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So before I get too far along in the body finishing, I felt it might be a good idea to get the engine assembled, installed and do all the necessary stuff to test fire the engine. I will be using a hydraulic roller CAM as specified by Mark (cutlassefi). I spoke at great length to Mark Hamilton (MAD Enterprises) and bought his 'Full Power' kit for a trunk mounted battery. The man is a wealth of knowledge and graciously spoke with me nearly 3 hours the other day.
My thinking is to do the following and once all mocked with things that may need mounted to the firewall (smoothed but still in bare metal), add enough electrical to run the engine (with oil pressure, water temp and maybe RPM monitored).
I'm think I should go ahead and buy the clutch kit and mount the Tremec T56 transmission for engine stability. Do I need to get the hydraulic release bearing fully functional for this?
Should go ahead and also purchase whatever flavor of wiring hardness? I thinking yes if I have to mount it to the firewall. My initial choices are either Ron Francis or AAW. Thoughts?
I have Tanks, Inc EFI fuel tank with an in-tank pump and I ran two 3/8" fuel lines in the OEM location to use for supply and return. Plan on using the Holley Terminator and will need to buy that (checking on pricing with my son's employer as they are a Holley dealer.) I will need to mount the fuel regulator on the firewall.
I plan on using the Holley Dual-Sync distributor as I might consider moving to multi-port FI in the future.
Plan on re-using original front accessories (brackets) with v-belts. May pop for billet aluminum pulleys though, I haven't decided.
Radiator is already in place and was purchased from a fellow Oldsmobile owner that runs RnD Fabrication.
So my question, what else am I missing to get this engine mocked up and in place to fire up, break-in the CAM?
A couple of questions as I’m progressing closer to getting this ready to fire up the first time. A couple weeks ago I filled it with oil (Joe Gibbs Driven HR - 15w50) and successfully primed the engine. I got decent pressure, oil up through all push rods and a steady stream into the distributor/cam gear area.
My son and I got to installed between the frame rails, bolted up the transmission and mounted the starter. I have all the necessary wiring complete to power the fans, ECU, gauges, etc. I’m adding everything else as time permits after work (i.e. alternator, power steering pump).
Today I completed the wiring to the starter and hung the long tube header on the drivers side. I had to mock up the passenger side first to mark where to drill so I can install the O2 sensor bung. I realized I have to move both the oil filter and filter adapter in order to slip the header into position. Does this sound about par for the course?
Using a Canton oil pan, I then determined which direction to bend the dip stick tube (slightly to rear near the pan, then straight up near the rear of the cylinder head).
After drilling and welding in the O2 sensor bung and reinstalling everything, it looks a pretty tight area to remove the oil filter when doing oil changes. I assume that’s also to be expected when running long tube headers.
Last edited by gbledsoe3; February 11th, 2018 at 06:49 PM.
Those are nice wheels. Yes, oil filter removal is normal. Headers are easiest to install if they are set in place before the motor is put in. No cam break in necessary with a roller cam as far as I know, one of the many advantages of running one. What are your thoughts on your Cantonment oil pan, I am considering one. The R&D Fabrication radiator sounds good, US made with US materials, do you know how many cores they have and the core size? They are not listed on their site.
Last edited by olds 307 and 403; February 12th, 2018 at 06:29 AM.
The wheels are from Summit Racing. I'm sure I'll eventually buy better wheels, but I really liked these and figured they would at least get me rolling and look good too.
What are your thoughts on your Canton oil pan, I am considering one. The R&D Fabrication radiator sounds good, US made with US materials, do you know how many cores they have and the core size? They are not listed on their site.
I bought the Canton oil pan after researching and checking with others. I got it from Ron Sutton Racing after attending one of his Suspension workshops at the RideTech facility in Indiana. I spoke with Canton support and they are listed at 6 quart 'system' capacity, which means total of 6 quarts with the oil filter.
With the R&D radiator, he build a Cutlass and of course I always try to support those in the business provided they have good products. I suspect it's a 4 core because my top plate doesn't fit quite right, but I'll likely make some sort of custom bracket/brace for the top because plans are to make engine close-out panels on both sides and the front.
There's several over on the Pro-Touring (tommycomfort) that use his radiators exclusively in their 66 Chevelle's when autocrossing. We'll see how it goes.
Last edited by gbledsoe3; February 12th, 2018 at 12:17 PM.
Interesting, I have the Canton pan as well and I don't think I have the dipstick port on the passenger side like that. I'm currently using a modified Lokar LS1 dipstick and I'm not a big fan of it, I never seem to get the same reading twice in a row.
May 18th, 2017, 12:51 PM
