The guy that did the HRM 300 stroker build sells the conversion plates to run sbc roller rockers on 215/300/340 heads. If you use coil on plug a fabricated bracket coming up from the ex. man. bolt holes would keep the coils off of valve covers and close to plugs. Not sure which dis./less system you're using, can you post a pic? The last 10% of the job is often times 90% of the work. Derek
Hey Chris. How do you like that crower 50233 cam? Do you have any videos of it running. That's the cam I was thinking about trying in my next rebuild on my 340 if I don't do a roller cam from TA.
Dan, I don't know yet. I still have to wire in the EFI system. But I did a lot of research on cams and spoke to a few knowledgeable people who recommended this one as the best choice for what I wanted to accomplish - performance but still retaining driveability...in other words, not too big, not too small. This is an interesting comparison of the 50232 with the 50233 cams in Rover engines: http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?6,42479
Thank you for the link Chris. Lot of valuable information on these little motors. Looking forward to seeing your build finished. Awesome little hot rod.
Derek, I am using a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria coil pack, EDIS, and trigger wheel sensor. I don't really have a photo yet but you can see the trigger wheel bolted to the damper in the third photo in my first post. The trigger wheel sensor is mounted on a bracket that is bolted to the fuel pump opening. Ugh. I hate the 10%/90% rule but I think you might be correct! Chris
Sorry about that. LOL Hey Chris, what kind of bushings were used in the rods? Never seen or heard of that before either, press in bushings in the rods and then use press fit wristpin pistons. I have thought about it but wasn't sure how well it would work, has Bruce done this before on other builds with success? Thanks Derek
A friend of mine (Jim Nichols) recommended using this technique. So we spoke to him before we tried it since Bruce hadn't done this before. Then Bruce did a mock up on a spare rod and a did bunch of testing to make sure the bushing wouldn't move. It worked really well. Here are his actual fabrication notes: Connecting rods bushed with steel to accept 0.912" pin at 0.0015" press fit. Bushings made from 1" cold rolled shaft approximately 0.020" wall. 350 Buick rods enlarged to 0.950", bushing has 0.004" press into rod small end, then finished to 0.9105" inside diameter. Rod small end is chamfered and bushing swedged on both sides.
Thanks Chris, are you sure the bushing had .004" press or did it have .0004" press? The pin @ .0015 press would expand the bushing so it doesn't move I would think? And was the bushing bored to size after installed or before? Seems like if there is .004" of press with a .020" walled bushing it would get crushed before it made it in the hole? Sorry for all the questions but it looks like something I may consider doing in the near future and I would like to get it right the first time. Thanks again Derek
Hey Derek I am not in front of the build notes right now but I might have written them down wrong. I will take a look tomorrow if I have time. I am sure Bruce would be more than happy to talk to you about what he did (he is a great guy). Let me know if you want his number. That way you aren't hearing things second hand! Chris
Chris, thanks yes if you could PM his number and a good time that I could call him that would be great. That is a very interesting technique I would love to have that in my bag of tricks when mixing and matching different parts. I considered those pistons for a 300 stroker, I was going to open up the holes on the pistons and get new pins or re-use the 300 piston pins if they were close to being the right length, .028" would of been a lot to hone out and a pain to bore out. You gotta love all the custom work these Buick small blocks need, if you didn't you'd have a sbc in your car. LOL I'm in the process of building a sbb 350 stroker, .103" overbore and a 3.975" stroke using 6.300" nascar take out rods, 380 CID. Nothing bolts on right off the shelf with these sbbs when you build outside the box, they are cool little engines though that someone needs to pioneer. Derek
Okay time for an update... I have been busy assembling my Megasquirt 3.57 EFI system. This includes going distributorless so we made a dummy distributor to drive the oil pump, among other things.You can see it if you squint at the following photo Next I had to get my aluminum fabricator gurus to make me a custom thermostat housing because the original rover one points at about 1 o'clock and contacts the underside of my hood. Here is a shot of the finished motor mounts. They turned out really well. And yes, I spoke to multiple people about head mounted engine mounts before going this route! Next was trying to find a spot for the coils. This is where I wish I had a full sized american car to work with because space is at a premium in the MG!!! But we figured it out and my aluminum guys made me a great box to hid the ugly coils. As I said, space is at a premium but fortunately I have the same clearances between the front of the engine and rad fan as I had with the 215. The piece de resistance is the amazing air intake that the aluminum gurus fabricated. They started with a low profile Spectre Performance intake (4" opening), cut it in half and added a large section with complex bends needed to clear my valve covers, hood, headers, etc. It is still 4" inside diameter so air flow should be sufficient. The photos don't do it justice and all the odd looking ripples, bends, etc. are just reflections. It is almost perfectly smooth.
So am I! But once the engine is running and broken in I still have to install the Trutrac locker diff and add a bit of reinforcement tubing for the subframe.
Weird. I updated this today but it now doesn't show up. Here goes again... Well, it's been a while because I had a number of issues after getting the engine together including a hairline freeze crack that we missed (see photo below). Most everything is sorted except for a cooling issue that I hope to sort out this week. I managed to get to the dyno tuner yesterday but due to the cooling issues, we could only get it to about 90% finished. So I'll be heading back once I find some spare time. The cam is set at 4 degrees, which is probably why my HP is lower than I expected but I'm quite happy with the torque. The numbers are obviously at the wheels, not crank. The throttle response is lightning fast so I'll have to get used to that! The car being tuned at idle...it was tied down for the dyno tuning.. Tuner guru Eldon doing what he does best. The numbers.... I am going to drive it for a bit and see if I feel a need for more HP. That means getting rid of the 4 degrees advance I have with my cam (Crower 50233), based on the advice of others. But I have a feeling that this will suffice, even though I was really going for the magical 300 HP at the wheels!
With 248hp at the wheels, in that light MG, it should be quick. I just love the way everything has been executed. Came together very well.
