Hey Guys and Gals, Has anyone out there ever tried using hard block to fill the insides of a cast iron cylinder head? I am thinking if you filled the head and just ran the water through the block then you can port the heads for more flow and not worry about going into the water jackets. Tell me what you guys think about this idea. I am looking for more power so I can win this fastest Stage 1 shootout.
John, I believe the only way you could get by with that is by running on alchohol. But there would be no reason to run water in the block at that point. Jim Burek
Jim, I agree with you that if your running alky then you dont need water. But.... if your cooling the block by running water around the bores would that be enough to keep the engine cool on gas? The water could be pulled from the back of the block and run to a junction box and then back into the radiator. What do you think???
For anything other than an alcohol engine, this would be a BIG problem!!!:shock: The vast majority of the engines heat, happens between the top of the piston and the combustion chamber of the cylinder head!! Look at the 92-97 Chevy LT1 engines - they had reverse cooling. The heads got cooled first, then the block. By doing this, they are able to increase the compression ratio without running into detonation issues! In addition to that, with the cylinders being cooled later, Chevrolet actually found there to be emissions reductions. Apparently, this setup was found to be more efficient power wise and from an emissions standpoint! If anyone is looking for a more efficient cooling medium, try the Evans Cooling System - http://www.evanscooling.com/index2.html. Racers and street/strip guys 'in the know', are using this stuff with GREAT results!!:TU:
Scott, Thanks for the reply. This is the information that I was looking for. When dad and I were first discussing this issue I mentioned to him that the combustion chambers may have to be ceramic coated in an attempt to keep the heat from rising into the cylinder head. John
John, Actually, there are some very effective coatings that can and should be put on the top of the pistons, as well as the bottom of the valves, the combustion chamber itself, etc.!! A friend of mine is a mechanical engineer and a racer who helps build the motor for a good friend's sport modified (SBC). They sent out for some various coatings and applied them to the parts themselves. There are serious benefits to using these - pistons don't get holes burned thru them, chambers retain heat, which of course is power, even the bottom of the intake to keep heat off the incoming charge, inside the intake and exhaust ports - once you get them shaped how you want them, etc. There are also other coatings to use on rotating parts to help eliminate or at least reduce wear. Bearings, dist. gears, oil pump gears, etc. Seems like our Buicks would be a natural for these coatings! Go over to Swain Tech's site: http://www.swaintech.com/race.html. Look their site over real good! It will give you all the info you may want to know, along with stuff we haven't even heard of!!:TU:
I don't think it much matters at that point. If the heads are not being cooled at all, I don't think cooling the top of the block would make any difference. I know I have never heard of just cooing the block, so I guess If I've never heard of it, it must not exist , right? LOL. Anyway, back to the question here, I believe you could do what you want, if and only if you ran on alchohol, and then it would be a tow it to the lanes and tow it down the return road senario most likely. Though I did know a guy years back who ran an econo funny who drove it to the staging lanes, he had a secondary fuel valve that he could use to richen up the engine to cool it down if needed. I don't rcall if he ran a wet block or dry block though. Jim Burek
John, Did you get a chance to check out Swain Tech's site? Should be more power AND reliability to be had with their products!
John, The most critical part to cool is the combustion chamber. Meaning the more you can cool the cylinder heads the more power potential. In serious race applications you will find exotic material valve seats are used to transfer the heat more efficiently, no coating on an aluminum head in the combustion chamber or the piston dome. Piston skirts are a different story.
I am wondering why you would not coat the piston tops or the combustion chamber. I have been using coatings on nearly every internal part and have seen improvements in nearly all of the coated parts. Improvement was gaged more on durability than performance, but I have seen no decrease of performance with any of the coatings and some increase with some of them. I use nitrous and have been coating parts to help save them when the tuneup is off, the ceramic coatings seemed to be the best safety in the combustion area.
Dennis, We have found that there is not a performance advantage in using the coatings in those specific areas. These engines are constantly changing to look for more horsepower and have a very rigorous maintenance routine that includes changing the pistons and other parts very often. The additional cost for coating in these areas is prohibitive for us. We do however pay close attention to there finish.
