deMideon Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Ok a little background. I have a sbc 400 block bored 40 over and this is the second time I have had the number 8 cylinder develope pin holes into the water jacket. So I am obviously pushing the blocks too far. So what I wanted to find out is if I have the #8 cyklinder sleeved are there any drawbacks? I have heard that the sleeve runs hotter. Is it significant? Do you guys think this is a workable solution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledphoot Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 I've had 400 blocks sleeved to save them because they are getting harder and more expensive to find. I'm sure you know temp is a big factor with the "siamese" cylinders but I havent seen a noticable difference in mine with 3 sleeves and a .30 bore. Make sure you use a very reputable machine shop that KNOWS what they are doing, shope that do alot of industrial and agricultural motors sleeve on a regular basis, and have your block checked for warpage and magnafluxed AFTER the sleeves are installed. I use a mid 90's 4.3 litre w/ac and towing radiator with as much electric fan as I could fit , a 160 degree thermostat, edlebrock aluminum water pump and "wetter watter" additive with 50/50 coolant mix. I have an TH-350 trans or sometimes a 2spd powerglide ( I switch to 2spd for drag sometimes) with a seperate cooler. My motor is 10.5-1 iron head and I keep 160-185 temps with an occasional 200 in heavy traffic and 95+ degree days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnjdragracing Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 I have also used sleeves in sbc 350 and 400, have not had any issue. I have a Great machine shop that does this for me. I have ran Nitrous on these blocks as well with out any issues. It is important to get a good machine shop to do it. Tempature have not noticed any difference. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 sleveing a block can distort the adjacent cylinder. The advice given is correct. In the old days before aftermarket blocks, we used to sleeve all 8 cylinders on 400's for sprint car engines. I've personally run several sleeved 400 blocks with 14 or 15 to 1 compression on alky with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deMideon Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share Posted December 13, 2006 Well, that's good to know. Thank you! my machine shop will have to get it sent out to get it done properly since I know he doesn't have magnaflux equipment. I should probably have the walls checked in the other cylinders as well, before I do it to see if I need any more sleeves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 Actually, they'd probably use a sonic tester to check the thickness of the other cylinder walls. Only the better shops would have such a tool, kind of pricey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deMideon Posted December 15, 2006 Author Share Posted December 15, 2006 Yep... it's amazing how expensive their equipment is. The machinest I use owns his own shop so while he has a lot of equipment, the things that wouldn't get used as much he doesn't have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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