Installed a dual walbro setup, fuel pressure won't go below 41 psi now. I think my large fuel cooler is the restriction. I'm going to set my base fuel pressure at 50 anyway so I should be all good. LOTS of fuel available to engine!

Pulled heads (AFR 195 streets) and opened them up by removing the quench pads. They are now 71cc non-quench heads. Combustion chambers are smooth and shiny, after about 25 hours of grinding and polishing.

I installed oil feed and drain lines for the future supercharger, so when the budget allows I'll be ready to bolt it on and hook it up.

60 lb injectors arrived, can't wait to get them in and tune them, if even just N/A for now.

Now the bad....upon removal of the heads...I found a broken piston. About an inch or so of the top ring land was gone. The ring end was up on top of the piston. Pistons were JE forged, and the rings are ductile iron plasma moly. It must have happened during my one and only nitrous backfire about a year or so ago, but the car has been and still was running perfect. Luckily, the cylinder wall is fine, no problem at all. I dropped the pan, unbolted the rod, and pushed it out from the top. I'm now waiting on the new piston and rings to come. Bearings look good too. Very slight wear right in the middle, but nothing can be felt. That is pretty normal for a nitrous motor, so I'll likely reuse the bearings.

When this is all back together and done I'm hoping to have a boosted 383 with water/meth running mid to low 10's at about 135 mph, perfecty streetable, and hit it with a 50 or 75 shot of nitrous when at the track and run bottom 10's. I'll keep you all updated now that the work is underway.

good about the heads! Them suckers be expensive!

Sucks about the pistons, but at least the damage was limited to the pistons. I assume the cylinder walls weren't scored?

This is gonna be a beast with the blower on it!!!

Awesome! Sounds like a lot of work on the heads and everything else.

Question though....why reuse the bearings to save $35? Isn't the peace of mind worth it?

Quote:

From my point of view, not nescessarily.

When you are building a boosted, nitrous combo,everything changes.
It is not reasonable to think of engines (or their support systems) going for 25,000 or 50,000, or 100,000 miles.
Your mindset shifts to seasons, runs, laps, or whatever it is you are doing with that car.
Swapping out a piston, headgaskets, valvesprings etc becomes maintenance, rather than repair.
This is the new normal.

With that said, why swap out a known good part (even if it is a bearing) and risk the possibility of getting a mis sized, defective, or somehow substandard part?

Those of us that have been constantly exposed to product shortcomings are not quick to replace a known good part that will most likely make it to the next service.It gets expensive over time. New parts never provide guarantees, just odds.

Just my 2 cents, anyway.

Pete, what you said is kind of my mindset. If money needs spent I'll spend it, but I have the "leave it alone if it works fine" motto when it comes to parts. Had I not had a broken piston I would never have dreamed of replacing any bearings as my oil pressure is excellent and all is good down in the bottom end. It only has about 4,000 miles on it, maybe 20 1/4 mile passes, and maybe 10 more nitrous blasts on the street. Most all the miles are just putting around.

Since it was all good, and the bearing has no marks that can be felt with a finger at all, I don't see the reason not to re-use it. I always figured if the oil pressure was plenty high and the bearing is nice and smooth, it might as well be re-used. If it worked before teardown there is no reason it shouldn't work when reassembled.


(all that said, knowing my luck, I'll reassemble it and have a problem with it. But, I could have a problem after replacing them all too!)

I follow the logic... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I can understand your point of view on things, Dan and Pete. I have zero experience with boosted motors. I don't know their life expectancy, expected wear, etc. I guess when I see that a part, that in my opinion is integral, "shows wear" it should be replaced. Guess I'm wrong in this circumstance so I will gracefully bow out!

Matt,
Your not at all wrong.
Some do choose to replace bearings every time the oil pan comes off, or valvesprings every time the valve covers come off etc.
If it is in the budget, and the owner is comfortable doing it, it is A1 ok.
You can go broke though, if not prepared for it.
As I mentioned, it becomes a different mindset when you are killing parts on a predictible basis.

Well, this past week I added a pin to my ecm, ran a wire from that pin to the wideband output on my LC1, then installed a .bin file and .ads file found on thirdgen.org diy tuning forum, and now I have my wideband reading in my datalog. Should make tuning PE mode a ton easier. It will only feed the laptop OR the gauge, so I will have to leave the Tunerpro dash up when I'm datalogging to see the real time AFR but it is still great. I tested it all with the car off and it is working good.

