I got the block/crank/rods and pistons back from the machine shop yesterday. I am going to try and document this build up from beginning to track times, for those who care. Tonight I put the cam in and 1-4 pistons, I did not have the timing chain and gears on because I couldnt get the old crank gear off because I didn't bring a puller home from work. So far the first 4 piston/rod assembly has no interference with the block even though its close in a few spots. This weekend I will bolt the timing chain/gears on it and check to see if there is any interference between rods and cam, then I will take each rod out one by one if there is a clearence problem. This might seem like making more work than nessicary but so far thats the what I am doing it. Yes it probably would have been less trouble if I had the chain hooked up now but it didn't work out that way. Hopefully things will go well. I have attached some pics. I will be ordering the heads tomorrow or next week after I find out if I should go with angle/straight plugs. I talked to my tranny guy today and he backed the 1-2 shift off and replaced the lock up convertor. I asked him about changing the 28 spline to a 31 spline and he said its going to be about 200 bucks with parts/labor. I am going with a A.C.T. convertor and I want to go with the bigger input shaft for fear of breaking it. Its finally going together and I'm happy as a......well I'm just happy. :lala: :lala:

 

pic 1

 

KB 147 w/ stock 5.7 rod, shot peened w/ ARP bolts

 

Theres nothing like a beer or two to relax you while putting an engine together.
On a real serious subject, please tell me that the picture of the block is bad or taken before it was machined. On the computer I am using it appears that the #2 cylinder is completely gouged.
If no grinding is necessary for the cam I will be surprised.
Have fun and keep us posted!

 

The pictures is bad, the block has been machined and looks excellent, the lighting in the pic isn't very good. I figure I will have to grind for the cam. Yeah a beer is nice puting an engine together, just not 5 or 6, then I tend to forget what the heck I'm doing, lol.

 

Lookin good so far. What are you going to paint the block with? What color? Why didn't you by steel rods?

 

good luck you are going to love that motor. keep us updated.

 

What kind of intake / carb / or fuel injection are you going with?

 

I hope the engine runs well, especially with a good converter.

The reason I didn't go with steel rods/crank was I talked to my friend that owns a machine shop and builds race engines for himself and others. I told him what I was going to do with the engine, what rpm, stuff like that and he said that I shouldn't have any problem running a stock crank and rods if they are set up properly. He went into this explanation about setting the rods loose so more oil runs past them and keeps them cool, then he talked about side clearances. He spins his 289's to 9500 with stock rods and 5/16 bolts. I trust him and hopefully the thing wont blow up

I am going to use a dual plane intake, I have a stealth and a holley street dominator, it looks just like an edelbrock RPM intake and a holley 750DP. I have these parts laying around so thats what is going on there now. I haven't seen an intake that really preforms better than a edelbrock RPM intake for street purposes, just from what I seen in dyno tests.

The engine will get painted red, I used plastikots ceramic 1000 degree paint on the last engine and was happy with it. I also have a set of proform black crinkle valve covers that go on it.

Hopefully this weekend I well get everything clearanced, rods/cam/block and have it balanced next week.

I am looking for an input shaft and drum to convert my 28 spline to 31 spline in my 700R4.

It's nice to actually start working on it.:lala:

 

I want to reccomend POR-15 engine paint. I have used it on my engines and the stuff is unbelievable. It never rusts, never chips. I definatley think you should try it out.

For the input shaft, you might try www.700r4.com. They do a lot of performance tranny stuff.

 

You say stock 5.7" rods... 400 sbc's stock rod length was 5.565". You might want to double check your setup to make sure you really have 5.7 rods.

 

I know the rods are 5.7, for one I ordered them from nouthern automotive performance and ran them in my 350, two I ordered KB 147 pistons, which are 400 pistons w/ 5.7 rods. I took the stock 5.56 rods out and chucked the short bastards across the yard.

