grumpyvette

hope no one was hurt? and youve now got an excellent reason to build and install a full roll cage/front suspension/custom frame...perhaps a fiberglass tip up front end.or upgrade to a differant car http://www.reactionresearch.com/280yz/steveparmley/parmley.html http://www.showcars-bodyparts.com/240z.html

"who did that sleeve on the block pictured?" not a CLUE! I got that and all those pictures off differant sites on engine building, simply for an example to show, I never saw those particular engines personally "What do you think about hard blocking the bottom inch of the block?" hard block porded in the cylinder base area up to the level of the bottom of the freeze plugs has little effect on the cooling and adds significantly to cylinder strength on thin bore walls, so yeah! any time you exceed about a ..040 overbore its a good idea. GOOD http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=esearch.asp&N=100&Ntk=PartSearch&Ntt=MOR-35571&x=19&y=11 MUCH BETTER, because it gets into the fine cracks and pores in the cast block surface, as its a liquid epoxy and holds far better than the basically structural concrete that moroso sells http://www.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterialText.asp?bassnum=PDEVCON05

I was asked to repost this info for the newer guys Ive built dozens of 383 and 396 sbc engines and the clearancing can be done BY YOUR OWN HANDS with a standard HAND HELD drill and a few CARBIDE BURRS OR GRIND STONES in that drill in well under two hours if you take your time and total expence even if you need to buy that drill and burrs will be well under $50 total http://www.click-onsource.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=OVAL_1-4_Shank buy a 1/2" burr and a cheap drill http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20776&item=4358782476&rd=1 place you old bearings in the block an place the crank in those bearings after coating them with axle grease slowly rotate the crank and grind a minimum of .060 clearance anywhere the counter weights might touch the block and try NOT to grind more than about .070 any place it touches the block (use a JUMBO size paper clip as a gauge if you don,t have feeler gauges) next assemble two connecting rods and pistons, one connecting rod and piston for the left one connecting rod and piston for the right, use old bearings coated with axle grease and no rings on the pistons, assemble them to the crank and grind anyplace the rods touch the block, grind minimum of .060 clearance and try NOT to grind more than about .070 any place the rods touche the block (use a LARGE size paper clip as a gauge if you don,t have feeler gauges)move them to the next journal and repeat untill all 4 journals and 8 connecting rods clear. now assemble all eight rods and pistons without rings and install them in thier correct locations and recheck everthing carefully. next intall the cam and index it correctly with the timeing chain/gears, rotate the engine slowly and look for clearance issues, between the cam and rods/rod bolts ,youll need to use a small base cam if there are major clearance issues and thats almost always a good idea when building a stroker combo but in most cases if your cams lift and duration is under about 230 at .05 and .500 lift there should be minor if any clearance issues, usually the outside edge of a rod bolt head is the only area needing a touch up. once everything clears, wash all the parts VERY CAREFULLY ,TWICE and re-oil then send out to be ballanced now you might ask why do that! well, first youll know its done correctly, and that a correctly built 383 will have a very significant hp and torque advantage over any similar 327 or 350 be aware that a small base dia. cam might be required in some cases,it will depend on the rods and the cam combo you chose http://www.bracketmasters.com/small_block_stroker_383_cu.htm http://www.prewittracing.com/newpage2.htm need a few pictures? this may help the comon areas are the area near the block oil pan rail where the rod bolts touch and the lower inner cylinder walls and where the cam lobes touch the rod bolts upper shoulder on some types of rods, now you can,t grind on the cam, but you can grind the edge of the rod bolt and you can use a small base circle cam to give greater clearances http://www.karl-ellwein.org/2005engineprojects/388project.htm

that appears to be one of the cleanest and nicest swaps IVE SEEN, CONGRATS GUY!!! more pictures and details on that SWAP PLEASE.PLEASE!!!

its unlikely to work as you layed it out, your better off getting a return line and a QUALITY ADJUSTABLE bye-pass regulator , or a manual fuel pump that is high voluum and low pressure, that varies the flow with the rpms. check the floats and settings and vacuum connections plus the power valve if your carb has one, as all can be potential problem areas [yeah] lifes a $%^%^&&*& in that good pressure regulators are not dirt cheap, but you really need to do it correctly http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108882&highlight=regulator http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108825

