The time has come to breathe life into the "Sha-Dough"!

[Lugert]

Yup, located a block (with a little help from Todd N.) to start a new motor build.
This will see the track again this year. (I hope)

[Reaper1]

Nice! I wanna see how she does!

[csxtra]

Good to hear Bryan...Make sure you check to be sure the steering rack mounting bolts are tight before you run it!

[Lugert]

Good to hear Bryan...Make sure you check to be sure the steering rack mounting bolts are tight before you run it!

Oh, Wise Guy!

Yeah, I really think I might be going back to a completely stock bottom end and stock head.
I just need to know how far I can go. I was convinced after my last dyno run with my old set up that I could break the 10 second barrier with a completely stock block, intake and head.

[Lugert]

Picked up the donor block today.

[amoparx]

Welcome back Bryan!

[Lugert]

Welcome back Bryan!

Thanks Bob!

[Shadow]

Oh, Wise Guy!

Yeah, I really think I might be going back to a completely stock bottom end and stock head.
I just need to know how far I can go. I was convinced after my last dyno run with my old set up that I could break the 10 second barrier with a completely stock block, intake and head.

From what I've experienced so far + watching what Pat has done, I totally agree with you. Not saying it will be easy (unless you plan on adding spray?) but deff doable. Great to see someone willing to Challenge themselves with limitations like this, Good luck!

[Lugert]

Robert, nice car!

[Shadow]

Thanks, interestingly enough, and since my back-up plan for the last 5 years has just been to drop a stock bottom end in IF the mtr was to go boom, (until I actually take the time to really build something) I had run the idea through my head of what the difference would be going to a completely stock head. So I deff get your thinking on this.

My conclusion was that I couldn't see myself loosing more than around 50WHP (G-head) and the car would deff still go well into the tens on that. Now I was Not going to change back to a stock intake and at this point I would also have left the F4 cam in there.

So, if I were to add the drop back to stock intake then I would be looking at a loss closer to 100ish WHP which would still leave around 450WHP. Loose the cam and you'd prob be looking at closer to 400-420whp, still capable of a ten second run If the car is light enough and If suspension, gear and tune + driver are all up to the task.

Of course this is all just "thinking out loud" at this point, as the Real #'s difference may have been a whole different story (but would have been very interesting to see exactly what those #'s would have been)

[Lugert]

Well here is the Donor Motor. Hope all is good with the block.
I want to stay 2.2 because I like A LOT of boost!

I guess we will see what the machine shop has to say about my old parts. Not sure which way I am going yet.

Here is something I wrote on another thread a while back:

My car was a Stock Block, Stock Pistons (cast) and a Stock Head.

I was running a stock computer with a grainger valve, some slicks, bigger turbo and intercooler.
I just added a lot of fuel and boost...34 pounds of it!
Sure #4 piston would break now and then, but I kept them in stock! LOL!

I could have gone faster, and I should have.

After I ran my 11.52 I went to the Dyno to tune my car better with a Calibration and a adjustable cam gear.
I found 57 Horsepower on the Dyno. No ----, I have the sheets to prove it. It was Dec. 13, 2003
When I left the Dyno my car was putting down 337 HP and over 400 ft-lbs of Torque to the wheels.

So come Spring I was ready to hit a low 11, possibly a 10.
Well at the track my car would NOT go straight.
The in car video would scare you.
I got very close to the wall on more than one run. Not fun.
I tried everything I could. Tire pressure, pressure in the rear air shocks.

Low and behold a month later I found the problem.
A Loose steering rack! Are you kidding me! WOW was I pissed.

By this time I already had my motor out and to a machine shop to get a real motor built.
Custom Aluminum Rods, Custom Forged Pistons.
I sent my transmission out to be gone through.
I got a new torque converter.
I caged my car.
I added Nitrous.
I got a bigger Turbo
I got an electric fuel pump.
I got a ported head with big --- valves
Hell, I got calibrations from 3 different people!
I spent a lot of money.

End result. when I towed my car out to SDAC in 2004?
A motor that would not hold a head gasket at idle!!

Not only me, but my brother had the same issues.
So I gave up for a while.

I do still think someone could run a 10 with cast pistons. I really do. It should have been me damn it!

[Vigo]

Yeah, I really think I might be going back to a completely stock bottom end and stock head.
I just need to know how far I can go. I was convinced after my last dyno run with my old set up that I could break the 10 second barrier with a completely stock block, intake and head.

Wow, i cant believe i didnt notice this thread right away, but i am totally on board with your whole concept and very happy to see you back at it. I kind of figured based on your results which really werent optimized with custom tuning, that it would be possible to make even more through the stock head.

I've got to admit, i have 0 love for the stock 1pc intake and 0 interest in it's limits as a completely stock piece. However, i did plan to do something with my Aries project (which i havent touched in a LONG time) with a 1pc: Put a 4" round plenum and 3.3 elbow on top of the STOCK 1pc runners, and see how that worked, since my theory is that the 1pc is more limited by the top half than the bottom half, and that's saying something since the bottom half looks like ----.

SO my theory was that with a half---- modded 1pc, a tbi header (which some consider half----), and an old-school s70/stg1/.48 turbo with a clipped wheel and ported turbine housing, that i should be able to easily hit something around your old dyno numbers, and possibly even get that setup closer to 400whp. And stock head, of course!!

So i have wanted for years to follow a similar path to what you went down back in the day and get something impressive out of what most people would consider crap parts. I'll be watching this thread!

[CSX321]

Super! Happy to see that car still alive.

[Lugert]

Super! Happy to see that car still alive.

Me too!, but you of all people would appreciate this car running again!

Motor is OUT!
Some wierd stuff here with the O-rings going inside the chamber.
And remember, this motor never seen boost!
You should see the piece of CRAP! Oh wait, you can!

[Reaper1]

Is the block o-ringed or is that part of the gasket? If it's the block that has been o-ringed...whoever did it didn't do it right from what *I* know about o-ringing blocks (I have one, but have never put it together). The o-ring is supposed to be captured in a groove, not a step. If that's the case it's no wonder the thing wouldn't hold a headgasket. The pressure was getting behind the o-ring and distorting it and blowing it back into the cylinder.

The only way to "fix" that block (if what I'm thinking is correct) is to deck the step out of it! OUCH!

[Lugert]

The o-Ring was properly done.
It sits in a groove.
It is suppose to stay there.
Just looks like excessive heat that caused it.
Not sure.

[Shadow]

Wow, that is one Fawked up H/G!

[Reaper1]

I've heard in some instances in order for an o-ring to work correctly that sometimes there needs to be a "receiver groove" in the head so that the deformed fire ring has someplace to go. Dunno if that was actually the issue here, and not many run o-ringed blocks in this community, so hard to say.

[Lugert]

Actually that was tried originally.
There were receiving groves in the head.
Tries many different gaskets, many different combinations
The engine builder is to blame.

I even went so far to remove the groves from the head at one point.
Still did not help.

[Pat]

In the pics, the wire looks huge. Is it possible the wrong wire was used for the size of the groove cut into the block?

I've only worked on one O ringed block and the wire sits only a few thou over the deck of the block. It's just enough to put a bit of extra squeeze on the underside of the fire ring of the hg. There's no receiver groove in the head. When pulled apart, there is only a slight groove pressed into the underside of the fire ring. This motor has run like this for many, many years and has never had a hg issue.