Talked to Aldo. Seller now changed his tune on taking the engine back. We are using this short block. Looks like a freshen up of used engine that was possibly originally built by S&S. Looks like disassembly, complete check of all clearances and definitly have to overbore and torque plate hone to 4.320, new pistons, rebalance, rings, See if rods ends need reconditioning, see if crank needs turning, check endplay on crank, see if pin bushings are new, R&R cam bearings. Will have to drop compression some because piston availability in a .070 overbore is limited. Could zero deck block to get good quench and bump compression to around 11 to 1 to work better with cam and pull more power. We will see what the boss wants to do.

 

Am I the boss?
I agree on the build. instead than decking further the block , you can mill the heads a bit , if you like, so we are also sure that they are flat.

the pistons for the new build would probably be KB766-070 . I hope Summit will supply them in time : summit says available on sept 4th.But I have already heard of longer that expected time waiting for pistons, also 1-2 months!!! any bad experience like that among members?

63mako , you have an interesting email...

 

 

Good thing that new pistons are going in, I saw gas ports into top ring lands on the Ebay motor photos. Gas porting is EXCLUSIVLEY used for drag motors that run short duration and will rapidly wear to piston rings on street motor. Black behind intake valve can be sulfur build up from cheap gasoline, it would appear to be black like an oil deposit. I couldn't belive the amount of build-up on my LT-1 when we pulled it down after 14K street miles. Looks like I will only use Chevron/Shell/or Union 76 "ultra clean" fuel from here on out after my expirience. Make sure Aldo is aware of oil requirements for running flat tappet cam (HIGH ZINC PLEASE!) and there should be no problem in building a 550-625HP 427 with good cam and cylinder heads.

 

The seller has 100% feedback did you threaten him with a negative feedback. If not do so and see if he changes his tune. Tell him you are going to put the url of this thread in the feedback so others can see what the guy is selling. Worth a try

 

Hi

Aldo , I feel sorry for all the hassle you have with this engine project.

I really wonder if shipping and rebuilding your 321 Sept 67 dated 68 only block wouldn't have been the better solution .

And if not, the market is so much more willing in the US to buy such a rare block usable for early 68 only. Too difficult to sell such rare item in Europe.

I would have bought it from you, but I just found one last year in the US and had to ship it over here and don't need a 2nd spare.

Hope the seller takes his so called L88 clone engine back, so that you can start at scratch with this project.

Wishing you a lot of luck and that you can drive and enjoy your car soon.

Rgds. Günther

 

Gunther,
I'm keeping the 67 engine not sending back. it will cost more than expected but if the crank+rods are OK , we can make a strong , good engine which were my intentions. I'm waiting 63mako and his shop to check the low end. I hope it's OK. then I'll release the suitable feedback to the seller , regardless of what he thinks of his motor.

Yes , I could have sent the 68 321 to 63mako...too late now. I'll restore that engine this winter or...let's see. inside that block there are a genuine L88 cam and related GM lifters. they worth good money until they stay there in that block ( ZDDP used both by me and PO, engine has just 2-3000 miles).
I wanted anyway to keep the 68 321 block more stock.

On the 67 block at 63Mako , I feel free to stay not so much on the stock side

solid lt1
I'm aware of the ZDDP need. I'm using the best and cleaner gas here.98 oct RON. the problem could have been the use of 5-10% toluene to increase oct. for this reason we are trying to make an engine that can work on 98 Ron and no octane booster

 

If I were you I would not order parts for the block that has the wiped out cam timing gear area illustrated in some of the pictures with the bare block. That happens from the crank moving back and forth from a bad crankhaft main thrust bearing......The block is junk unless thats not the OP`s block then why worry.

 

See post 21.

 

Man, I hate to see what you're having to go through on this build already. We ran across an e-bay deal in our group a couple of years ago with a sweet running and nasty (as in GOOD!) 427. All was good until we found the wrong head bolts had been used and had only been catching the of couple of threads in block. Destroyed them. Lots of helicoiling and head studs later it's running fine, but we know it's only a matter of time and are keeping our eyes open for a virgin block.

This stuff is getting old and way too many hacks have been messing with them over the years. I sure like starting with the new Dart blocks without all these issues!

Good luck and hang in there! It can be saved, just won't be fast to do it or cheap! That timing gear thrust surface deal is exactly what destroyed the stroker in Doug's (*Snowman*) new C-3 project. Someone who didn't have a clue tried to install one of the repair gear sets with a bearing and didn't machine block after it had been previously damaged. Then used a thrust button preloaded to hold it back in there. Destroyed the motor when all the metal stuck the oil filter bypass and shot trash all through bearings etc.

That's how he ended up with his new 555" motor!

JIM

 

Jim,
I'm so sad.
the more we go ahead , the more it seems to be a long, expensive job. I'm waiting for the 63mako report about the internals. then I'll decide. since I'm a hurry to have a working engine, probably it's faster to fix my 321 68 block here and leave the 67 block there at 63mako deciding after what to do with it ( trash it? display?use just internals if good ). more than money , what makes my angry is the time wasted and "dreams" destroyed.

 

Yes. When the seller was notified about the thrust surface his response was that is how it was done at Santos and I must be a hack that has no clue what I am doing to question the quality of this machine work. Lots of red flags before it even comes apart. This will be saved and better than ever. See post 21. Original plan was to use this freshly rebuilt quality shortblock and clean up and reuse his almost new heads with minor unshrouding to get compression to 11.5 to 1, assemble, add parts shipped from Aldo and install new cam. Dyno tune and ship. Turned into something else now.

 

Good to here from you. How is that Iron head 10 to 1 comp, pump gas 548 Tim built that I sold to your friend? I know he changed the cam and lifters and redynoed it. Do you know the final Dyno results?
Reason I am asking is Tim's qualifications have been brought into question by the seller of this block as well as my own.

 

Disassembled and in the hot tank. Will post upon inspection and measurements.

 

63Mako- Here's a thread with all the details on the 548" motor. He was happy with the results!

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/show...ht=john+wilson

It's in his pickup. I've heard and seen it...haven't ridden in it yet...but it sure sounds sweet!


JIM

 

804 HP 681 Ft Lbs. Not bad for a 10.2 to 1 pump gas 548 street build with Dart 308 iron heads. Johns custom cam got him 25 HP and 1 ft lb of torque. Thanks for the link.

 

It has been a while since I posted on this build. Had some issues with the original seller delaying tear down. Pistons were a wait and some additional work had to be done. Now we are at the point to update progress.
The block was hot tanked, cam thrust surface trued up, align hone checked out good, it was bored and torque plate honed to .70 over, the minimum we could do and clean it up. Deck height was 9.7695, square and flat. final washed.





[IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h256/63mako/Westpics018.jpg[/IMG







New Durabond cam bearings installed, new brass freeze plugs installed.

 

The pistons are KB forged which were the only 427 pistons available in a .070 overbore with a dome that got us to 11 to 1 compression.

 

The 7/16 Dimple rods were reconditioned and new ARP bolts installed. The beams on the rods are nicely polished. Rods were weight matched.













Used Cleavite rod bearings.

 

The pistons were very nice out of the box but there was some interference with the modern chamber design of the bowtie rectangular port aluminum heads. I would guess most building a 427 are using an older chamber design. The piston domes had to be clearanced slightly as were the chambers. Pistons were weighed and the same weight taken off each dome to maintain uniform dome size. Then pistons were weight matched.



The chambers were clearanced and then the heads milled to get back to 119 CC to maintain compression. Chambers were CCed. The pistons now sit flush in the chamber with no interference.