2012 Chevelle Projects

[TireSmoker]

Well, 2012 is here and I've started working on the Chevelle for this year.

In late 2010, after finding my 406 mortally wounded, it was pulled and Fatica let me install his craigslist-350. It was awesome of him to let me use it so I could drive the car around for a while, but it's now time to give him his motor back.

My 406 short-block had flat top pistons that were originally purchased/installed in 2001 when I had 76cc combustion chamber heads. When I bought the Edelbrock E-Tec 170 heads, with 64cc chambers, I was over 11:1 compression. With the combination of a small spot of corrosion in cyl #6, some wear on the pistons, and too much compression, I took the block an additional .010-over (.040 total, 408ci) and bought some new Probe forged pistons with a dish. I also had the decks cut, but they are not 0-decked. With the new dished piston and decks cut, I should be at 10.2:1 compression. Perfect for 92 octane.

I found a set of E-Tec 200s on craigslist in Michigan. A good friend of mine lived in the area, so he went and picked them up for me. I guess the seller was pretty hillbilly, although he didn't sound it over the phone. I guess it was one of those interesting-people kind of moments. Anyway, the heads allegedly look very good, maybe have 30 hrs on them in a boat. I havent picked them up yet. They have a 200cc intake port, versus the 170 ports of my heads, better for a larger engine. Fatica agreed to buy my 170s, so I essentially upgraded to the bigger port for free.

The cam got wiped out in the old motor too, so I need to decide what to do there. I'm considering going to a hydraulic roller, but that's probably an $800 proposition, maybe $1000, by the time you get cam, lifters, pushrods, and valve springs. Flat-tappet is much cheaper, but there is the potential break-in problems.

This will probably be the last small-block I invest serious time and money in. So, I have some specific goals.. I want to be able to drive to the track, run 11.70s, and drive home. I'll even hedge a bit and say that if I miss my ET mark, if I'm trapping at 115+, that'll be a success too. Why 11.70s? Because at 11.49, you need a rollcage. I'm not interested in doing that.

So another winter at Meadowridge, and another small-block build. The last one, the ZZ4/Vortec 350 for the Corvette turned out sweet, so I hope to keep that momentum going.

But it's not all engine work. I also have a new stereo and some speakers to install. I got a great deal on amazon.com a while back that netted me the stereo, the 6x9 speakers, another set of 6" speakers (not pictured), all for $65 after signing up for their credit card. I'll have to cut my dash to do it. I'm pretty sure I'm ok with that, but am still considering something like a glovebox mount. I have yet to cut anything.

[Fred32v]

Sounds like a plan. I like the Glove Box radio install.

[TireSmoker]

It's been a long time since I did an update here.. I've just been working ... slowly.

I have my new 408 short-block assembled. I turned 39 back in February, and Fatica (with some help from my dad and sister) solved my cam dilemma for me an got me a Lunati 60104 cam (233/241 @ .050, 504/525 lift, Hyd Flat tappet) for my birthday. It's pretty similar to my previous cam. I'm in the process of degreeing the cam. Once that is complete, I'll be able to bolt the heads on. I should have something resembling an engine pretty soon.

The inner fenders on my car are finally due for replacement. The battery sits on the inner fender on the passenger side, and several of the mounting tabs for the inner fender had broken over the years, and the battery was starting to lean. Since Summit stocks some OPG parts, I was able to run down there and pick a new pair of plastic inner fenders (old ones were plastic too). While there is nothing technically wrong with the driver's side unit, I'll replace it too so that they match.

I'd really like to race this thing this year. A lot.

I'll post a few pics when I get home.

-Dave

[TireSmoker]

So I'm continuing to move pretty slow on this project, but I have made progress. I got the bottom end all together, and I successfully degreed the cam (and it matched the cam card exactly). I have the heads bolted on and was getting ready to adjust all the valves when I ran into a small problem.

Crankshaft is hitting the oil pan. I bought a shiny, finned, cast-aluminum pan off ebay. I was hoping for a little bling to match the polished aluminum timing cover and finned aluminum valve covers I bought. I saw the same-looking pan from a few different vendors. Some listed it as fitting the 400, others did not. I bought it from one of ones that listed it as fitting the 400. Well, it doesn't. It bolts on, yes. But I can't turn the crank more than 90* before a clunk. I found out when I went to install/adjust the valvetrain. I wasn't entirely surprised, just a bit disappointed.

I bought a new pan from Summit, a plain steel one that I've used successfully in the past and painted it to match the block. I need to swap pans now. Minor setback.

