My Engine Is Out And In The Process Of Being Tweaked

[Gimme Fuel]

Well, on Friday of last week I took advantage of the abnormally warm and dry weather we were having and pulled my outdrive and engine. I was towing my boat to my friend's barn in St. Charles to pull the motor with his hoist. I had three people see my towing it and call me up telling me that it was still too cold to be on the river (Ha...yea right). But within two hours after starting, I had my 502 Mag MPI in the back of my truck and one empty engine compartment.

this will be the before pics of the engine
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat%20Engine%20Rebuild/entireengine1.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/entireengine2.jpg

Now the tear down commenced on Saturday.....here I am down to the shortblock, and a pile of parts.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/downtotheshortblock.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/Intake.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/boxofparts.jpg

On Sunday, I finished dissassembly.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/upsidedownshortblock.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/pistonsontable.jpg

I am glad I pulled the motor because I found out that my drive coulpler was ready to give out on me....that explains the vibration I got at the end of season last year. That would have been a bad day when that gave out. Does anybody know where to get an upgraded coupler (if availible) or just a good price on a stock one?

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/drivecoupler2.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww348/rfkrawcz/boat Engine Rebuild/drivecoupler1.jpg

I just picked up my new 4.25" stroker crank, Dart Iron Eagle heads, and Harland Sharp 1.7 roller rockers. I am going to send the intake into Arizona Speed and Marine next week to get the short runner conversion done. Today or tomorrow I will order Keith Black forged pistons for a 4.530 bore (+.064) and the new stroke for a CR of about 9.25. I have not decided on a cam yet. I am going talk to the guys at AS&M and Comp Cams tech line soon. the engine will be painted Merc Racing blue (with a little added pearl) and a bit more bling.

Stay tuned.....much more to come....hehe I love this stuff

 

[Mr. Buss]

cool !!

whats the stock stroke on that??
what kind of crank ???

flow numbers on the heads?????
keep the info comin !!!

keep us posted on the camshaft customer support,
im gonna get a few different cams cut... im interested to know who is better to deal with...

 

[boatn70]

lookin good!

looks like that took alot of Bud Lite and Busch Lite to complete that one!!

and I thought I was bad!!

 

[ross]

busch light- we could definatley hang out

 

[Heavy Handed]

Sounds like you're goin all out to make that one bad a$$ 253

 

[zstevens]

awesome , help a brother out n get your beverages in 24oz. alm cans ! (keep me havin a job)

 

[Gimme Fuel]

I'm hoping she's gonna be a bad mamma jamma. As far as the beer cans go, that night we returned the pile in the corner....24-30 packs Bush Lite and 7-18 packs Bud Light, 5-24 packs Bud Light and a few misc. sixers that got left. I try not to drink until I am almost finished for the day because I want to remember where everything goes. That is the drinking and BS-ing shop for sure. We have been called "professional beer drinkers" and "seasoned alcoholics" but it is always in the name of fun (which we have a lot of).

The stock stroke was 4.000" and that was a forged crank. My new crank is a forged Eagle 4.250" stroke. The heads are Dart Iron Eagle castings with the 308cc runners for great torque. Dart specs on the 2.25" intake valve 363 cfm at .800" lift. I thought that if I went to the 345cc runners I would be loosing too much low end and you only gain 30 cfm of flow. Exhaust flow is 266 cfm with the 1.880" dia. valve.

I called and double checked my piston choice and got the proper piston to wall clearance needed from Keith Black's tech line today (they were very niceand he confirmed my choice and reccomended proper t-stat ranges to reduce wear (mine has a 150 deg. t-stat....he recommended I go 160-170 range). I sat on hold with Comp cams for 15 minutes and gave up. I don't know if I will have a chance to call them tomorrow due to a big safety audit at work (we have a great record so we are always the ginea pigs for new things they roll-out). I need to start calling machine shops this week and hopefully have the block in somewhere next week. I was recommended Rogers Crankshaft by a few people (one who swears by him and has built two bad blower motors for his 33 Envision runnin about 800 HP each with more to gain with a custom cam...He is the one who helped me pull my motor) but I have also heard a few bad stories. I also was recomended to Teenier Racing by a few friends also (but I hear he is on the pricey side) so I am on the fence yet....let the phone tag begin.

 

[Mr. Buss]

Rogers did some machine work for me years ago,... i did have good luck with them, but i know quite a few people that wouldnt take a briggs & stratton to them.. but you know as well as i do, if something goes wrong its always "the machinists" fault... never the guy who put it together.

The last few motors i did, shannons in montrose did the work for me, Cal the crank guy does some awesome work, he does the lathe-cut style crank balancing, instead of the usual swiss cheeze drilling ....which creates windage problems.. the last eagle crank i bought needed tons of material removed, so i had it done that way and it looked excellent when done (and i didnt have to clearance the block!!)

it costs a few bucks more to do it that way but IMHO its worth it


just my $0.02
Buss

 

[rhmapes]

Have you thought about having a custom ground cam for your exact porpose? Marine Kninetics will do an excellent job for you, and it will not cost any more than a box cam will. Also for the tune try Mark Boos @ Precision Marine. I don't know how he does it, but he hits the tune dead on everytime. He also turns an ECM around in 1 or 2 days max. You could upgrade to an aluminum coupler, but it would be over kill in my opinion. Just replace with a new stock one. This is just something to think about. If you need contact #s let me know, and good luck on the build.

