A little different Stroker build

boy...I can't wait to see how this turns out!

john

now, this will be interesting lol
quit dangling

Hi Eddie,

It's been a long time!!
"Email Notify me of Replies" is turned on

Beautiful Boat.

Signing up as well.

Eddie, that is too cool buddy, cant wait to see you and the bear man in March.

Sorry guys. I'm back for a little more to tempt your taste buds.

I remembered a while back a thread about redneck engine hoists. I figured that I needed to add my own version to that. I knew that I needed a lift but I didn't want one that would take up more floor space. I knew that a cherry picker has it's limitations for getting a motor over the gunnel. I live in a quiet neighborhood and just couldn't be hanging an engine from a tree with a block and tackle. So I had to put my redneck engineering skills to work and figure out an alternative. If I was going to be building a motor in my garage, I also needed better lighting. A lot of it. I'm not getting any younger you know and the lookers are getting tougher to do my cypherin' without good light. This is what I came up with:

This has the lights on.


The I-beam spans the whole width of my garage. I just happened to get really close color matching with some rustoleum spray paint from Lowes.


The free trolley that I acquired after some sandblasting and a coat of paint as well as the Habor Freight chain hoist.


I found out that I have 2x8 joists in the garage ceiling. The centerline of one joist is directly above the centerline of the I-beam. I figured that a single joist wouldn't be very sturdy so I had three seperate three foot pieces of I-beam cut. I have them set at 90 degrees to the main beam and resting on top of the joists in the attic so they span across three joists with the center of the three the one that the main beam is mounted under. I cut holes in the top flange of the main beam and the bottom flange of the cross beams and bolted them together with 3/4" threaded rod. My thinking is that the main beam being attached along the bottom of a single joist would spread the load along that whole length of joist instead of straining it from a single point. Then the cross pieces additionally spread load to the joist on each side of the main from above. I know it's probably very confusing to envision. I would've done a very cool CAD drawing like Tim did with his BFN project to clarify this but I'm just not that knowledgable or have the time. Sorry. Either way, I was expecting to get all kinds of creaking, cracking and popping from the joist when I first put some weight on it. I didn't hear even a whisper of spraining on the joists. The trolley also works perfectly. I can raise the engine, roll it over and mount it to the stand or drop it into the back of my pickup without breaking a sweat. It also worked awesome for just holding up the back end of John's motor while we pulled the tranny out to get rebuilt. It turned out better than I ever expected. A really nice start to the project. Harbor Freight and Wholesale Tool were my best friends during this project. I also found some really good deals on Ebay for some of my special needs.

I finally have the pieces in place to tear the engine out and start disassembly. I've been working my ass off for a year now and getting my engine fund built up after numerous setbacks like tires and brakes for both of my vehicles, a new sand filter for my pool, and the numerous tools as well as the above mentioned hoist and lighting that I figured I would need for the project. It also gave me the time to do my reasearch for the parts and pieces that would be going into this beast.

So let's get into this!!!! After I bought my baby way back in '92 I knew that this motor was pretty hot for the day. I contacted Indmar and the tech that I talked to there told me that the engine was advertised at 290HP but in reality, it was every bit 300 ponies. Indmar only made about 50 of these bad boys a year for a four or five year run in the mid to late eighties. I know that you guys are sharp when it come to this cool stuff so you know that a typical SB (Ford or Chevy) in the '86 time frame was running 245-260HP. A few options might have been running up to the 285HP range. This was, to my knowledge probably the hottest factory optional SB a person could get in that era and really didn't get challenged until the GT-40 burst upon the scene in '93 if I remember right. I must say that this engine did always run really well. I completely enjoyed every minute listening to that thing purr. I guess you really don't know what you have until you tear it down though. The numerous books I read up on confirmed the horror stories of guys who purchased what they thought were 500HP crate motors. After they were installed and hooked up to a chassis dyno, they find out that monster 500HP motor is actually 350HP at the wheels and in reality maybe a true 400-425HP motor.
When I tore this thing down, I found out it really was well put together. I have no doubts now that it probably was what they said it was. 4 bolt mains, forged crank, windage tray, double roller timing chain with iron gears and a 650CFM carb. Add in the very cool aluminum exhaust manifolds and you have a pretty hot ticket by today's standards, let alone 1986! The timing gears and chain had virtually no wear on them. You guys also know that you just don't get a forged crank in any motor. After seeing this you can't imagine how tempted I was to just bore it 30 over and turn this thing into a very hot 355CI for some very reasonable scratch. So what the F**K went wrong????
Well, as I was tearing it down, I spun the rotating assembly and I couldn't find any indication of a problem. There was no binding, banging, tight spots or anything to indicate a problem. The bearings looked good to me but I really didn't know what I was looking for either. Number 4 main bearings had a blueish tint to them indicating things were getting a little hot. Some minor scratches in a couple bearings indicated some foreign matter of some sort but the oil pan had absolutely no shavings of any kind in it. I finally got the crank and pistons removed and I found this:



