I've started several threads asking all sorts of questions about my engine rebuild, so I thought to open a new topic where I'll post all progress and pics.


So here we go. As you know, after one hard start and revving the engine to almost 7k rpm, valves on the piston
nr.8 broke (or probably first hit the piston and then broke) and destroyed the piston, bent the rod, destroyed cylinder wall.........

This is what I first saw after removing SR lid



This are pics of destroyed head and broken piston






After seeing this, only thing left to do was to pull the engine and check for other damage and see what could be reused.




Here is the damage to the cylinder wall



First i was thinking about "sleeving" a block, but after closer inspection I've discovered cracks on cylinder wall that go all the way from the bottom to the top of cylinder. This means a different block is a must.
I allready have a block that I planned to use for my 383 build, but I think that I'll use it for this engine now and wait for another block to come along for 383.

And this is where I am now. I need to prepare all the parts that I bought (I'll post that later on) and take
everything to the machine shop. While the block will be machined, I'll port the heads and the intake.
Also I'll have to have crank checked if it's good to go
with polishing only or if it'll need to be machined for oversized bearings. Crank will also need to be balanced because I'll use new rods and pistons.

The work have just started, but I plan to do everything slowly and thoroughly.

why dont you just do the 383 now? buy the time you get done messing with the crank you will have the price of a new crank.. and if you need rods pistons and a rebalance. why not.. scat 9000 cranks are like $250 and will take quite a beating.

I agree, if you're doing crank work, new rods, and new pistons, you're already spending what it would cost to make a 350 a 383.

there were metal bits in the SR... the motor flat out exploded. damn.

I won't do the 383 now because I don't wan't to do it half way and I don't have the money for doing it all the way now. I allready have Callies Dragonslayer crank and Carrillo rods for 383 but I don't have anything else.
What would I have with top built bottom end and #113 heads and superram on top of it?
This way, I'll build a good 350 (0.020" overbored"), drive it for a while, and when I'll have 383 fully done I'll just swap it into my vette and use 350 for another car perhaps.

And I allready have all the parts for 350. Except the crank. I plan to use the stock one.

Here's a little update.

I haven't done much, but I spend as much time as i can on this. I've cleaned the "new" block, applied anti-corosion layer, painted with primer and with orange metal enamel.
I did'n clean the block inside thoroughly, I'll do that after the machining.

Here are a few pics:








While I'm waiting for the torque plate to be machined, I'k cleaning and preping the pistons.

Ufffda, that was a mess! Good luck with the new one!

Good start! What did you clean the pistons with?

Matthew

Thanks!

I've cleaned the pistons with gasoline (soaked them in for a while) and scotch brite (finest grade).

I am still brain faded by the 7000 RPM rev!

Looks great!!!! Are you doing the 383 now?

No. I'm doing a budget 350, .020" overbore. It will have to be good for a year or two, while I'll build 383. Then I'll swap 383 into my vette and this one will go into something else.

So... I am curious... how does someone from Croatia get all into American cars???

Good question! I wish that I knew the anwser.

Actually, I've driven about 10 euro cars before vette.
That were all small cars with small engines (mostly 2 litre).
Then, I was given an opportunity to test one '85 corvette,
and that was it. I just loved it. I was totally impressed
with it's performance (have in mind that it was almost 10
years ago) and I decided to buy Corvette. That '85 was
in bad shape so I waited a little and searched, and finally
this one came up. It was completely stock and from first
owner who moved from Canada to Croatia.

Fascinating.

I never realized you were a native of Croatia. Your English is VERY good. In fact, better than many Americans I know!

So... who moves from Canada to Croatia??? That's an equally good question.

But I do know the answer to your question. You were seduced by torque. It's something that comes in bucket loads with American V8 cars. And it's CHEAP. Compared to other torque monsters...

Quote:

That is probably the best and most correct anwser.


Who moves from Canada to Croatia?...... a crazy man

Just kidding. Those people were Croatians but lived and worked in Canada. When they wnet to retirement they decidet to return to Croatia. I guess it's nostalgia.