I also picked up a set of Hedman 65101 headers -- 1 3/4" primaries, versus the old 1 5/8" headers I had before. Edelbrock's literature for the E-Tec 200 heads said 1 3/4 were required for the larger exhaust ports. I would've preferred not doing this, as these headers look more difficult to work with in terms of installation and spark plug access. I had an O2 sensor bung installed in each collector and had them sandblasted. I painted them up with some VHT cast-iron gray and they look great.

I also made an unplanned purchase -- Mostmint's old B&M Racing 700r4 with 3000 stall converter. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse. With the lower 1st gear, it would be like having a 4.30 gear behind my TH350 out of the hole, and it has a smaller/higher-stall torque converter, with lock-up. And the overdrive should make cruising it much more enjoyable. It should be a win/win/win all around. I have a spare driveshaft in the basement that I'll take to get shortened.

Will all of this be enough to get me in the 11s? I hope so, but more importantly, I hope this keeps me from doing another engine swap for many years. It's been done so many times that even VeeDub can do it now with all the times he's helped me out!

------

With my motor being almost ready, it was time for Fatica's 350 to come out. He bought this motor in Aug/Sept of 2010 from a craigslist ad in Michigan. He was kind enough to let me use it drive my car around for a while since he wasn't planning on swapping it in immediately. It ran really good for me and would no doubt have run well for Tony. But, he bought my Edelbrock E-Tec 170 heads when I upgraded to the 200s.

So a couple weeks ago, Tony came over on a Friday night and we pulled the motor. Tony being Tony, (and I'm not much better!), we didn't get started till 10pm after having some dinner and watching the Indians. We worked slow and casually and were done around 1:30am. With the motor out of the car, it was the right time to change the heads, and he ordered up a new cam as well. Lunati 60121, hyd roller, 219/227 .515/.530 lift. That cam with the Edelbrock heads should run really sweet. That leaves us with an un-used set of known-good Vortec heads.

His motor should be back together before this weekend is over. I'll take it over to his house and will concentrate on getting mine back together.


-Dave

[TireSmoker]

I've been plodding away at this thing, despite not making any posts, nor adding the pictures I have... Hope to remedy some of that here..

So more hassles with some shiny dress up pieces I bought. After replacing the oil pan with a known-good steel one, I still couldn't rotate the engine more the 90*.. WTF? At this point, I pulled the aluminum timing cover, but I couldn't see where the interference was happening. I found a plain steel one for cheap, ordered it and painted it. Really annoyed that I spent over $100 on what I thought were decent dress-up pieces that I can use. But it was time to get this thing together.



Since I'm gonna be running it on a carb at first, I wanted to make sure I had a good distributor. I went in The Basement and went through my old distributors and ignition stuff. I grabbed my HEI, my old MSD super-duper module and headed out to the garage. After reading a couple articles (internet fixin'!) , I completely tore it down, which wasn't difficult at all. I cleaned it all out, packed some new grease in the upper bushing area, and re-assembled it. I bought a MSD re-curve kit for it, and put everything back together. It's a really easy job.

I kinda wanted to test the module out, as it has been years since it was used, although it was a high-end HEI module when I bought it new in the mid-90s. I decided to take it back downstairs where I have a 12v power supply setup, and grabbed an old tach off the shelf. I figured I would put power to the distributor and tach and test for RPM by spinning the distributor by hand. And it worked, the tach showed RPM, but with an unexpected side effect of me taking several high-voltage jolts from the spark plug terminals on the cap while I was holding it. That got my attention pretty quick! I dunno why, just wasn't expecting that at all.




Before pulling the Chevelle in the garage for engine removal, the brakes had been feeling not too good. Pedal was low and it didn't seem to be stopping as well as it used to. I found the rear chamber of the master cylinder was dry. Chris and I tried his power bleeder, but it just wasn't working as expected. This master cyl was installed in 2001, and at only $34 for a new one, I decided to replace it. I chucked it up in the vice and threw a few coats of clear paint on it.



With the engine and trans out, the master cylinder off, I think I'm finally gonna try to detail the firewall a bit more. It's really the last thing I need to do before putting the engine back in. I'll pull off the wiper motor and MSD box and give it a fresh, uniform coat of paint. I have a small amount of undercoating to scrape off yet, but a stiff wire brush mounted in a drill seems to work.


Here's a picture of the two engines I've been working on this summer. On the left is Fatica's 350. This is the short-block of the Michigan-purchased 350 with my old E-Tec 170 heads, plus a Lunati 219/227 roller cam. Performer RPM Air-Gap and Street Avenger 670. That thing should run great, probably low 13s, high 12s with the right chassis details. On the right is my 408 minus timing cover and oil pan.

We decided the change the rear main seal in Fatica's motor while it was on the stand. The 1-piece rear main on a Chevy is pretty easy and now was the time to do.. Just gotta pull off the flexplate, no big deal, right?