 

i have a similar setup:
400 bored .30 over
eagle 5.7 rods
Keith black .30cc dish pistons
Stock Crank
Comp Cams .477/480 lift
Edelbrock performer EPS intake
Edelbrock 750 Carb
and on and on and on


I think you are gonig to love your engine, one thing to keep in mind, make sure that your block and your starter are going to math up before you put the engine in the car, i made this mistake the first time when i put my engine in with the 5 speed, i had a standard starter and a stagered mount block so we had to drill and tap the block... not too hard just a pain in the @ss. As for your clearancing...... i def had to take quite a bit off 6 out of 8 of my rods, they hit the camshaft.. dont know what size cam you are using but you def need to check that out really good. Good luck and i hope you enjoy the new engine.

 

well, tonight I got home and decided to work on the 406 some before I went out. I bolted up the timing chain in sinc with crank/cam, rolled the engine over.SMACKK!!, a rod hit the cam lobe, so i took a rod out, turned it over again, SMACK!!! I thought this is gonna take a while. I took 2 & 4 out and left 1 &3 in. I put grease on the back side of the #1 rod and on the cam lobe, turned it over and saw, from the cam lobe, where it was hitting. I took the rod out and on the back side at a 45 degree angle, ground the rod down, I took maybe 1/16th of an inch off, maybe a little more. I put it back together and it didnt hit, :lala: , so I out a dab of grease on the cam lobe and the rod and they didn't hit. #3 didn't hit, #5 did so I ground it the same way, then I ground #7 the same way before I even put it in the block and th engine spins freely with no problem. Tomorrow I will start on the 2,4,6,8 side and hope it goes as smooth. I hope.....

I havent even looked at the starter situation yet, is it different for the 400? I know the flywheel is different balancing wise but what about teeth? Is there a difference?

 

here's a ****ty pic of how I ground the rod down, i gotta learn how to use this camera better......

 

it all depends on what you are using for a transmission.... when i had my 406 with a 5 speed i had to use a 350 flywheel (153 tooth) becasue the bigger flywheels will not fit insdie of the stock t5 bellhousing, i know have a th350 with the bigger flexplate....

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=111507

Tells you a little bit.... i guess there are a few options with the starter, i dont really know all of them though just keep that in mind cause it really sucked when i went to put that in and it didnt fit, i had this thing totally done and then that happened i know i was really bummed out. Make sure you put the oil plug back in..... (back of engine halfway under drivers side cylinder head towards intake) i had my head all the way on and noticed that i had a open hole. When i sent it to the machine shop they took out everything and i wasnt aware of that one.... o well live and learn.

 

I have a staggered mini starter, I will have to check on the block.

I finsihed clearencing the rods today. it took about an hour or less. All the rods hit the cam in the same place, so I ground the rod at about a 45 degree angle, if you can see the pic. for some reason #3 didn't hit, but I am not complaining. After having to modify four rods the same way I went ahead and did the rest of them that way and no problems. If I had cap screw rods I dont think i would have had any problems. Now I am going to take it back apart and have the guy balance it next week. I ordred my heads today. I talked to my friend that works there for an hour asking him every question I have ever wondered about. He did talk me into going with a bigger spring. I had the comp cam 986-16 springs and he checked the open pressure and coil bind. the coil bind was ok but the spring pressure on those springs are onl 80 pounds. He said thats not near enough especially since I am running a roller cam and 1.6 rockers. We looked in the comp cams book and they list an OK part, then they list a good part. The good valvespring had 120lbs pressure on it and he was much happier with it. He's gonna order me a set along with the heads, i should have them wednesday. We'll see what happens.
Jason

 

That Street Dominator is a good intake. A budy of mine is running a Contender(same, just older) and it runs awsome. It's kind of a high rpm dual-plane. Holley claims idle-7200. Thats pretty solid street motor territory. I agree on the stock crank. Unless your gonna turn over 7500, or boost it a bunch, a cast crank will hold up just fine. I personally always use aftermarket rods, but thats just because of money. I can buy new 5140 I-beams, fully floated w/ arp bolts for $150, as where if I pay to have stock rods pressed of the pistons, resized, arp bolts put in, and pressed back onto new pistons, I've just spent about $200 on GM rods...
Anyhow, nice motor you got going there.

good luck!

later, justin...