If you are interested just go to that site, search for arapwb. You need to install a new wire in pin D8 but it is empty now so it is easy to do. Run that wire out to your LC1 controller. Cut the brown output wire on the output of the LC1, and put plugs on it so you can plug it back together. THen put a plug on the end of the wire that you ran from your ecm so you can plug it in to the LC1 in when the other one is unplugged. Then download the new .ads file and the new .bin file, copy all your tuning into the new .bin file, install the new .ads file, and you are done. Right beside the engine rpms on the Tunerpro dash will now be a box for wideband afr. All in all it is easy to do, and if you already have a wideband controller and gauge and a MAF car, it is prettymuch a free mod.

I also installed an autometer boost/vac gauge right below my afr gauge on my windshield pillar.

Did alot of searching and decided to try a Mr Freeze AFM water/meth injection setup. It is all mechanical, less parts to fail. Best of all it costs $189.

Matt....what compression did you go with on your 383? Run a little boost or spray and join in on the carnage and add to the broken parts pile!

Quote:

Too much compression, around 10.5 to 1.

What gauges do you have in your car? I still want to add fp and trans temp to mine but I haven't decided on a gauge/style.

Matthew

Got any pics of the chamber work?

Matt....I don't have a trans temp gauge and my fuel pressure gauge is an underhood gauge mounted to the motor....really only accurate when first started up while the gauge and fuel and engine is all at the same temp.

10.5:1 is perfect for nitrous.

I will snap a pic or 2 of the chambers. They look kind of wavy since they were hand done but they feel nice and smooth and polished up nicely. I do have a couple pics but the flash reflected back so they aren't good. I'll get a few more and post them up.

[IMG]http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg259/dan0617/Heads2.jpg[/IMG]

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg259/dan0617/Heads2.jpg

That is a pic after the main grinding and some smoothing but before I did the final smoothing and polishing.

[IMG]http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg259/dan0617/Heads3.jpg[/IMG]

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg259/dan0617/Heads3.jpg

That is a pic after all was finished. I bumped the valves a hair with the grinder, but it is MUCH worse in the pic than it really is.

[IMG]http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg259/dan0617/Heads1.jpg[/IMG]

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg259/dan0617/Heads1.jpg

Heads going into the "poor man's solvent tank". Didn't win any brownie points with the wifey on this one, but the heads cleaned up nice. All traces of metal filings gone!


For some reason the pics won't load like they usually do so I put direct links in, hopefully you can click on the link and see the pics. I can, let me know if you can't.

Got the engine all back together except the accessories.

Found the rarity on ebay...a Greg Carroll Vortech kit with complete 8 rib accessory setup. Kit has everything but the headunit. I'll have to sell the piping as it won't work for my MAF setup.

Also have coming a used vortech discharge tube with Mondo blow off valve, a universal 3" intake piping kit, and a handful of odds and ends.

Spent the day yesterday relocating some things like my oil catchcan setup, modifying my old A/C canister bracket to fit my Mr Freeze injection tank, relocating the hood prop rod to the passenger side, and about 100 other little odds and ends.

Just won the auction for a V-1 T trim, so now it is a for sure what I'll be running. Can't wait for this all to get here so I can get to putting it together and tuned in!!

Now I can't help but wonder what my setup with the T trim spinning to it's max impeller speed of 55,000, along with water/meth injection and a 75 shot of nitrous will run in the 1/4 at the track this year. Will be a long time till I have it dialed in comfortable enough to use the nitrous but I am using the water/meth right out of the gate.

After seeing many many threads all over the place on belt wrap, I decided to try to eliminate the problem before I even fire up for the first time with the T trim. Running a Greg Carroll bracket, and a full 8 rib serpentine setup on an L98 based engine (also using one of Greg's ultra grip pulleys).

Pic 1 is the standard Carroll setup, with a 3.5" idler instead of a 3". A hair better but not nearly enough IMO.


Pic 2 is the same setup only I leaned the PS pump reservoir over, rolled the alternator and idler further down, drilled a new hole in the bracket, and installed there. As you can see it increases belt wrap quite a bit with very little work involved. Much better but still not enough for me.


Pic 3.....I put the alternator back in the position it was supposed to be, removed the idler and it's standoff from the alternator, and made a new plain standoff for the alternator. I took an aluminum bar, installed the 3.5" pulley and standoff on one end, then vice-gripped it to the bracket in the exact location I wanted it. Marked 3 spots, drilled 3 holes through the bracket and aluminum bar, and installed 3 bolts. I drilled the holes a little oversize so I have some room to play should I change the blower pulley size in the future. Can also change the size of the idler pulley if ever needed.

