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'72 K5 - AJ's Gray Matter Build

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8/6/17: Got the new D44 perch measured in an set, ready for welding @cybrfire. And yes, I know the ubolts aren't straight. They're not tightened down fully yet.
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Knuckle inserts came in from Ruffstuff
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Leaf spring clearance problem solved. Nut under to nut over.
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Decided to move the fuel pressure regulator up closer to the throttle body. Fabbed up an aluminum bracket.
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Need to bend up a line from the rear of the throttle body to the regulator. It's too close with the two bends for a braided line. I'll get to that this week.
 
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Got the return line to the regulator bent up last night. Will pressure test and set pressure in the next day or so.

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Also called FAST yesterday. I knew going into the engine build that the new cam was going to push the limits of the EZ EFI. Turns out it doesn't make anywhere near enough vacuum for self tuning; hard brake pedal was the giveaway. It makes good power, but not even close to what it should. So.... over the winter, I'll be upgrading to the fully tunable FAST Sportsman. It's simply an ECM swap and I can trade in the EZ ECM for a difference of $300. No brainer. Guess I'll be learning fuel and timing mapping next...
 
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6/3/18 - Tear down. Again. I burned out for a while after coming to the conclusion that I needed to swap cams and upgrade the EFI. For those keeping track, this will be cam 4.0 (or 5 if you count what was in the purple engine when I got the K5).

I started pulling the front clip sheet metal over the past few weekends. This weekend, I decided it was time to pull the engine. Like a genius, I waited until the weather was close to 100*. Spring woulda been smarter.

Started the weekend here
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Finished here
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Forgot to mention that @obijuank5 came by a couple of months ago to weld on the D44 driver side spring perch. No pics, so it didn't really happen. The rig also made it's way over to 4WP for a 4.56 gear swap. Slowly checking things off.
 
Are you going more aggressive on the cam again? You are going to end up getting rectangular port heads eventually....:haha:;)
 
folkenheath said:
Are you going more aggressive on the cam again? You are going to end up getting rectangular port heads eventually....:haha:;)
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Haha. Not this time Heath. Dropping down a cam to take some of the edge off. The EFI isn't happy with this one and neither are my brakes.
 
AJs72K5 said:
Haha. Not this time Heath. Dropping down a cam to take some of the edge off. The EFI isn't happy with this one and neither are my brakes.
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I thought you were switching EZ-EFI to XFI? That one won't care, or are you doing this instead?

And they make Hydroboost or the electronic version from some of the GNs if the brakes are the only issue remaining.
 
folkenheath said:
I thought you were switching EZ-EFI to XFI? That one won't care, or are you doing this instead?

And they make Hydroboost or the electronic version from some of the GNs if the brakes are the only issue remaining.
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I'm upgrading the ECU to the Sportsman and keeping the throttle body. But I still want to take a little edge off the cam.

Hydroboost is definitely in the future, but not in the budget if I want to drive the truck this year.
 
Welp, cam 4.0 has been backed out to version 3.0. Did a lot of homework and talked to @folkenheath... decided that the engine wouldn't support the smaller cam without more work than I'm going to take on. The current compression is too high at 10.4:1 static, 8.3:1 dynamic. I had thought I could make up the difference with a thicker head gasket, but learned that was dumb.

Pretty certain I found one of the causes of my mystery oil leak. Timing chain was making contact with the stamped timing cover. I think it was bulging the cover on hard acceleration causing the leak.
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Spent most of the weekend moving some wiring off the firewall (old pic...red arrows) to clean up the engine bay. It'll come out thru the trans cover. When done, the only wiring visible will be the main fuse box bulkhead
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Here's the short block as it sits tonight. Lots going on in this pic...aside from obvious fact that it's upside down. Couple of fresh coats of paint. Cloyes timing cover...built in cam button, adjustable to set end play. New Melling oil pump...I had previously reused an old oil pump :doah: and it was making less than 10psi when idling hot. Fresh one piece pan gasket.
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Where are the pictures of the new intake you said you were getting?
 
For those not following the Injection Section, there's a theory / discussion that throttle body EFI will perform better with a single plane intake. So.... I picked up this chunk of Brodix aluminum. Apparently Brodix wasn't as backed up as Jegs and Summit thought...it showed up 4 days after I ordered it
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Bought an electric die grinder and put it to work deshrouding the intake valves in the cylinder bores. I gotta admit, the notion of doing this made me crazy nervous.

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Yep, gonna need some port work
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Marked. Small inconsistency in the casting for the #7 port. Cleaned it up as much as I could
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Ported and polished the ports. Felt like I was taking out a ton of material. But, I guess it's all relative
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It's still sitting on a table. Had to order a new set of intake bolts. The Brodix casting is thicker than the Edelbrock all the way around.
 
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