You guys are building it right
CK5
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Wouldn't having nitrous hoses running along steam lines possibly cool down the steam and cause a restriction?It's been a few days, ran in to some issues, found fixes etc. so it's time for an update.
To start with, I made the shop truck pull it's own engine off the crate and put it on the stand. I love the crane and this is the first time I've used it where I can dump the bags so the truck is much more stable.
Another beauty shot with the valley cover off.
Harmonic balancer installed (minus the bolt) and steam port kit installed.
We set the intake on and this was one of the issues we had to work out.
The manifold for the steam ports was right where the Nitrous solenoid wanted to be so we couldn't bolt it in place..
Initially I purchased some 1/4" stainless tubing to try to move the manifold out of the way, however the tubes were all single flare and my flaring tool can't do single flares, the hardware that came with the kit wouldn't work with a double flare so after much cussing and cutting up 2 of the 4 tubes we ordered the ICT billet steam port kit that uses hoses and got everything bolted into place.
The black steam port hoses and the nitrous hoses now blend in and will help hide what's going on there better, although I'm not a fan of how the hoses are all twisted up with the ICT billet setup.
The last thing we installed is the ICT billet accessory bracket. The one I have on the truck now was modified when it was on the Blazer to lower the alternator bracket to clear the over engine brace that I had on it. That would have made the alternator hit the taller valve covers so we went with the ICT billet setup.
My tranny is ready to ship, I'm just waiting on the dyno video so I can approve it and pay the remaining balance.
I guess it would have to freeze to be problem?
That's pretty odd. I had to put a damper bolt on recently at 220ish and was a major battle holding the crank still.
That's on a well used engine.
This a new engine barely broken in
I do remember the last engine I rebuilt being pretty hard to bar over but not 200+ ftlbs. I was still surprised so I actually went and rechecked bearing clearances. It was all fine though, engine broken in and rotated easily after some miles on it.
If I was spraying nitrous long enough for that to happen I think I'd have other problems
This engine is not broken in, it's a fresh build, never run. The transmission spent time on the dyno, but the engine didn't. Smeding only does that for full engine builds or on $pecial reque$t. The internet says it should have 50-100ft/lbs running torque to spin the engine. I think somehow the rings were just stuck in the bore. I have no idea how much torque it took to break it loose in reverse, but I'm guessing it was north of the 235 ft/lbs I put on the balancer bolt. I need to re-check the torque on that once I can keep the engine from spinning again. When it started spinning, it actually felt like the bolt broke loose, it took me a second to realize it was the crank turning and it took a few full turns of the engine to get the running torque down below 100ft/lbs.
Have you scoped the bores? Curious if they're dry or if they were fogged at all before shipped.
I did scope it, the walls looked pretty dry to me, but they assured me they lubed them with break in oil. I may squirt a little bit in each cylinder just to be sure.
We've gotten a few more things bolted to the engine while we were waiting for the transmission. The water pump, tensioner, flex plate, and starter are now installed.
But this is the real reason for this post! Unboxing video later today hopefully.
But this is the real reason for this post! Unboxing video later today hopefully.
The unboxing video is pretty short and boring. You can't see anything because it's in a bag.
Here's a few beauty shots with some specs, Gearstar 4L85E built in an SFI rated Reid case, bellhousing, roller bearing tailhousing, and a Yank 2600rpm stall billet converter.
Here's a few beauty shots with some specs, Gearstar 4L85E built in an SFI rated Reid case, bellhousing, roller bearing tailhousing, and a Yank 2600rpm stall billet converter.
Going to have it driving by Sunday evening?
For sure!
Just not this Sunday evening, or next, or next etc.
I knew that was coming.
It is going to be an epic build.
It is going to be an epic build.
This isn't an exciting update, but it is getting us closer to putting the engine and transmission in, so it's exciting to me. Today we pulled out the fuel tank that was in the truck when we bought it. We also removed the rear most factory crossmember and straightened and braced the back panel on the truck. The previous owner had rammed a trailer into it at some point and it was smashed into the tank so we needed to get it back where it belonged. It's not perfect, but it's pretty straight now.
After that was done, I temporarily tacked the top of the fuel cell on so we can get it fitted into the truck. Next we made a new crossmember using 2x4 11ga steel tubing and tacked it into place where the front of the fuel cell will be. I also tacked in a couple 1x1 11ga tubes across the top that the fuel cell will be clamped to. With those in place we test fit the cell to see how it fit.
We're hoping to get the fuel cell mounted, figure out the filler neck, finish welding and get it installed by the end of next weekend. After that I think we're going to install the transmission and do some testing with the old engine before we drop in the new one. There may be a few more passes with the old engine, I'm guessing I'll shave at least a half a second off my time with the higher stall speed and the ability to lock the converter in 3rd.
