depending on what type of welder you got. if it's a mig wlder you can buy a spoil gun to for aluminum.heres a link :

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...num-spool.aspx

 

The 400 is based on a aftermarket Dart SHP block with splayed main caps, ARP studs. Its a beefy setup, much stronger than a GM block but not quite as good as the Little M blocks.

My flux core mig welder can be converted to use gas and can be converted for aluminum I think, just have to swap the wire terminals from positive to negative and change the wire. I have to read up on it but thats down the road. Right now I just want the heads/cam swapped and no other changes...just to get it up and running for next spring.

You'd be surprised how quiet the car is already with just dynomax bullets. The heads/cam swap is gonna make much more lope at idle but it wont be any louder. Now with the larger .96 a/r turbo housings, its likely going to be alittle louder with more exhaust flow, but if I throw on dynomax ultraflo rounds with thick case, it will quiet down alot.

Yes atleast a 1000hp is my goal. I'd be happy with 800whp on same boost level now (12-13psi), which is a 150whp gain on the same dyno over my old setup. That should be plenty of fun in street trim. Then hopefully I can get up to 18-20psi and see 1000whp. I was interested in your thermal coating to see how much it helps. I know my pipes get heatsoaked beyond all recognition and I figured either wrapping them or going aluminum will help.

I really need my meth kit to really cool things down.

 

Sorry, I meant the TH400 tranny. Will it hold up?

 

I've run aluminum wire in 2 mig's now with good results. What I had to do in both cases was extend the plastic piece that starts the wire guide right into the rollers. I v-cut it with a razor blade and move it into the rollers untill it rubs the top and bottom roller. Otherwise the little gap between the rollers and the wire guide is where the wire likes to kink up. Also use a tip that is oversize for your wire. Run straight Argon at a higher flow rate than you would when welding steel. Instead of dragging your bead behind the gun you should push the bead forward. And finally, clean the area to weld with an uncontaminated stainless brush right before welding.

I was just doing some Aluminum welding on My Tunnelram conversion last week using a craftsman 120v Mig. I ran the heat at about 95% and the wire speed was also almost maxed out too. Pre-heating the Aluminum helps a lot I think, I use a propane torch, it makes for easier starting and much better consistency while running a bead. heating the metal up to about 200f may not seem like much, but its worth it.

Good luck

 

I've been meaning to practice on welding aluminum but i'm not all that great with steel yet I dont do it enough to be great at it. Most jobs I can handle but finess stuff I leave to my buddy with his TIG setup. Thanks for the tips!

From what I know of this tranny, it was built up to handle 900-1000 hp along time ago and never used. It was a friend of a friends tranny and I got it for 600 bucks. The converter cost me 2 times that So far its held great. I have no doubt it will continue to hold since I'm not leaving on full boost doing transbrake launches. This softens the hit ALOT so the tranny should be good to go. The last time I did a good half hour cruise, I noticed my cooler surface temp to be less than 220 deg or so, which is kinda low for a tranny so its staying cool. It may have been heat soaked by the rad which sees 210 often in the heat. Hard to say but if this trans blows, I may look to a 4L80E to get 4 gears back in action with lockup that I miss alot

 

4sp auto would be awesome for the street, but now your spending money again on a aftermarket tranny controller, I guess it's worth would be justified if you do indeed drive the streets much.

What is your timeline on the project? I know you live away from the car atm for work, are you shipping it down to Texas?

 

Aftermarket tranny controller?
We here can use a '427 pcm and have a lot better control than those aftermarket boxes.

 

If I went 4L80E, I would use a manual valve body like I have now in my Th400. Shifting gears is FUN, I will not go full auto.

Timeline? The PLAN is to have it assembled and started again running on its own by end of this year Dec 31st I have alot to do in that time so we shall see. I want it ready for spring time tuning when the weather turns nice again, and get back to the track next late spring (april/May 2012).

Car is in PA, I'm in Texas I will be back home sometime in the next week or so and then again first weekend of october but doubt I'll beable to work on the car much in october.

Then over thanksgiving and christmas/new years...those are my times to work on it since i get alot of time off there.

 

Interesting.... Can it be piggy backed with an existing ecm, SD or MAF?

Are you using it for your entire engine management, or just tranny?

 

Have not actually done it yet,but I know it'll work. I am in the process of doing one of each, on a couple different projects. A piggyback trans only install on one and a complete pcm type setup on another.
The car with the '427 used as a trans only piggyback setup will just have 2 separate aldl ports.

 

Good stuff, I hope you post the procedure up one day!

