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Then I fixed an exhaust leak,and then I noticed a loud ticking noise coming from the valvetrain.I pulled the left side valve cover and found an excessive amount of play in # 5 intake rocker arm.It would appear that I lost a roller lifter,cam lobe or both.Gotta pull the engine and tear it apart.I am going to enlist the help of Mike "Wolfplace" Lewis with a new rotating assembly and a new set of AFR cylinder heads.If the cylinders are good to re-use at the current 4.310 inch bore,and I get a 4.375 inch stroke crankshaft,that will give me a total of 511 cubic inches.
I got the engine tore apart and here's what I found;
When I took the pistons out,I found that # 5 had experienced detonation
Talked to Doug @ A&J,# 5 cylinder should clean up with a 0.010 over size.This will total a 4.320 bore and should give a cubic inch displacement of 513ci.A couple of lifter bores were also worn a bit too much,one of them was 2 3/4 thou too much.So they will ream the lifter bores so I can use a 0.904 lifter body.
Mike Lewis and I are making plans for parts.A set of 12.6 cc dome semi custom pistons along with the 315 AFR heads w/121 cc combustion chamber should give us approximately 10.3:1 compression ratio,depending on pin height and gasket thickness.I would like more,but I have to be able to run on our 91 Octane pump gas.
K1 or Molnar rods might get used as they have the length needed,6.480, to fit this combination and balance easily.
I am leaning towards Mike Jones for my next custom grind solid roller cam,He is a well known cam designer and has a good reputation.
I'll likely go with another set of the Isky EZ Roll solid roller lifters.
In order to re use my Jesel shaft rockers we will need a new set of rocker stands to fit the AFR heads.
I took the Melling # 10778c oil pump apart,and the inside of the body was grooved from pieces of the lifter going through it.Here is a description of this pump;"
Approximately 25 percent over stock volume. Anti-cavatation design. Reduces cavitation effects in high RPM applications. Using this oil pump will reduce pressure at idle. Chromoly steel drive shaft included. Standard pressure spring is included."I asked Mike Lewis his opinion on using another one of these pumps and here is what he said: "Guy,I don’t see any reason to change it, good pump as long as you are happy with the idle/low RPM pressure. I normally change the spring out to a 60lb one but it’s not a necessity."
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/mel-10778c/overview/make/Chevrolet
Mark suggested I talk to Alyn Armstrong about a stronger driveshaft.The stock one is 2.76 inches in diameter and 0.045 inch thick.Alyn felt a stronger one is in order since I anticipate an increase in power.I had him build me a new one from 3 inch seamless steel tubing,0.083 inch thick.He welded on a Mark Williams NASCAR quality yoke made from 4340 steel;
http://www.markwilliams.com/detail.aspx?ID=295
Its balanced and has a new U Joint.I talked to Alyn about my new driveshaft,and how much HP & RPM it could handle.His brother John races a big block 'Vette,I'm not sure exactly what year,but its a late sixties or early seventies.I think he is in Super Stock class.It makes 850 HP and turns over 8000 RPM.A friend of theirs,Blair Powers,races an early seventies Nova with a 565 big block making 945 HP with an occasional + 300 from NOS,and he uses the same shaft.Those ones may be a bit shorter than mine,but I wont be making those power levels either.Heres a few pictures:
I sent my Barry Grant Mighty Demon 825 CFM double pump carb to well known carb guru Mark Whitener in Florida for a rebuild & tweaking.Here is a description of what he did;
"I swedged the boosters tighter, threaded for lower idle jets, threaded the emulsion, threaded PVCR's, added a notched rear float and jet extensions.The boosters were a tad loose so I tightened them, similar to a flaring tool. I made all your metering block metering adjustable.
Should run smoother and cleaner idle and light throttle. I test fired it before boxing it up, ran fine on the test engine. Keep me posted when you get it on and running."
Pistons will be from the RaceTec & AutoTec piston company,I believe mine will be the AutoTec 4032 High Silicone pistons with a 22.6 CC Dome which should yield a compression ratio of 10.59:1.
Custom rings with a 1.5/1.5/3.0 mm ring package and a Napier second will be used.
Mark Broome and I discussed block strength,Mark feels that a little reinforcement might be a good idea.So I talked to Alyn Armstrong and he is going to put app. 1/2 a gallon of Hard Blok in each side,which should bring it up to the frost plugs.He said that it shouldn't affect the cooling system any.
March 2015 and just waiting on Mike Lewis to ship my parts.The block and intake are ready to be picked up at Armstrong's.
