Can anyone lend some clarification on brackets and accessories for me? I need to know....especially after looking at eBay for alternator brackets, water pumps, and power steering brackets.......are they all the same fitment? Some say that they fit late 60's BBs, and that they "may fit" other years........what a load of bollox! I need to know if they are all interchangeable, from the late 60's to the Mark IV blocks? I know the Gen V and Gen VI stuff is most likely different.....but I'm really corn-fused. Thanks in advance.

Deja

 

Look in this thread. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...-question.html

 

Scored yesterday..... got an 850cfm Mighty Demon carb (less than a year old) which includes the anodized fittings and stainless braided crossover hose, K&N air cleaner base and top (the $150 ones), and an Edelbrock mechanical fuel pump..... $300 bucks!! Boo ya!!!

Deja

 

I may be incorrect (won't be a first!!) but I think the BB Corvette brackets are different than passenger cars. The P/S pump and alternator set closer to the centerline of the crank.

 

What should I be looking at in that picture

 

See the brown spots at 10 and 2 that don't go all the way around? The ones that are below the top 1/4" of the cylinder. Where it's shiny is where the rings have scraped and sealed against the wall. Also, between the brown spots it looks like a funnel, pretty good sign the cylinder is not quite round.

 

Obvious now you've pointed it out, couldn't see the wood for the trees

 

Man this looks like a great project. I'm so jealous. I'd love to swap the 383 in my '79 for a 454 but don't have a garage to do the work like you do :]

Hope it all turns out well and you get a budget monster!

 

Head bolts tend to distort the cylinder walls when they are tightened. In order to eliminate this, torque plates are used to introduce this distortion during honing. These 'high spots' are then eliminated as part of the machining process. This results in a nice round bore once the heads are installed and torqued. I marked up blockman's photo for you. The red hatched areas have little to no wear indicating the rings weren't fully sealing against the cylinder walls. The areas in between have been worn smooth by the rings. Note the wear pattern's relationship to the head bolt holes.

BBC's and especially SB 400's are notorious for this. The result is excessive blowby, oil consumption, and loss in hp.

 

Is it true that using studs instead of bolts for the heads would eliminate that problem? .. I have a BBC built almost a year ago and I didnt use torque plate when they honed it and I'm using studs, and my engine is running fine and dont use any oil (knock on wood).

 

No, using studs won't change this. I should have probably softened my statement a bit. It doesn't necessarily mean you will have oil consumption problems. It will, however, generally result in some power loss just because the rings don't seal up as well as they would otherwise.

Someone built a 489(?) last fall w/o torque plates and then ended up redoing it using the torque plates. I think it was here, but it may have been over on the chevelles board. I don't remember the exact numbers but it seemed like it was a 5% increase in hp? You should be able to search it out if you are interested.

 

Studs seem to cause more distortion due to more clamping force, A simple leak down test at TDC will vericfy if the machine shop did a good job or not.

We have found over the last few years a leak down test has comfirmed shorty machine by machine shops or the machine shop does not beleive in torque plate honing.

Its to bad as most guys end up with blow by problems or dirty oil in less then 100 miles because of poor ring seal.

The problem shows up more when increasing dynamic compression by using a performance cam, smaller CC heads ETC.

 

Well, I have been a little busy here lately...working on this, that, and the other. I have to admit a little bit of a change in the planned engine build. It's more like one of those things where there is what I WANT to do, what I HAVE to do, and what I can AFFORD. So with that being said, let me elaborate.

As I have mentioned previously, I bought 2 454s...one running, one not. The first engine remains disassembled, resting quietly in the corner of the garage...awaiting it's resurrection. The other....being a running engine with 30K miles on a .30 over rebuild with a mild RV cam, has become the focus of my attention. Originally I wanted to put a 454 in each of my Vettes, but after talking to a local engine builder about what I was planning, he mentioned that I might just want to have 1 Vette with the big engine, and see how I like it before I go nuts changing both cars over....especially since I have not driven a Corvette with a big block in it. My knee jerk reaction was "No, I want to do this", but cooler heads prevailed...and I have decided to heed the advice of someone who has been around these cars a lot longer than I have.

So I have taken the running engine, cleaned it up, painted it, put a short water pump on it, and have just today added a Gilmer belt drive to it. I'm still gathering brackets and whatnot, which has proven the most frustrating of all. And WHY are people in the Corvette world so adamant that the alternator be placed on the driver's side? Seems like the passenger side would make sense if there is no AC to contend with.

So without further ado....here are some pics of the before and current status of the engine. Excuse the mess in the garage.....it is what it is.

Before.....













It's simply amazing what a difference some elbow grease, some degreaser, and some paint will make to an engine!!














And then there's the Demon carburetor.......850cfm of pure beastly carb!!






Will those cast iron manifolds work in the Corvette? They look like they would. Anyone?

Deja

 

No, they won't. Pop for a set of Hedman headers if you want to do it on the cheap. BBC Corvette manifolds are $$$

 

You will either have to get the Correct Corvette manifolds or a set of headers.

And with the type of BB you are going to run I feel the 850DP will be a bit much and not work all that well for what you are doing. A factory Q Jet or even a Holley 750 Vac Sec would work much better.

 

Ben is correct the Hedman headers fit great from what I have heard.

 

Well, I had thought that the carb might be a little much, and I may have to jet it down a bit. It's a lot easier to do that, than trying to get more out of a smaller carb that just won't give more...or rather, isn't ABLE to give more. Plus, I got the carb, complete K&N filter setup and the Edelbrock fuel pump for $300. Couldn't really pass that up...even if the carb is a little overkill.

Deja

 

Amazing what a few hours of cleaning and a couple rattle cans of paint will do. That engine looked really gross for a 30,000 mile build.
The carb is too big. We tried a variety of carbs on the recent L88 clone engine build. Holley 800 pulled a couple HP less than a bigger carb but better throttle response and better power numbers throughout the rpm range except for peak power @ 6500 RPM. A 750 would be a better choice for you.

 

The photos of the engine really do look worse than it was. There was some seepage from the valve cover gaskets which attracted some dirt on the intake manifold....and a **** poor "paint job" by the PO is apparent. The block was black, and then the a quick spraybomb of black over the orange intake manifold without proper prep. It really makes a difference when you can pressure wash and scrub every nook and cranny before putting down any paint. Wiping it down with lacquer thinner really helps the paint stick. I anticipate that the new paint should be on there for quite some time!

Deja

 

Really enjoying your project. Please keep up the reports and pictures.