Ah... That's true. I did already put the belt back on and saw no alignment issues. Although I have not started it yet.


Thanks

 

Looking forward to reading about the first startup report this weekend!!

Also, I'm running the same timing set without an alignment issues.

 

I was curious, did you have to clearance the timing cover as much as I did? That thing was getting thin and I even went through a tiny bit behind the seal.

 

Update:

I loaded the new tune on today. I started it up after turning it over some with the coil disconnected. I saw the oil pressure come up after a couple of short tries. I drove it around the neighborhood for a bit then found a spot to let it rip. (Staying under the speed limit of course) It had a miss and was running a little rough on acceleration so I had to turn around and get it back home. After playing with some of the wires I thought I saw a spark arching over to one of the headers. It was arching through the heat sock. I verified by grabbing the wire and shocking the crap out of myself. I tie wrapped it back and it should be good now. I also noticed an oil leak. It did not start until I took it for a drive and got on it a bit. It is leaking from the back of the intake where I put The Right Stuff across the China wall. The leak is right at the seam above the pipe that comes off the block. I tightened down the back 4 bolts again and ran a bunch more of The Rights Stuff along the seam with my finger. I don't know if that will help. I'm going for a long drive tomorrow about an hour away so we will see. Hopefully it will run smoother also. I thought I recorded a video to post then when I got on the computer I had a 2 second 60kb video. I guess I hit the button twice. I'll get another one tomorrow.

One thing I noticed is that seems a lot louder now. I think it is because the idle is set at 850 rpms. I'm wondering if this could be lowered some without effecting driveablity. If not it may be time for some bullet mufflers mufflers out back with cut outs up front.

Something new I noticed is that my belt tensioner pulley was bouncing up and down a little bit. Is this due to the lope of the new cam? I don't remember it doing that before.

 

Congrats, I hope to fire mine up in the next couple of days too. BTW did you get the post of the timing cover?

 

Yes, thank you, I saw the pic of the trench on the 96 cover. I wonder if buying a 96 timing cover would have prevented me from having to modify mine. If so I may pick one up for a future install.

Good Luck finishing yours!

 

I suspect the louder sound is due to the increased duration of the cam and it's narrower LSA which you posted as 109.

Good luck with the intake oil leak. Many have suffered from that. Many years ago, I did as well, but that was before I finally learned how to seal them without a chance of it leaking.

I've tried appling sealant to the outside of the intake in trying to seal an oil leak, but it never worked.

If you get to the point where you decide you'll have to pull the intake in order to reseal it, be sure to post that decision here. I can then post how I, now, always do mine. The information is a little on the long side, so I'd rather not have to do all that typing unless it becomes necessary.

I'm glad you're up and running. Keep us posted on how the long drive goes.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

 

Update:


Well today didnt go all that well. I started out at 10:30am to head home from where I work on the car. It was leaking pretty bad from the rear of the intake. Lots of smoke was coming from under the hood and it was running a little rough. When I got home I deceided to pull the intake and reseal it again. Thanks for the offer on the directions though. I don't have many tools at home which made it a little more interesting. I had to run to Autozone twice and that same wire I had tied up yesterday to keep it from arching must have fell out so it ran really rough and backfired until I caught it. It took about two hours to pull the intake clean it and reseal. The front was actually sealed really well. Somehow the back didnt do so well. Right in the center where that bolt comes off the block it had very little sealer. After cleaning, I used the right stuff again along the back and front of the intake and up the china walls. This time I used a good bit more and did my best to cover it all and seat the intake only once. I didnt have my torque wrench so I had to feel for it. I followed the correct tightening pattern. I'm not going to start it until tomorrow morning which should give it about 15 hours to dry. Hopefilly all goes well.

 

Well, since you've already re-installed the intake, one of the steps I was going to recommend can't be done now. Not without pulling the intake again, and I KNOW you don't want to walk that road.

What you still need to do, though, is to go over the intake manifold bolt torque several times, letting the intake set a few hours between each re-torquing of the bolts.

Many times the intake manfold gaskets will take a set, which will result in the torque of the bolts lessening. So I keep going over mine - after initially letting the intake sit for a couple of hours, then every few hours afterwards until all the bolts hold torque.

I do the same with the exhaust/header bolts, but the case of those bolts, I bring the engine up to normal operating temperature, then shut it down and let it completely cool before re-torquing the exhaust bolts.

I torque my intake manifold bolts to 35 ft.lbs.

I also use an "Ole racer's trick" of dimpling the underside of the intake at the areas corresponding to the locations of the China Walls AND I also dimple the China Walls themselves. I use a nail set to apply the dimples.

The dimples allow the sealant on the China Walls to have something to 'bite" into, which makes the sealant resistant to crank case blow-by pressure. The pressure of that blow-by, over time, can cause the leak to return. The dimples prevent that from happening.

BTW, dimpling the block of a Big Block Chevy, in the head gasket area, serves the same purpose and helps prevent head gasket blow out.

I didn't know you'd be pulling the intake so soon or I would have taken the time to post the whole sealing procedure earlier. Sorry.



I hope you can see the dimples in the rear China Wall of my 388 that I built.


Jake

West Point ROCKS!

 

Good ideas. I will make sure to retorque the intake a few times when I get back to my torque wrench. If I end up having to pull the intake I will also dimple it. I see you have a guage in the back of the block in the pic above. That is where that pipe was around where it was leaking. What is that again?

