Inlet/exhaust port matching - worth it?
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 10:53 am
Hi everyone.
Im in the depths of the engine rebuild now.
The motor is in lots of bits, gearbox is out for rebuild and parts from the US have been ordered for the motor.
It would seem that my engine has seen some interesting times with what looks like a catastrophic failure (rod cap/bolt) of #8 at some point in its past, and the crank has had some serious work/machining done to resurrect it but unfortunately is past its best so a new 383 crank needed (luckily I have 2 spare!).
All the rods and rod end-caps are in the wrong order, with some stamped with numbers, some not but none of the marked ones in the right spot. It could be that the rods are from another engine/donor after the failure, but they will all be re-checked for ovality and marked to make 100% sure its as good as it can be on a budget.
Block will be chemi-dipped, re-bore to +040 (its +030 currently), new pistons, rings, bearings, cam, followers, chain, oil pump and a host of other things are coming soon so Im hopeful this will see the engine smoother and with a few of its lost horses returned.
Im not going for higher CP or fancy pistons or rings. I`ll leave the block deck as it is with just a clean up skim if needed.
Because everyone loves a picture or two:
Bare block - cam bearings still need to be knocked out and replaced Spare Crank (luckily I picked up a good one that has already been ground and polished to +010 locally). My question for today is port matching. Is it worth it, both in power/torque AND likelihood of over-doing it.
This is what I am faced with (inlet). A small amount of material removed at the corners will see the gasket match the head. If its worth doing, I`ll also be doing the same on the inlet manifold as well as some work on the exhaust side to make sure the exhaust manifold matches with the head.
Its not a large amount of 'meat' to remove, but nevertheless an opportunity to mess it up if Im not careful.
So whats the consensus on these engines? worth doing or lots of work for little to no gain?
Im not after a big HP engine, but if a few free horses can be gained for a bit of work then Im keen to hear about any tips/tricks.
Any suggestions?
Im in the depths of the engine rebuild now.
The motor is in lots of bits, gearbox is out for rebuild and parts from the US have been ordered for the motor.
It would seem that my engine has seen some interesting times with what looks like a catastrophic failure (rod cap/bolt) of #8 at some point in its past, and the crank has had some serious work/machining done to resurrect it but unfortunately is past its best so a new 383 crank needed (luckily I have 2 spare!).
All the rods and rod end-caps are in the wrong order, with some stamped with numbers, some not but none of the marked ones in the right spot. It could be that the rods are from another engine/donor after the failure, but they will all be re-checked for ovality and marked to make 100% sure its as good as it can be on a budget.
Block will be chemi-dipped, re-bore to +040 (its +030 currently), new pistons, rings, bearings, cam, followers, chain, oil pump and a host of other things are coming soon so Im hopeful this will see the engine smoother and with a few of its lost horses returned.
Im not going for higher CP or fancy pistons or rings. I`ll leave the block deck as it is with just a clean up skim if needed.
Because everyone loves a picture or two:
Bare block - cam bearings still need to be knocked out and replaced Spare Crank (luckily I picked up a good one that has already been ground and polished to +010 locally). My question for today is port matching. Is it worth it, both in power/torque AND likelihood of over-doing it.
This is what I am faced with (inlet). A small amount of material removed at the corners will see the gasket match the head. If its worth doing, I`ll also be doing the same on the inlet manifold as well as some work on the exhaust side to make sure the exhaust manifold matches with the head.
Its not a large amount of 'meat' to remove, but nevertheless an opportunity to mess it up if Im not careful.
So whats the consensus on these engines? worth doing or lots of work for little to no gain?
Im not after a big HP engine, but if a few free horses can be gained for a bit of work then Im keen to hear about any tips/tricks.
Any suggestions?