Entry-Level Racing - Economical Race Engines

Once you have both the cam and crank in place, you can install the timing set. A stretched timing chain is murder on valvetrain timing, and a new chain is good power. Normally, you will want to start with the cam installed "straight up," which means zero degrees advanced. Our timing set from Day Motorsports provides options for either advancing or retarding the cam for further adjustability later on.

Another note when assembling rings on your pistons: Install your separator ring (the gold corrugated one) before your bottom oil ring. It may seem easier to install the bottom oil ring, then the separator ring, and, finally, the top oil ring, but it doesn't work that way. The separator ring has a small kickout around the inner portion designed to hold the oil ring out and against the cylinder wall. It has to go in first so that both the top and bottom oil ring can rest against it.

It can be tempting to steal a page from the high-end racing notebook and try a set of low-tension rings. But if you are using stock replacement pistons, it's probably not possible. The ring lands in these pistons are too large. Using rings that are a poor match for the pistons is a common mistake of rookie engine builders that costs power.

It's the worst feeling in the world to spend untold hours cleaning and preparing all your parts only to scratch a crank journal on assembly. Unfortu- nately, that's too easy to do. Avoid this frustration by using a pair of rod bolt sleeves to protect the crank when you are installing the pistons.

A high-quality head gasket is a must for racing. Also, you can gain a slight edge by making sure you use the thinnest gasket possible. Gasket thickness can make a difference in compression, and we all know more compression equals power.

Be careful when installing your pistons. These Probe pistons are marked with an arrow that should be pointing to the front of the engine. That's because these pistons have an offset pin, and if the offset is turned backwards, it will cause the piston skirts to rub the cylinder walls.

As we mentioned before, compression is your friend. If you are running races that are no more than about 30 laps on a half-mile track, a stock engine will probably hold up to as much as 10.8:1 compression. On a Chevrolet 350-cid V-8, that magic number can be reached with 70cc combustion chambers, flat-top pistons, a thin head gasket, and a zero deck block (the piston tops are even with the deck of the block at TDC). If your rules don't say anything about decking the block or heads, this is easy to do. Of course, compression numbers over 10.5:1 will probably require at least 93 octane fuel. Race fuel is the best bet if it's allowed. Ours show the pistons are below the deck 0.005 inch at TDC.

Don't even think about using the original springs. Replacement springs are cheap and ensure that your valvetrain can reach its full potential.

If your rules are a little more lenient about what's on the exterior of the engine, look for a quality circle track racing oil pan. A stock pan is sure death to an engine racing on an oval track. A racing pan is built with baffles and kickouts to make sure that oil stays near the pickup even under hard acceleration and left turns.