As you can see belt wrap is excellent now and everything is very solid so there shouldn't be any problems.

Thanks Aaron (AKS Racing) for all the pics you have posted on different forums and all the info you have given. It was very helpful in this process and made it a very easy mod.

Thanks also to Greg Carroll, as I bought this kit used and there were pieces missing. He got me what I needed and shipped it quickly!

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That looks pretty amazing. It's gonna be one bad motor!

Vid of the T trim idling. This was right after I got it running, it actually idles lower now, about 850 rpms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiSi-P ... feature=player_detailpage

Does it suck a lot of air? Sounded like it was whistling a lot. Camera?

It is whistling alot. I love it. It is a V1, that is how they sound. It is a little louder than most V1's because with a blow through maf it is best to put a fairly weak spring in the BOV so it stays open at idle, but all V1's are pretty whistly.

Camera phone makes it sound a little more of a squeaky whistle than it actually is but it is still loud.

I got to drive it some the other day. Got the part throttle tune close, needs some fine tuning yet. WOT I could get to about 5200 rpms and it would lean out no matter how much fuel I put to it in the tune. Didn't have the water/meth on it yet and was pulling 2 degrees of timing per pound of boost, which is a ton when the boost is high.

Was hitting a PW cap that I didn't know existed. I installed a hac that eliminated the pw cap but now there is snow on the ground here.

As a side note, it was a solid 10 lbs of boost at 5200 or 5300 rpms. Should push about 15 lbs at around 6200 or so rpms.

Wow. What are you estimated numbers..dyno and/or track wise?

Well, I'm hoping to see mid 10's out of it on boost and water/meth. That is what it ran on a 225 shot, I just want to do that without using nitrous. Any faster than that would be a nice bonus.

Nitrous is still installed, I may someday spray a 50-100 shot but it will be a long time before I'd be comfortable doing that. That power level would really start pushing the limits of a lot of other parts.

very nice dan. you crazy mofo!

Had the tune worked out pretty good up to about 5600 rpms. Pulls HARD! 11.5 afr and 1 degree of retard per lb of boost. Pretty big shot of 75% meth, 25% water. All was well.....till I started hearing some backfiring for no apparent reason.....then not long after oil pressure quite a bit lower than normal. I pulled the pan off....main bearings are dead. As I was checking things out, I could see up to the cam and could see that several lobes were worn way down.

Pretty sure the flat tappet cam couldn't handle the higher rate valvesprings any longer. Less spring would possibly hang valves open with boost. Metal from cam likely killed bearings.

I took a couple vacation days and tore it back down. Engine is on stand disassembled. Crank is at machine shop getting polished and possibly cut .010 under, depending on what it takes to make it like new. Heads are there, shop is going to trim them to make the headgasket surface like new again since they have been installed 4 times since last shaving. He is also going to put new springs on it to match the cam listed below, and a little more seat pressure for boost. While apart I'm going to put all new rings in it, and hone the cylinders. I completely flushed the block with very hot water, then dried it and sprayed it with oil.

This time I'm going with a retro roller cam (although I might need to save up some money for a month or 2). My first choice so far is an Erson cam. It's details are:

226/232 @ .050
114 LSA
.590/.604 lift with my 1.7 rockers

It is an "off the shelf" cam with specs prettymuch the same as I'd have ordered custom. The Comp off the shelf choice is ok, but once I found the Erson I like it better. Comp specs:

224/236
113 LSA
Lift was in the high .500's, not sure exactly without looking it up again, but a little less lift than the erson.

Should be alot better with boost than my old cam was. And I can't believe how hard it was pulling with the old cam, with lobes worn way down (like over 1/2 way on 3 of the intake lobes).

He is going to set springs up for about 150 on the seat, and about 400 open, at .650 lift. I'd like to do this myself but to get them set up perfect I just don't have the equipment.

It just never ends.

This past weekend I honed the cylinder walls, cleaned things up and re-oiled the block, then removed and installed new cam bearings. All seems good.

Wow, the cylinder pressures must have been pretty high! Sorry to hear about the failure... that does suck big time.

Are you sure the cylinders are still round? Did you gauge them?

It may be worthwhile to upgrade to 4 bolt block with hydraulic lifters.

This block is a pre 1980, 4 bolt splayed, billet main caps. Was just built abotu 3 years ago. 4340 Eagle crank, Eagle H beam rods, SRP forged pistons, ductile iron plasma moly top rings. I had a flat tappet cam already and the budget was tight, so I used it. Shouldn't have, especially with the spring pressures I'm running now. Now that I'm rebuilding again I'm going with a retro roller. Both the old cam and the new one are hydraulics.