 

If you run a 427 pcm, might as well use all its features and control the entire engine with it. Do the conversion Those LSx based ecms are great computers and its cheaper than going FAST/BS3/etc

I debated about going this route...as I have been meaning to get into tuning LSx cars ever since I got my 99, but didnt want to shell out 500 bucks for software

 

On My GMC I'm setting it up to use a '730 running Code59 for the engine since I'm running a twin turbo setup. But the trans is a 4L80E So I'm just going to piggyback a '427 to do the trans. If they someday port code59 to the '427 or make a modded version of $0D for boost with all those cool code59 features then I'll go with that for sure. Better one computer than 2.

 

I think i am confused...427 is something different right? 411 is the LS1 based stuff correct? OBDII? Or is it the same?

 

The 427 ECM is a 1994 - 1995 truck ECM.
I have been running one since about February controlling a 305 TPI twin turbo setup with a 4L60E behind it. I am very happy with it.

It will control the 4L80E. No way would I put a full manual in a 4L80E. That is a huge waste. Paddle shifter.

LSx 411 is OK but not worth the money in my opinion
Aftermarket is for people that don't want to learn and like to spend money.
Megasquirt is good but getting REAL expensive to control the 4Lx0E

 

Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense.

Only reason I like the manual shifter is because its faster than paddle shifters from what I heard/read. I know TCI has that 6spd version and i thought the newest vettes had the 6 spd paddle shift options. I'd LOVE to have a paddle shifter and even thought about doing one at one point. If it shifts FAST then I'll look into that when I consider 4L80E down the road. The TCI adapter kit is a little pricey tho.

If I could somehow rig a paddle shifter to control an actuator/solenoid device to manually shift my TH400 i'd do that in a heart beat.

 

http://www.spdexhaust.com/index.html

Found a supplier for 1.75" mild steel vband assemblies!! I am gonna put them on my wastegate tubes that hang over the valvecovers and HOPEFULLY beable to remove my covers without taking off the entire hotside. This will be a huge plus since I was planning on tuning the new setup all motor first and just making an adapter pipe where the turbo would normally go to bypass flow. I'll set the lifter preload low again like I originally ran with my 383 with great success, and should the valvetrain become noisey, I'lll beable to lift the covers and adjust as necessary.
Taking the hotside off and reinstalling on this current setup is a MAJOR PITA.

Thinking about this now, i should have gone SOLID ROLLER CAM!! Would have gotten much more power out of the new heads

 

The 427 ECM has many unused inputs. That are 0 / 12 volts. You can connect a toggle switch to them. This could be your "race" mode and give a set of high rpm shift points. You can program the trans to shift exactly where you want it every time. No driver error and consistent ETs. I have the switch code in mine but haven't added the new shift table yet. People on the DIY Prom know how to mod the code and tell you how to do it.

EDIT: The 4L60E 1st gear doesn't have both holding devices when doing this. I forget what the 4L80E uses for 1st gear.

 

That sounds great but i'm not after consistant ET's Its more about raw speed in the traps and having fun doing it. The only thing i wanted to do with my ECM is to add the chip adapter that enables me to switch between 2 chips at once....race gas tune vs street pump gas tune. Or even street pump + meth injection tune vs street pump gas tune only. Instead of carrying 2 chips with me at all times

Not a big deal as i dont plan on race gas for some time. I think meth injection alone will do everything I will want on the fuel system I have. Any more and I wont beable to supply fuel for it.

 

So it begins. Quick pic from the cell phone. All torn down ready for the heads/cam swap. Not pulling the motor to do it, i'm going to do the install with shortblock in car. I have the cam here but no lifters and waiting on the heads to ship here. Not reusing the LS7's but going with Morel's. Hope to get the heads in soon so I can start assembling the setup with the time I have here this week. I can likely degree the cam this week.

 

Nice, the results should be interesting.

 

Nice progress!

How did the ls7 lifters look when you pulled them, did they do okay?

 

Yeah these look just fine. I've used them on my 383 for 1600 miles spinning near 7K rpm and now using them on this Turbo car. I will be swapping them for some tool steel bodied Morel lifters due to reliability concerns at high rpms with the cam/springs setup I'm running now.

THe LS7's will find their way into my 99 Trans am if I ever get around to doing the head/cam swap on that

 

Nice to hear they hold up to some abuse.

 

Ok, got the cam in a few days ago, but last couple days I didnt get a chance to work on the car.



Heads came in the other day as well.

Started as RHS bare 220cc castings and cnc cut to Chad's v2.72 port specifications and 2.100/1.600 valves.


Fully equipped with PAC racing springs, PAC titanium retainers, Ferrea valves, etc.



HUGE port



Comparsion of what a 1207 gasket (about what these Speier heads are) looks like on a AFR 195cc eliminator. Notice the size difference

 

Sweeeeeeet.

