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1965 Chevy C10 new engine

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  • 1965 Chevy C10 new engine

    A couple of years ago I had plans to go on Drag Week. In the months prior to DW, I back halfed the truck, rebuilt the rear, swapped the torque converter, and repainted the truck. I thought I was ready to go. The engine- a 455 Olds- had been in the truck for about 10 years and had served faithfully- all was well with it so I thought. The morning before I was to leave, I took the truck out for a last minute spin. I got out on the interstate and got it up to about 75 for about 1 1/2 minutes when I looked down to see no oil pressure! I got out of it and the pressure came back. I got back into it and lost it again.... no DW for me.

    I did go to spectate for a couple of days and then came home to tear the engine down. Sure enough it ate the crankshaft and bearings. My best guess is that the new converter caused the engine to spin about 500 RPM or so more and that emptied the oil pan (a 10 quart version). Olds have crappy oil return into the pan. So for the next couple of months I gathered parts for a new Olds engine when I reevaluated my direction. To build a better Olds was going to cost a lot of $$$ which I did not have. I also wanted to do some racing- not something I had planned when I went Olds. So I sold all my Olds stuff and bought a 454 BBC. It was a running engine out of an RV. I originally planned on just stuffing it in and driving the truck for a while.

    Well- I finally got the engine in the truck late last year and cranked it up. The guy I bought the engine from said it needed a couple of valve seals. NOPE. It has at least one burned valve. So I have decided to make a 489 out of it. A 489 is a 4.25" stroke, 4.28" bore BBC. I have bought some go fast parts for it so far but my budget is tight. I am not using top of the line stuff but I am going to pay enough attention to detail that it should stay together. The plan is to use an Eagle 4140 crank, used Eagle rods, Probe pistons along with a Patriot Performance top end kit. The end result should make 525-550 HP. I also have bought a used N2O system.

    I will post some pictures of the engine as it sits in the truck right now before I pull it and then get to work on it. The truck can be seen in my garage here on BS. The pictures there were taken just after the engine went south.. I will detail my build as I go for your amusement. Oh- I also plan on using a MegaSquirt and EFI which I have never installed before. Should be fun.
    Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

  • #2
    do you already have the megasquirt?
    Doing it all wrong since 1966

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    • #3
      A few years ago I bought the Megasquirt from DIYAuto already put together (hit the easy button). It has been collecting dust in my closet since then. It is a Megasquirt 2. I plan on starting out as simple as possible with it only controlling the fuel. As I get more comfortable with it, I may try to control spark with an add on or newer version.
      Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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      • #4
        when I was a teenager, I built a board to allow use of a monitor with my TRS Color computer. It was pretty ugly, and my soldering hasn't improved - it worked, but ugly - thus every time I look at the MS stuff it brings back horrid memories (I also created the board).... so I wonder at your easy button comment, but mostly because I know my limitations (said in my best Clint Eastwood voice). And, of course, I look at the price difference between they build/I build and it puts me in a quandary that I've yet to solve

        Are you going port injection or TBI?
        Last edited by SuperBuickGuy; January 11, 2012, 07:45 AM.
        Doing it all wrong since 1966

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        • #5
          Port injected. I have an old Edelbrock TM2R intake that I am modifying- the carb is kicked around at an odd angle. I have machined the injector bungs out of some stock and plan on drilling out the intake for them on the mill at work. As for the throttle body- I am planning on using two 4.3L Vortec throttle bodies. They are 75mm. I have built an odd adapter to mate both to the intake. I am trying to keep my cost down.
          Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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          • #6
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            Here are some pictures of the engine as it sits in the truck (if I did the attachments correctly). Tonight I started pulling the engine. Didn't get very far. I will not have time to work on it until next week.
            Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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            • #7
              wow, that's going to be really cool.... sucks about having to wait a week to work on it.

              Reverse opening hood - trick
              Doing it all wrong since 1966

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              • #8
                I haven't updated this thread since last week and unfortunately, I don''t have any pictures, but here is what I have done: I got the engine out on Monday night. Came out pretty easy although I broke a pry bar and hyperextended my elbow. I sucked it up and went back to work. Over the past couple of nights I pulled the engine down to the bare block. Tonight I loaded the block and the new pistons into the truck to go to the machinist tomorrow. I didn't find any surprises with the block. It is a 1987 4 bolt main 454 out of an RV. It has little wear on the cylinders- no ridge. The crank, bearings, and pistons all looked good. The pistons aren't worn slick on the thrust side- this thing could not have had 40000 miles on it. The only anomaly I found was the upper rear main was copper colored. Not the lower part of the bearing, just the upper. Strange unless that is the way it came. The journal looked good.

                I checked the main bores with a machinist straight edge and a feeler gage- looks good. While the engine is being machined, I plan on checking out the new Eagle crank and rods to make sure the machining is on and that there are no cracks to begin with.
                Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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                • #9
                  I got the engine block to the machinist yesterday. Today started with a big fail. The transmission in my Dodge 1 ton lost 5th gear as I was headed to a salvage yard in Birmingham. I was only about 30 minutes away from home, so getting back in 4th was just a little slower. Now I guess I have to either find a transmission or pull that one apart...

