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1970 Chevelle Malibu "400" Clone

68-68 375hp 396 and 425hp 427. In Nova, Impala, Chevelle, and Camaro, I don't think Corvette because of new lower post 67 good.

They made them till the 90s and are reproduced today but this one has a 69 date code.
 
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cut the decks to .013 out all the way around cut on the worst side was shallow enough to leave most of the marker on one end. Cleaned the block, polished the crank, and washed the crank. time for freeze plugs and cam bearings.

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It's looking good, I give you lots of props for doing the machining too, and checking quench height, too many people skip that step.
 
I did some of the machine work alone and got help with doing the rest. One of my best friends owns the shop and either lets me use the equipment or helps me set it up and I run it. Lots of early mornings (5-7 am) and Saturdays.

I pretty much always check and deck every engine I build unless is it super budget. This example shows just how far the blocks can be off.

We degreed the cam this morning. The cam was ground with 108ICL. Straight up on the timing chain set the cam at 112.5 ICL. 4 adv set it to 108.5ICL. We went a bit farther to 6 adv and ended up with 106.5 ICL. I waffled a lot at the last move, but in reality it probably won't make much difference between 108.5 and 106.5.

The pistons measures .015-0.013 out so we ordered some Cometic gaskets MLS .051 x 4.375 head gaskets this morning. Need to get the gaskets, get the heads on. Still need to order pushrods (once the heads are on) and see what rockers arms I have in my garage. I also need to pull apart the AFR heads and clean them and inspect them.

Thinking about removing the "AFR" from on top of the #1 and #8 exhaust port. The plan from the beginning is to disguise this engine to look like a LS-3 330hp 402. The intake will be de "edelbrock"ed and will be a performer rpm nonair-gap to look more stock. Still trying to figure out what air cleaner to use. The other side of the coin is will anyone notice the AFR? It will still have headers, so who am I trying to fool?
 
You aren't going to run a full roller 572 with exhaust manifolds like some of the guys in the FAST class? :waytogo:
 
Just to be clear I was joking, as impressive as it is the numbers they run with stock manifolds and stock tires, I still don't want to play by them rules, it just cost more to go fast.
 
Did a little head work today. Removed and needle descaled the "AFR", ground a trough through the weird AFR that blocks drain back, and finally cartridge rolled the CNC porting just to smooth it a bit after noticing how rough it was in a few places. While disassembling the head I found one had been damaged in shipping. Had to cut the valve to remove it. A new one will get ordered Monday.

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It's not luck, it's being thorough.

I'm always happy when I catch that stuff. Whether it be piston to valve clearance, rod bolt to cam or block clearance, valve train clearance issues, (or bent valves on a brand new head issues), etc. There are many things that can go wrong if you don't catch it.

Nice work being thorough.

I am surprised AFR would rather have their name CNC machined inside the valve cover in that exact spot than a better place for the oil to drain back, particularly if that head was on the drivers side.
 
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