Love watching Steve’s videos, I’ll put this on the list. He’s a goofy dude but really smart.
CK5
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I started working on the engine this morning, it's going to be more work than I thought. The new set of rods are balanced together at 186 grams each, the old rods are 180 grams... Now I have to swap the whole set.
I was frustrated about the rods, so I decided I'd pop a couple of the cam bearings out since I got the tool for that. When I hit it, it just bounced back like I was steel on steel and the mandrel got stuck in the bearing bore. I grabbed my calipers and measured the tool at ~2.307 inches, then I measured one of the new bearings @ 2.305 inches. I guess I'll see if I can chuck it up in my mini lathe and take a bit off so it will fit. I bought the "top street performance" tool instead of the Summit racing one because it was a few bucks cheaper and looked the same. Live and learn I guess.
I was frustrated about the rods, so I decided I'd pop a couple of the cam bearings out since I got the tool for that. When I hit it, it just bounced back like I was steel on steel and the mandrel got stuck in the bearing bore. I grabbed my calipers and measured the tool at ~2.307 inches, then I measured one of the new bearings @ 2.305 inches. I guess I'll see if I can chuck it up in my mini lathe and take a bit off so it will fit. I bought the "top street performance" tool instead of the Summit racing one because it was a few bucks cheaper and looked the same. Live and learn I guess.
Watched that vid a few days ago I am sold, esp now your cam bearing trouble. Real life unplanned test shows they are the way togo.
Was gonna ask what cam tool you had I'm gonna get one soon. There is a cam bearing broching tool now, not sure I'll go to that expense.
That was a great video, can you post a picture of the bearings you have? I assume they are the ones they are talking about in the video?
The main bearings are King Racing MB5013XP STDX, the rod bearings are King Racing CR807XPNC STDX. They both have the coating that they are talking about in that video.
Just to be clear, I don't know what brand the cam bearings were that Outlaw installed. I didn't buy the King Cam bearings this time, I bought the Dart ones that are specific for this engine. I did that before I watched the video, or I would have ordered the King bearings.
Impressive now I know what bearings I want
The engine is going back together! We got all the rods swapped out, measured bearing clearances on the mains and rods, installed the crank, and installed all 8 pistons and rods. Tomorrow we should be able to get the engine back together the rest of the way and back in the truck.
I do have a couple clarifications/corrections on what I said earlier.
First, the cam bearing installer/remover issues. I believe the problem is that the Dart block (and the LSX block) use different cam bearings than a regular LS. They're all the same size and I'm thinking the outer diameter is smaller than any of the factory bearings, which is why the tool didn't work. I just chucked it up in my mini lathe and took about .015" off and it worked fine.
Second, the bearing coating. While all of my bearings are coated, apparently only the rod bearings have the pMaxKote. This would explain why the mains had lost the majority of their coating and the rods still looked great. I'm guessing I would have lost a lot more rod bearings if I didn't have those in there.
Unfortunately I just learned about the special coating when I watched the SM video a couple days ago, otherwise I would have tried to get all the bearings with the special coating. Next time (which is hopefully at least a year from now).
I do have a couple clarifications/corrections on what I said earlier.
First, the cam bearing installer/remover issues. I believe the problem is that the Dart block (and the LSX block) use different cam bearings than a regular LS. They're all the same size and I'm thinking the outer diameter is smaller than any of the factory bearings, which is why the tool didn't work. I just chucked it up in my mini lathe and took about .015" off and it worked fine.
Second, the bearing coating. While all of my bearings are coated, apparently only the rod bearings have the pMaxKote. This would explain why the mains had lost the majority of their coating and the rods still looked great. I'm guessing I would have lost a lot more rod bearings if I didn't have those in there.
Unfortunately I just learned about the special coating when I watched the SM video a couple days ago, otherwise I would have tried to get all the bearings with the special coating. Next time (which is hopefully at least a year from now).
Oh, I forgot to mention that the can bearings did have grooves on the back. The bearing had 3 holes, the block has one centered at the bottom, the bearing was installed with one hole centered at the top so the hole was as far away from a hole in the bearing as it could be.
Hoping tomorrow goes good for you guys
Sounds like it was done intentionally.
Kind of makes sense, keeping even oiling through all 3 holes .
Hoping it works out this time.
