427Hotrod

Getting the shortblock back together after the unfortunate piston melting excursion.

Luckily the cylinder and deck weren't damaged...so pretty much a freshen up deal.

Honed it with a flex hone. What appeared to be some marking stuff at the same spot as piston damage on the #1 cylinder wall was a little aluminum from piston. Came right off.

Cleaned up the block with the pressure washer (hadn't used it in two years...took a little time to get it back in the game!).

Threw some paint on it before oil drips all over it. The brass freeze plugs have been in it since original assy. 17 years ago. I like them to look shiny..so I cover them with grease when painting. I'll then use some Scotchbrite to shine them up.

Spent last night gapping the Speed Pro Hellfire rings...that's always fun.

Laid the Callies crank back in place with new bearings. Old ones looked fine...but "while you're there" right?

Went over all the pistons to be sure all was good. Ring grooves are excellent...no issues. The Oliver rods are also perfect. Rod bearings looked perfect on disassembly also.

Thought I had some rod bearings in stock...turns out I didn't. Ordered them from O'Reilly's at 7:30 this morning and picked up a few hours later. "While you're there" right?

Got 7 pistons loaded back in place. Still waiting on the new one from Diamond. Hopefully soon.

Also need heads back from Brodix...again hopefully soon. And a set of Cometic head gaskets haven't got here yet. Everything else I think I have.

I've got a new timing belt to install on the Jesel belt drive. Other one looks fine but it's been there a long time too. Also new seals for it.

The cam was sent to Bullet to see about re-grinding it with a few more degrees of duration and re-arranging the timing events somewhat. I'm spinning the heck out of this thing (more than I thought I would) so might as well tweak it a little.

I've got a new set of roller lifters to install. The old ones have been there for 5+ years as well as took a 2500 mile road trip when it was N/A.

So, I'm going back together as quick as possible. I was scheduled to do a track rental last weekend, but of course had to bow out. But I will be back at it as soon as this thing is back together!

JIM

terrys6t8roadster

Very entertaining reads Jim. Keep us up to date. T

Gordonm

Jim, I'm sure you thought of this but are you worried about the balance of the new rod and piston vs the ones in the block already?

maj75

While your in there, why not some new shiny freeze plugs?

69ttop502

Can’t keep a good man down long!

427Hotrod

I'll be using the same rod. The piston is identical to the one I'm replacing....they were originally dead on in the set....I'll double ck, but you'd have to be off a mile to have any issues. Diamond makes good stuff!

I built up the bob weights originally for this balance job. Over the years there's been a few different rod/piston combos and we've had to juggle it some. The first was SRP pistons and SCAT rods. Then there was Mahle pistons and Oliver rods (lighter piston and heavier rod).....then the latest version are these heavy Diamond turbo pistons with thick deck AND the heavy Oliver rod. Had to add a little weight back to make that right.

JIM

427Hotrod

LOL...you just wait 'till I shine them back up!! They're brass....they aren't going to corrode much.

JIM

427Hotrod

Quickest way to clean up the shop is to put the thing back together!!


JIM

Sigforty

This should be interesting to watch. I hope you post more pictures as it moves along.

427Hotrod

Will do!!

JIM

ajrothm

Glad to see you making a few upgrades since it came down for unscheduled maintenance. I know that baby cam was KILLING you inside...

Did you leak check the heads and make sure the valve sealing is still Bueno? Couldn't hurt... Especially on #7 since it got a little warm.

Sub'd for the track rental...

Corey_68

Looks great Jim, coming back together just in time for that cool air!

427Hotrod

Both heads are at Brodix. They'll both be fresh when they come back.

Jim

427Hotrod

Got home from the PRI show and found a box from Diamond!!

Will get it in tomorrow...now just need a cam and some heads.....



JIM

427Hotrod

OK...last piston in place!!

JIM

bence13_33

Looks pretty, glad things are piecing back together nicely. I have a question, what's up with the center of the piston? Is it a reflection or is that a wavy pattern in the center? I'm sure it serves a purpose and was just curious what that might be .

427Hotrod

You can't feel it...it's just the way the machining polishes it.


JIM

76strokervette

Most premium aftermarket pistons are finished with diamond tooling which gives the mirror like finish.

427Hotrod

Finally some progress this week! The Holiday's seemed to slow down production of parts and shipping had all sorts of issues. Plus it's freaking cold in TX this week. 15*-20* in an uninsulated shop is chilly! Normally insulation isn't a big issue in TX....supposed to be back in 50's by the weekend.

I sent my old cam off to Bullet to be re-ground...but when it was done.....

Somehow UPS decided to take it to my old house in this same town...but I haven't lived there in almost 5 years!! How does that happen? They've delivered other stuff to my current one! Luckily the people remembered my name and could see my phone number on the label and called me. Also luckily they had THAT address instead of the one in Utah where I lived before moving back here and buying a house on the other side of town. Oh well...strange stuff!

Anyway,,,cam turned out great and degreed in perfectly on every single event...opening, closing, centerline. Impressive! It ended up being a 255/257@.050 with .741/.725 lift. It has a 114.5 LSA. It's installed at 110* ICL.

The old cam was a 248/248@.050 with .756/.714 lift on a 114 LSA. I had it installed at 114 ICL. Both lift figures are with 1.8/1.7 rocker ratios.

So.....all of this adds up to I'll be opening the intake valve 7.5* earlier and closing it 0.5* earlier. The exhaust will open 9.5* earlier and close 0.5* earlier. All of this is geared to give it a chance to allow the little turbos more time to get exhaust out...should spin them harder with earlier opening of exhaust and get it out quicker. The added intake duration should help the power overall. We're adding 7* of overlap...from 20* to 27*....but that doesn't seem to worry anyone with this cam. Since the heads carried RPM very well before...should do at least as well this time. We'll see!

Went through the fun process of assembling the belt drive. PITA to put it all together but sure is sweet when it comes time to degree the cam!

Then there's the fun of tightening rod bolts with a stretch gauge. My Oliver rods have ARP 625 bolts in them. Suckers take right at 120# to get them to the .0062"-.0067" stretch! (even using ARP slick-em lube on them!)

My first set of head gaskets arrived bent pretty bad....and that's after waiting for Cometic to make them and get them to Jeg's who shipped them to me. So I sent them back and just ordered new ones directly from Cometic. Costs a little more but at least they know how to box them so they don't get destroyed! They just arrived today.

The heads came back the other day also. They look nice also.

Now time to get this thing screwed together and back in the car. I've got a track rental lined up for February 25th!!

JIM

v2racing

Looking forward to see what that cam does for it.

Mike