NikwoaC's "Commitment Issues" Engine Build

1991notchbackLX said:

PM sent to keep from jacking Nik's progress thread.

Looking forward to more pics by the way!

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Maaaaaan you know I'm one of the thread derail repeat offenders around here. I don't mind you guys chatting about stuff in here, so long as we make it back to my engine build every now and again.

FastDriver said:

Looks like a good start, and it sounds like you're talking to a great company. I'll refrain from personal advice until I see you F-ing something up ... I'm confident you'll find your own exceptional path.

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Haha thanks man. If you see me doing something wrong, please let me know! This is my first 100% start-to-finish engine build, so there are little things I'm coming across that I realize I know nothing about. A funny example is how the other night I went to pull out the freeze plugs... And I realized that I had no idea how to pull freeze plugs. Luckily, I have a few books laying around to help me along.

Just got off the horn with Mike at Total Engine Airflow. I pulled the trigger on some parts, and I think I ended up with what's going to be a pretty mean combo. Here is the basic rundown:

TEA TW 205s. Upgrade double springs, titanium retainers.

90mm TFS-R intake. They mock it up on a shortblock and do any milling necessary to get it to sit nice on the heads. They also port match the intake to the heads, because, as Mike kept telling me "those 205 ports are... REALLY big." rubhands

Custom Comp cam. I kind of told Mike what I was thinking in terms of lift and duration, and he came up with a custom grind for me, based off of some cams he's done in the past. It's roughly 215°/22X° @ .050" and valve lifts around .570" with a 1.6 rocker. Should idle like a sleeping baby, but scream like hell when I get into it. :eyebrow:

And for all you LS nutswingers out there, Mike mentioned that the intake lobe is based off an LS grind. So, you guys finally win, I'm going to have an LS in my car.

The build thread may slow down for a little while here, because it sounds like it may be a couple weeks before they have everything ready to ship. It's worth the wait, right?

BTW, Mike, if you're reading this, thanks for all the help, man!

I actually do have another round of pics for you guys; the parts are back from the machine shop and the rebuild parts are in from Summit.

Here ya go:















And, I managed to get the freeze plugs IN last night.

FastDriver said:

That head/intake combo is similar, though even more aggressive than my build (AFR205/TFS-R w/ box) which I feel that is oversized for my application. My future intentions are to go solid roller and run it to 8k+ RPM. That'll fix the oversize issue . Based on your "commitment issues," though, these parts will offer a huge amount to grow and give you the ability to run a high revving 302-based motor, or will be just right for a streetable 408 cube motor. You've purchased a head that will support 440+rwhp out of a stroked/bored 351W.

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440 is actually a very conservative number, too. I've seen them do waaay more than that.

When I first contacted Mike, he was a little hesitant to sell me the 205s to put on my 302. He was worried that they were on the "too big" side, and that if I went with a cam that had too much duration/overlap, it would probably be an absolute dog down low. But once I talked to him about my plans to run a "tame" duration cam with big lift, and that the heads would eventually see boost and/or a stroker, he warmed up to the idea.

Honestly, providing I don't really screw it up and it blows up the first time I turn the key, I think it's going to be nucking futs. I think this car will pull like a madman.

Mr. Rustypwnz said:

whats the lsa on the cam?

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Shoot, I knew someone would ask that. Honestly, I don't have the specs on the cam yet, it was all just ironed out in a phone conversation. It was at least 112, I want to say it was more, but I can't remember for sure. Once I get the cam card, I'll post up all the details.

S&B said:

what kind of casters you got on that engine stand?

ever thought of a bearing upgrade, to make rolling easier

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Haha, what? I greased them. Does that count?

stykthyn said:

Plasti guage everything and follow all the torque sequences and you will be alright. I always freak out when I go to start a motor I have just built for the first time. When I first fired up my current on the starter wouldn't retract and it sounded just like a apun rod bearing. I almost chit myself.

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Have you ever done just a hone and re-ring? That's that one thing I'm worried about, I've got this nagging thought that something bad is going to happen because I didn't bore and use new pistons. But, the machinist seemed pretty confident I could pull it off, so I don't know what I'm worried about.