That's why I like ordering cams from EPS because I got my comp cam custom ground through him then Geoff puts it on his cam doctor to tell me what I really bought Duration numbers were different(1 more degree on exhaust) and lift was spot on though. We also degreed the cam and dot to dot was exactly where I needed to be. I shimmed my springs as well and no issues at 7300 on my motor.

 

I just talked to the guy that spec'ed the cam (Don at Slowhawk), and he said that 1-2 degrees of variation is completely normal. It could be the cam, or it could be the timing set. He said not to worry about it, that those couple extra degrees of advance aren't going to make a big enough difference to bother with an adjustable timing set.

I'm still going to get a usable dial indicator base and fully degree the cam for my own edification.

 

The new Proform valve spring compressor came in. This thing rocks. It took me about 5 minutes to pull off all 8 springs on my 2nd head. Hopefully re-assembly is just as easy.


Once I finish putting the heads together, I'll have no choice but to finish degreeing the cam so that I can finish engine assembly.

 

2nd cylinder head is back together. This new valve spring compressor made the job way easier than the other one I had borrowed. That said, an extra set of hands would have been nice too. I had to use my head to stop things from moving while I had one hand working the compressor handle and the other hand holding the retainers & compressor head in just the right spot.

 

Tonight I went through the degree process again, and I think I found the reason why my first set of measurements was so inconsistent. My valve lift is greater than the range of my dial indicator. Whoops.

I did the procedure again, and seemed to finally settle in on a consistent 110* ICL, which matches what I got last time. I'm calling it a 110 and done.

I pulled two valve springs off one of the heads, and put checker springs in their place. I installed the head, and threw lifters on to #1.



I didn't even bother setting up the dial indicator to measure my piston to valve clearance. I ran through the cam's lift range, and the closest my valve ever got to the piston was about 1/4"... well above the .080" minimum clearance.


Tomorrow I'll check the exhaust, but I can't imagine that it's going to be much different.

 

Tonight I checked PTV clearance on the exhaust valve, and just like the intake, I had avout 1/4" of clearance. I pulled the head back off and put the springs back on. The new lifters are soaking in SAE 30. Hopefully this weekend I'll get time to install the lifters and then the heads.

 

nice swap Jim

EDIT: BUILD

 

Well, I'd planned on bolting the heads on next, but my dad and I need to pull the motor on his Mustang next week, so we're bringing my engine hoist over there. I needed the hoist to get the motor off the stand so that I could install the rear cover, so I decided to install the oil pan and the rear cover tonight.

After I installed the oil pan, I pulled the motor off the stand to install the rear cover.

Here's a pic of the rear, as future verification that I installed the dumbell.


Rear cover on:


Side pic of the newly installed oil pan:


Hopefully in the next few days I'll have a chance to bolt the heads on.

 

don't see any RTV on that bottom of that cover...you did install a small bead across it right? And put a thin layer of oil on the crank before installing that rear main seal.

 

I put RTV in the corners, not all the way across. This was what my book told me to do. Likewise, my book told me to clean the crank surface, but not to put any oil on it.

 

Heads are on.

 

Make sure you silicone both sides of the rear cover gasket up about 1/2" from where the two corners meet the oil pan gasket as well. I had only put a dab of silicone in each corner (as per the book) when I initially installed my oil pan and ended up with a oil leak from the interfaced corners, obviously very disappointing to find after the tranny had been installed.

I never ran silicone across the oil pan gasket either, no issues there. On my second attempt, I installed the rear seal and crank free of any oil and everything was fine.

 

I got some bling from the GM dealer yesterday.


Upon closer examination, look at the text on the box, and then what's on the inside of the valve cover.

 

Dude where did you get those valve covers? From the parts counter at a dealership? How much?

 

$320. They have a bunch of similar styles... "CHEVROLET", "CORVETTE", "PONTIAC" and some others. I got mine right from my local dealer, but any GM dealer or anybody that sells GMPP will have them.

 

Isn't everything these days.....Maybe they meant the box

Extremely nice build by the way!!

 

We built some tooling for a company, but the part had to say "Made in Korea" even though the tool was built in Canada. Dont believe everything the parts say lol.

 

Those covers are SHARP!!!! where you putting the coils?

 

I haven't figured that out yet. I won't be sure until the motor goes in, but I'm guessing that they will probably wind up in the battery trays.

 

Tonight I got a little bit done. I installed the valley cover, the temporarily installed the intake and valve covers.

Here's a pic with the valley cover installed:


And here she is, all put together.




One thing that I'm kind of bummed out about is that the new valve covers don't use the stock oil fill cap. Instead, they use an old-fashioned push-in style cap. This is frustrating because I bought a neat new oil cap that I was hoping to use. Now in order to use it, it'll require some work.

Next I need to get my steam tube plugs & lines so that I can install those. While I'm waiting for those, I'm going to check my pushrod length so I can get those ordered as well.

 

*searches for WOW DROOL FACE smiley*

Looks saweeet man. Damn.... Two years maybe but lookin mighty cherry there

 

If you get those valve covers off again for any reason Id like to see the underside baffling. Just curious as to what system they used or its "better" etc.

