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Rebuilding Engine Part 4 - Upgrading The CrateFinally! Our blown crate motor rebuild makes it to the dyno with some impressive results for a reasonable price tag. From the August, 2012 issue of Circle Track By Jeff Huneycutt Photography by Jeff Huneycutt
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Manufacturers, Sanctioning Bodies,Race Promoters, Track Owners: Send us your latest news w/ photos! Email: Robert.Fisher@sorc.com. Welcome to the final installment of Circle Track's experimental odyssey looking into what can be done with a cast-off crate engine. If you don't remember, we purchased a Chevrolet 604 crate engine that had been left to rot in a corner after a blown head gasket. Because the racer ran in a sealed crate class, it was cheaper and easier to get a new engine rather than send the existing piece off to be rebuilt. Our idea was to take the old crate, keep what was usable and create a built racing engine out of it. From the original engine, the block, crank, oil pan, and pump still remain, and to that we've added select components designed to make the new engine capable of winning races in upper-level Street Stock classes. In the last installment we finished installing the valvetrain. This time around the goal is to finish buttoning up the engine and get it on the dyno. From there we'll have to finish getting a car built so that we can actually get it on a racetrack.  The idea behind our project...  The idea behind our project was to take a blown up crate engine and reuse as much as possible to build a Street Stock engine capable of winning races. And here’s what we wound up with.  1 The engine is being built...  1 The engine is being built to typical high-end Street Stock rules, often called Super Street, so we started out with a 1-inch open spacer from Holley on top of the Edelbrock 5001 intake.  2 The front drive kit comes...  2 The front drive kit comes from Jones Racing Products, which included this water pump from Edelbrock. Make sure to install three plugs (along with thread sealer) for the heater lines to fully seal off the pump.  3 Here’s the rest of the...  3 Here’s the rest of the front drive kit from Jones. It includes the crank and water pump pulleys which have been sized to move enough water without burning up horsepower unnecessarily. There’s also a power steering pump and a remote resevoir.  4 One nice touch with all...  4 One nice touch with all Jones kits is the ease of assembly. For example, all the necessary spacers are already installed on the power steering pump brackets with nuts keeping them from falling off before you are ready.  5 Here’s how the power steering...  5 Here’s how the power steering pump mounts up to the front of the engine. Bolts above and below the pump lock it into place and allow the pump to move so you can adjust belt tension.  6 The Jones crank pulley...  6 The Jones crank pulley replaces the crank bolt, so you can save your original crank bolt for another build.  7 Here’s the lower pulley....  7 Here’s the lower pulley. It uses a Woodruff key to lock in the pulley so it won’t slip.  8 The key on the pulley slots...  8 The key on the pulley slots right into the keyway in the damper. Then the long crank bolt can be installed and tightened down.  9 The lower edge of the water...  9 The lower edge of the water pump is also drilled and tapped for a piece of threaded rod to help keep the timing cover from flexing when the camshaft moves forward. Install the rod until it just touches the timing cover and then clamp everything down with the locking nut.  10 Install the belt and make...  10 Install the belt and make sure everything is lined up straight. If the pulleys aren’t parallel, Jones includes shims for the water pump pulley.  11 To go with the Stealth...  11 To go with the Stealth Version of the Performance Distributors Racing DUI ignition, we are also using Performance Distributors’ Livewire plug wire set. In addition to very low electrical resistance, they are built with a silicone jacket and full-length sleeves to protect them from heat to help make them quite durable, even in a tough racing environment.  12 Performance Distributors...  12 Performance Distributors offers wires cut to route either under the headers or over the top. We chose to go under—which didn’t exactly work with the Kooks headers, which you can see in the lead photo—but they also worked in an over/under configuration. We also used these excellent billet aluminum wire looms from Performance Distributors to help keep everything neat and under control.  13 Super Street carburetor...  13 Super Street carburetor rules can vary quite a bit from track to track, but we’re trying to stick reasonably close to the rulebook at one of the tracks nearby. It requires either a Quadrajet or a four-barrel Holley, PN 4777. The Holley is a 650-cfm carb that’s essentially designed for road-going cars. The only change the rules allow is removal of the choke flap and linkages. The flap is relatively easy to remove. After widening the slot in the pivoting bar, Kevin Troutman slides the flap out. No damage is done, so it can be reinstalled later if necessary.  14 After the flap is out...  14 After the flap is out of the way, the rest of the assembly slides right out.
