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Looking for tips and useful info

1K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  Pantaz 
#1 ·
So just out of curiosity. What are things you guys do that you think/know will help improve the performance of your engine when you are building it. I'm not talking machine work per se but cleaning up your intake runners and port matching etc would be included. Anything at all really would be nice to hear. No matter how small if it helps it helps.

Has anyone ever tried the singh groves?
Somender SINGH: Squish Zone Grooves: 20%+ improved performance of IC Engines -- 3 articles & US Patent

I myself Am going to try my hand at port matching, cleaning the head intake runners, file fitting the piston rings and testing them, cleaning the intake, and attempting to fab a ram air design for my hood. Thought about trying to setup something to control oil temp but that seems way to difficult for me right atm.
 
#2 ·
Alot has to do with what you are doing with the car the motor is in.
Port matching is helpful but really not necessary if the car is just a streeter/ partime racer.
Using say, Edelbrock aluminum heads with a matching intake is a good start. Having a good ignition like MSD, Mallory or choice of others. Cams are the biggest thing you want to get right. Having the right cam for the motor is critical .
I would really go talk to a local machine shop who builds horsepower motors. It won't cost you anything but time.They will ask you lots of quetions and what you answer will give you ideas of just how you want to go about building this motor.
As far as oil temps go ,there are many oil coolers on the market that are available. You have to be making monster HP to be worried about oil temps.
 
#4 ·
You can make all the HP in the world but unless you can get it to the road it's useless.You have to look at the hole package not just the engine.A lot of people put all kinds of money in the engines and think they are going to go fast I wish it was that easy.Take a good look at the spark plug wires you want believe how much of a diffidence they can make
 
#5 ·
I was just curious what people do to their engines as their putting it together. Not looking for help with my car atm.

@ Falcon yep! I've been looking at all of that. I've got about 250 lb's taken off my car and 10 lb's lost on myself for a total of 260 :V!

Think of this question similarly to "how would you spend your next day off?"
"How/What do you like doing to your engine when you build it". Just trying to get ideas to throw around with my dad.
 
#6 ·
The biggest thing is to match parts, Either build it for bottom end power or mid range or high rpm!!! Don't mix a low rpm cam with a high rpm intake Etc, Etc! Same with your drive train! Match your torque convertor to your flash torque, If you don't it will eat up your torque! final Gear ratio and tire diameter can do the same!

The next is to blue print, Stock Or High performance it makes no difference a good blue print build will bring power out of hiding!! If you set one rod bearing at .001 set them all at .001 (or as close as possible) If a manual says rod bearing clearance .0005 to .003 that means .0005 is new engine tolerance and .003 is just at the wore out point and passable! If you get a bearing reading of .0029 across all the rod bearings when assembling you just built an engine on the point of being wore out, same with ring gaps , mains, etc. a good balance helps a lot! Anything that is parasitic that you can reduce the drain of H.P. like a large heavy big pitch fan, water pump, H.P. draining alternator, heavy pulley's, Heavy dope, heavy oil ETC,ETC! Don't install a high pressure oil pump if its not needed the higher the pressure the more engine torque and H.P. it takes to drive it! Too high an ohm plug wire can rob H.P.! There are many things you can do to bring out H.P. and torque! Re curving the distributor, advancing or retarding the cam, lightening the valve train, The right headers, and porting or not porting depending on RPM and scavenging ability ( sometimes small ports perform better then large) in some combinations! Reducing internal friction like oil windage, Crank case ventilation! Etc,Etc, There is much more Like the weight of the car and whether you need high torque to get it moving or high rpm for speed!

Jester:thumbup:
 
#11 · (Edited)
I get anal and do that chit looking for a horse here and there.

In addition to the pocket porting and port matching and clearance around the intake valve, some things include:

Carb is milled and blended. Note that the "dead zone" at the interface of the air cleaner base and carb has been filled with a piece of rubber cable and sealed into place to smooth this transition. Also note the "nose cone" at the transition of the screw and post. There is actually a piece of heat shrink tubing that covers the treads from the wing nut (bottom of the air cleaner top) all the way down to the carb completely covering (and blending) the centerpost.



The intake itself has been internally "massaged" to get rid of the casting ridges as well as smooth out the divider and provide a smoother airflow. The 1/2" spacer is ported and blended to the manifold. Even more work was done after the pics were snapped.


When the manifold is installed, I lay it in place and using a stiff wire, I "feel" the transition and shift the manifold around to get this the smoothest. I then use a marker to mark this alignment so that after I do the gaskets and China wall, I can just lay it into the proper place without shifting it around.

I even do things like putting multiple coats of ceramic-bearing paint on the base of the air cleaner to reduce heat transfer.

When my block was prepared, it was actually clearanced for the intake valves. I don't see many do this anymore.

My combination makes ~350 crank hp and I get about 290-300 at the wheels:

331 CI, pump-friendly 9.5:1 CR
K&N 14"x4" air filter, Corvette drop base and lid
Holley 600 dp, choke horn milled and blended, Primary - 69, Secondary – 74, Squirters - 21
1/2" Aluminum open spacer port matched to manifold, exterior polished
Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold, port matched, exterior polished with all extraneous castings and lettering removed
Homemade lifter valley splash shield to keep hot oil off manifold bottom
Manifold heat riser crossover blocked
Camel hump 1.94/1.50 heads hogged out to 2.02/1.60, pocket ported, port matched, pump-friendly hardened seats, 3-angle valve job
Cylinder bores clearanced to unshroud the valves
Comp Cams 1.52:1 roller-tip rockers
Crane Cam Vintage Muscle 327/350 hp cam, 222 degrees @ 0.05, 0.447" lift (with 1.50 rockers)
Doug Thorley headers, dechromed and ceramic-coated
2.5" mandral-bent exhaust (including tips), 2" cross-over just before rear axle
DynoMax stainless Ultra Flow mufflers
Millerspeed 1-1/2” Gilmer under drive belt drive system
Mallory Hyfire IV CD ignition box triggered off Accel points
Mallory high voltage chrome coil
Mallory spiral-wound coil wire
Mallory solid copper plug wires, ends soldered to wires
Champion plugs
37 degrees total ignition advance
Carter high volume fuel pump
Melling high volume oil pump
Open breathers
Polished aluminum high flow water pump
160-degree thermostat
Flex fan with polished aluminum spacer
Polished aluminum one-wire 100 amp alternator
Header Power Bracket
Keisler TKO600 5-Speed
Hurst shifter
3.70:1 positraction with Big Block yokes
225/60/15 Firestone Firehawk SZ50s on 7”-wide Western 30-spoke Turbine Wheels
 
#12 ·
Make sure your assembly area is spotless.

Wash your components with mild soap and warm water after they come back from the machine shop. Even if the shop did a second cleaning, there will still be pieces of ground iron stuck in block passages and crank oil holes. Blow dry with clean(filtered) air, and wrap componenets in engine bags(heavy duty contractors bags work well) to prevent moist air from causing rust to start on your fresh parts.

Measure everything twice, write it all down in a small note book, not scraps of paper that can get lost just when you need them.

Degree your camshaft, it is a neccesary part of building a high perfromance engine. Theres a reason every professional builder performs this task on every motor they assemble.

Do research on the parts you intend to buy, whether they be new or used. Saving $20 on a Chinese part may bite you in the ***. Buying used parts unseen can be risky, so ask the seller for lots of pictures and as much info as possible.

Theres a lot more, but this will give you a start
 
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