budget 120cc head 500 running

dave brode

dave brode

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All,

Fired up today. Sounds good, although the 3" exhaust and bullet race mufflers that were pretty quiet with the turbo'd engine aren't exactly quiet now. Gotta love points. Set the timing with a test light. Didn't crank 2 turns and bam.

'75 Deville engine, std bore, std crank. Decked block .013", cut heads .024".

Everything original in the engine except Cloyes timing set, yellow LS chev beehive springs comp retainers and Howards cam. 232/240 at .050", 112 LSA installed +6*, .536". Edel with divider cut down front to back, 1" open spacer, large primary '76 caddy Q-J.

Stock valves in the #493[?] 120cc heads, a little back cut on the intakes, bowl job, narrowed guide bosses, shoved short turn pushrod edge back and knocked the square turn in the exh floor down some.  Wee little bit of chamber work.

Oh, almost forgot: Two also has controversial things. #1 - gapless 2nd rings [hey, I only wasted $90 and $9 for postage]. #2 - Somender grooves. 1 per, done similar to the BBC heads that I posted pics of a while back.

Didn't cc anything, so I'll have to guess. Say 122cc for uncut #493. Guess -3.5cc for the 24 cut and +1cc for the groove  = 119.5. Say 4cc for the piston dish. Have to check the Victor gasket thickness now that it's heat cycled, but quench should be .035" or a tad less = apx 8.5cc. So, 132.1cc = apx 8.75-1, but even if the chambers are big, it should still be 8.6-1, I'd say.

Wife is disapointed. She likes that badassed radical idle sound, and it barely lopes. Just an excuse to build another engine, right?

Dave
 
Congrats Dave :thumbup:  Is this in you pickup truck :scratchchin:

At what rpm does the Howard idle at ??

                  Ron
 
That's a pretty good size cam, you think it would have some lope to it.

You are making me look real bad here. 

You should have a great time driving the truck.  Keep up the great work.

TED
 
Thanks guys. I was a week changing this and that. Had to hack the exhaust all up and modify the trans crossmember, re-do trans cooler lines and fuel lines, and change back to normal power steering pump body and lines. If the turbochargers go back on later, it'll be better thought out.

Didn't idle it but for a few seconds, only has 40 minutes or so on it, but idle is fairly smooth. Lopy, but not choppy. I believe that the sommander grooves calm any cam some.

Some pics - excuse the winter's storage dust. Haven't washed it since last fall.

Dave
 

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more, including the headers. I'll take better shots of those when I pull them off to paint them. Imo, it is senseless to break an engine in with fresh paint or even high dollar coatings on headers or manifolds. They need short heat cycles to cure.
 

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Chevalade said:
Nice one Dave....keep the CSOB alive in ya......
Click to expand...

Yea, not a bunch of money in this one. Lucky to find one that could go back std. Guides were tight enough for me. I did polish the crank close to low, and resized the rods to high on the big end. Also set side clearance to .030" or so. No good bolts though, probably dumb.

Hope it runs on 87. Plan to attend a 6 hour track rental next friday to tune it up. Don't really know what to expect from it. I had a stock '76 500 in a 4680 lb 3/4 ton that went 14.6. This truck weighs maybe 4300, so I'm hoping for a 13.xx.
 
hey dave:
glad to hear that there is another caddy trick truck on the road. enjoy driving it. you have been denied that pleasure for many moons. when you get tired of driving it, then go back to the turbos. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
ciao,
mario
 
Mario,

Yea, I'll say that I'll *probably* re-turbo later. Just didn't have it in me for this summer.


I sold a set of 4.10-1 thin 12 bolt gears a while back that would go right in the impala rear with the 3 series carrier. Could kick myself now. Imo, the 3.55s ain't enough with 31" tires.
 
Great job Dave. Looks excellent like all your stuff. Can't wait to hear how she runs at the track. I am struggling with how the Salamanders could change the cam lope and sound that much...I dont recall hearing that (pun intended) in any of the various screeds on this controversial subject....

Best, Maddog (Struggling to finish Parker's Elky so we can jump back on Nutty Buddy)
 
Very nice Dave, All that time was well spent, on the slick little touches and Not scratchin' that pretty yaller paint. I'm afraid the Econillac ain't gonna be near that purdy... RED
 
dave brode said:
I sold a set of 4.10-1 thin 12 bolt gears a while back that would go right in the impala rear with the 3 series carrier. Could kick myself now. Imo, the 3.55s ain't enough with 31" tires.
Click to expand...