After that was done, I temporarily tacked the top of the fuel cell on so we can get it fitted into the truck. Next we made a new crossmember using 2x4 11ga steel tubing and tacked it into place where the front of the fuel cell will be. I also tacked in a couple 1x1 11ga tubes across the top that the fuel cell will be clamped to. With those in place we test fit the cell to see how it fit.
We're hoping to get the fuel cell mounted, figure out the filler neck, finish welding and get it installed by the end of next weekend. After that I think we're going to install the transmission and do some testing with the old engine before we drop in the new one. There may be a few more passes with the old engine, I'm guessing I'll shave at least a half a second off my time with the higher stall speed and the ability to lock the converter in 3rd.
We worked on the mounting bracket some more on Sunday, the truck side is mostly done. I put 1/8" thick neoprene tape on to pad the tank.
With the truck side mostly complete I started making the bracket that will support the tank from the bottom. It still needs some work and finish welding, but it's getting there.
We also figured out where the filler neck was going to go. I got some 2" .120 wall tubing, annealed it and rolled a bead to hold a coupler. I also pulled the top back off the tank, added some tabs to the baffles and cut slots in the top of the tank so it would be attached to the baffles for added strength. I started welding it on tonight, but had to stop. I should be able to finish it up tomorrow.
It's looking good to get the fuel system in by the end of this weekend, maybe the transmission too, fingers crossed!
With the truck side mostly complete I started making the bracket that will support the tank from the bottom. It still needs some work and finish welding, but it's getting there.
We also figured out where the filler neck was going to go. I got some 2" .120 wall tubing, annealed it and rolled a bead to hold a coupler. I also pulled the top back off the tank, added some tabs to the baffles and cut slots in the top of the tank so it would be attached to the baffles for added strength. I started welding it on tonight, but had to stop. I should be able to finish it up tomorrow.
It's looking good to get the fuel system in by the end of this weekend, maybe the transmission too, fingers crossed!
We finished up the tank today, pressure tested it (5psi), found a couple leaks and fixed them, tested again and we're good!
I also finished up the mounting bracket yesterday so we went ahead and bolted it in to make sure we were good.
We pulled the tank back out and started working on all the fuel and vent lines. We're hoping to finish up the fuel system tomorrow and hear how loud (or quiet) the new pump is.
I also finished up the mounting bracket yesterday so we went ahead and bolted it in to make sure we were good.
We pulled the tank back out and started working on all the fuel and vent lines. We're hoping to finish up the fuel system tomorrow and hear how loud (or quiet) the new pump is.
We didn't get anywhere close to firing up the new pump today... I forgot what a pain it is to make and run fuel lines. We made some progress, but we're still far from finishing up the fuel system.
I did cut an access panel in the bed to make it easier to get to the pump and lines. I'll make it bolt back down with counter sunk bolts when I'm done.
I did cut an access panel in the bed to make it easier to get to the pump and lines. I'll make it bolt back down with counter sunk bolts when I'm done.
Smart move right there.
I finished up the fuel lines and wiring today. I have some temporary fuel routing for now, I'll have to make some changes when the new engine goes in.
I busted my butt so we could get it running today, but it's not to be. The pump appears to be DOA. I cycled the ignition a few times, it made some noise (not good noises) but started to quiet down (I mistakenly thought it had gotten primed), but I got no flow. The priming procedure has the fuel line disconnected from the fuel rail, so there's no restrictions.
I can see the pump screws in the bottom of the pump and they don't spin when power is supplied. You can here the motor trying to spin and the screws twitch a bit, but that's it. I guess we'll see how long it takes for Fuel Labs to take care of this, it took me 2 months to get the pump in the first place so I'm not too optimistic, but they do tout a lifetime warranty.
I busted my butt so we could get it running today, but it's not to be. The pump appears to be DOA. I cycled the ignition a few times, it made some noise (not good noises) but started to quiet down (I mistakenly thought it had gotten primed), but I got no flow. The priming procedure has the fuel line disconnected from the fuel rail, so there's no restrictions.
I can see the pump screws in the bottom of the pump and they don't spin when power is supplied. You can here the motor trying to spin and the screws twitch a bit, but that's it. I guess we'll see how long it takes for Fuel Labs to take care of this, it took me 2 months to get the pump in the first place so I'm not too optimistic, but they do tout a lifetime warranty.
I did think to weld a 6an bung to the bottom of the tank when I built it. This was planned as either a drain or an easy way to hook up an external pump.