I made both those sockets in less than 60 seconds using my Makita Cordless impact. And the really mangled socket was an impact-rated socket. An older Craftsmen! wtf??! A third socket was destroyed using my friend Nick's Snap-on brand cordless impact. Nick also lent me his can of Loctite Freeze and Release. I'd never heard of it. Spray it on the bolt, wait a minute or two, and its supposed to ever-so-slightly contract the bolt material by lowering its temperature. I was skeptical about much 'shrinkage' you could create with a few blasts from a spray can. And consider a flexplate bolt -- I can't really get at the threads, just the head, even on an engine stand. But, it worked exactly like the can said. Spray it on, waited 90 seconds, and then Nick's Snap-on Gun ran it right out.



One last mod I'm planning to do before it goes back on the road is a steering box swap. The steering box from a 93-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee along with a rag joint from 73-87 Chevy pickup, is a direct bolt-in. And with a couple fitting adapters from Lee Mfg, it uses my existing power steering pump and hoses. A new box from Autozone is ~$140, the rag joint is $50, and the adapters are $5. This box features a fast 12.7:1 ratio and is tuned for better road feel, I guess. It'll feel more late-model. Stock Chevelle power steering box is maybe 15:1. On the internet, 'they' say its supposed to be very easy, worthwhile mod. It should nicely complement the other handling-orientated changes I've already done to the car.

-Dave

[VeeDub]

"Looooonati" Camshafts with ZEST (say with your thumb touching your middle finger, holding it up shaking them)

[TireSmoker]

Made some progress today..

-Dave

[VeeDub]

Busy day? That makes 2 installs on that day??
After break in you going to run the FI? or are you stickin with old sKooll?

[TireSmoker]

Busy day? That makes 2 installs on that day??
After break in you going to run the FI? or are you stickin with old sKooll?

We installed Fatica's 350 on Friday night and mine on Saturday. 2 engines, 2 days. Just "installed", meaning set in place. I definitely want to put the EFI back on, but it won't be right away. I'd like to get a few miles on it and make a few passes with the carb first.

My new headers have a semi-serious clearance issue on the driver side, hit the steering shaft. I'm in the middle of modifying them. It really sucks taking a hammer to brand-new, freshly painted headers.

-Dave

[Basement Paul]

Do you have a dead blow hammer? Keeps your paint in tact... If not I have one I can bring to work.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

Well, the title of this thread is Chevelle Projects 2012, not just *my* Chevelle projects. We got Fatica's motor fired up tonight! We had spun the motor over with no plugs, so the carb was filled with gas. There was no first start before the video. It totally fired right up. It sounds waaaay better in person than it does in the video. This thing should be pretty strong.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_P55JNzirw[/youtube]

-Dave

[VeeDub]

Sounds good. Cant wait to here it in person.
Ive heated painted metal with a heat gun before tapping on it. That will help keep the paint adhered..... to a limit of course.
Keep it warm but not TO warm as you tapping on it. Had some luck with that on my VR

*Edert Spellin*

[TireSmoker]

Well, after getting pushed to the back burner in September with Chumpcar prep, Tony's motor, the cruise, and the chumpcar race, I finally got back to my Chevelle today. Tony and Chris came over and after getting some last minute items squared away with the valve covers and spark plug wires, we got my new 408 fired up! I know, I know, its the end of the season, but hopefully that just means I'll be ready to go for the first test-n-tune in April.

There was little drama with the fire up. There was a small fuel leak within the first minute that we had to shutdown for, and then a while later one of the spark plugs came loose -- maybe it never got it fully tightened? -- but not a huge problem. Tightened it up and the motor fired right back up. We didnt have any camera rolling to catch the event, but it went pretty well over all.

The new headers don't match up with the old exhaust, so my first visit is going to have to be to Paul Carson to get the exhaust squared away. But it sounds pretty f'in good.

-Dave

[TireSmoker]

Well, all hasn't gone as well as hoped with the new engine. We got it fired up, it sounded great, but the oil pressure was always low -- maxing out at 30 lbs when hot. After changing the oil after break in, the engine has less than 5 lbs of pressure at warm idle. I first noticed the problem when pulling the car into the driveway after trailering it back from getting the exhaust work done at Paul Carson's. It made a valvetrain clatter. ugggghhhh..

So, I pulled it back out of the car. All the lifters look good, ie-- survived break-in. And now all the main/rods seem to look pretty good. Oil pump seems ok. So i've got low pressure, and it also seems to be lacking oil on the top end. Not dry, but not as much oil as there oughta be.

Frustrating.. but it sounded awesome when it was running.

-Dave

[MostMint]

Have you opened the oil filter to see what is in it?

Have you plasti-gauged the bearings? Seems like you might have a little too much clearance there.