New 4.6L stroker build

[SilverXJ]

LOVE the way those pistons look. They look more "refined" then the H802's i got (smoother castings, better machined finish)
I assume you are supposed to groove the lifter bores from the bottom? Did the tool come with good instructions on how to use and where to cut the groove? If you can, please take before, maybe one or two with the tool installed, and after pics.

Yeah... casting.. they aren't cast.. lol.. but i know what you mean. Very pretty piston. The pistons, the timing set and my roller rockers are all pretty... but won't be seen. Blah. I guess beauty really is on the inside... LOL.

The tool.. you insert it from the top of the bore, and position the knife so it is just outside the bottom of the bore. Then the stop (t-part) is adjusted to take up slack. Then one of the screws on top is turned to extend the take up part (silver foot looking thing). Once it is in position and secured you turn the screw on the blade which draws the blade up into the lifter bore.

As for as where to locate it in the bore it doesn't specify, but it makes it out as you position the blade in line with the oil hole as the instructions say that the blade screw will turn free once it hits the oil hole. However I don't know if that is the idea position as I am not sure that it is over the cam and will drop oil before the cam rotates under the lifter. I may change that it directly over the cam, but comes up to the level of the oil hole. If the cam lobe was centered in the bore (which it isn't), I think the ideal position would be the far passenger side of the block (cam side). However, since the lobe is offset I believe the ideal position for the cut to be directly over the lobe, offset from the far side.

The directions are less than stellar.

[SilverXJ]

Got my Mopar Performance MLS head gasket today. It measures .041" in the metal only areas and .055"- .060" in the metal and blue sealant areas. I think I am going to revise my plans a bit and aim for a .045-.046" quench.

[SilverXJ]

So... I can't remember which side the squirt holes on the rods point to... I think the cams side but I can't remember correctly. Can I get conformation on this?

[Mgardiner1]

Oiling holes point towards the cam side

[bratcop]

I might be a bit late, but from what I have read, you might be pushing up close to the ping zone with DCR at 8.23:1. I feel confident that it will run on premium, but it might be a bit close to top of ping free range. I am sure it will be fine, and there are many more here that know much more than I. Since I am the only one to express any minor concern, you can probably just ignore me...

Bratcop

[SilverXJ]

I think I may be walking a fine line. My previous stroker had more compression but a worse quench. I was able to run midgrade on it though. So I have less compression and a better quench... I might be able to get away with regular... maybe... I would like to run regular but if I can't then so be it.

[Mgardiner1]

Thats exactly how i approached the situation. I'm running about 8.25 DCR with .57 quench. I'm on my first tank of midgrade with no problems yet. if i have to stay with mid/premium, so be it.

Hell, just for piece of mind, there is a good chance i'll always run higher then regular grade anyway

[gradon]

I have a high DCR of 8.57 or so and a quench of .062-3"(could be .008" lower if I get that VR/MP gasket and some new ARPs--need a good excuse 1st). I always put 93 in it, but I did run a tank of 91 w/o probs and I'm w/in 100' of sea-level.

[SilverXJ]

Everything is at the machine shop now. Well, aside from the crank pulley, freeze plugs (i forgot them) and the flex plate. They do the flexplate and the harmonic balancer in all their builds separately from internally balancing the rotating assembly and it is included in the balancing cost.

[Mgardiner1]

Any updates Chris? I know the holiday's usually slow things down....

[SilverXJ]

Not a whole lot of action on this. The parts are at the machine shop.. and its was bear season.. and apparently the machinist is a big bear hunter... I knew it would take them a while but they do good work. Other than that I went to my storage unit to arrange things some and organize the parts. Also, I ordered a 136 amp alternator to swap in now. Since I need to grind the alternator mount and engine block to get it to fit I thought it would be easier to do that with the engine out of the bay. I am also working on some custom sill plates made from aluminum on the router.

I did receive my header back Thermal Tech Coatings, http://www.thermaltechcoatings.com/. I had it coated in their Turbo X 2000 coating which is good for 2000 degrees. Similar to Jet hot.




