All main studs are installed finger-tight, with just an added scooch to make sure they’re seated. The main caps slid on easily, with no stud splaying interference. Be careful when installing the main caps. Each cap is numbered for location, as is the block. Be sure to install caps with cap numbers on the same [...]
LS PROJECT, PART 2 BLOCK PREP AND BALANCING by Mike Mavrigian all photos by author We swapped out the OE torque-plus-angle main cap bolts for a set of ARP studs. This will provide added strength and will eliminate wear on the block’s female threads during future servicing. I recently visited Gressman Powersports where Scott Gressman [...]
CLAMP LOAD Bore distortion is generally directly related to clamp load. The clamp load must restrain combustion lift-off force and still provide adequate force for the gasket to do its job. Additional clamp load generally only leads to additional bore distortion. In other words, tightening head fasteners beyond the recommended specification will only hurt. The [...]
CYLINDER BORE DISTORTION Understanding static and dynamic cylinder bore shape. by Mike Mavrigian All illustrations courtesy Mahle-Clevi This stress graph illustrates how a cylinder bore may be distorted from round to out-of-round as a result of head fastener loads. This dimensional “isometric” view further illustrates static dimensional shift that can occur from cylinder head installation. [...]
HONING THE CYLINDERS Following a recommendation from our buddies at Sunnen, we visited Gressman at Gressman Powersports in Fremont, Ohio (Gressman has built a number of 632 motors, in addition to countless big-number drag, sprint car and road-race engines). Naturally, the Ohio winter weather forced us to drive in sub-zero temperatures. Even with the block [...]
PROJECT 632, PART 2 We hone the block and determine bottom-end clearances. by Mike Mavrigian photos by author With our new pistons in hand, it was now time to hone the cylinders to size. As you may recall from our previous article, our target is to build an all-motor 632 cubic-inch big block featuring 15:1 [...]
Subscribe to Precision Engine
Sign up for our E-newsletter