Completed Project Brandon's mild 4.0 OHV build

So, as of 5 hours ago Ronin8002, or James' built OHV block became mine; and with the stea.. I mean deal I got and all the extra goodies he threw in, he seemed a little too happy to get rid of this thing :shifty_ey... lol! But WOW this thing is in good shape! As a christmas gift from my parents, I've been given the opportunity to really dig into an engine like I've always wanted to do. I've watched and assisted a couple chevy 350 builds over the past few months but have never done anything by myself.. so here goes nothin!

The Meat (James' Block):
- 1995 block bored .030 over and torque honed
- Keith Black Hypereutectic 1995 Style Pistons (staying around 9:1)
- Total Seal piston rings
- Clevite bearings
- Stock Water pump/timing cover (awesome shape!)
- Stock Fuel Rail
- SOHC Oil pump/pan - to strengthen up the bottom end
-- Possible port/polish on the lower intake, we'll see when I get there

The Goodies:
- Comp Cams 49-422-8 Cam
- Comp Cams 988-12 dual valve springs
- 95tm heads with minor porting/polishing

(on the way, supposedly 11/28/10)
- SI sev2027 and sev2028 valves
- Delta Cam rockers
and pushrods will come later down the road when properly measured

I'm going to keep a diary as things progress on the motor, once I get all the parts in it really should start coming together quickly. I'm down for any type of constructive criticism you have, if you don't like the way I'm doing something PLEASE let me know, as this will be my true first solo go at an engine! JD4242 has really given me a lot of direction when it comes to the 4.0, by reading through his posts in the forums I'm still baffled by the amount of knowledge he has of these things. So, many thanks to you JD!

First order of business, I need help tracking down a full gasket kit, reasonably priced as the budget is dwindling down, I hear an ebay seller has them for around $130??, as well as new head stud/bolts. I'm not feeling ARP's $400 set of head bolts/studs. Does anyone have any suggestions or leads on either?

Thanks for lookin! Here's a couple of teaser pics! Pics of the motor when I get it all unpackaged and on a stand.

-Brandon

 

[jd4242]

So this thing back up and runiing??

 

[Brandon96]

Nope, honest to goodness just haven't had time to put it back together! And all I have left to do is replace the driver's side valve gasket.. PATHETIC RIGHT!?!?!

it WILL be done this weekend though, I have saturday AND sunday off, nothing to do at all

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Nope not pathetic at all-the amount of time you have put into this is incredible. After all the issues/problems/parts you have faced I would say you are doing great. I get real agitated having to re-do work and usually put it on the backburner...

 

[Brandon96]

It's done fellas!

No more fuel and oil leaks!! woohoo!

I'll get some pictures and video up PROBABLY monday, as I had to redo a little bit of RTV that I'm going to let sit for 24 hours before I even touch it.

Fel-Pro's hard plastic/rubber gasket did the trick!

 

[GRNMACHINE]

AWESOME!!!!! And Congratz

 

[Ronin8002]

Glad to hear. Now get out there and wheel it!

 

[jd4242]

Good to hear!! Do you happen to have a droid or iphone?

 

[Brandon96]

No, I haz a stoopid enV Touch.

I need to get with the smartphone age clearly.. and thanks guys!!

 

[jd4242]

Yea they got a pretty sweet dyno and 1/4 mile app!!

 

[Brandon96]

Oh crap, my scanguageII has a HP thing that I coded in via their website, I forgot about that!! The best I could ever come up with on the old engine was 180hp at the crank, how accurate that is, I don't know, but I doubt at all, but maybe I'll give it a go monday afternoon or something.. will keep you posted.

 

[jd4242]

Maybe close,20% lose for 4x4 put you around 140 at the ground.it should give you an idea of the improvements though.hp really dont mean anything with these trucks.its allways boils down to track time!! My app said i was around 230ish,cant remember exactly right now,but that was with my old gears.should be way higher now,as it bases alot of time and mph and im sure ive nocked 2 to 3 sec off my 1/4 time now.so it should be around 250 ish at crank,so around 200 to the ground.im getting it dyno soon after i paint it and build my MS ecm for it,im shooting for 220ish to the ground before nos,350-400 after nos!!

 

[Xeek]

aweosme! more videos please.

what you use jd? i just use speedview for 1/4 and 0-60. ive never done the 1/4th tho, havent found a place to try it, va beach blvd doesnt work lol

 

[jd4242]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266433

 

[Ronin8002]

Maybe close,20% lose for 4x4 put you around 140 at the ground.it should give you an idea of the improvements though.hp really dont mean anything with these trucks.its allways boils down to track time!! My app said i was around 230ish,cant remember exactly right now,but that was with my old gears.should be way higher now,as it bases alot of time and mph and im sure ive nocked 2 to 3 sec off my 1/4 time now.so it should be around 250 ish at crank,so around 200 to the ground.im getting it dyno soon after i paint it and build my MS ecm for it,im shooting for 220ish to the ground before nos,350-400 after nos!!