I had sent the broken lifter,along with the good one,from # 5 cylinder, to Rick 540 RAT from my Team Chevelle Forum,in California for analysis.Here is his finding;
Here are the results of my analysis:
The remaining good lifter of the pair, for comparison:
Roller OD looked fine, and OD = .7500
Bushing ID looked fine, and ID = .3200
Axle looked fine, and OD = .3176 to .3179, with average = .31775
Bushing/axle clearance = .0021 to .0024, with average = .00225
***
Failed lifter:
Roller OD was completely destroyed from a text book case of metal surface fatigue failure, which is exhibited by flaking and pitting called spalling. The OD = .5870 to .6178, with average = .6024, so about .150 worth of diameter had flaked and crumbled off, thus destroying the associated lobe in the process.
Bushing ID generally looked alright, but there were signs of debris having worked through the clearance, causing wear and some scratches. The ID = .3223 to .3230, with average = .32265.
Axle looked fine, and OD = .3173 to .3182, with average = .31775
Bushing/axle clearance = .0041 to .0057, with average = .0049
Here is his final comment;
BOTTOM LINE:
Guy did quite well with these ISKY EZ Roll lifters in terms of how many miles they lasted, even though it ended up causing a rebuild. Solid roller lifters in general, are a fairly poor design, because, as mentioned above, they are subject to the non-stop jackhammer pounding as the lifters bounce around within their lash slop. They get pounded because they cannot faithfully follow the lobe's opening and closing ramps. Eventually, the pounding takes its toll, and the unavoidable metal surface fatigue failure results.
And for the record, NOTHING you do with oil or oil additives will make any difference here, because oil has absolutely nothing to do with this type of failure. Idling also has NO affect on this failure either. Idling generates the lowest loading and pounding these lifters will ever see, because the valve train acceleration is at its lowest value during idling.
This problem is simply a fact of the Physics involved, and cannot be avoided with this design. So, there is no absolutely safe plan when it comes to running solid roller lifters. They can fail at seemingly any amount of time or mileage. All you can do is replace solid roller lifters with fresh ones at an interval before metal surface fatigue failure results, which may take out your engine as well. What that interval is, is the million dollar question, for which there is no clear absolute answer. Everyone has to make their own judgment call on that. Words to live by - you can never replace solid roller lifters too often...
540 RAT
I was out to Armstrong's the weekend of March 14-2015 and talked to John about my lifter bores.He put my block on their Sunnen RMC V40 CNC machine and blueprinted and bored the lifter bores,then Doug Armstrong finish honed them for a total clearance of 0.0015 using the Isky lifters that Mike Lewis had sent them.The cylinders are bored & plate honed,and the Hard Blok had been added.
Picked my block up,here are a couple of pictures;
I have slowly been making progress on my build.Everything has been cleaned,the short block is
assembled,all rod & main clearances have been checked,rod side clearance,crankshaft endplay,camshaft end play,ring gaps are all checked and all is good.I clayed the pistons and checked piston to valve clearance and that is good.Rod & main bolts are all torqued to specs,oil pump is on and oil pan to oil pump pickup clearance is set.The cam has been degreed to 106 degrees as the cam card calls for.The oil pan and remote filter hose brackets are on.The AFR heads are bolted on and torqued to spec.I painted the block,heads,oil pan,intake,timing cover and water pump with POR 15 Gloss Black engine enamel.I got a black Summit Racing 110 GPH fuel pump,# 2500022-1B,no regulator or return line,black Billet Specialties valve covers and a black Tuff Stuff 140 amp alternator.After I checked and measured for pushrod length,Mike Lewis ordered me a set of 7/16 .165 thick wall,double tapered Trend pushrods.
My friend Mark & I were at the dyno at A&J's on May 26 2015 to try out my new 513.After we helped hook it up,and with John Armstrong at the controls,it got warmed up and broke in.We made a total of 8 pulls,the best was 655.6 HP @ 6100 RPM and almost 630 Ft.lbs of torque @ 5000 RPM.One low pull showed 510 Ft.lbs of torque at 2300 RPM.This was app. 100 more HP than the 468 and a bit over 100 Ft.lbs of torque.The 468 made 1.17 HP/Cubic inch,the 513 made 1.27 HP/Cubic inch.This should be a quite noticeable difference on the street !!
"I swedged the boosters tighter, threaded for lower idle jets, threaded the emulsion, threaded PVCR's, added a notched rear float and jet extensions.The boosters were a tad loose so I tightened them, similar to a flaring tool. I made all your metering block metering adjustable.
Should run smoother and cleaner idle and light throttle. I test fired it before boxing it up, ran fine on the test engine. Keep me posted when you get it on and running."
I talked to Mike Lewis Fri. Nov 21-2014 about cams & lifter bores.He is sitting on the fence between using Mike Jones or Bullet for my new camshaft.I told him it didn't really matter to me,I just want the cam that will work the best with my new combo and make the most power.He is going to order my new Isky "EZ Roll" lifters and ship them to A&J.This way Alyn can make sure the lifter bores are reamed to the proper size.Mike is also going to send A&J the proper AFR intake gaskets so they can port match my intake when they port it.