 

I took the engine back apart tonight, I am tired of breaking the rods apart. It will be balanced this week and should have it back mid next week. Mike(friend at machine shop, his dad is named Kenny, I am tired of saying my friend at the machine shop, lol)called me this morning and we were originally going to use some 2.02 valves I had and buy better exhaust valves,springs, retainers, locks, guide plates. He asked me this morning if the valves I had were stock or .100 longer, I said they are stock as far as I know. Protopline uses a little longer valve in their heads, I dont know why. I said forget it and just order a complete set of heads and we wont have to worry about parting together the heads, he gave me a unbelivable price and decided to go with 2.05/1.60 valves. He felt that 2.08 would be to big since I will cruise in it and its street driven, the 2.08 would let to much gas in and would run the risk of fouling plugs. He said that the 2.05 might be a hair to big but its better to run a little rich to save parts. The heads should be in and together by the end of this week. I went ahead and ordered a main stud kit for it, I will talk about it at another time since this post is getting long.

heavy chevy, how does your car run? I bet you have alot of low end power with that cam, what kind of heads do you have?

Mcas, I will have to look into the POR-15 engine paint, any idea how expensive it is?

88 WS6, Funny you should ask if I have 5.7 rods or not, I was talking to my friend and he said a guy with a 383 came into the shop and had broke a piston or something and needed a new one, since it was a 383, MOST 383's are build with 5.7 rods so thats what he ordered and put on the guys rod. the guy put the engine back together and started it and started hearing a thump thump noise, he had 5.56 rods in it and because of the different wrist pin location the piston was hitting the head, I can't imagine how bad that must have sounded, after some more checking they found out what the problem was. I can't believe someone didn't notice the rod was short, but I guess if you arent looking for it you might not see it. Stuff happens I guess. Thank you for making sure I did have 5.7 rods, I took no offense to it, please if anyone else thinks i'm messing up ask me, its always better to find out now.

Camarokev, how does your car run? I was going to go with the 30cc pistons at first but then decided on the 18cc to up the compression ratio some. Which comp cam do you have?

Thanks to everyone for the replies and the intrest in my little project. :hail: :hail:

 

No problem man, just makin sure someone didnt give ya the wrong info! I would have hated to see you get the wrong pistons for the engine and have to tear it down again.

As for the difference from 5.56 to 5.7, if you arent really looking for it, youll never notice it. The only way to really see it is putting the rods side by side.

Good luck with the rest of your build up, my 406 build is acually starting this week. Ordering a full rotating assembly with an Eagle cast crank, Eagle 5.7 SIR rods with KB hyper pistons. I already have had the block machined and ready to go for over a year now, so I think its time to start.

 

Well it depends on how big of a can you get for the POR-15. A quart or less will do the engine no problem at all. I'm pretty sure that the engine paint is like 15 or 20 bucks. It seems a little pricey but the stuff is unbelievable. If you prep the surface right, you will never have to paint the engine again. It will never chip or burn off or anything.

 

Glad to hear that you are starting, I have been waiting a while to start mine, money has finally gotten better so I am going for it. You said that you have had the block machined for a while. My machinst says they need to pistons before they machine the block so they can bore it exactly to those set of pistons and have the correct piston/bore clearance. Mike said different sets of pistons can vary somewhat and they always like to check. Just thought i'd pass on some info.
Jason

 

LilJayV10


POR15 is the cats ***!!You can use the standerd POR15 on the engine if you want black otherwise your gonna have to buy one of their engine topcoat paints. I bought a quart of standard POR15 and painted my 10 bolt, k-memeber, a-arms, steering linkage, springs, shocks, stuts, engine block, all brackets, and probably some other stuff that I am missing and still have paint left in the quart!!! It works so good its addicting, you decide to do one part with it and all the sudden your not happy until everything is covered in it!!!

 

Where exactly did you have clearance problems with the cam / rods? The rod bolt area I'm assuming?

