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Didn't quite get it done today, had some hang ups, the Edelbrock RPM intakes require a few mods to mount properly. The alt bracket needed to be doctored, 2 bolts made contact with runners, which required some doctoring on the runners themselves, and some vacuum fittings needed reducers. Uhg!
Did get the cam swapped out though, and only have a few things left. Need to adjust the rockers, drop the distributor back in, and set the initial timing for startup. Should be able to knock it out when I get home from work tomorrow, we'll see.
Here's a shot of where I'm at, I do like the way the RPM looks over the 'ordinary' Performer.
Update: Got the engine buttoned up, fired, and cam broken in. Was having issues with the new carb, for one, the idle mix screws were locked up right out of the box, had to work those things in & out a bunch of times just to be able to tune the thing. Still had issues and decided to tear it down and clean it up, still no go. Ended up putting the old carb back on (670cfm), and am sending this one back for a replacement.
On top of that, had a handful of noisy lifters, like 9 of them were pumped up and frozen, ended up pulling the intake and checking them. I took one apart, noticed it had a bunch of dried packing oil in the lifter body, which obviously made the check ball and piston hang. So went through each one, tearing them down, soaking the individual parts in carb cleaner, working the check *****, and re-assembling them. All this amber muck poured out of them. All I could do was cuss and shake my head.
What a pain! Ticks me off, having to do that all with new parts, just something one shouldn't have to do. Got it all back together, much better, but still had 3 that are hung. So I called Crower, explained my case, and they are sending me new ones, after they personally inspect them. The tech said it may take a day or two, because he's going to tear into them and check what I was talking about. Dang.
Anyway, aside from the horrid 'tick', I was able to get some behind the wheel time, after loosening the 3 rockers to zero lash. I really like the new cam and intake, BIG difference, especially from like 3000-5500 RPM. Pulls way harder. And am able to run a quicker advance curve, as expected, and gas milage has actually improved. I would recommend this cam to others, just need to keep in mind the gear and stall. I'm running a 3.42, would be better with like 3.73s or 3.90s, but sure with a stall of like 2800-3200 it would be fine. The previous cam (XE262) gave up at like 4800, and this thing keeps going to like 6k. Sure the intake helps too, but really, day/night difference between the 2 cams, and they 'look' very close to each other on paper. And it still pulls like 15-16 inches of vacuum at idle.
Awesome ride! I found this post searching for cars with silver W-30 stripes. After reading your posts and seeing how it turned out, I'm definitely doing silver/charcoal stripes on my car. Something different then white or black.
Awesome ride! I found this post searching for cars with silver W-30 stripes. After reading your posts and seeing how it turned out, I'm definitely doing silver/charcoal stripes on my car. Something different then white or black.
Thanks! And you can choose a paint for the stripe that has an effect too if you want! I went back & forth on that for a while, and went with the real bright/reflective silver, works.
Thanks! And you can choose a paint for the stripe that has an effect too if you want! I went back & forth on that for a while, and went with the real bright/reflective silver, works..
I'll have to look at some samples to see. I'm in between a bright silver and a charcoal or even argent grey. Either way I'll probably add some pearl to it to get that effect out of it. I'll have to see what looks good with the red.
I see this chevelle on Mecum which kind of gave me the idea. It's a bad pic because the car looks orange but it's red like mine. You get the idea.
Need to update this thread for this project, which at time feels like it will never end!
UPDATE:
Due to factors beyond my control, I'm back into the engine. Seems low oil pressure and a slight rod knock developed, and after the lifter/cam saga as stated above, a rod knock became evident. (Not going into details on this thread)
So, I pulled the engine in Sept, tore it down for a closer inspection, and am in the process of getting some parts together before I drag stuff over to the machine shop. In short, here's is my laundry list:
*Align bore/hone main saddles
*turn/index/polish crank (may require replacement)
*Resize/replace rods
*Target new main and rod bearing clearances
*Check heads (guides, valve job, springs, etc)
Along with that, I will do a few upgrades, switch to a HYD roller cam, for one. Attached you can see the cam card for the one I chose, a Crane 809621, which is a 222/230 @.050, .542/.563 lift, on a 112 LSA. Picked this cam over the Comp XE276HR due to the intake closing event, and the static CR of the engine, and feel it will be a good choice.
Also chose some Scorpion roller rockers, upgraded to a RobbMC 550hp mechanical fuel pump, and stepped up to a TCI StreetFighter 3000 converter with an anti balloon plate. Together, I'm expecting a noticable performance gain. Hopefully!
Once I get some progress to report, I will post again. Thanks all on this and other forums who have provided input and advice!
.
Last edited by HWYSTR455; January 17th, 2014 at 05:14 AM.
Final stages of engine assembly, only item left is measuring pushrod lengths and should be able to drop it in this weekend. The hyd roller lifters are taller than expected, and are going to require much shorter pushrods.
Interesting item I discovered is that the Clevite main bearings for #5 main journal is thinner than the rest by design, pushing the clearance to .0039. The clearance for mains on all the rest are .0026, rods are .0026, side clearances are .016/.017.
Touched up the hone and replaced the rings, just to be sure it's fresh and get proper sealing. Pistons were cleaned up and pins fitted, all are in the .001-.0015 range.
Align bore was checked and was good, so my previous issue has been verified it was specifically with the crank.
Replaced the crank and rods which I sourced from Rocket Racing (thank you John!). Rotating assembly balanced.
Cam end play set to .006-.007 .
