Hey everyone I've got a few Questions. I've got A few blocks and Cranks laying around and I've been trying to find Things I could do to the crank and the block to help better things up a bit i.e. Oil drain back, engine performance etc... Where can I find some literature to be able to learn how to do this? I've already deburred and polished the lifter valley of a spare roller 305 I've got laying around and I've started grinding all the sharp areas on the crankshaft to get rid of all the stress risers present there. Does anybody here have any experience with this? I've tried using the search function but it sux mad *****. I really need help with this so I don't screw things up. Give me a hand somebody, I'd appreciate it big time. Thanx.

 

David Vizards book on how to build an SBC on a budget is a GREAT book for exactly this. His entire concept in the book is "what can I do for free with my die grinder to get a better engine?". It's right up your alley.

Use sanding rolls on the crank, not carbide burrs or anything. Keep in mind you'll need to get it balanced after. Remove casting lines and sharp edges. Same with rods. Casting flash and drain back at the back of the block - that's great.
Other block ideas i've done/read about:

-drill front oil gallery pipe plugs with a .020" bit to cool timing chain
-use draincocks instead of the blocks lower coolant pipe plugs
-rework the oil pump. This is only if using a stock one
-Lighten rods and crank
-modify main bearing area for oil sprayers for pistons. This is only if you want to have HIGH cylinder temps, ie loads of nitrous.

 

I read that book today actually and while it was helpful it didn't quite give me the "detailed" info that I needed. Like exactly where I need to grind, how much material, yada yada.

 

You will want to make the crank weights nice and smooth to avoid oil clinging to the crank and keeping the reciprocating weight down. Sanding rolls are the way to go. Use a couple layers of tape on the journals to protect from slips.

You can also pick up a lifter valley drainback kit from summit. Keeps the oil from draining down over the reciprocating parts. Screen kits are contraversial for a street motor. After awile they can sludge and really start to hold the oil up top and not let it back to the pan. I would stay away from them unless you plan to freshen the motor every season. Otherwise they can really keep a valvetrain failure from becoming a catastrophic failure.

Shot peening the rods is always an old school trick for adding a little strength there and smooths the rods in the process. I would focus on blueprinting and balancing as much as possible.

On a street motor alot of the littler tricks are a waste of time and unless your running a race class with a spec motor and your trying to take full advantage of every ounce. Basically alot of time spent for a negligable gain.

 

What I'm trying to do is build is strong, balanced and efficient engines. One of my 305's is just getting mild treatment, basically a better than stock rebuild with some of the finer touches. The other one I have I'm going to stroke on the cheap, just find out what the specs are on what crank I need and rods and go from there. The 880 roller 350 block I have is gong to become a solid, high revving 383 and I'm not going to hold nothing back with this one. I want to build this one to handle at least a 200 shot. I want to learn as much as possible with what I'm doing because I'm the worlds biggest do it yourselfer. So if anybody else has anything new to add, that would help too, thanks for what has already been brought to the table!

 

A short fill for the 383. That's block work, but it doesn't require a die grinder.

Maybe look into cooling spray on the pistons. With a big volume oil pump to match. Use screens over oil drainback holes. If solid roller look at oil standoff pipes. Gap the rings WIDE.

Paint the lifter valley with that electric motor paint to help oil drainback.

 

I used Glyptal paint on all the interior surfaces of my 383 block. It fills in all the pores of the cast iron and keeps oil from sticking to ANYTHING. It also seals the surface and keeps the oil alot cleaner for alot longer because it's not pulling particles out of the pores in the iron.

 

I also want to know about crank knife edging. i heard even on a mild street motor that it's worth it due to the crank being able to cut through the oil and air better and for optimum engine balancing. Does anybody know a good place to have this done?

 

I wouldn't bother, you don't need any of that done unless you're building an all out racing engine, where you're trying to wring every last fraction of a horsepower out of it.

If you still want all that done, you'll probably find it's cheaper to buy a new crank that already has those features instead of trying to do it to an old used crank.