Also, I did a little custom touch on my oil pan


And there is where my Jeep currently sits... my garage away from my garage.. its a storage unit

[SilverXJ]

Nothing new here. I thought about taking my parts to another machine shop but I don't know of anyone local that has a good reputation besides Terry Walters in Roanoke. They a) didn't want to assemble my engine with my parts (although they weren't going to turn away machining it with my parts..wtf?) and b) they never returned my THREE phone calls for pricing. I don't care how good your rep is, but if you can't even return a call for pricing you don't get my business. Another thing odd is they acted like they recognized my name... which I can guarantee is impossible since I have never called them before and my name is quite scarce here.

I gave my current shop a date of 2/10/2009 that I would need my engine by. I don't think they are going to meet my given deadline, but as I said before I have dealt with them in the past and they top notch work. I also know that they are sloooow, so I was prepared for the wait. Really, since my last experience with a stroker motor I will wait for top notch work. Also, their engine assembly fee includes blue printing (which in my case is just the short block minus timing and cam), so I may have them do that too. They are truly decent people though. It is a small mom and pop store and I spent about 5 hours today just shooting the shit with the mom side, Sandy.

In other news while it is down I upgraded the wiring to 2 gauge marine wiring... which is nearly impossible to route with out the engine and accessories installed.. I found that the late model Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7L alternators won't fit for a swap as well (even with grinding the bracket and block as dome on older ZJ alts). So, I am looking at alternatives for a high amp alternator.

I also lost a bid by $2 (ending bid was $35, and I was at the machine shop a lot longer than I thought I would be) on a uses K&N w/o the heat shield.

Oh yeah.. I also had a dream where I had my new engine installed and I forgot to do the cam break in.... I'm not joking... I also have dreams where my jeep gets stolen (again) and when I miss a college class for a semester than need to take/fail the final exam.. oh well..

-Chris

[SilverXJ]

After thinking about the adjustable lifter groove boring tool I think it is a bad idea. There is no way to adjust the depth and you simply can't pull it to where it needs to be. The best way I thought to use it is to count the turns to get the blade where you want it. A lot of margin for error. So I purchased the correct tool for our block with the adjustable blade... the other one will go up on ebay.

This also means that the machine shop hasn't started on the block.. however on a positive note They gave me a price of $600 for the whole 9 yards on the block.. including assembly, balancing and blue printing.. Remember that saying.. good, fast or cheap.. pick two.. well it appears I picked good and cheap.. no fast by any means.

[SilverXJ]

We started work on the engine on Saturday. I had originally intended to use the one size fits all lifter bore groover. After thinking hard about, looking at the tool I decided against it. 1) There is no way to set the blade's depth, 2) the way the 4.0L block is designed (lifters so far down) it would have been a pain to line it up, tighten it down and then cut (uses allen head screws to extend the locking foot and move the blade) 3) it was iffy at best. I purchased a comp cams Chrysler sized tool. from Northern Auto Parts (cheapest price I found) and we used that. Its very easy to use and control the depth. For those of you that haven't used it there is a set screw that connects to the back of the blade (which is double sided) to set the cutting depth. We got around .010" cut. As far as just pulling it thought the case block, that is a joke. I don't think the aluminum handle would take the forces needed to pull it though. I gave the machinist a hand as he tapped the tool with the end of a hammer and I pulled it though. I think the most resistance was from actually starting the cut. Some cuts came out slightly curved, but they started where they should be, which is the most important part, right above the center of the lobe. The job took all of 30 minutes including setting the blade depth. I'm happy with the results the tool gave so far. I plan on keeping it, but will probably rent it out for other people to use as I find it stupid to spend $130 for a tool that takes 30 minutes to use.

The real machining should start on Tuesday. The total price for boring, decking, freeze plug install, install arp bolts, resize rods, cleaning, balancing and assembly and blue printing is $789.

-Chris

[SilverXJ]

Big problem. The machine shop had a crank lined up to buy from their supplier in .010"/.010". So I purchased .010/.010 Cleavite bearings. Notched the rod bearings and had them cryo treated. Today the machine shop tells me that the crank was sold buy the supplier to someone else after the salesman she used got fired. She just found this out last week. So, now I have no crank and I don't know if I will find a .010/.010 crank. I'll omit some choice vocabulary and uses these smilies instead. (max number of smilies 10?)

Yeah, I'm a bit pissed considering that they had the parts since around Christmas and I have been asking her about the crank since.