Steve Ferguson wrote: Vic, Don't do it! (My wife's words as she's looking
over my shoulder while
I'm reading the digest) , I built that motor following the guidelines in
the article. Remember the title? The motor that Chevrolet should have
built! "All these parts for $2,995.00". Note that the block was
$150.00. It starts there. By the time you get done with that motor it
costs an absolute minimum of $5,000.00. (Labor free!)
The only good thing about that article was the torque claims. Ed Hale
Machine let me have some dyno time & we made 12 passes with that motor
dialing it in. At 3,400 rpm it made 440 ft lbs of torque, at 5,600 rpm
it made 417 hp. It ran with no detonation on 87 octane crap gas, with,
I might add, a static compression ratio of 10.6 to 1. Due, mainly, to
the AFR heads. Which, were $1,800 a pair. Pretty impressive for a
small block, but not for 5 grand. By the way, if you're thinking about
building one of these, it also idles glass smooth with a STOCK Chevrolet
roller cam. 400 Chev block, 327 Chev crank, Ford 6 cyl rods, AFR (305
Chev) heads.
It's still sitting in my garage!
Steve: I am amazed and delighted that somebody in the GMC group built the
engine! That was indeed the engine that interested me. Aside from the
misleading costs, what is the downside to the engine? What use were you
proposing to put it to? My main criteria were the low end torque, lighter
weight, and no-knock on 87.
For all you people interested in steering gear boxes:
I found a fellow outside of Toronto (Borge Hjelm, Racemate, 416 251 9811)
who rebuilds steering boxes and will put in whatever gears you would like.
He charges $200+CDn ($130US) per box. I had the variable ratio put in my
Transmode and if I remember correctly, the 13:1 or 12:1 put in the 1993
Chev pickup. The change in both vehicles was significant. In the truck, it
was quite amazing. I was used to driving non-power steering Hondas and
hated the truck before the change. I also had the number of turns from
side-to-side changed on the truck (which may have happened anyways when the
gears were changed). I think that Borge's background is steering for
Porche's (thus Racemate). Very knowledgeable and very reasonably priced.
You can ship to him via UPS. He turns the boxes around in a couple of days.
He did an exchange on the truck but I wanted to get the same box back on
the RV. As far as I can tell, his variable ratio rebuild for $150US (with
shipping) is the same as the $500 box from Caspro. PS. I just left the
pitman arm on the box and shipped it to Borje due to the problem of not
have a decent puller at hand.
Steve: Thanks for the info on Darryl Young Racing. I will follow up on it.
Chuck D: I will follow up on the reference to the fans. I don't know if the
fellow wants to be contacted (I suspect so) but I will check first or get
the details and post them. If I haven't posted anything in a week, please
email me directly and I will get my butt in gear.
Arch: I haven't tried the Shogun product yet as I haven't re & re'd the
transmission/engine. I'm leaving it until last or until it seems
problematic. If I take too many things apart at once, I seem to have a
problem getting any of them back together. A few too many projects on the
go. I talked with Shogun about the product and it seemed for the $70 it was
worth a try. I'd like to put in as the only change and monitor the
differences (I have temp guages on the pan and on the outlet). I'll likely
buy the thing quite shortly but it will probably be sometime before I
install it.
Tom Warner wrote: Sorry but I may have installed the torque converter also.
Common problem
with the original torque converter is that it baloons and forces the crank
forward spinning the bearings. Put a new engine in and within miles
another
disaster.
Tom: can you expand on this? Under what conditions does this happen?
Peg wrote: Also I am interested in day/night shades but I want something
that will help keep the cold out, is there such a monster out there, if so
name of company and website if available.
Peg: I bought day/nighter shades directly from United Shade (both for my
apartment, my cabin and my RV). Needless to say, we're a fan of them. The
retail division recently changed its name to Patrick Industries ( 219 262
0954). When we bought our first batch (about 3 years ago), they we giving
us prices that were about 40% less than Camping World. They have a number
of models (not quite insulated, but double curtain I believe) so ask for
the catalog/sample book. They take about six weeks to be done. The retail
contact is Jessica.
