L88 Engine Rebuild Questons
03-01-2016, 11:21 AM
#41
Burning Brakes
Chazde3, I did not build mine, my uncle did. he bought it when I bought my '95. we were fairly close and I inherited it, but I did give him advce and he built it like I would have. original L71 with OTC aluminum heads, just like he wanted to do back in '68. the roller cam gives the sound and power close to original without being a flat tappet, which is good considering what happened with oil.
btw, Delton is not far from me, I am in Allegan co. are you in MI? would love to see your car in person.
btw, Delton is not far from me, I am in Allegan co. are you in MI? would love to see your car in person.
03-01-2016, 12:26 PM
#42
Drifting
Thread Starter
Chazde3, I did not build mine, my uncle did. he bought it when I bought my '95. we were fairly close and I inherited it, but I did give him advce and he built it like I would have. original L71 with OTC aluminum heads, just like he wanted to do back in '68. the roller cam gives the sound and power close to original without being a flat tappet, which is good considering what happened with oil.
btw, Delton is not far from me, I am in Allegan co. are you in MI? would love to see your car in person.
btw, Delton is not far from me, I am in Allegan co. are you in MI? would love to see your car in person.
03-01-2016, 12:30 PM
#43
Race Director
Was looking a little closer at the cylinders and a few of them have serious rust, almost looks like a small hole in one. Before you spend too much I would take it an engine shop and have them give you an opinion on whether the block can be saved.
03-01-2016, 03:27 PM
#44
Racer
This is my opinion.
Do not change anything with the engine unless you have to!
It is a piece of history and a heritage.
I would restore it as it is and use it for weekends.
Everything is possible if you want to!!
Do not change anything with the engine unless you have to!
It is a piece of history and a heritage.
I would restore it as it is and use it for weekends.
Everything is possible if you want to!!
03-02-2016, 08:07 AM
#45
Camshaft wise a hyd roller is the way to roll and they can be ground to sound just like a solid lifter, just have to get the correct distributor gear.
See if you can locate How to Hotrod the Big Block Chevy by Bill Fisher and Bob Waar before you get too far with the project
03-02-2016, 09:36 AM
#46
Le Mans Master
IMHO a hydraulic cam is likely going to leave a lot on the table in most any rectangle port BBC build worth its salt, which do their best work when your optimized shift point lands a good bit higher than 6000 RPM. Just sayin'.
03-02-2016, 11:12 AM
#47
Le Mans Master
A hydraulic roller will never Rev like a solid lifter unless you get some extremely high dollar setup
And , a hydraulic roller will Never sound like a solid lifter cam,ever.anybody that ever heard a solid lifter cam will tell you that.
And , a hydraulic roller will Never sound like a solid lifter cam,ever.anybody that ever heard a solid lifter cam will tell you that.
03-02-2016, 01:07 PM
#48
Le Mans Master
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I think what a few of us that have posted here believe, is that you really don't need to change much at all here so you can have your cake and eat it too. Have the block and heads machined, drop the compression a little, run that L88 cam and have a blast. With OEM parts, that combo will be every bit as reliable as anything else. Run some VR1 oil for safety measures but there is no reason that flat tappet won't last forever. That L88 cam is really a very mellow cam. Lifts are low by today's standards. Long duration means it will bleed off a ton of compression, until it get up in revs where it really starts filling those cylinders. And doesn't need much spring pressure because of those long ramps.
Last edited by 69ttop502; 03-02-2016 at 01:12 PM.
03-03-2016, 09:41 AM
#49
Drifting
Thread Starter
So I talked with the engine builder out in Delton yesterday. He sounded like he would lean towards running a flat tappet cam like it was originally. He wasn't positive the original L88 cam would be happy running at a lower compression only because he wasn't sure on it's specs. He gave a rough estimate right around the cost of the other builder as well. He also gave me a timeline of 2 weeks which would be far faster than I would need. The only advantage I could see with the smaller shop would be less of a chance of correct original parts going missing.
I think I will change my original thoughts and stick with the original cam and lower the compression and see where we end up.
I think I will change my original thoughts and stick with the original cam and lower the compression and see where we end up.
03-03-2016, 10:02 AM
#50
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Any chance your other heads are open chambered? I've got a buddy with an L-88 crate engine from the 70's in a '70 Nova.
We freshened it back around 1980 but used a set of iron open chamber heads to knock some compression out of it. The Comp flat tappet cam is healthier than the L-88 cam but that thing is still running perfectly to this day. In fact he was out in it last weekend and it sounds killer. Pulls 7000+ RPM any time you want to and runs on 93 octane even in TX heat.
Or you could easily mill the pistons to kill some compression.
JIM
We freshened it back around 1980 but used a set of iron open chamber heads to knock some compression out of it. The Comp flat tappet cam is healthier than the L-88 cam but that thing is still running perfectly to this day. In fact he was out in it last weekend and it sounds killer. Pulls 7000+ RPM any time you want to and runs on 93 octane even in TX heat.
Or you could easily mill the pistons to kill some compression.
JIM
03-03-2016, 12:10 PM
#51
Being heavily involved in resto work (engines specifically) I would consider saving all those parts for later and using another powerplant for now.
We just sold a "351" block for over 5000.00, and the matching (iron) heads for 3000.00. You have some very valuable components there.
