[JLMounce]

I've had my engine going in it's current configuration now since late 2015 and in that time I've really driven it as a set it and forget it type deal.

I changed plugs once trying to chase a mis-fire that was just related to a bad plug, but otherwise I haven't done anything but put fuel and oil in it since that time. I don't have a completely accurate accounting of miles, but I believe it's about 20,000 in total.

The bottom end is a +0.30 455 that uses the factory crank and rods topped with TRW pistons. The top end is a set of KRE as cast D-ports that were installed as delivered by Kauffman. He spec'd the cam, springs and pushrods. It's topped with a torker ii intake and a very early FiTech GoEFI 4.

Everything actually looks pretty good for the most part. the plugs show fairly even fuel distribution. Much better than the P4B and FiTech combination that I had on the engine prior to the head and cam package upgrade. The plugs do appear to be a little hot however, so I'll consider going down a heat range on those.

the BOP composite gear is in good condition with some very minor pitting/galling at the bottom portion of the gear teeth. Considering the gear is on a $75 china HEI that I never even bothered to check the end-play or cam gear to distributor gear mesh, I'm kind of impressed.

The HS rockers are in great condition with no visible wear to the roller tips or trunions. The sweeps are a bit hard to see, but they are generally centered across the tip of the valve, albeit with a bit larger of a sweep than I'd maybe like to see.

Unfortunately, the oil slick I keep getting under the car isn't just leaky valve-covers and an aging distributor housing gasket. The rear of the valley pan is also leaking. While I was hoping to avoid removing the intake, it looks like I'll be doing that to seal up the valley pan a little better. I used a cork gasket with permatex aviation sealer previously. I'll have to search for some better tricks on getting that sealed up with the engine in the car.

That will however give me the opportunity to inspect the lunati branded morel lifters in the engine as well as the cam lobes.

Once I've got this maintenance completed, the rebuild will include an electric fan, Pro Billet distributor with a conventional coil for timing control and I'm ditching the PVC entirely for a draft can setup from Mighty Mouse solutions.

At the end of the day, every time I open this engine up I'm always surprised at how well it seams to be doing. Especially given its actual age. The engine would have been rebuild (with a set of 62's on top) around late 1997. It predominantly sat for the next 15 or so years. It performs reasonably well and is extremely low maintenance, but most of all it's never been anything but completely reliable.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Ditch the canolis, keep the PCV.

[i82much]

I like this thread. I think your results so far are really what a lot of us are shooting for. I think I remember you saying you had some lifter noise. If so, let us know how those lifters look when you pull them. My comp hyd rollers are a little ticky but I've decided just to live with it unless they get worse. Could be a good data point for a lot of us to find out how yours look after 20k miles!

[grivera]

Great thread Jason- what electric fan and cfm will you be installing?

[4zpeed]

Like the attitude and appreciate the post, interested in your opinion of the lifters.



Frank

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud

Ditch the canolis, keep the PCV.

Im committed right now to trying this hybrid draft/pcv system I had built. Part of the reason I’m in here was because the factory type pcv couldn’t keep up with high rpm, high vacuum cruise. I pushed out about every oil seal in the top-end on several long trips last year.

Fortunately if this doesn’t work well it’s an easy switch back.

Originally Posted by i82much

I like this thread. I think your results so far are really what a lot of us are shooting for. I think I remember you saying you had some lifter noise. If so, let us know how those lifters look when you pull them. My comp hyd rollers are a little ticky but I've decided just to live with it unless they get worse. Could be a good data point for a lot of us to find out how yours look after 20k miles!

Got into the valley tonight. Both the cam and lifters look good. No ridges, everything is where it’s supposed to be. No loose link bar retainers, nothing turned etc. I’ll add photos to the post here.

When I set the valves again, I’m going to go a bit further than the 3/4 turn that is called for to see if they quiet down a bit. At least as far as wear goes, there’s no concern there, they’re just noisy.

Originally Posted by grivera

Great thread Jason- what electric fan and cfm will you be installing?

I went with a Flex-A-Light black magic 180. I believe they rate these a bit above 3000 cfm. Currently there is a GM flex fan that is undersized for the AC shroud and it just doesn’t pull enough air at idle.

Originally Posted by 4zpeed

Like the attitude and appreciate the post, interested in your opinion of the lifters.

