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Engine mods round 2
Thread Starter
Tech Contributor
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: New Market AL
Engine mods round 2
This weekend I jumped into my second round of engine mod'ing. The first iteration was cam only, with typical exterior bolt-ons. After 8 months, I became tired of 380 rwhp so I dug into my Nova's budget and bought a set of AFR 205 heads, a Comp 224/230 @111°+1° with .601"/.605" lift, LS7 lifters, and ARP hardware. Last night I spent 1½ hours pulling the intake, coils, rocker arms, alternator & headers. This evening I snatched out the radiator, steering rack, harmonic balancer, and swapped in the new cam. After a little computer break I am going to button up the timing cover and ****** the heads off. It's going a lot easier on the harmonic balancer and steering rack this second go-around. The Powerbond balancer was easier to get off than the stock one because it has the 3 tapped holes for a standard balancer puller 
Thread Starter
Tech Contributor
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,731
Likes: 82
From: New Market AL
Well, it all came to a screeching halt when I checked piston to valve clearance. My valves on the milled AFR heads are actually contacting the pistons slightly. Looks like I will be ordering a set of fly cutters in the morning.
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From: The Great Truth: "There ain't no free lunch"
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
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Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Dyer, IN
Just curious, were you just flying by the seat of your pants, or did someone recommend the cam/head setup?
Thread Starter
Tech Contributor
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,731
Likes: 82
From: New Market AL
I am just flying by the seat of my pants.
Last night I had an "ah ha" moment. Initially I was using a 7.400" push rod and light weight checker valve springs. Since these springs did not compress the lifters, the valves were not able to close all the way. When I swapped in my adjustable pushrod, the valve interference went away. Tonight I'll go back to checking PTV clearance using the adjustable pushrod set to the proper length (ie subtract out the lifter preload). While this was a rookie mistake, I will learn from it and no harm was done.
Last night I had an "ah ha" moment. Initially I was using a 7.400" push rod and light weight checker valve springs. Since these springs did not compress the lifters, the valves were not able to close all the way. When I swapped in my adjustable pushrod, the valve interference went away. Tonight I'll go back to checking PTV clearance using the adjustable pushrod set to the proper length (ie subtract out the lifter preload). While this was a rookie mistake, I will learn from it and no harm was done.
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