                  I was headed over to look for a front crossmember and suspension out of a late model Crown Vic or Mercury Marauder. I was thinking about swapping the existing front end out for one of those. I drove my HHR over to see if their internet listing was correct. They did have a Crown Vic, but it had been hit in the front and the front bumper was almost to the fire wall. No thanks. I guess I will put that idea on hold for now.

                  I did one good thing today- I checked the Eagle crank I have. It is new but I had heard so many bad things that i wanted to check the journals for taper and out of roundness. It looked great. Everything within tolerance. I will get it back out of the bag when I start mocking the engine up to check clearances.
                  Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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                  • #10
                    Well, I got my engine back 2 weeks to the day that I dropped it off. I started this morning by installing a screen to prevent top end parts from getting into the bottom end of the engine. It was the first one I had done and looks like a third grade art project. I ran out of the supplied glue and used JB Weld to finish the job. I found that this is a common application for JB Weld. Here are some pictures:
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                    I had the machine shop bore, hone, clean, deck, and install new cam bearings and freeze plugs.
                    Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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                    • #11
                      I checked the bores and the pistons for clearances. The clearances ran right down the middle.

                      I have also changed directions on the rods and crank in the last few weeks. I sold my 4140 Eagle crank. I am planning on using a Scat 4340 based on reviews I have read and some personal endorsements. I bought some Ohio Crankshaft I beam rods to use instead of the Eagle H beams. I like I beams better. These are a little heavy, but should have the guts to stand up to the abuse. Here are the pistons and rods:

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                      The rods have ARP 2000 rod bolts.
                      Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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                      • #12
                        Another project I started today is the addition of a small fuel cell under the hood. The idea is that this cell will be used when I race for the race fuel rather than filling the large tank up. I bought an inexpensive aluminum cell off Ebay this past week and decided to locate it in the corner of the engine compartment. I have no pictures of my progress other than when I started.

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                        The idea is that the fuel pump at the rear of the vehicle with the large fuel tank will feed fuel to the smaller front cell. I will install a Holley float bowl in this cell to control fuel level. When I want to race, I will shut off the rear pump and refill the smaller cell with race gas. I will have two pumps feeding out of the small cell to run the EFI and the N2O.
                        Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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                        • #13
                          Progress- 2/18/12- I bought a Scat 4340 crank this week and decided to mock up the engine. I was checking tolerances and found that the main bearing tolerances were running between .004 and .005. That is too much. I have never used ACL race bearings and wonder if it designed into the bearings. The crank was very consistent and looked better than the Eagle crank I had. I decided to mock up the engine using these bearings since once they are open, you cannot return them. I checked the first rod bearing and got .003"- too much for them too. I was going to to check block clearance with the first piston/ rod when I found that the rods require pin sizing. That ended the mock up for the day.

                          Now I am going to check my micrometers with the standards we have at work and I have ordered some new Clevite bearings to see if that is the problem. I am going to go ahead and have the crank balanced and the rods sized for the pistons. I trust that given that I have seen these pistons used in builds with much more cam than I am using with no trouble, that I will not have problems with piston to valve clearance. I will check it as I assemble, I just trust that no pistons modifications will be needed throwing my balance off. I will also have my engine machinist check a couple of journals to make sure that they are not undersized by his mics.

                          Later this afternoon I set my N2O plate on my intake to see how they fit. I am using a NX Gemini twin perimeter plate with an Edelbrock Air Gap intake. I found that the corners of the intake opening were a larger radius and therefore blocked a few of the nitrous and gas holes in the plate. I fixed that by grinding out some meat in the carb opening and blending the opening. I am going to convert this intake to port injected EFI in the next couple of weeks. The manual mill at work is going down for repairs this week, so I will have to wait until it is fixed.

                          Unfortunately, picture uploading is not working for me right now. Pictures later.
                          Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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                          • #14
                            all I can say is WOW!!!! Cool looking build!!!
                            Patrick & Tammy
                            - Long Haulin' 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014...Addicting isn't it...??

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                            • #15
                              Well, not much has changed over the past two weeks- the block and rotating assembly continue to be held hostage at the machinist waiting for work. I have been thinking too much as I wait. I am going to use a custom Bullet hydraulic roller cam instead of the Howards cam I have. The new cam has the following specs: .625" intake/ .605" exhaust, 250 deg @ .050 intake, 261 deg @ .050 exhaust, 113 deg LSA. It is designed to make around 600 HP NA and live well on N20. The Howards cam had as much intake lift and more exhaust lift, but less duration and an LSA more appropriate for NA use only.

                              I got a copy of Pipe Max and looked at the expected power out of this combo- now I am thinking about a single plane intake.
                              Why think when you can be doing something fruitful?

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