I know it's a bit late, but I actually learned by MISTAKE that the ARP 4.3 rod bolts will work GREAT in long rod 400 and 383 stroker apps. The bolt itself is clearanced and more low profile, but since it came on a 4.3, which used the same rod as a 5.7, it will work fine.

Found this out a few years ago when somehow the guy who I was doing the engine for ordered the wrong parts. When we came up with only (6) rod bolts I thought something was wrong. We picked up the correct rod bolts, and they hit. So I used the 4.3 bolts and he got some shop to order him (2) replacements.


Are you having the machine shop balance your rotating assembly ( rods / pistons / crank ) with the bob weight of the balancer and the flywheel in place? This will make a nice difference in the smoothness of the 400 when revved in the higher RPM's.....well worth the time / effort and $.

And do yourself a favor and make sure to stagger the rear main seal halves when putting everything together...in my experience with these engines, the 400 rear main seal is prone to leaks if you don't.



HTH and good luck w/ the engine, you're gonna love the torque of that 400

 

Ive never heard of needing the pistons for machining. I had the block gone .030 over, and the pistons Im getting are also .030 over size.

My block is a 4 bolt block though, and we all know they cant handle GOBS of power due to cracking issues, so I will be keeping mine N/A. Compression will be around 10.6:1, but havent decided on hydraulic tappet or roller valve train. If I can find a good deal on the hydraulic roller conversion, then Ill go for it, but for moneys sake Ill probably go tappet.

 

I hear ya on the roller 400 issue. I'm still considering whether using a roller 350 block will come out better $ vs power ( and make a stroker out of it ) or converting a 400. The roller cam is too good to ignore if you've ever lunched a lobe on a flat tappet.....especially when it's not fault from a "bad break-in"...plus it can be much more aggressive for performance and still be tame enough to drive everyday....


YMMV

 

If you really want to make some killer power, get a Motown 427 block. It's a bare block (small block chevy) that can be bored and stroked to 500 ci !!!!! Plus it's roller.

 

I wish I had enough money to go with the 427 stroker kit, but not enough money, hell I'm happy with what I am doing now.

Speaking of balancing, I ran into another snag today. Mike calls me and says there's a small problem and that I already have the pistons pressed on and that for the guy to balance the engine......they need to be apart, and some times that when you take a piston off it can break. He asked me what I wanted to do. I said they have to be apart to balance it, if one breaks, order a new one. I had the pistons put on 3 weeks ago and had not talked about balancing it. Even after this weekend he said he didn't put two and two together and realize I already had the pistons hung on the rods. So no big deal unless all the pistons break. So for anyone who will have their engine balanced, make sure to ask before hand. Also I need to take in the bearings and the rings also. Yes I am having it balanced with the balancer and flywheel.

Yes going roller is expensive and its getting more expensive each time summit sends me a new catalog. Righ tnow the lifters alone are almost 500 bucks and thats not even for the crazy ones. The main reason I ended up with a roller is one, my friend kevin talked me into it(damn him)and the retro cam and lifters that I was wanting, a guy on this board was selling them two days later. I couldn't believe it, I got them for cheaper than new, alot cheaper that what they are now. I still have to buy pushrods, 7.30in, Trick Flow has a set for $85 compared to comp cams $135. I also need a bronze distributer gear and I need to call comp cams to see what else i need, a thrust plate or something for the front of the cam.
Yes the roller will make more power, atleast I hope it does especially with those heads. If desktop dyno is close. oh boy

What do you mean stagger the rear main seal? you lost me on that one.

I had problems with the backside of the rod, the side that faces the cam, right below where the rod bolt is, where the actual rod is, it hit on the corner. I took some off at a 45 degree angle.

 

Yup. They first weigh each piston, then they even them out, lightening 7 to match the lowest weight piston. Then they weigh the piston, ring together to get the correct bob weight. They use this bob weight to simulate the weight on the crank when balancing.

I'm sure there are more than a few ways to do it.