Frank

If I was to buy a set of lifters right now, it would be a set of Johnson’s. I believe in the performance street price range they are probably the it thing right now for performance and quiet operation. Based on my inspection of my lifters tonight, I have no reliability worries. They look really good. They unfortunately are pretty noisy. Cliff R recommends tight lashing these things by bottoming them out with a .020 feeler gauge between the valve tip and rocker. That apparently quiets them down, but I would need to measure and purchase new pushrods.

[4zpeed]

Gotcha, not a fan of noise, especially lifters, masks other problems, I don't know how anyone with noisy lifters could actually tell if they had a valve train issue.

Seen Cliff's suggestion and will likely follow that. I'm a Lunati fan, just curious to see the feedback, I did the Voodoo 703 kit, all quiet in the hen house.

Just wondering what kinda RPM's your turning on trips, other then pushing seals it seems very solid, hard to beat reliable. Thanks for spreading the word.



Frank

[Cliff R]

"Part of the reason I’m in here was because the factory type pcv couldn’t keep up with high rpm, high vacuum cruise. I pushed out about every oil seal in the top-end on several long trips last year."

The PCV may not keep up if you simply have too much "blow-by" from the rings. The PCV system is simply designed to scavenge crankcase vapors and burn them in the engine vs venting them to the atmosphere. So it's really nothing more than a controlled leak at idle and light engine load.

If you are pushing out gaskets then the supply venting in the valve cover isn't enough indicating you have excessive blow-by past the rings. I've seen this before with a few engines that otherwise ran flawlessly in all areas. On in particular didn't really show any signs of blow by anyplace until you made a full throttle pass at the track with it or a long pull on the street at WOT. Every single time you attempted that deal it would "push" oil out of the valve cover and several times pushed out the rubber seal at the back of the oil pan. I even added a vent to the other valve cover and it still did it. After that we installed bungs in the headers and ran hoses from each valve cover to them and it still did it.

The cure ended up pulling the engine and replacing the rings.......FWIW.....

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

"Part of the reason I’m in here was because the factory type pcv couldn’t keep up with high rpm, high vacuum cruise. I pushed out about every oil seal in the top-end on several long trips last year."

The PCV may not keep up if you simply have too much "blow-by" from the rings. The PCV system is simply designed to scavenge crankcase vapors and burn them in the engine vs venting them to the atmosphere. So it's really nothing more than a controlled leak at idle and light engine load.

If you are pushing out gaskets then the supply venting in the valve cover isn't enough indicating you have excessive blow-by past the rings. I've seen this before with a few engines that otherwise ran flawlessly in all areas. On in particular didn't really show any signs of blow by anyplace until you made a full throttle pass at the track with it or a long pull on the street at WOT. Every single time you attempted that deal it would "push" oil out of the valve cover and several times pushed out the rubber seal at the back of the oil pan. I even added a vent to the other valve cover and it still did it. After that we installed bungs in the headers and ran hoses from each valve cover to them and it still did it.

The cure ended up pulling the engine and replacing the rings.......FWIW.....

Yes, this is my assumption. The engine itself is closing in on 25 years old and the car sat in various state of dis-repair without the engine being attended to from 1998 to about 2013. Although when I had it open to do the top-end everything looked good, I've always wondered about the ring seal as a result.

The draft system theoretically provides enough ventilation for around 800 hp and I'm hoping it's a stop-gap to keep the engine sealed up and happy for another year or two before the engine gets redone.

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by 4zpeed

Gotcha, not a fan of noise, especially lifters, masks other problems, I don't know how anyone with noisy lifters could actually tell if they had a valve train issue.

Seen Cliff's suggestion and will likely follow that. I'm a Lunati fan, just curious to see the feedback, I did the Voodoo 703 kit, all quiet in the hen house.

Just wondering what kinda RPM's your turning on trips, other then pushing seals it seems very solid, hard to beat reliable. Thanks for spreading the word.



Frank

Prior to my recent gear change, it would run about 3400rpm at 65 mph. I haven't yet had the new combination out on the highway, so I'm not certain what exactly it'll run, but it should be around 2700rpm at 65 mph with the 26" tall tires and 3.31. I don't know how tight or loose my new converter will be compared to the overly tight B&M holeshot 2000 that I replaced.