Race Motor Build-up

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I can't believe I forgot to update this.... Well the motor is built and in the car but here's the rest of how it got there.

How to setup proper rocker geometry. Now I know for the most part you can just bolt on rockers, cut your push rods (or find used ones) and go, but it's not the best thing for your motor. Good rocker geometry will prevent excess wear on the valves, guides, lash caps, rockers and push rods. Ideally you want to have a 90* angle between your rocker arm and push rod at half of your total lift. This prevents extreme angles between the rocker, push rod, and lash cap that could wear down your adjusters, push rod tips, rocker tips, and lash caps. This also keeps side-loading the valve step to a minimum which prevents ovalled out valve stem guides.

So here i'm using a dial indicator to figure out total lift at the valve which is .471".


Now if I setup my rockers with no spacers this is what the angle looks like, very bad. The rocker is resting on the back of the lash cap, there's a really bad angle on the push rod to the adjuster cup, and the push rod would probably rub on the push rod tube.






Now using the total lift number I got before I half it to get .2355". At .2355" I need to get the angle between the push rod and the rocker as close to 90* as possible. With .195" worth of rocker block shims, it was as close as I could get and still have enough threads on the rocker studs to bolt it all down.


relaxed


and full lift


Much better with the spacers in. While I'm on the subject of rockers, when you setup your geometry make sure you check how the foot on the rocker meets the lash cap. You want it as close to the middle as possible but slightly offset. The idea behind this is that the action of the rocker sweeping across the lash cap will rotate the valve so that everything wears evenly and prevents the valve from developing hot spots.

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Now that the rockers are done it's on to the push rods. Pretty basic really. Use an adjustable push rod to find your ideal push rod length and then measure it. Then do it again. Why? The red mark on that cut push rod is why you measure twice and cut once. If I cut on the red mark I would have needed a new set of push rods and do it al over again. You can use a hack saw, dremel, band saw to cut them just make sure you de-burr them before you put the tips in. The best way to get the tips on is to use a pair of old lifters, one on each end, and hammer the tip in like that.



When you put a motor together check and wash every part thoroughly even the fancy shmancy billet parts. These push rod tubes are brand new and they still had metal shavings and cutting lube in them.







Looking good!

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Couple shots of the sealing surfaces. These are using a softer silicon seal instead of a standard rubber one, we'll see how it holds up.





Pretty close fit! Remember these would have rubbed if I hadn't spaced up the rocker blocks.







Valve covers on and test fitting a type 4 cooler




A (not so)funny story real quick. While I was doing the rockers I kept turning the motor over and over on the stand. Well I didn't have a distributor on it and slowly the dizzy drive shaft backed out... (I think you all know where I'm headed with this). Well I turn the motor over on the stand and I hear this "tink-tink" and my heart just sank. I pulled the dizzy shaft out and I didn't see the washers at all. Checked every where on the ground just in case bu they were still loose in the motor. I found one of them resting on top of the cam timing gear, and got it out with a really long pair of needle nose pliers. The second one fell out after I pulled the sump plate and oil strainer. Whew! Lesson learned, don't get ahead of yourself!

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UPS came by with a couple of big boxes that I emptied onto the living room floor


Back to the motor, I did final assembly, sealing the barrels to the block with some high temp copper permatex and safety wiring the cool tins in place



The EFI turbo kit from CB came with a thin line oil sump so than went on with the extention for the oil pickup.


Close up of the 90 degree turbo oil return


Before bolting the heads on for the last time, I made sure to drill and tap the head by #3 and install the cylinder head temp sensor. This is for the fuel injection computer. For running a gauge I suggest a thermistor/washer that goes around a spark plug which will give a better temp reading.


When I tried fitting the header, I ran into this problem. No way to get the nut on and fully seat the flange so I trimmed the stud on the white line.

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But that wasn't enough because I still couldn't get a nut on the thing. I wound up having to "persuade" the pipe with a hammer and drift to get additional clearance.




Finally got the exhaust on and J-pipes in. You can also see the T adapter with the oil pressure sender, and the new HEI dizzy that came with the kit. Under the 1-2 side you can see the big external wastegate.

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Mounted the turbo... "It's F-in' huge" is an understatement. It's also really heavy. The turbo is a t04s cold side with a really big t3 hot side. It's kind of a tight fit to get the oil line routed away from the exhaust and the turbo, luckily that line goes out to the filters, cooler, and tank.






Here's a couple shots underneath for the turbo drain. Pretty damn close to the exhaust again.

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Manifolds and throttle bodies in place. I think these are the same size as weber 48's, no venturis needed.




Now everything mocked up




At the moment I'm missing a set of pics that fall between this point and getting the motor in the car. I'm still trying to track them down and they might be on my friends camera.