gaining some extra lift by swapping rocker ratios (could help) but in most cases the larger cam is the more effective route, simply because its the slight increase in durration more than slight increases in lift that help breathing at the upper rpm range, more effectively, and its the mid and upper rpms where you make most effective power, now IM sure this is, confuseing but let me OVER SIMPLIFY it for clearity, lets assume just for this example that valves on both cams open and close at exactly the same rates, and that the flow area under the valve due to the lift curve , adding lift due to a rocker ratio swap only adds really effective flow increases at peak lift, which only occures ONCE in the lift curve, while adding durration aids flow during the WHOLE lift curve even if the total lift remained constant because the valves open sooner and closed later, and tend to stay at or near the max lift longer ,but in most cases increased durration tends to aid high rpm breathing and HURT low rpm cylinder fill efficiency http://www.elgincams.com/campaper.html http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/95298/index1.html btw most guys look at increasing the power as a cure all answer, while increasing the cars ability to effectively transfer that power to the pavement efficienctly with minimal tire spin thru maximum use of better tires and gearing and suspension mods and weight reduction, can hold surprizing benefits , if your spinning the tires excessively or your 60 foot times are over about 1.6 seconds Id also look into thatas an area where gains are to be had!

I don,t know which model regulator your talking about exactly, but if you use a byepass style your problem will usually be under control, as to exactly what will work useing that current regulator, all I can say is try to install a return to the tank and find out!

it SOUNDS like the fuel pressure regulator is not working correctly to me! perhaps the filter OR the byepass/return lines CLOGGED?? or are you useing one of those NEARLY WORTHLESS non-return style regulators??? heres some old threads to look over http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108825&highlight=regulator http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108882&highlight=regulator

"I feel I would need to replace the main bearings since they have sat for a while." if it was in a dry garage and in an engine bag,and the bearings were coated with assembly lube or oil, the bearings and internal components have an EXTREMELY GOOD CHANCE, of being in near perfect condition, I have stored spare engines for 15 years with ZERO PROBLEMS, in fact my brother-in-laws vette was stored under a tarp with zero prep for two years and the engine was fine when we started it, and we looked at the bearings shortly after that as we installed a stroker kit about a month later

looks good so far!

yeah, whats special about a 1996 corvette.......... ITS one of the best corvettes I PERSONALLY OWN,(1985,1992,1996) and I love the body style yeah, your correct you can put those engines in any application that much power can effectively be used in, not just the vettes but for many corvettes the swap to a bbc engine is a bolt in swap or only minor mods are required to get them to fit

a SACRIFICIAL ANODE works best in water but it has some effect even if the (WATER) is only moisture,I know guys whove installed ZINK and MAGNISIUM strips in the frames of thier cars and they swear it slows body rust. they usually install a 15-35 lb SACRIFICIAL ANODE on barried gas storage tanks even in dry soil as it tends to slow the tanks rusting away under ground by a huge percentage vs a similar storage tank without one,while a standard tank might last 15 years or longer attach an anode and the anode equiped tank can and frequently do last 40 plus years, as the anode not the tanks metal deteriorates check with any marina, they will have examples of what a anode can do to prevent sea water from eating thru metal parts or not do to prevent damage once its removed in thier trash cans and salvage scrap piles

http://shafiroff.com/pro/555_965.asp http://shafiroff.com/pro/737_bigchief.asp why not get crazy

"grumpyvette, what is that thing?" its a sacrificial anode, thats a metal that slowly oxidizes while preventing the other metals from doing so! Galvanic corrosion, often misnamed "electrolysis," is one common form of corrosion in marine environments. It occurs when two (or more) dissimilar metals are brought into electrical contact under water. When a galvanic couple forms, one of the metals in the couple becomes the anode and corrodes faster than it would all by itself, while the other becomes the cathode and corrodes slower than it would alone. Either (or both) metals in the couple may or may not corrode by itself (themselves) in seawater. When contact with a dissimilar metal is made, however, the self-corrosion rates will change: corrosion of the anode will accelerate; corrosion of the cathode will decelerate or even stop.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/showCustom-0/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2000879/c-10101/Nty-1/p-2000879/Ntx-mode+matchallpartial/N-10101/tf-Browse/s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=anode install an ANODE and run a higher than 50% anti freeze mix in the coolant

most of the modern gaskets REQUIRE zero sealant,(per the instructions) but I still spray them down on both sides with COPPER COAT and torque them into place while damp.and its been 20 plus years since I had a head gasket leak

then get crazy and buy part # 1080569 http://www.theengineshop.com/pdfs/merlin.pdf personally I think ID have sellected the ALL ALLUMINUM 572 that weights 471 lbs (less than a sbc)for $13,999 on the engine itself and buy a 871 supercgharger kit http://store.summitracing.com/default.as...p;x=30&y=10 WND-7186P $2,749 then stick it in a 1996 corvette, for under $30,000 -$35,000 I could have something REALLY IMPRESSIVE, an all aluminum supercharged corvette engine that weighed less than the orriginal sbc )with well over 850hp or http://shafiroff.com/ultrastreet/598_755_engine.asp or http://shafiroff.com/sportsman/598_1065_bc.asp would it not be great to have that kind of cash to blow on a hobby???? but like most of us, Id come to my sences and put that cash on my morgage