Vic Marks
Vancouver BC
over my shoulder while
I'm reading the digest) , I built that motor following the guidelines in
the article. Remember the title? The motor that Chevrolet should have
built! "All these parts for $2,995.00". Note that the block was
$150.00. It starts there. By the time you get done with that motor it
costs an absolute minimum of $5,000.00. (Labor free!)
The only good thing about that article was the torque claims. Ed Hale
Machine let me have some dyno time & we made 12 passes with that motor
dialing it in. At 3,400 rpm it made 440 ft lbs of torque, at 5,600 rpm
it made 417 hp. It ran with no detonation on 87 octane crap gas, with,
I might add, a static compression ratio of 10.6 to 1. Due, mainly, to
the AFR heads. Which, were $1,800 a pair. Pretty impressive for a
small block, but not for 5 grand. By the way, if you're thinking about
building one of these, it also idles glass smooth with a STOCK Chevrolet
roller cam. 400 Chev block, 327 Chev crank, Ford 6 cyl rods, AFR (305
Chev) heads.
It's still sitting in my garage!
Steve: I am amazed and delighted that somebody in the GMC group built the
engine! That was indeed the engine that interested me. Aside from the
misleading costs, what is the downside to the engine? What use were you
proposing to put it to? My main criteria were the low end torque, lighter
weight, and no-knock on 87.
For all you people interested in steering gear boxes:
I found a fellow outside of Toronto (Borge Hjelm, Racemate, 416 251 9811)
who rebuilds steering boxes and will put in whatever gears you would like.
He charges $200+CDn ($130US) per box. I had the variable ratio put in my
Transmode and if I remember correctly, the 13:1 or 12:1 put in the 1993
Chev pickup. The change in both vehicles was significant. In the truck, it
was quite amazing. I was used to driving non-power steering Hondas and
hated the truck before the change. I also had the number of turns from
side-to-side changed on the truck (which may have happened anyways when the
gears were changed). I think that Borge's background is steering for
Porche's (thus Racemate). Very knowledgeable and very reasonably priced.
You can ship to him via UPS. He turns the boxes around in a couple of days.
He did an exchange on the truck but I wanted to get the same box back on
the RV. As far as I can tell, his variable ratio rebuild for $150US (with
shipping) is the same as the $500 box from Caspro. PS. I just left the
pitman arm on the box and shipped it to Borje due to the problem of not
have a decent puller at hand.
Steve: Thanks for the info on Darryl Young Racing. I will follow up on it.
Chuck D: I will follow up on the reference to the fans. I don't know if the
fellow wants to be contacted (I suspect so) but I will check first or get
the details and post them. If I haven't posted anything in a week, please
email me directly and I will get my butt in gear.
Arch: I haven't tried the Shogun product yet as I haven't re & re'd the
transmission/engine. I'm leaving it until last or until it seems
problematic. If I take too many things apart at once, I seem to have a
problem getting any of them back together. A few too many projects on the
go. I talked with Shogun about the product and it seemed for the $70 it was
worth a try. I'd like to put in as the only change and monitor the
differences (I have temp guages on the pan and on the outlet). I'll likely
buy the thing quite shortly but it will probably be sometime before I
install it.
Tom Warner wrote: Sorry but I may have installed the torque converter also.
Common problem
with the original torque converter is that it baloons and forces the crank
forward spinning the bearings. Put a new engine in and within miles
another
disaster.
Tom: can you expand on this? Under what conditions does this happen?
Peg wrote: Also I am interested in day/night shades but I want something
that will help keep the cold out, is there such a monster out there, if so
name of company and website if available.
Peg: I bought day/nighter shades directly from United Shade (both for my
apartment, my cabin and my RV). Needless to say, we're a fan of them. The
retail division recently changed its name to Patrick Industries ( 219 262
0954). When we bought our first batch (about 3 years ago), they we giving
us prices that were about 40% less than Camping World. They have a number
of models (not quite insulated, but double curtain I believe) so ask for
the catalog/sample book. They take about six weeks to be done. The retail
contact is Jessica.
Vic Marks
Vancouver BC