I think 8secsplash has/had a setup a lot like yours JD. with a 75 shot he was pretty close to 300 HP but his torque was somewhere around 450 He had a built C4 trans in there to hold the power.

Of course he was running race gas for that since it was a track vehicle but I would not be surprised if you get close.

 

[jd4242]

Yea he was at stock compression and 75 is weak for the 4.0. I ran 75 in my 1.8, 4 cylinder.i plan on the least a 100 shot and my trans is built well but got a feeling it wont last!!i would like to go 150 with the water/meth!! Good thing with nos is its easier on trans as it dont kick in till your allready rolling!!

 

[Brandon96]

I'm looking at Road & Track, MotorTrend and Top Gear's reviews of the Iphone/Ipod App 'Dynolicious.' Apparently it gets pretty freakin' close to any of the in-car GPS/Accelerometer based Dynos, and is usually within 1% of the Mustang Dyno if Calibrated and mounted right.

Seeing how I have 8 bucks in my Apple account that I didn't know of, and it costs $13, I might just spend the 5 bucks for the hell of it and try it out...

EDIT -- Excuse me, I'm seeing 1% between Dynolicious and the other in-car stuff, and within 1-2% of the Mustang Dyno.

 

[jd4242]

Do it!!

 

[Brandon96]

Ok, I couldn't help myself...

After driving it around all day and putting nearly 250 miles on it.. I had to go out and do a few Dyno runs.. I correctly calibrated and did a base test with Dynolicious on my cousin's Mustang. Dynolicious came up consistently with 331hp, his car was DynoJet'ed at 333hp. So this thing can only be but so wrong right?

My best comparison I've got;

BEFORE
- K&N FIPK Intake System ("cold air" if you can call it that..)
- gutted secondary cat with single in/dual out 3" Flowmaster 40 series exhaust, 2.5" pipes from y-pipe back.
- 4.10 gears w/ 33" tires

BEST I could come up with on ScanguageII was 180hp, but it was RARE.


I set my truck's weight at 5,371 lbs - which is what the door sticker says I think, need to recheck but I DID set it at the door sticker to give the benefit of the doubt, my truck probably weighs a bit more with me in it and 33" tires which could potentially boost the hp a bit more than it was.. I also gave my truck 20% drivetrain loss being 4x4 and have 170k on the trans and transfer case. AS WELL as 33in tires...

IF anyone needs any proof, tell me how to take a screen capture on an ipod touch and I'll post it up; here's what I got

AFTER

This was my best run (out of 4) I averaged VERY CLOSE to these numbers though.

0-10 : 1.05 sec
0-20 : 2.16 sec
0-30 : 3.42 sec
0-40 : 4.82 sec
0-50 : 6.57 sec
0-60 : 8.81 sec
0-70 : 11.27 sec
0-80 : 14.48 sec

060' : 2.86 sec @ 24.6 mph
330' : 7.28 sec @ 52.7 mph
1/8 : 10.81 sec @ 67.6 mph
1000' : 14.04 sec @ 78.0 mph
1.4 : 16.57 sec @ 84.5 mph

Max Speed : 85.1 mph
Max Accel : 0.49 G's
Peak HP : 258 HP (<-- must be close as ScanGuageII was telling me 254hp)

REMEMBER - this is a dumb Ipod App called Dynolicious, it has the potential to be very wrong, but I did compare it to known hp, and it was very very close. If you see anything wrong with these numbers tell me, I BY NO MEANS am an expert in Dyno testing of a vehicle.

JD - I was looking at your Dyno tests, I think your screwing yourself HP wise on your tests as your truck more than likely is over 5000 lbs, and probably has a lot higher drag coefficient. The STOCK '96 has a .43 drag coefficient. I know mine has to be higher than that because it's lifted, more of the underside is exposed. The 1st Gen's HAVE to be higher than that because they were so square, plus your is waay of the ground, that's going to be more drag your fighting when accelerating, meaning that app will compensate HP wise.

I suggest getting a hold of an iphone or ipod with Dynolicious - look at all the reviews, when it's properly calibrated and mounted, it's pretty freakin' close. It only needs to know the weight and drivetrain loss, or it will give you the HP at the wheels.

 

[Brandon96]

also,

This was on 89 Octane pump gas, no tune, 4.10 gears and 33" tires.

 

[jd4242]

Noo i know mine is off and i kno i nockck a couple sec off.i need to redo it with new gears and still be off.im drunk now.post more info tomorrow! !