PETE I can easily see your area of confusion, but the MAJOR stress loads on a connecting rod are NOT "due to friction in the rod bearing/journal interface, the piston pin/rod/pin bore interface, and rotary inertial effects of rotating the rod about the crank journal." those are MINOR loads,compared to the compressive loads durring the power stroke and the TENSION LOADS durring the exhaust stroke. OR in many cases the compressive OVERLOAD generated when a valve gets struck and bent at high rpms effectively making the rod and piston into a hammer trying to force the bent valve into the cylinder head to get clearance to rotate. next Id point out that by far the most comon failure is the rod BOLTS stretching under TENSION at high rpms on the exhaust stroke,that distorts the larger end bearing ,causeing it to bind on the crank or the bolts themselfs to fail under tensive stress, once that occures the rod tends to come loose of its journal and be beat to a pulp by lack of clearances and a 50lb-70lb plus crank hitting it , with impact loads in the thousands of ft lbs per impact and at up to hundreds of times in several seconds while it has no place to go while part of it is jammed into the heads or block, once that happends, the rods pounded into a pretzel almost instantly. the cross sectional area of the two rod bolts rarely comes close to the cross sectional area of the connecting rod itself ,so as a result the rod bolts tend to be the weak link in the chain as they say. "The con rod is under tremendous stress from the reciprocating load represented by the piston, actually stretching and relaxing with every rotation, and the load increases rapidly with increasing engine speed. Failure of a connecting rod is one of the most common causes of catastrophic engine failure in cars, frequently putting the broken rod through the side of the crankcase and thereby rendering the engine irreparable; it can result from overheating, a physical defect in the rod, lubrication failure in a bearing due to faulty maintenance, or from failure of the rod bolts from a defect, improper tightening, or re-use of already used (stressed) bolts where not recommended." remember those discusions on (QUENCH) where I recomended a .038-.042 clearance between the piston and heads be maintained, well MUCH of that distance is clearance that is filled when the rod stretchs under tension, at higher rpms, in fact it can come close to being less than 1/2 that distance in the upper rpm ranges due to rod stretch next time you purchase connecting rods consider that the 7/16" rods have approximately a 20% advantage in larger and stronger cross sectional area vs the 3/8" designs and that cap screw rods tend to have about a 20% greater area of thread engagement vs the nut style rods picking a QUALITY rod design manufactured with good materials with 7/16" rod bolts of either type is vastly more important than just sellecting the cheapest deal available info http://em-ntserver.unl.edu/Mechanics-Pages/Luke-schreier/unzip/Tension%20and%20Compression%20in%20Connecting%20Rods%20VI.htm

