Official Noah's Mad Max Gn complete engine build...

[noahzark]

Hi everyone...im still pretty new to the boards but have been lurking around for awhile now...gathering information...so heres the story....im in auto tech school and have a shop with a friend...i brought my 87 grand national into the college and decided i would rebuild my car and the goal was to run in the tens....

i thought 5k would do it ...lol...but as you know im now about 15k into the build and cant take any shortcuts without risking failure...so...this is the start im posting some pics of what was in the car when i started and will continue to update with pics and info on procedures and challenges...there are many...so this is how it starts....

...in the beginning there was....

 

[gnxtc2]

The 2nd pic, is that a Mitsu motor?

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[noahzark]

lol...that is one of the school rebuild motors j...not sure how it got mixed in withmy gn pics...did kind of look funny

 

[SouthernCal GN]

You gonna have that thing together for Turbo Thunder in July?

 

[noahzark]

...heres the next installment of the continuing saga of an ugly toxic beast...

...it is green with ENVY...

...got the block back recently from the machine shop...2300 later its ready for assembly....mains and rods bearing clearances at .018...im installing an rjc girdle...new cat crank...k1 rods...comp cam kit 210/215...diamond pistons....20 over cylinder bore...

...yes i painted it green...more to come...

 

[blown okie]

no shame in green i painted mine ford blue, just to screw eith people.

 

[TOMS86GN]

Looks good. Cant wait for updates. Keep us posted

no shame in green i painted mine ford blue, just to screw eith people.

Do you still have that engine? Why i ask is i bought mine a year ago and its the same color. Hated it at first but i think it maybe growing on me

 

[noahzark]

here are the nice shiny pistons from diamond...with k1 rods...stock size rods and .20 over pistons...circlips were tricky at first...best advice was to stretch them out a little bit and then twist it in its groove in the piston and follow it along with a small screwdriver pushing the rest of it down in a circle...easy after that...

...the piston rings were from total seal ...the top and second ring both had barely any ring gap so out came the ring gapper file ...top ring was filed to
.020 and the second done a little bit bigger at .022...the oil ring spec has a huge allowance so they were left alone as i know most are out of the box...

 

[noahzark]

...next dropped in the cat crank...got a great deal on the crank but they do take a lot of cleaning up at the machine shop...mine needed mallory metal added to it for balancing and you need to have a woodruff key fabricated or i believe weber racing sells one that will work...either way a crank that starts out at 300 turns into close to 800 when your done...but it sure is nice and shiny too...

...last pic is of my b*t*ch...i mean my car...

 

[noahzark]

...used a neoprene seal for the rear main...slid one half under the crank and put the other piece in the rear main cap ...fit nice...put a line of "the right stuff under the cap across the main to prevent any leaks...put the rear main cap in place and the squeezed some of the rtv in the two sides of the cap ...then pushed the two rubber strip seals down the sides...then put the pins in and pushed those down....one side seal sat flush the other needed a small trim...then tightened down the rear main...i didnt torque it just put it down tight for now...

...i slid all the main bearings on the caps ...added assembly lube and put the caps down...not torqued yet...i also put arp main studs down ...then the laminate shims for the girdle ...all hand tight for now...pan rail studs as well ...they came with the rjc girdle...crank still turns fluidly...good sign...

 

[turbofabricator]

Noah, If it's not too late, remove the rubber side seals on the rear main cap, and take a caulking gun with "Ultra-Black" sealant in it and pump the Ultra-Black into the cavities on both sides of the main cap. You will be able to see the silicone squeeze out along the main cap and block. This works MUCH better than the rubber side seals. Everything else looks fine.

 

[noahzark]

...heres some updates...put the timing cover on...needed two gaskets as i used the first one and torqued it all down to measure and get the proper cam endplay...comp cams calls for .005-.010...i ended up with about .008 using 5 of the 6 shims provided with the cam thrust button...so good enough for me...time to put button in new gasket torque down...

...remember there are about six bolts that run into water jacket holes so i used a liquid teflon sealer on those ones...the rest were dry...

...next lets put the girdle on...

 

[noahzark]

...heres the girdle install...

...put all the smaller pan rail studs provided in the rjc kit down just a bit tighter than hand tight...i then circled all the studs with "the right stuff" rtv sealant and then joined them in line with more sealant...