 

Very nice. Yep, the AFR Eliminator uses a Felpro 1205 gasket. The AFR Comp uses the 1206 gasket and it looks like your new heads use the Felpro 1207 gasket. They should flow a ton of air.

 

When you look at the air flow, you'd expect to see abit more flow for such a large port and when looking at the AFR numbers, it may not seem as impressive for a big jump in port size. But as you know, port velocity and cross sectional area are more important than flow numbers alone. In any case my old heads were around 285cfm at .550-.600. These are 312 by .600 and 333 at .700. So it may only be 27cfm, the cross section is significantly larger allowing this motor to rev high and NOT choke.

AFR is a faster velocity head hence the great flow numbers but on this motor, its too small in CSA so its choking in the port at higher rpms. The difference is going to be HUGE after 6000 rpm. The amount of air flow increase with the new head and new cam will be substantial....now I just gotta open up the intake manifold to take advantage. LOTS of material to take out to get it opened to 1207 size.

 

I think AFR with the fast velocity ports is more aimed at the "street"/ bolt on crowd which they do very well with. With the fast velocity port you get more of a razor sharp pedal reaction.

With the larger ports and the somewhat slower velocity it makes it easier to access or use the available cfm. To use all the air flow in an AFR head everything has to be spot on. I may be having to make the same decision myself depending on how my dyno results turn out. I have been having some converstions with Dr J and it very well may turn out that he opens my 195 heads some as the easiest and cheapest route. We shall see.

Now with your motor using two hair dryers I think you will make good use of those heads. The results are going to be very interesting. Carl over at CNC??? will have a new high number for one of his SHP blocks.

 

You are going to love those heads. I run the same ones with a 2.08/1.60 valves on my 383 and it made over 650 chp@ 6800 rpm. I ported mine myself and got 326 cfm out of them. They are a great bang for the buck and the ports didn't hurt the torque either.

 

Big Dog, what size camshaft was in that motor? That is pretty darn good power.

 

What intake will you run? Looks like a nice top end setup!

 

Well I can give a little info on this motor since it is not in my grudge car. It's a E85/ntrs motor with 13:1 CR. 250/264 @ .050 - .64X"/65X" on 113 LCA. This motor I did everything to it I could think of to make power and it idles at a nice 900 rpm all day long. I can't wait till E85 is the standard fuel cause you can make so much more power and it's cheaper and burns cleaner than gas. Think about Orr.

 

Thank you for the information.

 

I'd love to go E85 but my fuel system is limited in capability and only 1 place sells it near my house, and thats 20-25 min drive just to get there and then again to get back! I'd use 1/4 tank just in the trip itself. But it does make more power. I'm just gonna do 93 oct and meth injection when it comes down to it.

Same victor E EFI singleplane but porting it out to match the 1207 size since its currently at 1205. I have 3 ports rough cut to 1207 and ran out of time to work on it. Theres ALOT of port work to do to make the inner ports large enough to feed a 1207 port head. Thats gonna take a day or 2 to really get it done well enough. Rough cutting with the carbide burr is easy and fast. I had 3 ports fairly close to ready for sanding roll work in less than an hour. Once I get them rough cut and ready for sanding, i'll have to measure the ports through out the length to make sure CSA is held through and through.

I currently have a intake elbow and stock LS1 TB. I need to open that up to atleast 85-90mm and upgrade the TB when I get a chance. I'd like to go straight to a 100mm setup but need to find the TB at the right price.

 

hey orr, i dont know if this has been answered yet but what are your plans with those afr 195 heads..... i was just wondering...

 

Not sure yet. Right now I have offered them to a local guy who bought my old cam and 383 shortblock. If he's still interested then he'll likely take them. Else I'll put them up on market. I may have one person in line after the local guy.

 

o ok.... well goodluck with the build man..... ill be keeping watch of this build.....

 

Sold my old heads yesterday. This weekend I finished porting out the Victor EFI intake to 1207 port and opened up alittle bit of the runner on the inner part of the port. Left the plenum untouched for the most part, just radiused the 4 corners.

Got the new heads on/torqued in. Now I wait for pushrods to check alignment with my current rockers...if they dont work, I gotta get offset rockers. No big deal.

Then I can button up the top end, and get to work on the exhaust side. Need to modify the wastegate tubes so they are removable so I can get the valve covers off if need be.

It may be possible it may not be, i wont know til I try. Also, modifying the drivers side downpipe to allow for a slip fit connection to the exhaust. The current Vband is too wide to install downpipe after header is installed. This is a PITA to install since you have to bolt up the header with downpipe resting between. This new mod should cut my install time by a few hours, which is significant because it took many hours to get drivers side in, but passenger side goes in in minutes

 

Jeez lol... you'll be faster with only one head than mine is with both heads installed! You going for 8's now?