As for my english, thank you! I've learned english language through all my education and watching american movies, spending some time on internet also helped a lot. Also, I wouldn't be able to perform my job without it, as most of technical literature is in english.

I did some calculating today and I'd like to hear your opinions.

I plan to deck the block to 9.000" (mill down .025").
I'll use Felpro gasket with 0.039" comp. thickness.

According to my calculations that puts me to:

* 10.8:1 SCR
* 8.2 - 8.4 DCR (I'll do some work on chambers so I'm not 100% sure in final chamber cc)
* 0.039" piston to head clearance

I could go higher with CR because lowest octane fuel here is 95 and 100 is available almost anywhere. However, I'm limited with engine components that I've got.

Parameters that I've used for calculations are below, so if
anybody wants to doublecheck on me, please do.

- stroke 3.48"
- rod 5.7"
- adv. intake closing 70 deg (this is with xr-288hr cam)
- bore 4.020"
- chamber cc 58-60
- gasket thickness 0.039"
- gasket bore 4.080"
- piston dish 5cc

Any inputs and thoughts are welcome!

Might want to use a 6" or 6.125" rod if new rods are in the budget.

Quote:

Good idea but too late he already has pistons

Update:

The torque plate that I had fabricated was finally done,
so I took the block to the machinist.

He will do next operations:
- boring/honing 0.020" over
- milling the decks to 9.000" deck height
- installing new cam bearings
- installing new freeze plugs
- polishing the crankshaft
- check the crank if it's in tolerances (I'll double check
that myself)

Here are a few pics:







While the block will be at the machinist, I will do some
work on the heads and intake. As you know, one of my heads
had some serious damage, so I gathered a new one. Only
difference is that this head is completelly stock. So now
I have one fully ported head (by myself) and one stock.

I've cleaned one of the ports just to take some pics for
comparison. I will do some more porting on both heads, as
there is still some room for improvement but I'll do that
later, after I'll have seats for new 2.02/1.60 valves
installed.

Finally I did some progress.

I was finished with rough porting so I took the heads to the machinist for new, larger valve seats to be installed.

Here are pics before:







While he installed new seats I also asked him to add some material on the
lower side of intake ports. I had some problems with leaks here because
gaskets didn't have to much material to seat on.


On the pics below you can see how much is gained in intake and exhaust
ports with new seats installed. Also, you can see where material was added
for better gasket sealing.












After removing extra material that was gained with larger seats, I went to work
on chambers. Deshrouding valves is very important as new valves are
significantly larger than stock and are much closer to chamber walls.
First I roughly removed some material and then polished the chambers.

Here are a few pics of work and the final result:
























Next, I have to take the heads back to machinist to have new guides installed
and valve job done.

What kind of guides are you going with? Liners or entire replacements?
When I was porting, the aluminum seemed harder, more brittle, at some of the exhaust valves. I wonder if cracking would be a concern when the old guides are driven out? Also, the guide bosses, being thinned out now are kind of delicate looking.

I'm going with complete new bronze guides. Old ones are
going out without a problem, but head must be heated before
pushing them out.

I've done a lot of similar heads (guide bosses concerned)
and if guides are probperly driven out/in with heads heated
and lubricated new guides, I've never had a problem.

Here is one pic with old guides driven out and you can see that there are no cracks or damages on guide bosses.
They remained exactly the same as were with guides in.

But HEATING the head is a MUST!!

Thanks, you put my mind at ease. Yes, that is what the machine shop told me, but being the skeptic that I am, well....

No problem! I know what it's like loosing a sleep over some details!

Looks like you know what you are doing.
I work with several gals from Bosnia. They tell horrific stories of the war. All of their parents who now reside in the US are planning on returning to their homes to retire. They miss the country of their birth along with their traditions and food.
I have seen pictures from the region and it looks like a beautiful country.

Yes, war was terrible (like any war). Some parts of Croatia were completely ruined and it was even worse in Bosnia.