I'm pretty sure the nitrous backfire a couple seasons ago is what caused the original broken piston and ring damage on a couple cylinders. I noticed a little more blowby after the backfire but not too bad, so I didn't tear it down. I really think that was the only time I would have had excessive cylinder pressures. Although, running the 225 shot on high compression they would have been on the high side I guess.

Cylinder walls still look great, VERY slight markings at the bottom from the piston skirts, that's it. I honed it good, and 75% of them disappeared.

I didn't realize you were running a flat tappet cam before. I think it's a good idea going hydraulic. That's a lot of work pulling the motor and rebuilding. Hope it all goes smoothly.

Car is all back together. Went with .075" Cometic head gaskets. Hyd. roller cam, .572 lift with my 1.7 rockers. 226/234 on a 114 LSA. Replaced rings, rehoned cylinders, etc. Machine shop belt polished crank, cleaned up heads, and set up valve springs. 145 on the seat and 380 open. Ended up at 9.4 to 1 compression.

Tune is worked in pretty good. Running a big shot of water/meth, spraying pre supercharger. WOT tune floats from 11.2 to 12.1 afr's. I richened up the stuff over 11.5 since the last run but 12.5 should be safe with my combo and water/meth mix and amount. Running 1 degree of retard per lb of boost so that is very safe also. Could likely get away with more timing but I see no reason at this point. Maybe after 100% dialed in at the track I'll give it a little more timing. We shall see.

WOT is absolutely insane. Went from 35 mph in 2nd gear to 120 mph in 3rd gear in less than 6 seconds by the datalogs, and that was spinning some when I rolled the pedal down. If I'm going less than 45 and floor it, it shifts back to 2nd gear and is uncontrollable, and that is with the ET street radials at 20 lbs. Quickly rolling the pedal down makes it hook up good. 1st gear is worthless on the street unless I slowly roll the pedal down, and it flashes past so quick it is insane.

I haven't been able to stare at the boost gauge as I'm affixed on the afr gauge, but it looked like 15 lbs of boost. RPMS never drop below 5600 at WOT. Converter is doing its job!

Oil pressure is 24 at extremely hot idle after ripping around, and jumps to 50 or more by 1800 rpms. All seems great!

It's been a long expensive road the past couple months, but it sure feels worth it when in the go pedal. The more power I hit the converter with the higher the rpms stay after a shift, and using that as an indication, my power seems way up from the 200 shot.

Only downside is, it just feels like something is going to snap at any time when at WOT. Feels like its impossible for drivetrain parts to handle the power. I have no idea how much it is making but it has to be up there. Feels way faster than the setup that ran 134 in the 1/4.

Had to put set screws in all the intake connections to keep them from blowing apart. Got the full throttle tune worked out nice. It is hitting 17 psi. Holding 14 or more for the entire full throttle run. Hangs 15 and 16 most of the time.

Part throttle tune is pretty rich but I can't seem to get it leaned out without it jumping to being way too lean. I'm thinking I'm going to have to live with it a little, I think the injectors are starting to go static when I lean out the off throttle coast to where I want it to be. Even at idle I can only get it nice and smooth at about 12.5 to 13.0 to 1 afr. I guess it's a tradeoff. Runs great, just hate seeing it rich at light throttle.

Wow you've got so much patience for that it's incredible....lol.

What screws on the intake did you have to modify?

I have custom 3" intake piping, like from the blower to the maf, and from the maf to the throttle body. They keep blowing off. I drilled small holes right through the clamps and into the tubing and put screws in to hold them together.

I worked on the tuning a little more tonight and did manage to get it leaned out into the 13's at part throttle. Good enough for me. It is running nice.

Why are you pushing boost thru the MAF?

What do you suggest I do? I don't want to repin and swap to a map setup. Are you suggesting I run a draw thru setup?

Yes, I would suggest a draw thru for the MAF.

Biggest advantage is it simplifies the discharge pipe (less connections to seal up).

However, when you said that you were having issue with the AF at low RPM/idle, it got me to thinking.

The computer may be having a hard time interpeting the air pulse/surge that the blower makes at idle.... plus with the MAF being closer to the TB/intake manifold it could be seeing some of the harmonic wave from the intake tract (overlap) at idle.

If for whatever reason you don't want to run a draw thru, something as simple as raising the idle speed (if you can) may help alot.
Will

That YouTube sounds like a tornado. Crazy!