My 'ole 540 has been in basically it's same configuration for almost 10 years now. Along the way the heads came off about 7 years ago for some porting and there were a couple of cam swaps. It was freshened up at the same time the heads were done because I also swapped from and Eagle crank to a Callies to eliminate some bearing issues I was having.

Otherwise, this thing is the same as originally built. Even the cam swaps involved regrinding the original Engle cam! The valvesprings are the same ones that were installed when the heads were ported.

This motor has pushed my car to 9 sec ET's@142MPH in 90* heat as well as cruised cross country numerous times and who knows how many cruise nights. It's endured a harmonic balancer that came apart and took the water pump off the front of the motor. That was violent enough to split the trans case in half!

I'm going to change pistons to some newer/tricker stuff, but still keep std tension rings for street use. There will be a few other tricks involved and some upcoming dyno testing. Then we will be taking a 3000 Mile road trip this spring in it (if i can get it all back together by then!). Going to see if we can squeeze a few more ponies out of this thing without messing up the reliabilty.

Anyway, I just thought I'd throw up some pics that were taken seconds after pulling the heads off. No cleaning or wiping at all. As you can see, pump gas makes things black, but even the plugs are several years old!

The main thing I wanted to show was the effects of *quench*. People around here know I push things pretty tight on my motors. Here's pics to prove it!

My pistons are .009" OUT of the hole and my head gasket is .037" compressed. That gives .028" clearance between piston and head. Now my block is .0005" shorter on the right side than the left. Look at the pics closely and you can see what one half of one thousandth does. First..you can clearly see the piston/head contact that is happening on all of them. Sorta like NASCAR...there's some *rubbin'* going on!

If you look at the right side pistons you can see the Quench pads are clean and there is a distinct swirl appearance on the pistons. If you look at the left side, you can still see the piston/head contact but notice the swirl effect is not as pronounced. These heads are "old school" Brodix without all the new whiz bang quick burn stuff. You can see the contact on the spark plug side of chambers. I have .0045" piston to wall clearance and routinely turn this thing 7500 rpm...so it follows the same premise the Super Stocker's do....get it as close as you can without hurting things. Obviously as long as it's been running it's not hurting anything! Just haver to do careful measuring!

It appears I could stand a little more heat in the cylinders..but it's hard to tell since there is so much street cruising time on this thing. Under WOT I know it gets pretty toasty in there from reading plugs at the track.

Anyway, I thought it would give you an idea of how things react to little differences inside. Tight is good!!

JIM

 

looks really good, has held up very nice

 

Looks like .027 clearance would not work. Looks like the piston to intake valve clearance is close too. Pretty tight in there. Think your cutting it all as close as it gets. It does look really good but even a little bearing wear might cause the rub to get a little to close. Good time to freshen it and get another 10 out of it. Nice Job!

 

Jim .... Thanks for the pictures. That motor has been a great piece. It is a great example of having your cake and eating it too with super performance and street reliability.

Can you share what solid rollers you have been using and how long they have lasted?

Looking forfard to hear about the build....Jim

 

Jiim, don't you think its time to take out a second mortgage and buy a top fuel motor for the vette. Blower, Blower, Blower....the crowd cants. I've got a new sawsall that needs to be broken in.

BTW - Looking at the piston, it looks like the porting job worked

 

I keep hearing rumors of EFI???

 

Jim,

You know that thing is just screaming for a larger crankshaft.....

B.

 

I can't wait to see what Jims latest creation will be.....

850hp on pump gas?

 

You sure seem to be a lucky guy Jim with those tolerances - had that been anyone else and I'm sure it would have 'grenaded'

 

ummm this thing is sick!! i was checking the engine dyno numbers it says Ur making 300+ at 2500!!!! and 600+ @ the same... i just hope my 496 performes up to expectation this spring... i had a fuel starvation problem on dyno day... i sumped the tank and got a new fuel system... waiting for winter to blow over then ill give it another try! full roller with AFR 335 full cnc heads quick fuel carb 2 5/8 hooker super comps 10:1 comp.... any guess to what it will make? later

 

This motor has always had Comp lifters. The first ones were non pressurized old style. I ran them a couple of years on the first cam version....a 262/273 .672/.675. When I pulled it down to do the heads and crank swap...I sent them to be rebuilt by Comp. I then used a 272/278 .731/.731 cam version. I ran it that way another couple of years. I sent them in to be rebuilt and installed them the night before we left for one of those 2000 mile road trips to the Cruise In. All was good and I checked them when we got there. About 100 miles from home one started ticking but I made it home without tearing anything up. Comp warranteed them for me and about that time they were prototyping their new pressurized versions. They sold me a set real cheap to try. I now have a 266/272 version of the same cam with 1.8 intake rockers....774" lift. These are the same ones in it now, but they have been rebuilt once just for insurance. They had come out with a better axle setup and they upgraded them when they rebuilt them. The old non-pressurized ones are still sitting in the box as spares.

So, over the years, I've had one die after a 2000 mile road trip on a non pressurized set. Since then I've just rebuilt them every 2-3 years as a precaution. Once a year or so would be smarter if a lot of street use is happening.

No restrictors...lots of oil upstairs to keep springs alive.


JIM

PS- EFI??? Could be a strong possibility...........!!!

 

Can you get injectors big enough for that motor or we talking two per cylinder? So I guess we are talking crank trigger, coil paks, and one big a$$ electric fuel pump in a custom tank? I'm liking the sound of this.

What is Doug running on the Holley Nova? Didn't he go FI?

 

impressive to say the least, excellent burning, although you might try 2-4 degrees more total timing ...jmo....re ring it throw the valves away, kiss the seats and use new springs and maybe a .040 head gaskets and run that puppy!!...id' say your maintenance schedule is right in time.....lol!....

 

Buddy: This is what Doug is running this year:



The throttle bodies are from a new vette and drive by wire. The controller is Holley's new EFI system. He also has coil packs (DIS).

 

See what I have to go pick on???

I gotta see about adding some of those cute little solenoids hooked to a blue bottle!!

I wonder if I can run 8.90's??? How fast can you go before the soft top peels off??


JIM

 

Thanks for sharing. Curious, did you include bearing clearance(s) in your stack up numbers for final quench figures, or just the parts?


Maybe you should consider putting this on it...



...which can be converted to EFI if you prefer. It does need to find a good home.

 

Sheetmetal intake?

 

Hi Jim,
Looks like your talents get great return on investment. 10 years with occasional, specific maintenance and the guts look like that.

Good stuff, Maynard.

I think the part that impresses an old desert prairie dog like me is that your configurations produce ET slips in the 9's. Without juice. Maybe 8's with? That's just righteous fast for fenders, headlights, turn signals, registration, and insurance.

As good as baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet built the foundation, yours reminds me of Hooters, hot *****, and cold beer.

That brings a tear to my eye and makes me proud to be an American.

 

Now that's just sexy!! I used to help a buddy of mine that had that setup on his race car. Actually worked very well.


No I didn't include bearing clearances. Of course things move a little..but if they move that extra .001 or so...there would be lots of bad things going on a lot worse than the pistons getting cozy...there would be metal contact on the rod journal and get ugly fast.

Piston rock is a variable...but these are relatively tight at .0045" clearance.


JIM

 

I can give it a good home until someone wants to buy it!