TireSmoke.org

I haven't been posting much lately, but that's because I've been trying to keep busy, either out in the garage, or inside doing side work to support my addiction.. err, racing program.

The most significant project is my new cylinder heads. I bought a set of Edelbrock E-Tec 170s from Summit. I really agonized over this decision. Money-no-object, I would've bought AFRs. But money was an object, and from everything I read, it seemed like it was going to be $1700+ for the AFRs. The E-Tecs were $1060 + tax. In Super Chevy's "Danger Mouse' series (April '05), using a 234/238 cam, they made 487 HP @ 6000 / 456 ft/lbs @ 4800 with these heads. On a 355. My cam is similar.





My biggest concern is that it appears I will have 10.9 or 11:1 compression. I'm not paying for racing gas, or even 94. It needs to run on 92-octane. With the heads being aluminum, the more 'efficient' combustion chamber and the EFI, I *should* be ok.

Doing more research this winter, I think I now will be able to successfully implement the ignition control on Megasquirt. The same tunability I have on the fuel side I will now have on the ignition side.

As these are a Vortec-style head with a new intake bolt pattern, I also bought a new Stealth Ram intake. I managed to get $400 for my old Stealth Ram setup, so it helped keep costs reasonable.

In addition to the heads and intake, I also picked up a set of 1.6 roller rockers to replace my 1.5s. This should bring my cam lift from .488/.510 to .520/.544 (234/244 @ .050"). I thought long and hard about adding a roller cam, but decided that the additional $1000 would probably be better saved towards a 700R4.

With the significant amount of work under the hood, it made perfect sense to re-wire the engine. My old harness, while functional, was less than pretty. My goal is to keep the wiring as hidden as possible -- or, at least neatly concentrated.



I've also removed the MSD box from the firewall. Everything will be mounted under the dash. I made a plate from 1/8" aluminum. The MSD box, Megasquirt and Megsquirt Relay Board will mount to this plate. I tapped the holes in the plate and then cut the screws flush on the bottom. Then the plate is bolted to the top of the glove box. With the dash pad installed, you won't see anything.


Finally, I picked up a fuel tank sump kit from Competition Engineering. It should solve my fuel-starvation issues. I'm just worried that I'm not going to like the look of the car from the rear with this installed. Now I need to actually remove the tank from the car and find a place that is willing to weld the sump in.


That's enough for now...

-Dave

So the gauntlet is laid down. Somebody had to take it to the next level.

Pretty sure I won't be competing with that anytime soon - especially with my bottom end and on 87 octane.

You will be off the Chupposity meter once you get that completed and running right!

The compression is a big part of the power gain. What was your old compression ratio? Flow is important but so is compression. In my opinion the aluminum should give you an extra half-point of compression with the same octane. It will be interesting to see how well it runs on 92 octane.

Does this mean you are looking at a 50% increase in power? (IIRC you were around 300 before)

Have you considered how long you bottom end can put up with that extra power? I can't recall what went into the last rebuild, but with that kind of power I would be concerned about rods, crank, and oiling systems.

Oh and the roll cage

I wanted to take it to the next level back when I blew it up back in '99. The layoff from TRW postponed things. It's easy to say now, but if it runs what I hope, I'm not sure there'll be another level after that. Even before this, it's sorta crazy to drive on the street.

The short block should be pretty solid. Forged pistons, stock re-con'd rods (5.7", not 400's 5.565"), crank is .010/.010 and the whole assembly was balanced. I think the bottom end is strong enough. I'll have to re-consider if I ever add a blower or nitrous again. Compression before should've been about 9.7 or so. 6000-6200 RPM reliably.

I don't know if a 50% power gain is reasonable to expect. I put down 308 RWHP with my carb when I was trapping at 105-106 MPH. EFI 1.0 ended up running the same MPH, so I'm willing to assume the HP to be near equal. With that said, I'd be *thrilled* to see 400+ RWHP. 1 RWHP/cubic-inch would be a neat thing. That would put me at approximately 480 hp at the crank.