So, from what I read, you already have the lifters. You can get a cam / thrust button to use, and you need a torrington bearing or wear plate in between the cam gear and the block. A true roller timing chain will take care of the torrington bearing.

You may have to clearance the timing cover a bit to fit up against the button snug and still bolt down evenly.

There are also water pumps with an adjustable bolt on the back that keeps it from walking.

Lingenfelter also carries a cam button / wear plate kit
HERE

Ask Comp Cams, or whoever manufactured the cam you're using to see what dist gear is needed.

You might want to invest in a pushrod length checker. They are cheap enuff for the info.....


Check www.competitionproducts.com for the pushrods.


As for the seal, pick up a Vizard SBC book, gives you lots of great assembly tips......and tricks.

Offsetting the seal halves will help prevent leaks.

HTH

 

I am going to order the rest of the parts to complete my engine tomorrow. The following parts I am getting are:

7.30 5/16 pushrods, trick flow has a set for $85 compared to comp cams $135. These are needed for the retro fit cam/lifters

Bronze distributer gear

Cam button/wear plate. I looked at LPE and really wasnt impressed by it. I guess i expected more from LPE, maybe a roller cam button and wear plate, but if LPE makes it I am assuming its a good product. I was looking in summit/jegs and they sell a roller cam button and thrust washer. I need to call comp cams tomorrow and make sure thats what i need.

Deep sump pan/pick up

Jegs has a moroso pan, 6 quarts plus filter for $128, its supposed to be a good pan for 3rd gens. Kenny said that he wouldnt recommend using a high volume oil pump because of fear the pump would suck the pan dry and in result start buring up bearings. With running the rods a little loose, he said I will loose some oil pressure but only about 8lbs. He said a high volume pump would be good but not with a stock pan. Summit sales a similar pan for $85 but I dont think it has the trap door like the moroso pan does.

Wingage tray: I played with this idea, in theory they are worth some power, a crank scraper at least. Both kenny and mike said they don't use them so I dont know.

I have decided to go ahead and wait a couple weeks and get a good convertor from dana at probuilt. I thought about slapping the 12in 2400 stall converter in it but its not going to do the engine justice, and I have a cocky mustang friend who things he is the shizzle, so I want to make sure I whomp his *** when he is spraying it.

The heads are in, and should be assembled by now, Mike called me friday to make sure what rocker stud size I needed, my rockers are 3/8 so thats what we went with, obviously. The engine should be back from balancing Wednesday, so I will probably pick everything up before I go to work on Thursday. Hopefully I will start putting it together friday night and this weekend. I have to gap the rings for nitrous, very important with KB pistons. Thats all for now.
Thanks again
Jason


:lala:

 

I scored a complete roller set-up by going Ebay and racersauction .com. The rollers were used but you can bid with confidence by asking questions and getting assurance from the seller that you can return them if they don't meet your scrutiny. My rollers were comp cams for $225. The owner used them for three races and decided on a solid roller set-up. The cam was picked up on racersauction.com from a racer who bought the cam but realized it was too small for his power needs. I won it for $125 brand new. Sometimes you can score nice street stuff on racer type auctions because street car owners just don't look there. I got the pushrods off Ebay for $80. Don't be afraid of getting late model cams with the machined-in step. You can use these in older blocks by taking the late model cam retaining plate and cutting the ears off. Then use a block protector behind a late model roller block timing chain set-up and a cam button in the front. There are several great grinds on Ebay for late model roller blocks! Take advantage of them, if you can. Use "hydraulic roller" for your search. Point is, if you are patient, roller cam set-ups might be within your budget. You can go used but ask alot of questions and check the item out thoughly when you get them.

 

just out of curiosity....how much do you think this whole thing's gonna cost, minus the cost of buying the block? i'm about to buy a 400 block at the end of the week, and i probably won't get ALL brand new parts cause money is a big factor right now, but i was just wondering what you think your buildup will end up costing.

