Blown head gasket
I need some advice for the engine I have two t3/4 turbos, FMIC, FAST ecm plent of fuel and need to build a stout 355.
So far I'am thinking either callies dragon slayer crank or eagle crank
and eagle H beam rods and JE pistons. I would like to keep my Trick Flow wedge heads 67cc
I want 8:5:1 CR, 4 bolt mains a must.
I don't have any shops localy that can advise me on how to build a good short block but there is a engine builder that does good work he just has limited experience with turobo engines and EFI but will listen to advise and do a good job.
I'am also ditching the Super ram just because its a pain. I'am either going LT-1 intake conversion or a edelbrock vic jr EFI setup. I also need some guys to talk to about what cam to run. I have a 6 speed and want to get 20# out of these turbos. Does anyone see why the TFW heads won't work well? They may not be quite as good AFR but I think under turbo boost it won't matter to much I realy don't want to buy another set of heads this shortblock alone is going to drain me. by the way the accel intake and 52tb and super ram are for sale. And who has the best prices so far i have looked at summit and jegs.

 

any reason you cant just replace the gasket?

anyway, cheapest way to do this and have fun is do what i did:

-sell your current shortblock since it's a roller motor
-get a 010 4 bolt main block
-buy a GM forged crank
-flat tappet cams are cheap
-keep the heads
-LT1 converted or stealthram would be cheapest
-JEs are nice, TRWs work just as well and are a little heavier and withstand detonation a little better
-Eagle or CAT Hbeam rods

I hardly have any money into my shortblock and it should live for quite some time

 

do I realy want flat tappet cam setup? wouldn't a roller motor make more power and be more friendly on my valvetrain? what advantage if any to a flat tappet besides cost? I do need a new shortblock the only thing not stock are arp bolts

 

yes rollers are better, but at what cost?

the cams are more expensive and flat tappets work just as good. With a turbo motor having a flat tappet isn't going to make as big of a difference as you think. I have 2 friends both with hydraulic flat tappet motors making over 900hp on one and drives it all the time during the summer and the other is making over 1100hp and drove it around town a lot in th summer also. His car was tubbed though to make it more streetable

 

I see your point, thats why i'am sticking with a 355 no need to stroke it when you have two turbos plenty of torque for a street strip car

 

There is a train of thought with some dyno #'s behind it that suggests until you reach the point that you can't open the valves any faster with a flat tappet, flat tappet lifters are superior on turbo engines. The reason is that the contact point on the square face of a flat tappet changes it's contact point on the cam lobe more then the roller on a roller lifter, resulting in faster valve motion at low lifts. This isn't significant in NA applications, but because boost forces air into basically any opening it can you'll start filling the cylinder faster.

Of course, if you can't get the lift necessary with your head combo out of a flat tappet then that little advantage is irrelevant.

 

Well i was qouted $2900 for my shortblock using eagle h beam rods and eagle 4340 crank TRW pistons splayed main caps. He would balance and build the engine. We are going with a flat tappet cam just need to find a good cam. He is concerned i will run the valve into the piston with my Trick Flow wedge heads if i go over 510 lift? I will call TF and look into that.

 

if you are going splayed caps why not splay the roller block?

 

we are splaying the roller block. I talked to trick flow and he said with 8:5:1 cr I can easily run 550 lift cam the inverted dome piston will provide plenty of clearence

 

thats cool....but the compression really isn't going to matter. Its going to be the duration and lift of the cam and the stroke of the crank with the dish of the piston

i'd still do some piston to valve clearance checking

Also.....the most important thing to do is to make sure you have the right pushrod lengths. I'm not sure which trickflow heads you have, but i know the twisted wedge ones need different lengths for the intake and the exhaust

 

2nd street speed in PA can make a custom grind hyraulic roller cam about $270. He recommended the roller setup and he said it would be around 570 lift but the specs would be general. They are going to dyno the car so I'am going to buy the cam from them and bring it down after i run the car for 20 minutes for breakin.

 

Well if you wanna spend the extra money thats cool.....

the main reason why i went with the flat tappet is because i sold the roller motor and got a freshly bored over 4 bolt. It was cheaper than converting to splayed and boring .030 over.

obviously it wasn't a roller motor and i didn't want to buy $300 roller lifters.

So i ended up with a flat tappet

 

I'll sell you my shortblock for $2600!
I live in Delaware, and can have it out in about 2 hours. I can even meet you half way . Motor has about 10 min idle time with a few revs to @2800rpm. It is a 1988 roller motor, short filled, splayed, GM forged crank, Manley I-beam rods w/arp2000 bolts, topped with TRW slugs. The rotating assy has been balanced, and the block is fresh from the machine shop.
I have been considering stepping up to the Little-M, and this is the only reason I would even consider selling this short block, I have over $1600 in machine work alone!
P.S. You can even come and hear it run if you want.

 

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