Just talked to my machinist. He's got my new rotating assembly all balanced. Tomorrow I'll take him the block for boring, honing and fitting the new pistons. I should be assembling it by next weekend. Here's the cool part, due to the lightweight rods and pistons, he was able to remove over 3 lbs. from the crank. I can't wait. 388 cubes with the top end I've already got.... She's gonna talk!

 

thats cool

 

NC Corvette Kid is going to be so bad!! What pistons did you end up using Chris??

 

Dontcha love it when a plan comes together?

RACE ON!!!

 

Nice Chris, I am looking to do the 383 switch in a few months. I need to send you some pics of mine. I have done a lot including 2K wheels with Nittos on the rear and changed the inside over to black... getting ready to do the exhaust next

 

SRP lightweight inverted domes -16cc. The tops and skirts have already been coated by Precision Porting & Coating, the same ones that did my heads and intake. With zero deck and 56cc heads, it should end up in the neighborhood of 11.1 or so depending on final gasket selection after all final measurements are taken. I'm shooting for a quench area of .035"~. The pistons can be fitted snuggly enough (.0025") that I should be able to get away with it. We'll see. As always for this car, I'm looking for good power but still maximum efficiency and mileage and of course maintaining good driveability since I drive this car much more than my foul weather car. Three years of ownership and over 34K miles to this point. In the same time, my old reliable '98 Altima has logged about 24K miles so I'd guess you'd have to say this is my DD and the Nissan is just a stand-by.

 

I was making supper while making the above post. So you guys chimed in the interim.

Yes, and it's a plan that you had a great deal to do with. Jim (CFI-EFI) put the idea in my head for the rather unique package I'm constructing. So if it flies all to hell, I've got someone to blame! Naw, it's a neat deal and it's got some built-in advantages. It's gonna be cool.


I'll look forward to them. As you know, I've got a special interest in your car.

 

I have broad shoulders. I can take it. But you aren't going to need then, so far this thing is going together very nicely. "Naw, it's a neat deal and it's got some built-in advantages. It's gonna be cool. I'll second THAT motion.

RACE ON!!!

 

So, before you and CFI-EFI start holding hands and contemplate moving in together...

How about giving us some details on this combo you worked out? Or is it in another thread somewhere?

 

Chris,
You are going to have a beast when all is said and done. Get the quench as close as you can to .0025, I have the same pistons and with a zero deck height but went with a stock head gasket so my quench is not optimal. If I ever get around to my intake project I will change the head gaskets and get a little better quench. If you are useing the HC it is going to drive like a stock LT1 untill you use your right foot so I think you wil have exactly what you are looking for, a great daily driver with a whole bunch of TQ and good HP.

 

What length rods?

 

Chris, I'm glad to hear that your project is finally coming together, you've been working on this for a while now!

I wish you luck on you build!

 

3 lbs from the crank Must look like swiss cheese now

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that....
Hey, I told him he ought to move to NC but I guess he likes the wild west. I suppose it's about time I was forthcoming with a few details. The main idea that Jim gave me that got the rusty old gears in my head turning was this. Use a 3.80" stroke crank but with pistons for a 3.75" stroke. This will effectively zero deck the pistons w/o cutting the block. Also I won't have to modify the heads and intake for proper gasket fit. With an .030" overbore, it comes out to about 388 cid. It's such a simple and yet great idea that I can't believe I haven't seen it done around here before. Maybe it has been but I haven't seen it. The pistons I'm using, although a dish design of a type, are still flat in the quench area so I'll be able to have all of the benefits that come from a tight quench. After the pistons are installed and measurements taken including taking piston rock into consideration, I'll decide whether to continue to use the .029" Impala gaskets or the .039" Felpros, if I determine I need the added safety margin. Even with that, quench will still be very good.

That means a lot coming from you.

I'm using 6" rods, Loiq.

Thanks Mike!

And Dan, I think he said he cut down the counterweights. I'll know for sure when I pick it up tomorrow. He said it came out great, he seemed quite pleased with his work and is pretty enthusiastic about what I'm doing.

 

6.4L is a lot!