Yup, that's number 6 piston and rod. It has good movement until you get out to the outer limits of the pin/rod range of movement and then it tightens up like this. Number 6 is attached to the same main bearing that was tinted blue. Guess I found the problem. The piston skirt had to be slapping the *************** out of the cylinder. What I don't understand is how or why it happened. Any speculation from those of you who know better, I'm all ears. By the way, all of the cylinders were within a few ten thousenths of each other except number 6. That one was a few more ten thousenths larger but it was really nothing serious at all.

So, now I need a machinist. That was a chore in itself. After you get a little knowledge and get an idea what you want to accomplish, a 30 second conversation on the phone with a perspective machinst to trust with your motor will tell you if you hit paydirt or Billy Bob's small engine repair shop. That took me about a month to find one that I felt comfortable with. Mike Ford Racing Engines just outside of Orlando. He wasn't very quick but I didn't need him to be and he was probably a little more expensive than some others but he is good. There is no doubt in my mind. I wouldn't hesitate to use him again. He also confirmed that the number 4 bearing had gotten warm but the block was in real good shape. He also checked over the stock crank to see if that was in good shape and reusable. It was. He asked if I wanted to sell it to him but I have a feeling I could use that in the future???? You think????

So here are some of the goodies that I was putting in.

Old vs. New



6 of the 8 jugs



I decided on a Eagle forged crank. After all why would I go backerds to a cast crank when I have a forged crank in there to start with? I also went with 6" H-Beam rods and Mahle forged pistons. The whole rotating assembly according to Eagle is rated for 750HP. Probably overkill for this application but I wanted a strong bottom end. If I ever decide to bolt on some extra options in the future, I know the bottom end is stout enough to handle about anything I throw at it. I had a hard time determining Eagle, Scat or is there anything else I should be looking at. All my research said that it was really toss up between the two. My next option was going another $700-$1000 for a entry level Callies which just wasn't happening. I heard good and bad about both Eagle and Scat so I went with recommendations from trusted friends who had experience. I have absolutely no problems with my decision. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. In '86 Chevy changed the RMS on the SB to a one piece unit. That change also mandated a change in the adapter on the flywheel flange that made it go from internal balance to external. I really wanted to keep it internal balance if at all possible. If I ever wanted to change the damper or the flywheel for whatever reason, I wanted to be able to just bolt it on instead of pulling out the entire rotating assembly to get balanced. Eagles documentation said that it could be balanced internally. Scat's ionformation said external ONLY. That was my final decision maker right there. My machinist was a little scheptical that it would be able to be done. With standard I-beam rods, no problem, but with 6" H-Beam rods he might be required to drill out the counerweights and add heavy metal to balance it internally. A very expensive operation. He was surprised that the assembly balanced. He said if it wasn't for the lighter Mahle pistons, he wouldn't have been able to do it. So now all he had to do was Zero balance my stock flywheel and I put a zero balance 8" Professional Products damper on the front end. We're on a roll now.

You guys can chew on that a while. More to come.

Eddie, that was a treat to read!
Well written and elaborate. Made my coffee taste even better

Boy, would I love to have a garage like that. And the hoist is magnificent, nothing Redneck about it!

Great thread! What's the height of your garage walls?

Good to see you back on here Eddie. I have to agree, that is one of the nicest non-CC boats I've seen on here. That hoist is impressive. I like the way you have your boards/skis hanging from the ceiling too. What did you use, besides the obvious pipe insulation, to do that?

This should be a fun thread to watch

Thanks all for the words of assurance and praise. I just wanted to get you guys up to date so I can continue to move forward. I'm still not done at this point but it's definitely looking pretty good.

Good stuff coming up tonight once I get home. Stay tuned.

backfoot100 wrote: . Moving down here without basements really made me have to use the all the space I can find as efficiently as possible.

I beg to differ there old wise one, We do indeed have basements in the deep south, but we call them "cement ponds" Cool shop too.....

jbear wrote: boy...I can't wait to see how this turns out! john

John I hope that maybe your hanging out with Eddie a little bit more than just on Sat mornings for your Barefoot runs. He might be able to teach you a thing or two and might be able to use an extra hand or two to hand him a tool but only as long as you stay away from sharp pointy ones.

