Well, it was time for an engine overhaul. Why? I installed the short block with 50,000 miles on it, and then raced it for 3 years. It was starting to leak and blow a little bit of oil. Best to do it now, rather than in the middle of the season.
I considered just buying a new short block. They are pretty common, and readily available for a reasonable price from places like Texas Speed and Performance. It makes the job fairly quick and easy. Once the engine is out, it’s a fairly easy job to swap everything over. In retrospect, that’s exactly what I should have done. Oh, well. Live and learn.
The rebuild turned out to be kind of a PITA. And it took a lot longer than I thought it would – about 2 months. But I only managed to get a couple of garage days per week.
Getting the engine out of the car is not all that difficult. It all comes out as a unit, from the bottom. I don’t have a 2 post lift, but a 4 post drive on type lift works just as well – maybe better.
It is possible to leave the front suspension on the cradle, and remove it all as a unit. Since I was working by myself, I felt it was easier to remove all that stuff first. It makes everything lighter, and less bulky.
When I built the wiring harness, I did it with engine removal in mind. It’s a fairly simple process to unplug sub harnesses – like fuel injectors and coils. No need to unplug every single connector.
I set the whole thing down on a Harbor Freight furniture dolly, and rolled it out from under the car. Then used the cargo straps and the lift to put the engine on the stand. No need for a crane.
Now it’s time to take everything apart and discover what’s leaking. Some of the oil pain and front cover bolts have worked loose, and that’s where some of the oil was coming from. More on that later. Inside, the motor looks pretty clean, and in good shape. 3 years ago, the heads were fresh, but the short block was all original with 50,000 miles on it. I’ve been beating the crap out of it since then.
Short Block
I took everything apart, and took the block to my favorite machine shop, Laniers. I had them do a good chemical clean and replace the cam bearings. The old bearings look really good, almost new. But I replaced them anyway.
I also had Laniers put the new pistons on the old rods. I’ve never worked with press fit pistons before. I’ve always used floating rods. I have a press, but the first one I tried I screwed up. Discretion being the better part of valor, I stopped and handed that job over to a pro.
As I mentioned earlier, some of the bolts had worked loose, and there was some leakage. To make sure that didn’t happen again, I used Safety Wire. You can buy bolts already drilled. But I’m pretty cheap, and I own a drill press. So……
A note about the Kevco oil pan. There is a cover over the baffles and gates to keep oil down in the sump where it belongs. But, it is welded in. That makes cleaning this pan a real pain. Not easy at all.
Compare this to a Canton pan from my small block Ford stroker, where this cover is bolted in.
Heads
The heads are worked over 853 factory heads. Ported runners, polished chambers, bigger valves, and shaved for more compression. Obviously, I wanted to re-use them. They were in good shape, and didn’t really need much.
I did change the cam for (maybe) a little more upper RPM power.
I also installed new rocker arms. These are available from the WS6 Store. They are a non-roller tip, with a roller bearing instead of a bushing. Better? Depends on who you listen to. Seems to be a quality part at a reasonable price. For my use, they should be fine.
Again, for more upper RPM power, I swapped in a new intake manifold. Not overly difficult. I don’t think it’s going to fit under the hood, though. I chose the MSD intake over the standard FAST because it’s a little bit lower. Power seems to be about the same between the two manifolds. And the MSD is a little bit cheaper.
The manifold is designed for LS2/3 type injectors, which are shorter than LS1/6 injectors. I used the MSD adapter kit, which includes bigger O-rings and spacers for the fuel rail. I also need a new longer throttle cable.
Installing the engine is the opposite of removing it. Pretty straight forward. I started the engine yesterday afternoon, 2/23/19. Sounds awesome! Much more aggressive idle than before. I’ll get it to the tuners in the next few weeks
So, here we are with the finished installation.
I chose the MSD intake because it is a little shorter than the FAST. The manifold itself fits under the hood, with about 1/4″ of clearance. But I had to cut and reweld the throttle cable bracket to change the angle and flatten it down a little.
Power levels between the MSD and FAST are pretty close to the same, though. You can pick up a few more ponies with some porting. If I had a stroker engine, I would do that. For this engine, it’s probably not worth the cost.
The intake tube from the stock throttle body fit over the Holley Sniper TB with only a small bit of persuasion.
Picked up some power from the original install. Not a whole lot, but some. We’ll see if it makes a difference in track times. First race is 13 April, 2019.
This is the dyno sheet form the original install.