Dave I've got some steeper gears for a late '60s a-body 12-bolt, I'm not planning on using them.  Would these be something you could use?  (I'll check on the actual gearing, I forget what they are exactly but they were 4 something Iirc)
 
Thanks guys.

Charles, you can read plenty on the grooves, and the theories why they might calm the idle. I know that they did that in tmy buddy's Harley that I grooved, as those cams were in one of my bikes prior. I know that AB also said that his findings show idle smoothing. 

Chris, PM sent.

Dave
 
Dave, NICE! sure would like some info on the headers and what oil pan and the clearance from the front X-member- Pan to X-member clearance sure looks nice I'm still a ways away but gaining!
 
Hey Dave, I was looking at the pic's of your CSOB jewelery again. I just noticed the 3/8ths hard lines running from the T-stat housing/ goose neck, looks like they run to the back of the heads. will you bring me up to speed on this setup?
 I must have missed it, first time around. I vaguely remember a discussion about rear cooling a while back, but can't seem to find it now.

I was going to put a volume tank, at the back of the block, between the heads using an old Ford pickup style radiator tank, (closer to the radiator) but ended up building the "copper still" instead. I'm just finishing Dan's 472 build, going in the red, and would like to revisit this concept. Maybe give it it's own thread? Thanks, Paul.
 
suville said:
Dave, NICE! sure would like some info on the headers and what oil pan and the clearance from the front X-member- Pan to X-member clearance sure looks nice I'm still a ways away but gaining!
Click to expand...

Thanks. The pan is from my turbo'd engine [you can see one of the drain bungs]. It was a midsump pan. The midsump pan works for most chevy truck swaps as is, but if the sump is deepened, it makes it a pia to R&R the engine, as it's really close to the frame crossmember. I whacked the pan up and made it a rear sump with trap door, etc.

There are pan pics in this old thread:

http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum/inde ... 67.20.html


Here's a thread showing a converted front sump pan that I did. Easiest way to convert one imo.

http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum/inde ... 74.20.html

Note the dipstick tube in pan. Good thing, easy to do.

Headers are 1.875" "flowtech" 67-69 camaro. $146 and the only affordable 1.875" header that I've found. Not a drop on thing though. Moved pass side front three tubes back one hole, and made a new front tube. The $90 1.75" primary BBC truck headers are easier to convert, by far. Here's a link to rambling on headers from me.

http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum/inde ... 370.0.html

Dave
I can do pans and headers for someone if they can't themselves.
 
Paul,

Yes, 1/8" npt risers from the rear of heads. I was going to run from driver's side into a tee to the heater outlet on the pass head, but I went ahead and ran seperate lines. That way, when I get around to the heater hoses, I can valve them off to keep the cabin cooler in summer.

I probably should have given each line it's own bung in the t-stat hsg. I do know that when I did the same on a buddy's 454, it ran cooler. Thought is, it evens out the coolant temps in the engine. Makes sense to me. I know that a local machinist claims that the rear cylinders are normally worn more on many engines.

There's plenty on the subject here. Iirc, Potter started the practice, at least made it more commonly known. He sells a kit with pushlock hose, but I prefer hard lines.

Dave


RED caddy said:
Hey Dave, I was looking at the pic's of your CSOB jewelery again. I just noticed the 3/8ths hard lines running from the T-stat housing/ goose neck, looks like they run to the back of the heads. will you bring me up to speed on this setup?
 I must have missed it, first time around. I vaguely remember a discussion about rear cooling a while back, but can't seem to find it now.

I was going to put a volume tank, at the back of the block, between the heads using an old Ford pickup style radiator tank, (closer to the radiator) but ended up building the "copper still" instead. I'm just finishing Dan's 472 build, going in the red, and would like to revisit this concept. Maybe give it it's own thread? Thanks, Paul.
Click to expand...
 
Note the high temp silicon that I used to fill the voids in the heads that boil dirty water up and dirty the intake. The silicon was evedently uncured deep in the voids and bubbled out on start-up
 
Dave,

On post #4, picture #4, do I see a corner in the PS belt?  Are my eyes getting worse?

Gary Kosier
 
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