Today I ordered the cam that gsgtx (joe) came up with on a thread started here called 425 cam question.If you remember it seems to cover a lot of the cam selections for the nailhead. The only thing that I changed was the lsa 110* to a lsa 112*. Tom T. thought it would help out with vaccum for the new disc brakes and it's an air conditioned car.Walt if you remember you ran that cam(Joe's)on your 2003 dyno program on your PC and thought it would be a great selection. That thread helped me in making this selection.This was the first part purchased in this build so stay tuned for more. I would like to start a build sheet for others to know what worked and didn't work for me and the cost involved. The comp cam and the lifters cost $285.00. Thanks for everybodys input.
Cool! Sounds like a great choice!:TU: Joe's was 218/230 duration with 110 lobe separation Greg's will have 112 lobe separation. The Poston NH400 Bob and I are running is 218/228 with 114 lobe separation. Comp Cams standard 'Extreme Energy' designs are: 212/218-110 218/224-110 224/230-110 230/236-110 On the Dyno 2003 computer simulations, the Nailhead performs much better when you use the next bigger exhaust lobe.... Combos like 218/230 and 224/236 work awesome!
Greg i am sure now you need the comp 869# lifter there the ones i have, they are the same as 455 buick, not the 852# lifter which is the oldsmobile ones. 112 lsa with your 3-speed and 336 gears is fine.
I contacted Greg Gessler today about a set of stage 3 heads. He told me that he had a set of stage 4 heads that he could let me have at a great price. He had this on the self for another guy who he never showed up, I guess his loss is my gain. He had put in a set of 11/32valve stem valves along with a bigger exhaust a 1.6.With the bigger exhaust is that going to cost me a little work on the stock piston or any other work other than put them on?
the valve springs will have to have 120-125 seat 270-280 open,Greg G. he can shim them for more pressure his are like 90-105 seat- 230-250 open, i think.
I would consider going in for a group buy for a set of forged pistons for a 401 in .030 or .040 oversize. I don't plan on doing a rebuild in the near future but would like to have a set on the shelf when the time comes. If we could get at least 10 people commited for the same set we can get the price down under $600?o No:
Joe, more concerned about the exhaust valve being alittle bigger. If that was going to make me get the piston cut to fit the bigger exhaust valves.
Most aftermarket pistons have 2 valve notches the same size big enough for the intake valve. A larger dia exhaust valve shouldn't be an issue. Your Comp cam is a bit bigger than the Poston NH400 I used. With steel head gasket and roller rockers, my v-p clearance was snug.....around 0.075". Isky sells a nice cutter that fits in place of the valve for cutting your own valve notches.
Walt is right why not give them a little more cut your machine shop might have the tool already. the springs are important for the same reason if the vavles start to float they will hit the piston.with the comp cam specs you might be less than .075.you can measure the thickness of the piston were the notches are to see how much you can cut.the steel gasket is about .015 and fel pro are about .041 so you can pick up .025 there. stock compr is about 9.75. but with a fel pro .041 will be about 9.25 and cutting the notchs deeper will lower it more like 9.65-and 9.15. i hate to tell you this but with 100,000 miles theres got to be some taper there, the cyl will never have a good seal,your machine shop might tell you you have to bore them out.
need a little help, I have the engine tore down to the last main cap and it seems to be the hardest. The removal the rear main cap. The fly wheel is still on. I had hope to remove it together and use the fly wheel as a stand.Is there a special why to remove the rear main cap? I just took a rubber mallet to get the others off.I had hope to start the deburring tonight, guess not.
getting the rear main cap out can be a pain. partially screw a couple pan bolts on both sides of the rear main cap. use a pry bar to slowly pull out the main cap by alternating back-forth with the pry bar on the two bolts. PB Blaster might help too.
What I do is take the bolts out and then stick the pointed end of a heel bar in the holes and rock the cap back and forth toward the front of the block untill it comes out....
Thought I would show you some pics of the inside and outside of short block.Well I've tried about four times now to post these pics but can't seem to get them in.I've uploaded them from my picasa pics file but says that its a invalid.Any help?
Here are the flow numbers for my Gessler stage-4 heads. Tell me how you think this will work with my cam selection.
Greg I found this on the net. Maybe old news but thought you mike like to compare. Intake Flow at Lift (000=No value listed) 100-200-300-400-500-600 053-110-157-180-190-195 1.87 Nailhead Head (no porting) 059-119-164-179-183-184 1.94 Nailhead Head Conversion by Carmen Faso 062-127-171-197-212-219 1.87 Nailhead Head Ported by Greg Gessler 061-121-172-201-215-223 1.94 Nailhead Head Ported by Steve Magnotti Exhaust Flow at Lift (000=No value listed) 100-200-300-400-500-600 045-077-099-114-119-120 1.50 Nailhead Head (no porting) 048-082-112-120-124-125 1.50 Nailhead Head w/valve job by Carmen Faso 048-083-108-130-138-141 1.50 Nailhead Head Ported by Greg Gessler 052-093-126-141-150-153 1.50 Nailhead Head Ported by Steve Magnotti
