"Stone Soup" 401

Discussion in ''Da Nailhead' started by Bigpig455, Feb 9, 2019.

  1. gsgtx

    gsgtx Silver Level contributor

    Rhett, did you mean to say spec out on 110 lsa or did you do it with 100 lsa
     
  2. Are main bearings tough to get for the nailhead or is it just performance-oriented main bearings
     
  3. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    I dont know about the mains, I just called Carmen for everything and it showed up...I do believe they are Clevite's but I dontt have them here to look at. My crank and mains are .010 under.

    Joe - good catch, all were spec'd at 110 and installed straight up.. I did spec most at +4 also, the general result was they made more HP and TQ up to 4000, but less HP and TQ peak overall. I'm shooting for peak power from 3000-5000 rpm so I can launch as clean as possible on those skinny little whitewalls, especially if I go to 3.73's.

    Derek - Joe "looked' at these for me, and Tommy put in 11/32nd 1.90 intake valves with LS-1 springs. they flow at 73, 131,177, 210, 220, 227. which is ALMOST TOTALLY STOCK (thats what we're going with for this discussion). I'm willing to consider any cam, and try them back to back once I've gotten this thing through at least one full racing season. But remember I'm up against the PSMCDR rules:

    Camshaft: The camshaft must be correct for the year, model, and horsepower claimed for the type of lifter (hydraulic or solid). Roller cams NOT allowed. Duration at .050" lobe lift must be within 1% of factory specs. Lift at the valve must be within 2% of factory specs. Engines must be able to produce at least 16.0 inches of vacuum at 1200 rpm. However, some factory-produced engines were not able to generate 16.0 inches in showroom condition, so those cars will be given a variance to the rule. Solid-lifter cams lift checked at zero lash.


    I'm willing to ..um...bend those rules, but I really want to do this as clean as possible. Also, this car sees kind of alot of road miles.. I need it to idle well and LOW - I like my idle at 600 RPM, not blind you with fumes and give good vacuum. So there's the design parameters. My philosophy to this point is to go with the least amount of cam necessary to get me another 85 or so HP on this build.

    And because people love a visual, this is the beater 65 taking an undeserved 2 of 3 win against a very nice 74 Super Duty T/A at the 2015 Pure Stocks. I ran a bunch of really hot cars that weekend, and even with the old motor this car would 60 ft with most all of them.

    upload_2019-2-17_9-46-21.jpeg
     
  4. telriv

    telriv Founders Club Member

    There is zero performance orientated mains for the "Nails" ONLY rebuilders choice OR If you can find them Michigen , King or the expensive Clevites.
     
    Bigpig455 and GranSportSedan like this.
  5. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Tommy! Guess I got lucky he sent the Clevites...?
     
  6. wkillgs

    wkillgs Gold Level Contributor

    Ok I see Jegs/Summit/Amazon have the Clevite/Mahle/Sealed Power avail for about$200 a set. They were over $300 a few years ago. Kings Bearings catalog pages aren't working.
     
    Bigpig455 likes this.
  7. gsgtx

    gsgtx Silver Level contributor

    Rhett was talking about head gaskets and deck heights. does anybody know or have used 2 factory steel .015 head gaskets stacked up to make a .030 gasket ?
     
  8. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    I was thinking about that - I know the Turbo V-6 guys do that...
     
  9. what would the advantage be to doing this vs using a .030-.035 composite gasket?
     
  10. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    There would be none, except I dont believe such a thing exists...for a nailhead anyway.
     
    GranSportSedan likes this.
  11. in that case I will have my block decked with that in mind and plan on using a composite gasket.
     
  12. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    If youre in the engine, you're gonna be buying pistons so use those to set the compression ratio - deck the block first to know where the deck height ends up (you can use 10.004 as a guestimate) - as I'm learning it kinda goes:

    Deck and bore/hone the block to spec the pistons, to spec the quench, headgaskets and static CR, to pick the cam to get the DCR. Resize the rods and mock up the mains to measure the bores, then cut the crank to get the proper clearances. Then bolt it all together and hope like hell you measured right.
     
    GranSportSedan likes this.
  13. gsgtx

    gsgtx Silver Level contributor

    cometic will custom make head gaskets, think there over 100.00 a pair, not sure of the wait time. they make multi layered gaskets thats why i was thinking about double up the stock ones
     
    GranSportSedan likes this.
  14. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    I looked on their website and they dont appear to have a pattern for a Nailhead....
     
  15. gsgtx

    gsgtx Silver Level contributor

    they will make them up for a nailhead.
     
  16. telriv

    telriv Founders Club Member

    Last I heard is that Cometic does not have the pattern for the "Nail" nor do they want to. I do know that Hussy has the patterns & will make them. Back in '53-'54 Buick doubled up on head gaskets to help with the detonation problems they were having with the beginning "Nails'.
    Stock "Nails" I've done deck heights on an untouched engine varied between 10.002-10.020. Quite a range. That's one of the reasons off the shelf pistons can be "in the hole" .065"-.085" compounding detonation problems. One of the reasons we like .025"-.050" quench.
    It seems that in the past year or so since Mahle took over Clevite the mains have come down in price. Hopefully the "Quality" is still there.
    I've used the Rebuilder mains a few times with NO apparent problems.
     
    gsgtx likes this.
  17. gs66

    gs66 Silver Level contributor

    Rhett, I will probably be in Stanton to watch you this year. Hoping everything works out and we can make it over there.
     
  18. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Jim - It's a GREAT race, I encourage anyone to make the effort to get to Stanton. Go once, and it'll be on your agenda every year.

    Tommy - I'm betting you're right about Cometic, but it does look like Hussey will make anything you want (no prices listed) They are made out of straight copper in thicknesses from .035 up, by the thousandth all the way to .125. Do we know anyone who has used them? I'll make some calls today and see.
     
  19. gsgtx

    gsgtx Silver Level contributor

    just talked with Wes at cometic phone 440-354-0777, they will make a copper gasket @ .020 or .027 or .032. price 100.00 dollars. now you would have to o-ring the block. nice to know that you can use 2 steel gaskets. the rebuilders chioce is all i ever used never a problem
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2019
    Custom65GS likes this.
  20. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Ha ! Me too, same story. Told me the reason he cant make composites is he didnt have a ring large enough (bore?)

    Short version, we have head gasket choices to set the quench in a safe "target zone".

    Gonna check with Hussey next on thickness and pricing. Cometic was 200.00 a set.
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2019

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