Eddie, looking forward to the thread updates. I think it's safe to say you won't get chased off the site because you don't own a "real" boat. We'll grandfather you in. Looking forward to catching up with you and the bear in a few weeks. Glad to see you poking your head out from under rock you've been hiding under.

stayed up late just to read tonights episode..altho I understand exactly none of this...

but I know it is gonna be a treat for you guys to see the finished product.

did I mention that its loud and fast...that much I understand.

backfoot..a very interesting friend indeed.



john

make sure you get some good pictures of the heads before you install them. Ya'll know how we love pictures.

This project is coming along pretty good. Slow, but pretty good and I decide that I want to polish my manifolds the way that they should have been polished originally. Years ago I just polished the areas that I could really get to without disassembly. I wanted to remove the elbows and polish them like they should be. Might as well do it now right??? I never had any leaks in them but I thought that the elbow gaskets were 25 years old now and they won’t last forever so replace them while I have the chance and they should be good for my remaining time on this planet. You guys know what my manifolds look like. They are really the pride and joy of everything that engine represents to me. I’ve never seen a set like them before and I would sacrifice additional performance to keep them.
Pete, stop crying like a proud papa…LOL. Don’t think for one second this a “keep it original” thing. This build is far from that. This is sort of a hot rod…gear head….Katy bar the door….hide the women and children…sort of thing with high tech modern parts while keeping an old school retro flair. Cool S**T.

I have to admit that I was scared as hell to do this to the manifolds. I remove the four nuts and crack the first elbow and now there’s no turning back. I’m committed. All four nuts on each manifold came off easily and all four studs on each manifold are in really nice shape. I still need to remove the studs so I can face the ends of the logs properly before reassembly. I remove the first stud no problem. Then immediately snap off the next two studs in the first manifold. I didn’t try anything on the last one. OK, no big deal. Get out the EZ Out and promptly snap that thing off. Oh crap. So I don’t touch the other manifold at all which has all four studs intact. I take them to my machinist and explain what I’m trying to do and he says that he should be able to get them out with a little persuasion. After three weeks, he snaps off another EZ Out in one and he’s only able to remove two more. So I have three out of eight removed and two EZ Outs in the five remaining that are all snapped off at this point. I’m doing a lot of praying now. I even have John saying a few things to help the cause. How bad is that to be praying for a couple manifolds?????
So my machinist tells me about a place in Orlando that has some high tech machine that can still remove these with electrical current and water. I have since talked to others about it they knew exactly what I was talking about. I’m sure Pete knows what it is and can elaborate more. Anyway it has been a few years and he didn’t know if they were even in business anymore. He tried calling them, and they were still open and he explained what was happening and they say sure, bring ‘em over. They end up being able to get them out but they destroyed the threads doing it which normally doesn’t happen. They put heli-coils in and everything is good to go. Needless to say I’m very relieved and will never take them apart again. Ever. Never. Ever Again. WHEW! That even made me start sweating recalling that trauma.
So now, I can start polishing these things. If you look way back at the pics of the original motor, you might see that the manifolds have a few waves to them. I end up filing and using some of my porting abrasives to smooth out these high spots, then sanding with 60, 120, 200 and 400 paper before I can start buffing out the metal with some of Eastwood’s buffing compounds and wheels. They look much better now that I got into the crevasses where they bolt together and removed some deep scratches that were always in them. I figure that I put somewhere between 40 and 50 hrs into them.

I know that you guys have to be really tired of all this reading but grab a few more beers.

I test fit the manifolds to the heads and realize that the manifolds come out from the head and immediately turn up. It’s so quick that they hit the valve cover flange on the heads. Evidently the RHS heads have a bit taller valve cover flange area to help prevent leaking and the manifolds will never fit like this. I figure that I can find some spacers of some sort to put between the heads and the manifolds. I end up finding a set of 3/8” header flanges from a place online for like $30 each. I need another set of exhaust gaskets now too. The flange and both gaskets give me an extra ½” spacing from the head to the manifold but now I have a little bit more port matching to do. You can see in the pics what the flanges and exhaust manifold ports look like before and after the porting. This is exactly the same principle used on the heads that I can't find the pics of. You can see this makes a huge difference in letting the engine breathe more efficiently.


Here's the spacer that I ended up with. You can see the sharp edges of the manifold ports.



Close up of the sharp edges before porting. Exhaust gases hitting this would be like hitting a brick wall.



After porting. Nice smooth edges for the gases to escape.



More after porting