 

Yeah, they're coming off again. I'll snap a couple pics. The baffling looks pretty conventional, though it does run the whole length of the cover instead of just near the port.

 

That's one fine looking engine you got there Jim!

 

nice build... wow.

 

Beautiful Jim! I need a set of those covers. If you run the coils in the battery tray, what time of plug wires do you plan to use?

 

I'll make my own plug wires. Last time I made my own I used an MSD kit, but I'll figure out what I use as the time comes.

Last night I was looking at the car and on the driver side there's room on the frame rail just back from the battery tray, so for now I'll plan on using that area. That'll keep my runs short.

 

i just was more or less wondering were you were going to get the terminals from, since the ls1 coil terminals are a little different. haven't looked very hard at what is available in that respect.

 

Looking S-I-C-K !!!!!! Just motivated me to go do some tinkering on my LS1. Or should I say cleaning so I can get some paint on block.

 

Engine looks great!!!

 

Today I measured my pushrod length, and checked my sweep pattern. It looks like I need some 7.35" pushrods. Now I need to figure out what ones to buy.

Here's the sweep pattern on one of the valves. It's a pretty wide sweep pattern, but based on my reading, it's pretty normal for stock rockers:

 

another thumbs up for a very nice looking engine. valve covers are great
(wish they had some pontiac ones, boooo)

 

They do! I found some the other day on CrateEnginesDepot.com.

http://www.crateenginedepot.com/stor...P9199C124.aspx

Interested to see how you run the remote coils. It seems that might be the best way to have some great looking valve covers, avoid having to do the truck coil swap, and still use the factory 3rdGen A/C and Heater box.

Will the extra length of the wires required noticably affect the spark energy delivered? I know that's one of the main benefits of coil-near-plug, less wire resistance to kill the spark due to the shorter length.

-cal30sniper

 

You mean like these?


http://www.jegs.com/i/GM-Performance...ductId=1330561

 

....and that's me getting "p0wnd" by the internet. next time I'll search harder

not necessarily in the budget right now (mid lengths are up next when the tax return comes, followed hopefully by a cam swap), but very happy to see the option's out there....

 

I'm not really sure what amount of impact it has on voltage, but plenty of cars run at high rpm with long wires, including ls motors with relocated coils or distrubuters, so I don't forsee any problems.

 

Well, I'm in the process of picking out pushrods. I just got off the phone with Al at Manton, and got a good education. I'm going to be getting some 3/8" .120 wall Stage 3 pushrods. The only snag is that the comp pushrod length checker tool that I have measures length differently than Manton, so instead of ordering them now and having them waiting for me when I get back from my work travel, I need to wait until I get home, and actually measure the tip-to-tip length of the comp pushrod checker with a large mic.

Oh well, it's hardly the first time I had to wait for parts.

 

Wow, just read through this whole build!! I like to think I have the attention to detail you do and the desire for getting things done the right way. I just keep running into lack of knowledge/tools, procrastination leading to 'gotta do it NOW!'. And lack of patience , which all leads me to be happy it's done, but unhappy with how I think it could have been done better.

 

I lack all of the same things. The attention to detail allows you to lack the knowledge at the start of a project because you know that you'll be able to learn it along the way. I really don't have any patience at all (just ask my wife), but what little I have in patience, I have even less spare time and spare cash, so the pace has already been pre-set for me.

 

Today I finally ordered my pushrods from Manton. I got a set of 3/8" .120 wall pushrods. Pretty soon I need to start pulling the car apart so I can get the motor out and on the engine stand so I can get the new heads on it and ready to go in my GTA.

 

GTA? I thought you were putting this in your IROC?

 

wow...i know it's been said, but, wow! that engine looks amazing!

 

he is. the GTA is getting the old SBC that is in the IROC now.

 

Ah, okay. Now I understand!

 

Right. Once the SBC comes out of the IROC, I'll be starting another swap thread in the engine swap forum for that. The SBC is getting Vortec heads, an SDPC vortec intake, a few other ancillaries, then it along with the IROC's T5 and eventually the 10 bolt are all getting moved over to the GTA.

And among all this, I'm still working on my father's 65 mustang. No wonder it's taking me so long to get anything accomplished.

 

I had the day off today and no "Honey-do" list, so I actually got something accomplished!

Here's the last shot for a while of the IROC as a fully functional car


And here's where I got to. Jacking the car up was the hardest part. Because it was backed almost all the way against the back wall, and I didn't have it on ramps to begin with, getting the front end up was difficult and getting the back up was even harder. After that, I got the nose off with the help of my dad. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the fenders off, and maybe I'll start pulling the trans.

 

Tonight I got the transmission out of the car. I may be getting ahead of myself here, but with any luck I'll have the motor ready to come out tomorrow!

 

Motor is out.

 

very nice!

 

A couple days ago my pushrods came in. They're Mantons, 3/8" .120 wall, 7.37" in length. Most of them measure in right around 7.371", with the highest around 7.373, and the lowest at 7.363. When I measured for my required pushrod length, I found a larger range than that, so I'm satisfied with the variation in height. I marked the length on each one, and I'll match them up to the corresponding cylinders that had the longest/shortest measurements.