Thanks

 

When building an engine I temporarily install a pressure gauge so I can monitor the oil pressure as I'm priming the engine.

The stock oil pressure sender screws into that hole in the block.

Jake

 

Well I drove it to work this morning. The leak at the back of the intake appears to be gone. I didnt get on it hard so I'm not 100% sure yet but I didn't see any new oil leaking. It is running a little rough like there is a slight miss on acceleration. It also backfired once while accelerating normal. I will go back and check all 8 plugs again for fit. Any other ideas?

Here's a short datamaster file I was able to record this morning before the laptop died on me. I didnt get any good runs in. It's just a short cruise and some idleing. I need a new battery for the laptop. How's it look?

http://www.mediafire.com/file/zidwim...ll_3_23_09.uni


Thanks

 

I think we found it!

I got home and checked everything over. I started with the spark plug wires and plugs. I pulled all the boots except for the most difficult 5 and 7. It got dark before I got to them. I hate those two. I also retightened the six plugs. Wire boot number 4 was a little loose. I pulled it off and the plug could easily be turned by hand either way. After I was done tightening I took it for a test drive around the neighborhood. No more bogging or backfiring. I only got up to about 30. I jumped in the car without my wallet and license. I guess I got a little too excited. If I remember correctly the same thing happened the last time I swapped spark plugs. One backed out after some driving. I change them at least once a year since they are cheap enough. I figure it's not a bad idea anyway with the N2O.

It also looks like the intake is holding well. No more visible leaks. If everything seems fine in the morning I'm going WOT for a little test.

I may go check for arching now. If my neighbor can mow the grass in the dark I can make a little engine noise.

 

This like Jake mentions, or, just plug the harness sender connector in and turn the key, I get a PSI reading from the dash via my wife!

 

Well the car died on my way to work today. All of the electronics started going out one by one untilit died. It was strange driving without the LCD. I was stuck on the side of the interstate for about 30 minutes until I found the alternator wiring harness was unplugged. Don't know who forgot to put that back on. GM hid that sucker pretty good under there. I think mine might have a clip missing which makes it easier to get off but probably also easier to vibrate off. Other than that it still seems to be running ok.

Here's a new Datamaster log file but it's probably all screwed up since it started to run rough and die near the end where I was loosing power. The DTC error codes for map low and EGR fault I believe are due to the low voltage.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/u5dtqy...ll_3_24_09.uni

If anyone wants to download Datamaster to read uni files. It is at the link below. You also get 20 free recording sessions with the trial version but you would need the cables.

http://www.ttspowersystems.com/DataM...downloads.html

 

Update:

So far so good. It seems to be running very well now. I can't believe how much more power it has especially at higher speeds. At 70 or 80 it pulls way better than before.

I keep forgetting to get the bottle refilled. I'll probably take care of that this weekend. I'm anxious to see how the new cam likes the nitrous.




I'll get some video's this weekend.

 

I'm really glad to see that the teething period is now over. CONGRATS!

I'm in the process of ordering parts for my son's mods. Even though I expect to have bought everything soon, I'm going to wait until he's here in late May so I can walk him through the swap procedures, sort of like teaching him the in's and out's. Also, we can do that "Father-Son" bonding thing. LOL

Keep us posted.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

 

Great idea.

My dad actually helped me from begining to end. He doesnt have any history in mechanics but thats where I used the forum and my FSM. He had lots of good ideas and was there every step of the way. I also couldnt have done the swap without your knowledge and the help of all the others so thanks again!

When I was younger he had a 1960 that he completely restored along with some help. That's how I got into Corvette's. He also bought a 1969 years back that was a project for both of us. Now he only has a 2004. The 69 was sold and the 60 was destroyed in Katrina along with my 67 firebird.

 

I flew my dad in from across the country to par take in my engine modifications. He helped me drop it in and get it started. Its great to share the experiance of the startup.

 

It's great to see that you guys are enjoying your projects with your Dads. I'm looking forward to working with Ryan on his engine, too.

I know you to guys will be happy with your new found power. I suspect Ryan will be too.

Sorry to hear about your Katrina loss, Rick. I know the feeling because my sister, Carole, is a Katrina victim too. Her entire home was destroyed, including all of the furniture, applicances and clothes (except for the two suitcases and cat she and her husband were able to take just before fleeing the N.O.)

They gave up on N.O. and, after settling with the insurance company, moved here to Texas. She and her husband now live about 3 miles from me. We're all right near Dallas.

Well, I guess it's time for me to get back to my camshaft search. I'm leaning toward a XFI profile, but with CRC lobes and a wider intake/exhaust duration split.

I've been trying to find an article showing what effect widening the duration split to say 10/12 (as opposed to the usual 6 degrees) degrees between the intake and exhaust lobes would have. I'm also considering tightening the LSA to 111. I'll post what I come up with.

Oh, BTW, I'm going with Dart Pro 1s with their advertised 180cc intake ports (which I've read are closer to 190). They were delivered by FedEx this morning. Guess we can put a fork in that issue; it's a done deal.

Scorpion 1.7 NSA RRs for 7/16" studs have become more and more attractive; but the jury's still out on that. $222.00 price is a BIG incentive, LOL. I'd like to find lobes that'll put my valve lift at or just over .600" but keep the .050' duration on the short side.

Take care, and keep us posted on the developments.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!