And I understand them about the food.
When you once try "chevapi" you'll allways come back for more.

Chevapi

That orange color was too much for me, so I cleaned it all
off and repainted it.
So the block is bored/honed, zero decked, new cam bearings
and freeze plugs are installed.
Just one more final cleaning and it's ready for assembling.

Looks Great!

Quote:

Keep in mind, this ignorant American doesn't know where Croatia is.. Still sounds like a strange move..

Location?
National language?
Political system?
National religion?

-- Joe

Quote:

For anybody interested, here you go:

Croatia is a part of ex Yugoslavia. It's located very close to Italy (boot shaped half-island)

Croatia location

Capital city : Zagreb

National language is Croatian
Croatian language

Croatia is parlamentary republic.

National religion is 90% Roman Catholic.


And one more very important fact. There are maybe 10 C4 vettes
in whole Croatia.

Here is a litte update with "a few" pics

crank balanced and polished




new ARP main bolts




crank in place and all mains measured with plastigauge







all mains are cleaned of plastigauge and lubed




checking crank end play




rings file fitted and measured for correct gap




new SCAT forged rods and Clevite rod bearings




plastigauged all rod journals







rods, pistons, rings assemblies




rotating assembly done







new (CC HR288) vs old (LPE 219) cams




cam and timing set are in







new LS lifters







That's it for now!

nice!!1

Looks great! Did you have any clearance problems with the double roller timing chain? Did you do any other machining on the block such as oil return, etc?

Matthew

Thanks guys!

I didn't have any issues with timing set. It fits nice.
I did some work on oil return holes. I removed sharp
edges and smoothened them out with sandind drums.

Nice pics and detail. Threads like these help me tremendously in understanding "How it works". Thanks.

Very nice!

Update.............


I've finally found some time to finish the heads.


New bronze valve guides are in and cut for .530" seals




Valve spring seats are cut for larger springs and to exact
height










New seals, valves, springs, Ti retainers...

sharp looking

Have you decided on a head gasket?
Will the thickness and it's effect on compression have any influence on your choice?
What about retorqueing after the engine has been run?
Looking good.

Those look great for 113 heads!

The cyl heads look nice for a home port job.

Did someone coach you on the port work? I noticed you kept the heavy grinding to the roof of the ports and valve bowl... Precisley what you should do. Most first timers grind the floor out of a port and screw it all it.

What did your combustion chamber come out to?

Be very careful to listen for loose valves and check the valve adjustment often if you run that engine hard. I noticed that yor new Comp Camshaft is ground on a Cast Iron core. They are known to be very failure prone.
Will

Impressive, indeed! Well done!

Thanks guys!

Quote:

I'm using Felpro 1043 head gaskets. I have "zero decked" the
block so with those gaskets I should be exactlly at 0.039"
quench and with 8.4 - 8.5 DCR.

I don't plan to retorque. I've used those gaskets before
and didn't retorque them. Never had an issue with them.


Quote:

Thanks Will! Actually, I've been doing cylinder head porting for
more than 10 years now, but I mostly do european and
japanese 4-valve heads.

My chambers came out at 59 cc's.

Thanks for the advice on the valves. I didn't know that
cast cams have issues. If I knew earlier, I would've
probably select a different cam. I don't have time or money
to go with a new cam now. But I don't mind checking the
valves few times a year.

BTW, what is the most common problem with cast cams?
Do they tend to break, or lobes wear out or.....???

Quote:

IMO the cast cams are just not hard enough. I've seen a few cases where the roller lifter wheel being made from a harder tool steel just eats them up.

[IMG]http://www.usfamily.net/web/hoffbug/camlobe1.jpg[/IMG]

Will

Thanks for the heads up Will! I'll be carefull!

Update......


I'm finished with intake manifold (superram) porting:














.......................

It looks like you opened that up quite a bit. Do you have before/after pictures?

Matthew

I try to take photos of everything, but I forgot to
take some of intake before porting.

Lots of TLC. Nice.