 

My build-up came in at $3000 but I squeeze a nickel until the buffalo craps. The only thing I didn't scimp on was the machine work. The vat cleaning, mag-fluxing, boring, torque plate honing, decking, line boring, piston R&R, Speed Pro rings, new 400 flexplate and balancing cost me 7 bills. I got my new KB hypers from racersauction for $225. Fresh 5.7" factory Chevy rods with Milidon rod bolts for $100 and 8" approved 400 balancer for $80 at dirttrackthunder.com already clearanced for the cam. Swap meet crank already ready for install from local crank supplier's tent for $150. New Vortec heads from Scoggin-Dickey. Ebay used Vortec Edelbrock Performer RPM for $130. New 750 Holley from Ebay for $200. Used 7 qt pan with crank scrapers for $80 from swap meet. Polished alum. front timing cover from Ebay for $80. And...you get the picture. Two of the rods went back because I wasn't happy with the side clearance. Happily replaced by dealer. And that would be the extent of the problems. Maybe I was lucky? Maybe I trust no one and check out my own parts. The motor has 4000 trouble free miles so far. Just got it's first bellyfull of synthetic oil this weekend.

 

I havent sat down and added it up yet, and I dont know if I want to, lol. this is what I can think of now.

Complete running 400, $200

I had the block bored, honed, crank turned, R&R pistons, check rods, check side clearances, hot tank, install cam bearings, freeze plugs and oil galley plugs, cam bearings, freeze plug kit for about $380

KB 147 18cc dish .030 w/ 5.7 rods $268

Comp Cams 288XR retro fit cam & lifters $450, from a guy in canada that bought the stuff then went with a different setup

ProTopline 220cc w/64cc 2.05/1.60, springs, studs, guideplates 760.00

Crane Engergizer 1.6 RR, $75 from a board member

Stock 5.7 rods, checked, fluxed, ARP bolts, Northern Automotive perfromance, $100

Rebuild Kit, Northern Automotive perfromance, $150

Balancing $175

Main stud kit, $40

I had the carb, intake, distributer, valve covers from my 350, thats also where i got the rods from.

This is what I have so far, I think its around 2500. So i figure another 300 or so for all the little stuff. I still have to get the things listed in my previous post.

I hope the thing runs good, I hope to run 11's with it, we'll see what happens.

 

Looks good! You know there is many a person who are paying 4 grand or more for your combination. I think you did good.

 

thanks, I am trying to keep this thing as budget as possible, but when there is only so much "budget" to building a 406.

I was doing some searches on here about windage trays, i saw somewhere that a windage tray wouldn't work with a 400 crank because of the stroke. Which make me remember when I helped my buddy build a 335 stroker, a 305 w/ 400 crank, biggest waste of time/money I have ever seen, the windage tray wouldn't work because the crank hit it. Any ideas?

Also, I am trying to figure out the oil pan thing, which one to get, w/ or w/o baffles, if I can't use a windage tray, I will probably still use a crank scraper. Any thoughts on that?

It's late and I am really tired, I worked on my other firebird tonight, its about to get painted.

Later
Jason

 

using the stock crank, and stock 5.7 rods will help cut down on the cost. I know alot of guys spend high dollars with forged cranks/rods and cost's thousands. For what I am doing with my engine, with recomendation from my engine builder, stock parts will work fine if set up properly. We will see.

 

Try GM part number 3927136 Z28 windage tray. You will have to elongate the bolt holes a little to work on a 400. Use the PN 14087508 5 5/8" long main studs. This has worked for me. There are probably other aftermarket trays that will work also just make sure they have the room at the mounting surface for elongating. Something like a Moroso screen tray might not work because the mounting surface is small and doesn't allow a whole lot of room to elongate the bolt holes. I have never used a crank scraper with a 400 but I can't see it being a big deal. Just takes some time to set up the clearance. All scrapers are going to require some trimming no matter what small block your building (save for a 283 or something with a tiny stroke).