 

[Gimme Fuel]

....Status Update.....

I just finished selling my last snowmobile on Sunday...Whoo Hoo!....so everything is full steam ahead at this point....that was the only thing I was worried about....I have enough cash to do what I want now.

Last week I called Comp Cams and after waiting for a half hour on the tech line, my 20 second conversation with the tech resulted in them recommending a XM284HR cam which there is no specs for online. I was not too impressed with them. I called Lunati and they reccomended a .570 lift street car cam (don't remember the number off hand, paperwork is at home). I will have to look into that custom cam rhmapes suggested.

I went to Roger's Friday and BS-ed with him for a while. He reccomended that I go with a longer connecting rod to reduce rod angles and stresses (makes perfect sense to me....I want this thing to last...can't half a$$ it now) so I ordered a set of ProComp H-beam rods for $303 (great price for 800+ HP rating) from Jegs which are on back order....that's my luck. These are also the ones that Rodger reccomended (he had a set there and they are a nice quality part.) We came to the conclusion that I have to wait for my pistons to arrive (which I switched to accomodate the longer rod....didn't make a bit of difference, still on back order like all the rest of 'em). I also switched my piston rings to a set of Total Seal file fit rings rated for supercharging/nitrous. I have to keep future ideas in mind while I am building this thing....hehe.

I am going to send my intake to Arizona Speed and Marine this week for the short runner conversion. Other than that, I am at a stand-still until more parts arrive in hopefully two weeks.

 

[Mr. Buss]

its getting really warm out......



just messin' with ya..... take your time and do it right!!

 

[Mr. Buss]

i dont know how much if any marine stuff they do, but ultradyne does some good stuff, their customer service is excellent, at least it was a few years ago.

They ground a cam for a friend of mine, and they re-ground it 2 more times after that, they didnt charge him much to do it, and he ended up with a damn-near perfect cam.

 

[Gimme Fuel]

I'll have to check into that......yea...I am taking my time to do it right....it does not pay to rush this stuff.... I will be happy if it is all done for the KCQ free concert in June but I am shooting for mid-May.

I know....it is gorgeous outside right now......67 degrees tomorrow.....WHOO HOO!

 

[Old Navy]

Word has it that Roland at the Car Quest in Caro is the best machinist in the area. That is where I am taking my car engine project for machining, after getting jacked here in Grand Rapids. If you need references PM me and I will give you a number to call (arcticfriends off OSO, he has a nice 540 in his boat and runs a Transmission/Driveline shop in Vassar) Also, Marine Kenetics, if that's Bob M. then there is no better marine cam guy around.

 

[illMATTic]

One thing i miss about the saginaw river is the SPEED. That is the one place you can haul azz any time of the day or week.

good luck with the build. I'll have to hit you up when im back in town with the boat.

Matt

 

[Gimme Fuel]

Matt,

Usually you can get away with quite a bit on the river but as usual.....the river pigs are clamping down on fun a little more. You will have to let me know when you are back in town, I don't need much of a reason to go for a river run.

 

[ezstriper]

call Bob @ marine kinetics 585-654-8583 he's the marine cam man !! period..nuff said ! Rob

 

[Gimme Fuel]

Well I am sending my intake out to Arizona Speed and Marine tonight. I hope they have a finished one on the shelf to exchange otherwise it will take 4 weeks he said.

I also called Bob at Marine Kinetics. He seems like a great guy who knows his stuff. I gave him my setup and he said he will probably get a cam ground this weekend. For being a custom grind, his prices are very reasonable. I appreciate the tip on that one because I was not happy with the big box cam manufacturers lack of help and limited selection. Bob said that he also works closely with Precision Marine for the ECM re-calibrations. That is probably who I will send the PCM to.

As for the rest of it......still waiting on parts!

 

[Gimme Fuel]

UPDATE....

I have been going back and forth with phone calls between Bob at Marine Kinetics and Mark at Precision Marine. Both of them seem to think that my combination should be able to make around 600 HP. Thanks to everybody again who reccomended these two guys to me. They are a pleasure to work with and cover every possible detail. Mark suggested that I install a wideband O2 sensor in my risor along with a manifold vacuum gauge so that once it is back in the boat and running, I can provide him with enough data to tune the computer. He has a nice policy....pay once and send the computer back and forth after testing as many times as it takes to get it right. He is going to start out by giving me full fuel (42 lb/hr stock injectors at maximum pulse width at 40 psi......which figures to be 600 HP) and I will put an adjustable regulator in the system to do some manual adjustment as he suggested and I already planned. Bob and Mark have also been going back and forth so the cam is optimized. Bob first came up with the optimum cam profile and so far, we have no reason to tame it down. The lift numbers are going to be .621 INT and .612 EXH. I can't remember off hand the duration numbers. My intake is still at AZ Speed & Marine but he should be shipping out a finished manifold on his shelf first part of next week. Bob told me that AZ Speed was in the process of going out of business....they never told me that. My connecting rods finally showed up along with my piston rings. I am STILL waiting on pistons . Now that I know what the lift on my cam is going to be, I am going to take my heads into the machine shop to have the surface checked and have valves, springs, retainers, and rocker studs installed. first part of next week I am going to begin painting all of the bracketry, pumps, coolers, and exhaust manifolds (merc racing blue of course!).

It looks like I am starting to make some progress....finally!

 

[Heavy Handed]

Sounds like you're doin it the right way. Can't wait to hear that thing run