first check the basics, adjust the valves, look for a bad ignition wire or plug, check for a bad cam lobe,check for a fouled plug, broken valve spring, do a compression test and check the timing, look for vacuum leaks ETC. its NOT uncomon for a valve spring to brake or the valves to need careful adjustment with a new higher lift cam install. ignition http://www.2quicknovas.com/happytiming.html http://www.centuryperformance.com/timing.asp http://www.boyleworks.com/ta400/psp/distcurve.html http://www.lotuselancentral.com/lec/timing.htm carb http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm cam degreeing HERES several differant sources of instructions to read over http://www.thedirtforum.com/degree.htm http://www.hotrodder.com/kwkride/degree.html http://www.454ss.com/whitess/Camshaft.htm http://www.cranecams.com/?show=article&id=3 http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/TechServ/TechInfo/IECCTech8.html compression read this http://www.xs11.com/tips/misc/misc3.shtml http://www.goodvibesracing.com/leakdown%20Tester.htm http://www.globaltoolsupply.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/p-P1-275.html?E+scstore http://www.tavia.com/cat8.html#3 http://www.motorcycleproject.com/motorcycle/text/leakdown.html http://www.xs11.com/tips/misc/misc3.shtml http://goodvibesracing.com/Leakdown%20Tester.htm 1) For most accurate results, engine should be up to operating temperture. 2) Remove all spark plugs. 3) Rotate crankshaft until piston being tested is at top dead center of compression stroke. 4) Screw the spark plug adaptor hose into spark plug hole making the sure the o-ring is seated properly. 5) Connect the spark plug adaptor hose to the coupler of the leakdown tester. 6) Connect leakdown tester to a good source of compressed air, preferably a filtered and water trapped source. 7) Adjust the regulator on the leakdown tester so the the LEFT HAND GAUGE indicates at least 10 pounds less than your sorce pressure. The leakdown percentage conversion table shown below is based on regulated pressures of 100, 90, or 75 psi. 8) Read the RIGHT HAND GAUGE (differential gauge), then look up gauge reading on the conversion table below to get actual leakdown percentage. After noting percentage of leakage, turn the regulator knob counter-clockwise to relieve the pressure. This reduces the shock to the gauges. If you ever get an unrealistically low pressure reading on the right hand gauge, there is a finite possibilty that something is blocking the small orfice located within the hex tube located between the regulator and the main body of the leakdown tester. 9)To remove any obstruction that may be lodged in the metering orfice, unscrew the hose coupling assembly from the aluminum body. Ultilizing a 1" wrench, remove the knob assembly from the regulator. Blow compressed air in the opposite direction (from the coupling end) to clear the orfice. Re-assemble the regulator and the coupling. NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE BRASS HEX NIPPLE BETWEEN THE REGULATOR AND THE ALUMINUM BODY. DAMAGE MAY RESULT. http://www.needboost.com/part/summit_dual_gauge_leakdown_tester/

heres what im currently saving for http://store.cyberweld.com/milsyn350lx2.html

"Just wait until TIG" OH YEAH! once youve used a good TIG setup,,with a torch that has the amp control on the handle and a quality, instant darkening helmet vs the foot petal,controls most tig setups use, it sorta spoils you, and prevents you from liking for every other process http://www.weldingdirect.com/weldingdirect/amconhanmoun.html

http://www.vips.co.uk/demos/mech/con_rod/vm_anim.htm http://www.grapeaperacing.com/tech/connectingrods.pdf http://www.rustpuppy.org/rodstudy.htm BOTH designs can be made extremely strong both designs tend to have rod BOLTS fail before the RODS THEMSELFS rods seldom fail in COMPRESSION, its the (CRACK THE WHIP) EXHAUST stroke where the piston is not working against any significant compression to slow it down as it approches TDC where the rods stretch and bolts tend too fail I tend to use the 7/16" rod bolt (H) style rods even in SBC as they tend to have more rod to block and rod to cam lobe clearance and the larger dia. 7/16" rod CAP SCREW STYLE bolts that screw directly into the rod body are significantly stronger than the comon 3/8 rod bolts that use nuts on the bolts on the (I)beam or stock style rods. but (I)beam rods are also manufactured that use the 7/16" cap screw rod bolts almost any aftermarket rods are at least some improvement over the stock production rods strength another thing to consider is that FORGED pistons with AFTERMARKET floating piston pins can be SIGNIFICANTLY STRONGER AND LIGHTER IN WEIGHT than cast/pressed pins thus greatly lowering stress at high RPM levels its generally a failed valve train (no rod/piston combo can repeatedly try to compress a bent valve without major problems) or detonation thats the cause of problems if the rod bolts and lube system are not at fault! things to read http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/82378/ http://www.vips.co.uk/demos/mech/conrod.htm http://www.me.metu.edu.tr/me426/notes/Conrod/sld020.htm http://www.stahlheaders.com/Lit_Rod%20Length.htm http://www.autoink.com/SAHome.html http://www.victorylibrary.com/mopar/rod-tech-c.htm http://www.carrilloind.com/pdfs/10777_eprint.pdf

"but where are the LSx buildups?" next

onephatz I can see youve yet to drive a really serious engine,combo, just because an engine peaks out at lets say 550hp does not mean it puts that out those numbers lower in the rpm curve, but that power is instantly available to you when you need it simply by depressing your foot! if you can drive your current combo with your foot to the floor on other than the long straits you need more engine,the instant ability to brake the tires loose and drift thru corners allows you options that lesser engines don,t, to answer your question, the higher hp engine combo will be noticably faster on a road course IN THE HANDS OF A SKILLED DRIVER, provided the cars brakes and handling are anywhere near close to correct. you might want to spend time reading here http://www.miata.net/sport/Physics/ btw a roll cage, good tires LIGHT WEIGHT, LARGE EFFECTIVE BRAKES and some carefully worked out suspension geometry and weight distrabution can make handling 500-700hp FUN!

heres info you need to read NEXT NEXT