Had some minor port work done on the heads while in the machine shop, should pick up a couple ponies there. Went to a smaller seal too, there were some that the springs had contacted, not good. (glad I had them gone through). Some springs were dancing on the shims because of this and all shims were replaced. The guides were all replaced, the existing guides were questionable, so didn't want to take any chances.
Blueprinted the oil pump, check gear to plate clearance, cleaned the check valve, and shimmed it .030 for a couple extra psi at RPM.
Should have it all worked out in time for the Power Tour, was going to join for the first 3 stops, will get some pics posted.
Ordered new pushrods, the hyd roller lifters are much taller than the regular hyd lifters, so the pushrods need to be shorter. Had to order new adjustable pushrods to even be able to measure, didn't have any that short!
So intake pushrods end up being 8.100 in length, and exhaust are 7.950. The difference is because of the oversized valves used, was the original builder's preference to do it that way, no biggie. (2.07 intake, 1.71 exhaust).
Should have those by Tuesday/Wednesday, will drop it in the car next weekend.
Had the car at the track last Friday, made a couple passes. It was hot, not very good track prep, was in full street trim with no cool down, just under a full tank of gas.
Traction limited 13.66, 2.183 60', .503 light, 104.83 mph. Spun pretty much to the 60' mark, and coolant temp was 205. (ran A/C in staging lanes)
Drag radials, 1/4 tank, a better light, better overall conditions, bet I could get into the high 12s without trying too hard, no problem. I could tell it was down on power from the heat, and could probably step up 2 jet sizes on the secondaries. (started laying down at the end of the track some). Kicking myself for not bringing jets and tools to the track.
Overall I'm happy, car runs strong, is easy to drive, and is plenty of power for my daughter.
I'll post once I figure out what I'm going to do for an overdrive, and the install.
So I pulled the trigger and ordered the Holley Terminator setup, and a bunch of supporting stuff. Waiting on a couple shipments that should be here over the next couple days, and hopefully I can knock it out this coming weekend.
I will do a new thread for the install, share my experience, and give a generalized review/results.
Switching to CPP C5 spindles, and getting ready for that, I needed to upgrade to 18" wheels. Here's a couple shots with the new wheels on, they are Ridler 645 18x9.5, all the way around, with General G-Max tires, 255/40 on the front, 275/40 on the rear.
I will do an install thread on the CPP C5 spindles, and hopefully get the Holley Terminator install thread done tonight.
On a more fun note, my daughter was asked to use the car in a professional photo shoot, believe it's a lead in to a series or movie or something, didn't get the whole scoop. But here's the photo shoot video of the making:
After @ 35k miles of fun, a 455 stroker fell into my lap, it a '71 block, 4.50 forged crank, forged rods, and ICON forged pistons, displacing 495ci. It is a fresh build, and I got an incredible deal on it, so I jumped.
I will being adding a hyd roller, most likely the VooDoo 231/239 grind, with some Bernard E-Heads, topping it off with a RPM intake. Hoping to have it in the next couple weeks, the machine shop is doing assembly, and I will complete it once I take it home.
Will probably drop back to 3.08 gears, but we will see how things go, on a little bit of a budget at the moment...
Ordered engine paint from Thorton's, sprayed the block, and cleaned up the intake I got as part of the package. Shot that with Dupli-Color aluminum engine paint, looks great.
My heads finally came in, Bernard ProComps, premium package, was able to get color on those too:
Also received the final items to complete the engine, Canton oil pan, Howard's HYD roller cam (Bernard grind), 4/7 swap, and other goodies, like Morel lifters, roller rockers, head studs, etc:
Today I will get the cam installed and degreed, and the thrust button setup. If I get lucky, may be able to get the oil pan and timing cover installed. Want to get this buttoned up before it gets cold, will install in the spring. (I have another engine for a different project almost done, that car comes first)
I ordered a new converter from Transmission Specialties (TSI), a extra heavy duty 2500-2900 stall 10" all-new unit. TSI makes great converters, and are reasonably priced.
Ordered a Vintage Air evap kit too, been having issues with the vacuum switch and/or doors, so bailed on the OE unit, and the firewall component that was rebuilt by Classic Auto Air. I will sell that unit if anyone is interested.
I used as much ARP stainless hardware as I could, so it would match the rest of the engine. The cap head screws that came with the kit were not polished. All the rest of the 'regular' hardware looked like they were chromed steel.
Have a couple complaints regarding, one, I ordered black powder coated, and a few of the items for the PS setup were not coated. Also, 2 bolts on the PS setup were 3" length, and should have been 2 3/4".
I used engine paint and shot the uncoated pieces, used Dupli-Color Ford semi-black, it was a dead-on match.
Overall, for the money, it was a good buy. I sourced the alt direct from PowerMaster, the compressor I got from March.
How do you like the Holley Terminator so far? I'm thinking of switching out my W-30 intake and going with an RPM air gap and the Terminator. My engine pulls hard but I believe there would be more consistency in the fuel/air charge across the cylinders and prob another 20 hp as well with that other intake.
Last edited by 442Dude; December 12th, 2021 at 01:47 PM.
Terminator is great, uses the HP ecu, so leaves plenty of upgrade options. But if you plan to stick to a throttle body setup, the Sniper or Sniper Xflow are the way to go. They are self-contained, no ecu to mount, which is nice. The Sniper is also about $1k or more cheaper.
If you start shopping now, and wait for sales between xmas/new years, you can get a Sniper for under $1k. Think I saw some in the $800 range (no fuel system).
June 30th, 2013, 12:30 PM