Having said that, just a tip pertaining to those heads, I would strongly recommend having the "longer-bottomed" exhaust studs installed AND stepping the guides down to the .343" stems. The studs are available from ARP with matching intake pieces for the right hgt on the tops. We do these mods regularly, a set just went out Indiana recently. Have another set on the way in.
We are now using Ford's "Thermactor" plugs to get the longer studs in place, this helps to lower the risk of any water leaks from the exhaust studs. Also need to be careful working on the 2 studs above the heat-crossover passageways. Could ruin the heads if done incorrectly!!
Thanks, Gary in N.Y.
P.S. I would have no issue if that block required all 8 cylinders to be sleeved, that's how much it's worth saving and bringing back to "standard". Didn't read the entire project but the pistons (L2239F) in the photo above are 13:1 with those C/C heads.
We just sold a "351" block for over 5000.00, and the matching (iron) heads for 3000.00. You have some very valuable components there.
Having said that, just a tip pertaining to those heads, I would strongly recommend having the "longer-bottomed" exhaust studs installed AND stepping the guides down to the .343" stems. The studs are available from ARP with matching intake pieces for the right hgt on the tops. We do these mods regularly, a set just went out Indiana recently. Have another set on the way in.
We are now using Ford's "Thermactor" plugs to get the longer studs in place, this helps to lower the risk of any water leaks from the exhaust studs. Also need to be careful working on the 2 studs above the heat-crossover passageways. Could ruin the heads if done incorrectly!!
Thanks, Gary in N.Y.
P.S. I would have no issue if that block required all 8 cylinders to be sleeved, that's how much it's worth saving and bringing back to "standard". Didn't read the entire project but the pistons (L2239F) in the photo above are 13:1 with those C/C heads.
03-03-2016, 02:19 PM
#52
Le Mans Master
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Its not the damage that u can see, its the damage from water freezing that u cant see that would kill the block. Yes u need a throughout inspection for micro cracks - mag particle at least along the oil galleys. Press test take some dedicated fixtures but would be well worth it.
10-04-2017, 11:48 AM
#53
Drifting
Thread Starter
So, long time no update on this...
This past weekend I took the remaining components off of the engine and transported the short block, heads and intake to my friend's shop for machining and rebuilding. The plan is for them to break the short block down, clean and inspect everything and build up an engine using the original cam. We will drop the compression ratio to 10.5-11:1 to run on pump premium. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have an engine back in the engine bay.
This past weekend I took the remaining components off of the engine and transported the short block, heads and intake to my friend's shop for machining and rebuilding. The plan is for them to break the short block down, clean and inspect everything and build up an engine using the original cam. We will drop the compression ratio to 10.5-11:1 to run on pump premium. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have an engine back in the engine bay.
10-04-2017, 12:53 PM
#54
Team Owner
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St. Jude Donor '05
Keep the compression and a solid cam so it still sounds the part....a can of Torco is cheap!
a HR motor can sound good but will never sound like what you remember. Besides, compression is just plain fun, lots of snap and that stacatto-like note
a HR motor can sound good but will never sound like what you remember. Besides, compression is just plain fun, lots of snap and that stacatto-like note
Last edited by cv67; 10-04-2017 at 12:53 PM.
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ctmccloskey (11-11-2017)
10-04-2017, 01:28 PM
#55
Drifting
Thread Starter
I totally understand where you are coming from here. We are going with as high of a compression as we can get and still reliably run pump gas. We lose some performance and some of the high compression snaps, but the race fuel route just is not practical for me at this point in my life. The idea here is that we can drop the compression by milling the pistons down some. That way, if I ever want to go back to the stock compression I can have new pistons put in to raise it back up. Yeah it would be another tear down, but I'm young right now and want to enjoy the car.
10-04-2017, 05:00 PM
#56
Le Mans Master
I did the BB high compression thing- it was so much of a PITA to find gas and the cost was high enough it took all the fun out of it. Just finished up a 10.5 496.
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chazde3 (10-04-2017)
10-04-2017, 06:22 PM
#57
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chazde3 (10-04-2017)
10-04-2017, 07:35 PM
#59
Drifting
Thread Starter
10-08-2017, 01:47 PM
#60
Drifting
Homework has been done as best as I can. Though my car was originally a big block car, this engine was put into the car sometime in the 70s. My dad's best friends son, who is our family mechanic, remembers my dad getting the crate engine. He remembers wondering why my dad went with a crate engine when he could have built a better race engine at the time. The fuel lines are wrong for an L88, the M22 trans is out of a non corvette car, the differential is out of a 69 vette and the guages are dated from 69 as well. All info points to a cobbled together L88 racer from the 70s.
I know this engine if rebuilt to L88 specs with an unstamped deck would be worth big money to someone with a 67 vette looking to make an L88 car. I could sell this setup and fund dropping a new LS into the car, but that's just not as cool as driving the car as dad had it. Like I said, sentimental trumps most on this build.
I know this engine if rebuilt to L88 specs with an unstamped deck would be worth big money to someone with a 67 vette looking to make an L88 car. I could sell this setup and fund dropping a new LS into the car, but that's just not as cool as driving the car as dad had it. Like I said, sentimental trumps most on this build.
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chazde3 (10-08-2017)
