I fired the 445 this weekend and give it the break in run. no problems yet. I used rotella 15-40 oil. it has good throttle response and starts cold and hot the same, fast. havent driven it yet since I still havent done any exhaust except for a 14" section of 2 1/2" pipe off the collector. after about 40 minutes of run time including 25 minutes at 2200-2500 rpm there isnt any blow-by. it doesnt sound like it has a cam but a vac gauge reveals it does with 17" of vacuum. maybe that will improve with fresh fuel though. initial ignition timing is at 30 degrees btdc to run good by ear and vac gauge wants even more timing, but agian old gas. and Im sure the vacuum will increase a little more with more breakin time. I havent done a static compressio check yet, will post when I have done this.

 

Congrats. Sounds like you got through the scary part.

-Scouder

 

still tinkering. trying to dial in my timing curve. need to buy a set of springs for my msd billot dizzy and the stop bushings as well. I had these with the new dizzy about five years ago but they burned in a fire.
also richening the fuel mix a little, had a bad pinging problem! not compression ping either at 155 lbs per cyl. the plugs are sparkly clean!!! not good! due to the choice of needles I have I richened the idle too much really but gained some on the mid range though still not enough. I need an other needle and jet kit.
gets ok mileage so far, havent burned a full tank yet so I dunno the exact numbers yet. got a solid 19 inches of vacuum now, getting better!

but I have a question for you all. I popped off the valve covers and looked at the lifters with a light to see how well they spin while engine is running. my question is how much should these spin? the exhaust spin like mad but the intake ones just spin a bit slower. one of the intakes is just spining one revolution every 10 seconds or so. stops in same spot every time too.

 

Please go over your build again

Inquiring minds want to know - including those that have already forgotten...

 

hmm, ok......

I used the stroker kit from survival motorsports. the 445 kit with bearings and rings with the pistons rods and crank. diamond pistons 42021 were used with total seal moly rings. I didnt end up using the main bearings supplied because I didnt like the clearance they would have given me .003. so I used clevite p types that are .001 under. that brought it down to .0015 almost too far but livable. I used the clevite rod bearings provided which are for a big block chevy of course, they give .002 of clearance. the kit I ordered came with H-beam rods 6.7 inches long. the crank is balanced and has a 4.250 stroke with bbc size rod mains and standard FE mains.
rods are 2-454-6700-2200 from scat
I barrowed a scale and weighed the pistons and rods and matched them to an average weight target, I came out within 1/2 gram of the target on all but two, and those two are 1 gram off the target. ring gaps are top ring .0185 second ring .0145 oil control rings .015 minimum.

the block is decked, line honed and bored .030 over. the heads have all three mating surfaces machined. 2.08 1.65 stainless valves installed with hardened exhaust seats.
C6AE-R heads with eight hole bolt pattern.
used crane cams stock length pushrods for adjustable rockers. cleaned up a set of adjustables someone gave me and installed them on another hardened shaft, .006 clearance on those.
used cam research for my cam, called them up and told them what I was doing and they run the numbers and give me this. I asked why not more aggressive, they said that its the most lift I can have without sacrificing the air velocity in the ports.
gross valve lift with adjustable rockers: intake .486 exhaust .512
advertised duration: 272 280
duration @ .050: 208 215
valve timing: intake open btdc -2 close abdc 30
exhaust open btdc 44 close atdc -9
lobe seperation angle 112
valve spring rate: installed ht 1.850 lbs 90 open ht 1.300 lbs 290


rotating weight: rod big end 563 rod bearing 50 oil 2
small end of rod 244
piston 518 wrist pin 158 wrist pin locks 5 ring package 52
heavy metal used front 1 piece 7/8"X1.200" rear 1 piece 5/8"X1.200"
rotating weight 1230 reciprocating weight 977 bob weight 2207 grams

using an msd ignition 6a box with msd dizzy without vac advance(vac advance wasnt offered at time of purchace) and an edelbrock 600cfm carb with man choke.
did that answer your question?

 

so I been thinkin, I bet that cam lobe is going flat huh. Ill have to put the dial on it and see. I am gonna pull the lifter out and look at it as soon as I get more time. I dont know what Im looking at but maybe Ill notice something. scuffing or something of that nature?

 

If the lifter has any sort of scuffing or straight wear pattern, it's taking the lobe of the cam with it. It'll be obvious - a good lifter will be flat (to the naked eye) and shiny, and possibly have a slight circular wear pattern in it - VERY slight!

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt (and had to go through rebuilding another 390 - better, stronger, faster!)

 

so if it is scuffed should I try just replacing the lifter?

 

so I pulled the lifter out last night and looked at the bottom of it. the bottom of it has a VERY slight cross hatch pattern but instead of striaght lines they are archs that cross each other in the hatch pattern. but you can barely see it in the right reflection of the light. the scratches on the side of the lifter from the sliding action in the block are way easier to see. what I did notice though is that it spins alot of the time without the pushrod spinning, so I think the pushrod is keeping it from spinning. posibly the cup and adjusterstud ball are tight? I can spin the pushrod by hand easy enough, so hmm.

 

As long as you checked each lifter bore with your new lifters after the block was cleaned and they slid in without any catching spots you should be ok.
During final assembly those oiled lifters should of sunk slowly into their bores just by their own weight alone until contacting the cam.
Sounds like you have a great motor build, congrats.
What did your compression ratio spec out with those pistons?

 

Do you know that Rotella no longer has the zinc additive that is required during break-in. Did you use a cam break-in supplement?

 

no I didnt do my homework on the oil, I am embarrased to admit. I figured delo wouldnt have it because they just switched and they advertize it well. couldnt find any older delo so I looked at all the diesel oil and found the one that met the most specs, rotella. I just compared four major brands. no additive was used. but cam was well coated with assembly lube and lifters soaked in motor oil, assembly lube doesnt want to stick to motor oil so I couldnt put it on the lifters. lifter bores lined with assembly lube. yes the lifters slid in quickly and spun free during assembly.
those pistons have a 17cc dish and 80cc head chambers and with the cam I am running 155 psi per cyl. a couple are at around 153 psi as well. thats after about 100 miles or so.

one thing I think I forgot to mention was that I had to hone the small end of the rods so that the pins wouldnt gall up, or so says the machinist who did it.

my cam card said to use valvoline racing oil 20-50 for break in. I was scared of the weight of the oil, didnt do my homework. I figured diesels are subject to extreme pressures so how could I go wrong with that. but I think it worked out ok anyway.

 

Boy that sounds like a really nice build!! Hope everything turns out ok. BTW you can always add a zinc based additive. With the way oils are today I've been adding EOS when oil is changed. It's been repackaged under the AC Delco label recently. There is another good one someone had posted on CHR I think. I'll look for it if interested. Even the last batch of Valvoline VR1 I bought was SM rated. 20W-50.

 

Here is the other additive site....

http://www.geersengineering.com/


The LAT additive.

 

FFR, this sounds like a winner to replace GM's E.O.S. additive in the future.
I've been running E.O.S. in my vehicles and older motorcycles besides Redline's lead substitute additive.
Thanks for the posting will look into LAT.