Engine choices

[99Vortec]

i think you should just put a diesel in it

A fellow I knew about 25 years ago had a *ord truck with a cummings turbo diesel in it I believe it was. Had enough torque to pull a house down.

This was not a stock engine. Something straight out of an eighteen wheeler I think.

It was ridiculous in a good way. Had massive exhaust diameter....

Not exactly sure about the specifics but I think he bought it that way and paid like $12K-14K for it.


Sorry for off topic.

 

[chaingun427]

My personal needs are for slightly beyond stock hp/torque without spending a mint to build and or maintain it. As far as being a "legacy 350" all I can say is that if you keep the same basic design for 50 years there has to be a reason why lol. I looked into doing a 5.3, and the extra cost and complexity of the new harness and computer put that outside my price range. Right now I'm looking at a **** 383 kit with 18cc dished pistons and 5.7 inch rods. Cam is identical to the ht383e and compression is roughly 9.2:1 if I did my math right. I'm thinking of marrying it to an nv4500 manual with manual transfer case instead of a 4l65e like I had originally planned, but that's on the back burner until the engine is done. Will hand grinding the rings to spec help reduce the piston slap as opposed to the mass produced rings in the crate engines? Im sure the **** pistons are as good as gm's if not better but I'd like to keep that to a minimum

 

[SunlitComet]

Piston slap is more a issue of clearances of piston to bore. Rings will not save you.

 

[chaingun427]

I wonder if my machine shop can machine the bores to match the pistons? Idk of the just have a set size or if it can be done to precisely match them

 

[jdpber]

The head combustion chamber along with valve travel is your issue. The easiest solution is changing your rods. No need to mess with the bore of the cyl walls as long as compression is at the desired levels. Your stroke is the issue if you are slapping the heads

 

[chaingun427]

It's not slapping the heads, unless I am mistaken we were referring to the piston skirt slapping the cylinder walls. I'd think that anyone here rebuilding an engine from the ground up would check their piston to head clearances before assembling the engine

 

[jdpber]

^ k

Yea and this was how I interpreted the issue. Without seeing internals I cannot truly answer.

And did your dad not teach you about assumptions? They are no good in life.

Believe nothing you hear and only half or what you actually see.

 

[SunlitComet]

You would basically get over sized pistons and bore out the cylinder as needed to get the clearance you need. You can not undo the machining tho.

 

[chaingun427]

Right, it's a 350 right now. I'm assuming the machine shop can take them one by one and machine the bores to match right. I know piston slap at startup usually isn't an issue but I want this engine to last. What is the consensus on ARP studs for the heads and mains?

 

[SunlitComet]

Correct. take the next oversize piston up the line and machine the bore to get the clearances you need. Arp makes great products and should not present any issues at all. Very often used in racing engine builds.