 

I found out something very important for anyone that is or is going to run a Comp Cam's retro fit cam. You DO NOT use a bronze dist gear. I finally got ahold of them today and asked about the thrust washer and the cam button. I also for some reason asked about the gear. The tech guy said that you only use a bronze gear with a steel billet cam, but the retro fit cam is made from a different type of metal and you must use a Melidine(i think I spelled that right)gear, you can get it from GM, they use it in the new vortec engines. He said that the bronze gear and the retro fit cam are not compatible and will destroy the bronze gear in short order. Whewww glad I asked
Another interesting thing, my friend is running a retro fit roller cam in his 455 w/ a bronze gear, after hearing about the gear thing I started worrying about his engine so I asked, the tech guy said pontiac's are different and require a bronze gear. It never hurts to ask and research stuff, I have ran into alot of stuff so far that I had no idea about

I called GM a few days ago and checked on the windage tray that wesilva gave me. It is 21 bucks, not to bad and the bolts are 7.41 a piece. I went ahead and got the stud kit from the machine shop, but if its more expensive i will return it and go with the GM kit. I will order the dist gear and windage tray next week.

Speaking of the machine shop they called me today and said everything is done, it ended up being about 200 more than I thought it would be.

I will pick everything up in the morning
:lala: :lala:

 

I just got my block, crank, rods and pistons back from the machine shop. It looks like we will soon have 2 400s on this board with Pro Action 220 heads on them.

Jerry

 

One more picture with the ultra-light crank in it.

Jerry

 

:hail:

 

I picked up the heads this morning before work, they hadn't pressed the pistons back on the rods yet so I will pick them up later today.

The heads look pretty good, runners are big and have a nice looking shape to them. There are some casting marks though, and I am going to take the heads back apart and smooth them out, the exhaust side is worse. It's not really bad but enough that I feel its worth smoothing them out. I am not going to do any porting, just polishing.

Jerrywho,

Are you running Dart Pro Action heads or ProTopline Lighting heads? What cam are you going with?

 

I would be reluctant to polish the intake ports. The casting can be helpful in keeping your fuel mixture in suspension. Many builders feel that polished intake ports and manifold ports can lead to fuel puddling at low rpm. We are talking about a street/strip motor, right? IMHO, I would just polish the exhaust port.

 

Excellent thoughts,

I was thinking about that today at work, about the intake side. I was thinking about fuel puddling, and how the rough surface would help atomize it. I got home and looked at the heads again and the intake side doesn't have any casting flashes, just the exhaust. The only thing the intake has is where the screw in studs stick down through the top of the port.

So i will just clean up the exhaust side, its needs help.

I have to order main studs yet and figure out if I am going to use the stock pan and what oil pump I am going to use.

I am going to the local speed shop tomorrow and pick up the thrust washer and cam button. He said on the phone that if my timing cover has the big indention in the middle of it, the cam button might not work because there isn't enough room for it. I also have to gap the rings, oh that's gonna be a blast and I know it.

Later
Jason

 

What are you going to gap the rings with? I wouldnt use a bench grinder, use the specific tool, it is real easy. What are you going to gap them for as far as the KB chart is concerned, "Drag Race NA"? Are you ever going to run juice on the motor? If you understand how the KB top ring is setup you will know then that going a little big on the gap isnt gonna hurt you.

Let me know what you decide for the gap from the KB chart and I will give you my .02 if you want it. I gapped mine for "street nitrous" as I may spray the motor within a year. Even if I never spray the motor the little bit wider gap will never hurt me with the way the top ring expands on a KB slug. That 406 is gonna be building some heat, so dont gap to tight.

 

I have the ProTopline aluminum 220cc heads with 72cc chambers.
We had the heads flow tested out of the box and now the chambers are reworked for the larger bore, a valve job reworked for 2.05 intakes and a full port and polish so now it's time to hit the flow bench one more time.

Jerry

 

JERRYWHO,
I am totally drooling sitting here looking at that engine block..
That is the most beautiful thing I have seen in a while!

 

I concur, Jerrywho. Nice motor. I always thought that Rodecks were race only blocks. I thought they were made strictly for dry sump applications only. Now I know. If I ever hit the lottery, I'm getting one.