...next down goes the girdle...torqed the mains down using arp moly with the bolts starting from the inside mains working my way out...started at 45 ft. lbs then to 60 then 70 then 80 then 90...let that sit for a bit (hour)...

...then i put rtv sealant in all the recessed bores in the girdle and put the washers over top of that and then the nuts...all of them hand tight...

...i then backed off all of the mains and torque cycled them again...and again...and one more time...

...the pan rail studs were then all torqued down to the recommended 25ft. lbs...looks ok and crank still smooth movement...

 

[noahzark]

...uh oh...remember that crank oil slinger that goes on before you put the front timing cover on...umm ya had to start over take it apart and redo do it...lol...murphy's law i blame it on...anyway im getting good at this...heh...

...well lets put some more pistons in now...position the ring gaps as detailed in the total seal instructions...take apart the rod cap...make sure the bearings are installed and assembly lube smothered on them...ring compressor put around piston and rings and squeeeeeeze...piston says front so put it that way...drop piston down bore...tap compressor so its flat on block surface...turn the crank so its in the proper position to line up with the rod...using the hammer handle tap down and line up rod with crank...turn crank some more and put on rod cap...

...use the k1 rod bolt lube ...the arp bolts that come with it the arp 2000...they call for 30 ft. lbs. with a torque wrench and for best results break out the torque angle gauge and turn it another 60 degrees...yes it feels tight but as long as the crank is smooth you should be ok...

 

[Boost231]

lookin good keep us posted

 

[noahzark]

...well heres the next freakin problem and this one pisses me off...k1 rods call for .008-.012 rod side clearance...im only getting a tight .005...from what im hearing thats just a bit too tight...im using the clevite 1228p bearings on the rods and they are about as narrow as they get...so lots of talk of chamfering the bearings but these bearings dont even come close to the fillets of the cat crank...sooooooooooo...

...the only thing i can do now is take the damn pistons out again and take a few thou off the big side of the rod...what a pain in the ass...just another issue with the cat crank imo...they may be made out of better metal than stock but other than that the craftsmanship has been total crap filled with extra work, money and lots of wasted time...argggggggggghhhh....

...im going to take some metal off the side of the rod by machine or maybe even by hand but for now im going to start on my heads and break out the die grinder and grind down the sides of the rocker pedestals so i can fit some t and d roller rockers on my ported iron heads...need a break from this bottom end...hopefully this build starts to flow a bit better now but i have my doubts...

 

[Boost231]

bump whats the word?

 

[noahzark]

...sorry for the delay ...long weekend and i can only get in the school shop three hours a day which is driving me nuts...

...anyway to the build...

...off the big side of the k1 rods i taped emery cloth and then wet/dry sandpaper to glass and shave off about 4 thousands to get the proper rod side clearance numbers...time consuming but its best to do things the right way rather than slack off...so i got between 8 and 12 thous. clearance now and i am happy with that.

...next i put in the pick up tube extension that came with the rjc girdle...funny thing is it needed a bit of machining it had a small fitment issue with its angle and the girdle...no problem just broke out the belt sander and a bit of die grinding and shes good to go...i spray the two small gaskets with the red permatex spray on stuff ...i find it gives a good seal and sticks to your surfaces so it lines up nice...then put the pick up tube on ...

...next step is to put down the black sealant " the right stuff " on the girdle ...circles around the bolts and lines to join up...lay down the cork gasket...i then did a bead on the inside of the gasket edge and on the outside...i then did the bolt circles and lines on top of the gasket ...then on goes the rjc deep oil pan...pan bolts call for 88 inch pounds torque so i start with 50 inch pounds...im letting it sit overnight at that torque setting ...ill go in tomorrow and finish them up at 88...

...also the oil dipstick doesnt quite clear the girdle so i cut that off bout 1/4 inch and now it slides in with a push...im going to be getting an aftermarket dipstick and tube as my stock one is wayyyy too loose and oil will be flying out of there...ps...i also bought an rjc crank scraper ...you see it in the pics on the side of the girdle...loctice three bolts it comes with and shes done...

...well thats it for now...see ya soon...noah.

 

[noahzark]

...more pics...

 

[noahzark]

...more...