What We Spent
| Item |
Manufacturer |
Part Number |
Cost |
| Block, Crank, & Oil Pan |
Blown Chevrolet Crate |
1,000 |
|
| Intake Manifold |
Edelbrock |
5001 |
133 |
| Cylinder Heads |
RHS |
12402 |
560 |
| Valve Springs |
Comp Cams |
26926-16 |
270 |
| Intake Valves |
Manley |
11566-8 |
120 |
| Exhaust Valves |
Manley |
11565-8 |
120 |
| Camshaft |
Comp Cams |
W 6618-11 |
232 |
| Spring Retainers |
Comp Cams |
1777-16 |
150 |
| Intake Rocker Arms (1.7:1) |
Comp Cams |
1620-8 |
167 |
| Exhaust Rocker Arms (1.52:1) |
Comp Cams |
1608-8 |
167 |
| Valve Locks |
Comp Cams |
648-16 |
23 |
| 3/8 Pushrod Guide Plates |
Comp Cams |
4810-8 |
18 |
| Timing Set |
Comp Cams |
7100 |
99 |
| 3/8 Pushrods |
Comp Cams |
7980-16 |
155 |
| Carburetor |
Holley |
0-4777C |
363 |
| One Inch Spacer |
Holley |
17-27 |
45 |
| Damper |
Fluidampr |
62260D |
349 |
| Pistons |
JE |
300252 |
890 |
| Connecting Rods |
Carrillo |
C351A65700H0 |
303 |
| Top End Gasket Kit |
Cometic |
PRO1003T |
241 |
| Bottom End Gasket Kit |
Cometic |
PRO1004B |
88 |
| Valve Covers |
RHS |
VC-12000 |
166 |
| Rocker Studs |
ARP |
134-7103 |
45 |
| Head Bolts |
ARP |
134-3701 |
81 |
| Front Drive Kit |
Jones Racing Products |
1004-AL-75 |
849 |
| Break-In Oil (8 Quarts) |
Amsoil |
BRKQT |
57 |
| Stud Girdle |
Comp Cams |
4009 |
205 |
| Timing Cover |
All-Star Performance |
ALL90010 |
24 |
| Distributor |
Davis Unified Ignition |
S127212 |
369 |
| Plug Wires |
Davis Unified Ignition |
C9051 |
99 |
| Headers |
Kooks Custom Headers |
1505S |
446 |
| Rod Bearings |
King Engine Bearings |
CR807XPN |
67 |
| Main Bearings |
King Engine Bearings |
MB557XP |
61 |
| Cam Bearings |
King Engine Bearings |
CS507HP |
22 |
| Machine Work |
| Bore and Torque Plate Hone Cylinders |
KT Engine Development |
|
275 |
| Align Hone |
KT Engine Development |
|
275 |
| Deck Block |
KT Engine Development |
|
150 |
| Deck Heads |
KT Engine Development |
|
100 |
| CC Verify Heads |
KT Engine Development |
|
125 |
| Internal Balance Crankshaft |
KT Engine Development |
|
250 |
| Final Wash |
KT Engine Development |
|
65 |
|
|
Total |
9,224 |
 15 A little silicone (silver)...  15 A little silicone (silver) seals up all the holes we created by removing the choke hardware.  16 Kooks has these 15/8 inch...  16 Kooks has these 15/8 inch headers in stainless for Metric chassis race cars. Stainless may seem a bit much for a Street Stock class, but at less than 450 bucks, they are practically a steal. Unfortunately, we ran into interference issues and couldn’t run them on the dyno. We couldn’t get the header bolts tight enough to seal to the heads because the outlet was against the rear leg of the dyno stand.  17 Instead, we used a set...  17 Instead, we used a set of dyno headers that were also 15/8 inches with 4-into-1 collectors. Cometic gaskets seal the exhaust gaskets.
On the Dyno
|
Torque |
HP |
| 4,300 |
450.4 |
368.7 |
| 4,400 |
446.6 |
374.1 |
| 4,500 |
449.5 |
385.1 |
| 4,600 |
446.4 |
391 |
| 4,700 |
448.3 |
401.2 |
| 4,800 |
447.1 |
408.6 |
| 4,900 |
446.2 |
416.2 |
| 5,000 |
442.4 |
421.1 |
| 5,100 |
440.3 |
427.5 |
| 5,200 |
437.9 |
433.6 |
| 5,300 |
433.5 |
437.4 |
| 5,400 |
429.3 |
441.4 |
| 5,500 |
424.1 |
444.1 |
| 5,600 |
418.1 |
445.8 |
| 5,700 |
414.5 |
449.8 |
| 5,800 |
409.8 |
452.6 |
| 5,900 |
402.5 |
452.1 |
| 6,000 |
393.6 |
449.6 |
| 6,100 |
385.1 |
447.3 |
| 6,200 |
378 |
446.2 |
| 6,300 |
371 |
445 |
| 6,400 |
367 |
447.2 |
| 6,500 |
359.7 |
445.2 |
 18 There’s no need for a...  18 There’s no need for a power steering pump on the dyno, so for the test we swapped out the original ribbed belt for a shorter one that eliminates the pump.  19 Properly breaking in the...  19 Properly breaking in the flat tappet cam is a critical step. Besides the special steps taken during assembly (check last month’s issue or www.circletrack.com for that) we’re using Amsoil’s 30-weight break-in oil. Amsoil says that specially formulated oil contains the maximum amount of zinc possible—which is critical for protecting flat tappet lifters—before it starts falling out of suspension.  20 To limit pressure on the...  20 To limit pressure on the cam lobes and lifters, we cut the spring pressure by using only the outer portion of the Comp Cams valvesprings. After running a 30 minute break-in on the dyno with the engine kept between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm, we pulled the valvecovers and installed the inner springs.  21 Afterwards, the valves...  21 Afterwards, the valves were relashed back to the cam card specs of 0.016 and 0.018 for the intakes and exhausts.  22 The the break in procedure...  22 The the break in procedure was completed, we re-fired the engine and began a series of timing sweeps. Even though they are considered a stock replacement-type cylinder head, the RHS iron heads are efficient as the engine performed best at a respectable 38 degrees BTDC.  23 Shop owner Ken Troutman...  23 Shop owner Ken Troutman kept the dyno pulls between 4,300 and 6,500 rpm. There was still plenty of torque below and horsepower above those marks, but the on-track rpm range is well within those marks, so there’s no reason to stress the engine by pulling it either too high or too low on the dyno.  24 The mandated intake is...  24 The mandated intake is a limiting factor by design, but it responded well to switching to a 1.5-inch tapered spacer. On the dyno, the peak horsepower of 452.6 came at 5,800 rpm, but the broad torque curve made us the happiest. At 4,300 rpm the torque was already at 450, and it didn’t drop below 400 all the way to 6,000 rpm.
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