Itching to live my super charger dreams vicariously through your vids for a while lol
It was not, the slot in the back of the bearing is pretty small, the burs coming off the holes block most of it. I talked to them, they offered to get me new cam bearings or something, I'll probably just have them discount the head repair that they haven't done yet.
It was a good day out in the shop, the truck isn't done, but it's a lot closer to driving than it was yesterday.
The engine is back together and sealed up for the most part, it's installed in the truck with the transmission and torque converted bolted up to it with the trans crossmember installed as well.
I got a paint marker and my wife and I tag teamed torquing every bolt and marking it making sure all fasteners were torqued before we put a cover over them.
I re-measured the pickup tube height and it's right between 1/4 and 3/8" from the bottom of the pan which is the general consensus of what I found on line. I did mess up the o-ring install last time, but I don't think it was leaking yet. I replaced the o-ring and triple checked that it was right before we bolted the flange down.
I'm not sure if I'll be working on it tomorrow or not, it depends on how I feel in the morning. I torqued a lot of bolts today and my shoulder is going to be pissed tomorrow.
The engine is back together and sealed up for the most part, it's installed in the truck with the transmission and torque converted bolted up to it with the trans crossmember installed as well.
I got a paint marker and my wife and I tag teamed torquing every bolt and marking it making sure all fasteners were torqued before we put a cover over them.
I re-measured the pickup tube height and it's right between 1/4 and 3/8" from the bottom of the pan which is the general consensus of what I found on line. I did mess up the o-ring install last time, but I don't think it was leaking yet. I replaced the o-ring and triple checked that it was right before we bolted the flange down.
I'm not sure if I'll be working on it tomorrow or not, it depends on how I feel in the morning. I torqued a lot of bolts today and my shoulder is going to be pissed tomorrow.
Nicely done, living through this. After surgery and stuff it’s gonna be another year before I see boost.
We also got the intake and supercharger bolted back on, forgot to mention that.
with all this engine work you've been doing you could justify a clean room with nice cabinet style benches and marble counter tops positive air pressure room.
Just say....... think of the tax write off
Just say....... think of the tax write off
I was hurting yesterday, so I took the day off. Today was much better. Everything is back together except the hood. Good thing it looks better without the hood than with.
We drove it about 10 miles and circled back to have dinner. It attracts way more attention with the hood off.
I did things that previously made it lose oil pressure, but we were fine. Hopefully everything is fixed now (except the a/c and possibly the thermostat or water pump. It doesn't like the new setpoints with the 174° thermostat. The fans don't shut off, but it stays between 190 and 200 when I'm driving around. Honestly it seems like the water pump isn't moving enough water at idle. The bottom of the radiator is cool to the touch at idle while the top is too hot to touch.. I'm going to e-mail Wegner and see if this is normal, maybe I just need to bump up the idle speed to keep the water moving.
We drove it about 10 miles and circled back to have dinner. It attracts way more attention with the hood off.
I did things that previously made it lose oil pressure, but we were fine. Hopefully everything is fixed now (except the a/c and possibly the thermostat or water pump. It doesn't like the new setpoints with the 174° thermostat. The fans don't shut off, but it stays between 190 and 200 when I'm driving around. Honestly it seems like the water pump isn't moving enough water at idle. The bottom of the radiator is cool to the touch at idle while the top is too hot to touch.. I'm going to e-mail Wegner and see if this is normal, maybe I just need to bump up the idle speed to keep the water moving.
You should be able to watch it heat up to around thermostat temp and then when it opens the temp will drop then it will heat back up and continue doing that cycle.
If this lower (inlet) side tstat the temp fluctuations will be much smaller then the outlet side tstat.
It does seem like a low flow issue. Your bad ass rad is one big core or does it have sections
It does seem like a low flow issue. Your bad ass rad is one big core or does it have sections
According to the description on Ron Davis' site it has 2 1" rows. I'm wondering if the impeller is slipping on the shaft, apparently that's a thing at high RPM. It could have happened when I was doing one of the break in runs. I haven't started it again yet today, I'm fixing a few things we didn't get to yesterday. From what I've read, the LS water pumps suck which is why most serious racers go to an electric water pump. I'm just not sure how that would work with the supercharger belt routing since the A/C compressor bracket mounts to the water pump currently.