I'm hoping for low 12s @ 110-112. Is an 11.90 possible?? This should pretty much max-out my entire combo. Anything more radical and I'm going to need more converter, more gear, more everything. I'm not ready for that. I'm not ready for a cage yet, either. I'll be ready for new paint and overdrive after this.

-Dave

Now that's what you call progress. Very impressive! Can hardly wait to view the video of its' first startup. Easter or Memorial Day or ......?

Fred32v wrote:Now that's what you call progress. Very impressive! Can hardly wait to view the video of its' first startup. Easter or Memorial Day or ......?

Oh geez, I hope way before Memorial Day. (famous last words)

Maybe by tax day? That gives me a month.

-Dave

update:

Got the gas tank out tonight. It was nice using the electric fuel pump to drain the tank. And the 92-octane won't get wasted -- it will be used in the GTP. (as opposed to the truck, which would probably run on 86 octane) I also finished up the new engine harness on Sunday.

After getting it out, I'm thinking it would be really much nicer to do an in-tank pump than to add a sump to my tank. The sump is probably an easier & cheaper solution, the in-tank pump better overall (quieter, not visible). It's just time & money, right?

Tasks for this week:
drill steam holes in cylinder heads, run a tap through all head bolt holes in block, bolt heads to block

do final attachment of 'electronics plate' to glovebox, run 10 gauge red, black wires from battery to electronics plate

That should keep me busy for a couple days.

-Dave

Wow, been a long time since I posted and almost no additional work has been done, other than to flush out the gas tank. I need to rethink my priorities!

Wow, another month has almost passed and it's still not done..

The engine is assembled and waiting to go back in. I got the gas tank back with its new sump welded in and painted black. I pressure washed out the engine compartment and bought some new power steering hoses to replace the cruddy old ones. I'm trying to clean up the pump too, but I'm not sure how that's going to turn out. I think I'll price a new pump at Napa and Murray's. OPG wants $100 -- more than I want to spend. I'm hoping for $50-60. I did a quick sandblast and paint job on my headers and alternator brackets.

The re-wiring has been a lot more work than I first thought. Not hard, just tedious. I'll post a few pics soon.

-Dave

Well, progress was made today. The gas tank is re-installed, 100% ready to go. I haven't poured any fuel in it yet, but I'm confident there will be no leaks. Everything is plumbed & clamped & tightened. The sump doesn't look too bad. I painted everything flat-black. I just hope it works well at the strip.

There's one minor kludge. The sump has 3/8" NPT openings. I had a 3/8NPT-to-6AN adapter, but I do not have the proper 37-degree flaring tool, so I flared it at the regular 45-degree. It's a low-pressure connection, so I think it'll be ok as long as it is tight. I just didn't want to make another parts store run.

Engine is still waiting to go in. I need to further enlarge the firewall hole I created. I've got all of my wiring going through this single opening. The last test fit was a little tight.

-Dave

Got the engine in tonight. We ended up pinching a wire between the block and trans, but after resolving that, everything went together ok.

Could be running by the weekend...

-Dave

Where's the video?

It's great so see such tremendous progress...oh! Wait! We are not seeing or hearing anything. Words just don't cut it anymore. We want multi-media!

I don't have any installation videos, but there'll definately be a first-start video.

I'll post some pics of the gas tank and the engine before the weekend.

-Dave

We got progress and pictures.

Might be able to start it up tomorrow. Maybe.











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The under dash wiring is 99.9% complete. I missed a ground wire for the coolant sensor. Easy to fix. I powered everything up and connected the computer. The CLT, MAT, and TPS sensors appear to be reading normal. The fuel pump ran its 2 second power-on prime.

I think I'm to the point where I need to bolt the plenum on, add all my liquids (oil, coolant, fuel) and double-check everything.

I won't get it started today, but I'm really, really close.