Progress Thread Darn Stock Block Problems - Getting the Engine Together

[Hoytster]

Finally got my intake gaskets after they decided to take a trip to Oregon and back. When I pulled these out of the box I thought to myself "these are way too thick". Did a quick test fit over my lunch break and these things are perfect.

I'll have to trim some of the outer edges for looks, but these things seem super solid. They recommend a little rtv around the water ports but to leave the rest of the gasket dry. They fixed my port alignment after all the porting, matching, and milling this intake has had done to it.

Before:

After:

 

[Hoytster]

Blower arrived yesterday. I'm very happy with the rebuild that vortech did. Had the minor rebuild done that replaces all the bearings and seals, and had the Si upgrade done which replaces the wheel and volute. They went as far as replacing the tag on the blower, replacing all the plugs, bolts, and cleaned the case up. Almost looks like a new unit, though this thing is one of the older units still around apparently. Think I'm going to paint the whole unit black.....

Speaking of painting crap. Out of all the brackets/pulleys/ect I've sanded and painted already, this alternator casing has to be the biggest PITA to get cleaned up and ready for paint. That rebuild and upgrade kit I got from that site turned out to be pretty nice though. Hopefully I put it together correctly and it works.

 

[Hoytster]

I'm stuck at this horrible place for a week.... I'll get back at it next week.

 

[2000xp8]

Judging by the tire tracks and few places in the northeast where they let you drive on the beach, it Looks alot like where i go all the time, Island beach state park.
Although in the distance, looks like buildings or something, we have none of them.

 

[Olivethefet]

Outer Banks?

 

[General karthief]

Gilligan's Island

 

[Hoytster]

Outer Banks?

Yep, Frisco. We come down here to fish this time of year every year.

 

[Hoytster]

Judging by the tire tracks and few places in the northeast where they let you drive on the beach, it Looks alot like where i go all the time, Island beach state park.
Although in the distance, looks like buildings or something, we have none of them.

This is in Frisco, NC. I think these tracks are just the NPS, I haven't seen any personal vehicles.

 

[Hoytster]

Gilligan's Island

If I could find a deserted island to stay on, I'd do it. The fewer people the happier I am.

 

[Hoytster]

Well sheet. Looks like I'm going to have to modify my valve covers to be able to get the intake elbow on my blower. I knew this might be an issue but was hoping there would be another solution. Looks like most people cut out a section of the valve cover and lay it back some and then reweld it. Or use shorter valve covers, but I really like the look of these fabricated pieces.

Like this:

Which means I really need to buy a new TIG welder since I smoked mine a couple months back. I usually don't like to buy "chinese" welders and would prefer a lincoln or miller, but I just can't justify spending $2000+ for a new TIG setup right now. I've been looking at one of those PrimeWeld TIG 225X setups since they seem to get really good reviews and have the features I want.

 

[Hoytster]

Ended up buying and receiving the Primeweld. I've only run it a couple times on steel and so far I am impressed. I'm not a seasoned TIG welder by any means, but I think I might be able to do some nice work with this machine. My old machine made me think I would never get the hang of TIG, this machine has restored my confidence.

First thing I welded was this engine lift plate so I could lift the engine off the stand and get my new flex plate installed. Nothing pretty here as this was literally the first time striking and arc with this machine. This plate should make getting the engine in and out a lot nicer.

This is the piece I'm looking to cut out of the valve cover for supercharger inlet clearance, and one of the reasons I decided to finally get a new TIG machine. I need to make this look nice since it's right on top. Hard part is going to be getting the paint to match. I might just have to end up refinishing both after I'm done.

 

[Hoytster]

First use of the lift place went well and it's really nice having the multiple mounting holes to balance the engine. Excited about getting my flex plate and spacer installed as that's a big milestone for me, means I can look at setting the engine in the car soon to continue with mock up. It's been 2 years since I blew up the original engine and started the rebuilding process.

I'll probably have to lift it again to get my headers installed, but I need to start looking at engine bay clearance with a couple of the things I'm looking at doing.

Like this custom supercharger tensioner bracket I am making. Idea is to create a secondary plate for both additional bracket support and for mounting a static and dynamic belt tensioner.

 

[a91what]

I really like the mod motor tensioner. It does an amazing job and holds quite a bit of tension.

 

[Hoytster]

That's one of the designs I looked at for some inspiration, as well as the S550 design. There was another guy over on the corral that added a HD spring tensioner to his YSI setup and got really good results from it. I ended up buying the same tensioner he used, which is from a mid-2000's Freightliner. It's a dayco 89419 unit and has plenty of tension. I believe combining this unit with a manual tensioner is going to really help with the belt slip issues. Plus adding a second plane of support to the bracket (like the renegade kit) should help reduce bracket flex.

And this is a good video that shows why having a spring tensioner is a huge benefit.

 

[a91what]

When I was doing all the roots blower stuff I learned all about how necessary a good spring tensioner is. I actually ran 2 of them.

 

[Hoytster]

It's in!

Been looking at ordering headers while I get the valve cover and front plate setup worked out. I've decided I want a long-tube header with 1 7/8" primaries, a 3" collector, and ceramic coating for this combo. No slip fits. I've been endlessly searching for recommendations on production (very limited) as well as custom headers and have it narrowed down to three choices:

D&D Automotive Specialties (Somewhat local) http://www.ddautospec.com/about.html
CPR Headers http://www.cprparts.com/products/headers/headers_main.html
RCI Headers http://www.rciheaders.com/index.html

I'm leaning toward D&D since they are local to me. Anybody have any real-world experience with them or the others listed above?