end. What is pricing for the 350 main girdle? Looks like a stout well built piece. Thanks, Jacob
It is,but its not cheap, TA gets $500 for the BBB, the SBB version is $599. with all hardware to install. But if you're doing the bottom end now is the time. If you won't be boosting to over 700hp or spinning it over 7000rpm you probably won't need it. gary
Gary that price sounds reasonable for what your are selling. I can't say for certain right now whether I can swing buying the girdle or not but I will surely keep you in mind
Pulling apart the motor I found something that made me feel better about all this work. I found a lobe on the camshaft completely flat, as well as a few messed up lifters. It's amazing that the car seemed to run so well until higher rpm with one dead cylinder. I even ran a 14.8 like this. Have some of the goodies from TA, but I'll be ordering more soon for the short block build.
Jacob, I have your rods boxed up I will drop them off at the post office tomorrow and send you a tracking number. Sorry for taking so long, I almost had to send your money back because I had the set of rods scattered in about 4 different places from when I was doing some weighing and measuring with them. Don't worry though because that is the only set of sbb 350 rods I had so they are a matched set from the same engine. Probably will drop them off before noon, they should be in your hands by Wednesday to Saturday the latest I would guess. Derek
No rush Derek, still haven't ordered pistons yet so I can't go to the machine shop this weekend anyway. Look forward to getting them! So if I go with arp rod bolts the rods have to be resized correct? What is a good guesstimate of power they can take?
With polished beams, shot peened with ARP bolts should be good to 600 HP I have read here. RPM should probably be kept under 6,500 I'm guessing, if anyone knows better please chime in and correct me. And yes you should have the rods resized when new bolts are installed. Can't wait to hear how good it runs! You should have a PM with a USPS tracking number I sent you Monday evening. From MI to NY shouldn't take to long, by Saturday the latest I would think? Today or tomorrow would be a good bet though. Track them and let us know. Derek
Got the rods yesterday Derek, thank you! So now I have a new issue. I was planning on going with Wiseco 5040A3 pistons. Summit says they won't ship until May 4th. I don't want to wait that long for pistons if I can help it as it will prevent me from going to the machine shop. The only alternative Ive found that keeps me where I want compression wise is a set of JE 131557-1 pistons. Pistons are .025" taller to the wiseco 1.825CH and have a 29.5cc dish vs the 25cc wiseco dish. Then there is the matter of the price. $120 each vs $76 for the wisecos. To keep my motor below 8.5:1 compression with forged pistons what other options do you guys know of? also in a separate note, while ordering parts from a certain company I hear heads are planned for the end of this year.... Preettyy sweet
Found a set of 6 JE 131557 pistons for $513 on ebay. I'll order 2 individual pistons from summit for $120 a piece, the best compromise given time constraints. I'll double check my stock compression height tomorrow at the shop to make sure its 1.81. Sure would stink to have a set of pistons sitting out of the hole...
You will want the taller piston. You have .090 to play with.you won't be that hi compression. And even a bit above 8.5 won't hurt on boost. The big stage 2 engine run 9 to 1 and huge boost. Even more low end.
What do you mean by .090 to play with? Measured deck height is .053 if my stock pistons are 1.81 and I go with 1.85 pistons that takes .040 off my deck height right off the bat. But i have heard people say stock compression height is 1.75 to 1.875 so I definitely have to measure to make sure before I pull the trigger. I definitely want the Pistons as close to 0 deck as possible without raising compression too much and it seems like the JE pistons will do a better job of meeting that goal. Just might end up weighing more which is the trade off. I have heard that the v6 guys run a little more compression to help out the car off boost. Mike at TA felt that the v8 won't be as choked by the lower CR so 8.5:1 should run fine on the street. I am shooting for 10-12 psi max so lower compression will definitely help meet that goal on pump 93. Would rather not do E85 as I like to drive more than 100miles between gas stations lol. Might not even reach 10 psi if I build this motor right. Don't want to make more than 500whp and break something...
Cool, I'm glad they made it to you! These look nice and are available now on evilbay; http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wiseco-Pro-...0A2-/331203956945?hash=item4d1d4b50d1&vxp=mtr There is only 6 of them but should be a good start for the machine shop until 2 more come in from summit; http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wis-5120a2/overview/ Would be $70 more than the summit price but looks like they can ship them quicker. Unless the machine shop is saying that they can have the whole build done before 5/04? Are you assembling the engine yourself? These have a 1.860" compression height would be a lot less milling to get them to zero deck and they still have a 25cc dish. These would be with the factory dimension deck height .018" in the hole, but more like .040" in the hole because the factory blocks have at least that much extra deck height from the factory. Not sure if hey come as .030" oversize I didn't get that far when I found these .020" over pistons. 10.188"(DH) - 1.860"(CH) - 1.925"(half the stroke) - 6.385"(rod length) = .018" in the hole. With 6 of them would be good enough for the machine shop to weigh and get an average from, 2 more individual pistons should be very close to the 6 in weight and size. And looks like less $$$ to boot. Was trying to give you a link for a set of head gaskets that are good up to 20 PSI of boost but the www.buyingracingparts.com website must be down right now? GL Derek
Derek from what I've measured I am only .053 in the hole right now, so that's where my reluctance to go with too high of a compression height comes from. With 1.860 assuming stock pistons are 1.81 I'd be just .003 in the hole before even decking the block flat. The more I researched the JE pistons the more I liked them better than the wisecos I originally planned on. They have a larger dish which let's me bring the piston out of the hole more with less milling but it's as tall as I want to go for pistons unless I find that my stock pistons are shorter than 1.81. Money wise the wisecos you point out are cheaper but I already ordered .035 rings from TA, plus like I said before I feel that piston compression height with the smaller dish won't be as ideal as the JE pistons. I did take your advice and I have the MLS headgaskets from buy racing parts already. Looks like a sweet set. Wish I went with the larger bore though. 3.845 I probably would have been better off with the 3.905 they offered not thinking at the time since the difference in size has negligible effect on CR
By the way Derek, I respect and consider any advice you or anyone else offers to me. At no point do I intend to sound like I am disregarding your suggestions. Just offering my view of things so that I can be corrected or clear up my intentions. I just know I can come off inconsiderate the way I talk and I don't mean it that way haha