 

I hoping for 8 sec capable trap speeds, but without a rear end and trans brake, I dont think I will see 8 sec ET's. We shall see. I think it will do an easy 1000hp on same boost level I was running, and hope to max out the fuel system (twin pumps) eventually. I'll have to upgrade to larger injectors I think, or may be just run my 80's at 58psi base and see what happens

I got more head and more cam than most do who have made 1000hp, and I think the turbos can do 650-700 each, so I should be capable of 1400 but will need 3 pumps and much larger injectors for any of that.

 

Glad your trying new things! Good luck with the new parts and tune...

I sold my Lil V6... Going 427RHS LSX Block/Mast heads and large single turbo.

Going back to stock style torque arm with fab 9 rear and 4L80E.

Hope to get most of the engine and new turbo setup done between christmas and new year..
I'll be back to watch the rest of your car go together!!! Sweeeeet!
~Scott

 

Wow your not messing around...RHS block and Mast heads is $$$

 

Running into all kinds of snags lately... I measured the rocker studs that came off my AFR's and wanted to reuse them but sold them with the heads. I took the dimensions, and ordered new ARP studs but the base length was too deep to thread down to the guideplates so I ordered new shorter base studs. They seem to fit now.

I mocked up the rockers and measured pushrod length and ordered new pushrods...well i didnt realize that my rockers were not quite lining up with the valve stems and also the rocker body was hitting the retainer... I cant get the adjustable guideplates in the right position to fit the 3/8" pushrods and standard comp pro mag rockers, even tho I am told many have done standard rockers on RHS casting based heads. Well mine seems to be different so I ordered offset rockers.

Ordered scorpion aluminum .150" offset intakes and standard exhaust. Should get these to line up but they hit the retainers so I need lash caps to make up the difference and will likely need new pushrods now. I knew I shouldnt have ordered new rods yet.... oh well.

So i mocked up the rocker and my old valve covers and noticed they wont clear the wide body and tall rockers so I got new RHS tall covers which are ALOT taller than my current covers. Now my wastegate tubes hit the covers and the driver side flange hits the cover as well. No way to get the turbo on.


So I cut it off and will need to move things around....lot more fabrication time I didnt need/want. Lot of minor setbacks on these new heads...required alot more special parts than I expected

 

Nice to see some progress.

Looks like your almost doubling your output from the last combo? Are you doing any further suspension work?

How about stopping power?

 

Man I have been researching this issue for a couple days. My new build is based on the SHP block and I was wondering if the LS7 lifters would be tall enough to work with my cam, if I went reduced base circle. I saw your old cam specs. The lift seems to be in the same area. Were you running a reduced base circle??? I assume your using the spider and dog bones right?

Awsome Build!

 

Brakes still need work, but I do have C5's up front and LS1's on the rear and not impressed at all on this car. I think I need a new booster/MC or new lines or just a adjustable valve...not sure yet. Just doesnt stop anywhere near as hard as a factory 4th gen does so I need to figure it out.
Not a big deal, i'll have a parachute to stop me when needed

I'd like this combo to make 150-200whp more on same boost than last years...which it should do without a hiccup. That should put me near 150mph traps if not over. Then on higher boost I hope to see alot more power. 1000whp+ would be excellent.

LS7 lifters work just fine, but there were concerns about using them in really aggressive cam lobes at high rpm...but I am no longer using Morels since I dont want to spend another 550 bucks on this car at the moment. I'm going to run the LS7's. The mock up so far seems to fit just fine.

Base circle on the old cam was slightly smaller than normal cam lobes. I dont know the exact measurement but the caliper I had showed around 1.00". New cam I dont know what base circle its on but clears the rods just fine. .640" lift Still using spider and dog bones

 

Yea I had just gotten my engine the way I had always wanted it and a set of retrofit rollers set me back.


This has pretty much sold me on the idea of running the oem setup from now on. A 80 dollar part cost me a 3500 dollar short block. I was running the Crane cam in my signature. I really liked that cam, but I think I am going to have a custom cam of my own design ground at Delta Camshaft. Should help as I am stepping up in cubes to a 406. Crane makes a taller lifter but they want close to 600 dollars! It is good to hear the Ls7 lifters have been working for you. If you do the mock up some pictures would be greatly appreciated.

 

yeah I'll get some mockup picks of the rockers and such. This SHP block is an OEM roller type block. It has all the provisions that a L98 hydraulic roller block has for the lifters/spider/dogbones. This makes it a great street strip block. Totally worth the 1800 bucks.

 

Yea I am looking forward to having an SHP block. The OEM 400 I had made me nervous, when I thought about turning up the boost. Even with splayed caps and everything else they just do not have a reputation for taking a heavy load. I have yet to see an SHP in person, so hopefully it meets all my expectations.