Heres another update for Dec 2014.Mike Lewis decided on a Bullet Cam.With the help of Tim,who was at Ultradyne with Harold for many years,they picked one of Harold's Ultradyne lobes,.706/.706,285/293-255/263 @ 0.050 with a 110 degree Lobe Seperation Angle.I commented to Mike that it sounded like a wicked cam,and he commented back that "I think you will know it is in the engine"Pistons will be from the RaceTec & AutoTec piston company,I believe mine will be the AutoTec 4032 High Silicone pistons with a 22.6 CC Dome which should yield a compression ratio of 10.59:1.
Custom rings with a 1.5/1.5/3.0 mm ring package and a Napier second will be used.
Mark Broome and I discussed block strength,Mark feels that a little reinforcement might be a good idea.So I talked to Alyn Armstrong and he is going to put app. 1/2 a gallon of Hard Blok in each side,which should bring it up to the frost plugs.He said that it shouldn't affect the cooling system any.
March 2015 and just waiting on Mike Lewis to ship my parts.The block and intake are ready to be picked up at Armstrong's.
I had sent the broken lifter,along with the good one,from # 5 cylinder, to Rick 540 RAT from my Team Chevelle Forum,in California for analysis.Here is his finding;
Here are the results of my analysis:
The remaining good lifter of the pair, for comparison:
Roller OD looked fine, and OD = .7500
Bushing ID looked fine, and ID = .3200
Axle looked fine, and OD = .3176 to .3179, with average = .31775
Bushing/axle clearance = .0021 to .0024, with average = .00225
***
Failed lifter:
Roller OD was completely destroyed from a text book case of metal surface fatigue failure, which is exhibited by flaking and pitting called spalling. The OD = .5870 to .6178, with average = .6024, so about .150 worth of diameter had flaked and crumbled off, thus destroying the associated lobe in the process.
Bushing ID generally looked alright, but there were signs of debris having worked through the clearance, causing wear and some scratches. The ID = .3223 to .3230, with average = .32265.
Axle looked fine, and OD = .3173 to .3182, with average = .31775
Bushing/axle clearance = .0041 to .0057, with average = .0049
Here is his final comment;
BOTTOM LINE:
Guy did quite well with these ISKY EZ Roll lifters in terms of how many miles they lasted, even though it ended up causing a rebuild. Solid roller lifters in general, are a fairly poor design, because, as mentioned above, they are subject to the non-stop jackhammer pounding as the lifters bounce around within their lash slop. They get pounded because they cannot faithfully follow the lobe's opening and closing ramps. Eventually, the pounding takes its toll, and the unavoidable metal surface fatigue failure results.
And for the record, NOTHING you do with oil or oil additives will make any difference here, because oil has absolutely nothing to do with this type of failure. Idling also has NO affect on this failure either. Idling generates the lowest loading and pounding these lifters will ever see, because the valve train acceleration is at its lowest value during idling.
This problem is simply a fact of the Physics involved, and cannot be avoided with this design. So, there is no absolutely safe plan when it comes to running solid roller lifters. They can fail at seemingly any amount of time or mileage. All you can do is replace solid roller lifters with fresh ones at an interval before metal surface fatigue failure results, which may take out your engine as well. What that interval is, is the million dollar question, for which there is no clear absolute answer. Everyone has to make their own judgment call on that. Words to live by - you can never replace solid roller lifters too often...
540 RAT
I was out to Armstrong's the weekend of March 14-2015 and talked to John about my lifter bores.He put my block on their Sunnen RMC V40 CNC machine and blueprinted and bored the lifter bores,then Doug Armstrong finish honed them for a total clearance of 0.0015 using the Isky lifters that Mike Lewis had sent them.The cylinders are bored & plate honed,and the Hard Blok had been added.
Picked my block up,here are a couple of pictures;
My parts from Mike Lewis;
Two of the parts for my "Heater Delete" Project
I have slowly been making progress on my build.Everything has been cleaned,the short block is
assembled,all rod & main clearances have been checked,rod side clearance,crankshaft endplay,camshaft end play,ring gaps are all checked and all is good.I clayed the pistons and checked piston to valve clearance and that is good.Rod & main bolts are all torqued to specs,oil pump is on and oil pan to oil pump pickup clearance is set.The cam has been degreed to 106 degrees as the cam card calls for.The oil pan and remote filter hose brackets are on.The AFR heads are bolted on and torqued to spec.I painted the block,heads,oil pan,intake,timing cover and water pump with POR 15 Gloss Black engine enamel.I got a black Summit Racing 110 GPH fuel pump,# 2500022-1B,no regulator or return line,black Billet Specialties valve covers and a black Tuff Stuff 140 amp alternator.After I checked and measured for pushrod length,Mike Lewis ordered me a set of 7/16 .165 thick wall,double tapered Trend pushrods.
