Hello Guys and Gals, We recently found a crack in #5 cylinder wall. The crack is located about 2 inches down in number 5 whole and is at the top of the whole towards the lifter galley. So... here are my questions. 1. Can a 455 Buick block that is bored .038 over be sleeved successfully for a race application? 2. If yes, what thickness sleeve should I use? .060, .125? What do you think? 3. Should I have the cylinder wall sonic tested before I do this to make sure there is enough there to put the sleeve in? Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks a bunch!
It's hard to just junk a block with girdle and lots of machine work. I have over a grand in my block. I hope it works out for ya
According to www.lasleeve.com: We make three standard wall thickness sleeves. 1/16" (.0625"), 3/32" (.093"), 1/8" (.125"). Determine your wall thickness by the application required or the cylinder block. Generally, the most popular wall thickness sleeve is 3/32". This size allows oversize bores, while maintaining the strength of most cylinder blocks. The method for determining wall thickness is: Outside diameter minus(-) inside diameter divided by 2 = thickness. For example: 2.375" O.D. - 2.125" I.D. = .250" divided by 2 = .125" (1/8") wall thickness I'm guessing you already have block filler in your coolant passages...if not, now would certainly be a good time. That should really help, compared to no filler at all. LA Sleeve also recommends using a ductile iron for high perf. applications, i.e. blower engines. The ductile (or nodular) iron sleeves are stronger than the usual chrome-moly sleeves.
I think this is one of those times that it's 'safe to assume' that he's running a girdle! Running 9 sec. 1/4's at over 140mph isn't going to happen without a girdle!!:Smarty:
Hey Guys, I guess I should have added more info to my original post. This block has extensive work done to it so I would really like to be able to save it if possible. Below are the block mods. As of now.... 350 1/4 mile passes! 1. Girdled 2. Lifter Valley Filled (I wish T/A would have had there lifter valley girdle when I machined this block) 3. Main journals machined for 3 oil holes in the bearings 4. Decked and O-ringed 5. Machined and Drilled for the Scavanger Oiling System. 6. Hard Blocked So.... this is why I would love to be able to sleeve this block. GSXMEN..... Thanks for the lead on LA Sleeve!!! I called and talked to there tech person briefly. He seems to think that adding a sleeve in most cases will make the cylinder stronger than the original material. I will say that I agree in the case of a small block chevy but the materials used in our Buick BBs is higher quality. What I didn't ask him is this.... The bore on this engine is 4.350 so what is the sleeves actual OD and ID? I am sure it will have to be bored and honed so if I put in a .060 sleeve how much will be remaining after it is machined? He recommended a .090 sleeve. How much of the original cylinder has to be remaining to install a .090 sleeve. As I look into this subject further I will update this thread to keep everyone informed. Right now the cost to have this done is about $180. I am thinking its worth the gamble to save this block until SOMEONE GETS US A NEW BLOCK TO WORK WITH!!!!! Take Care and Thanks
John What year is the block? If the bores look reasonably centered, I'd sleeve it. If any doubt, have it sonic tested especially if it's an earlier block. I remember a few threads about sonic testing awhile back. Here's one....scroll about 1/2 way down. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1693&highlight=sonic+testing
John - On their site, they recommend ordering a sleeve that is .030" smaller than your desired finish bore. That would give you a starting point of 4.320" and an OD of 4.433" - assuming you went with their .093" thick sleeve. If there's room...you might have more 'piece of mind' using the 1/8" sleeve - that would leave you with .095" after boring & honing. You may also find that they have an 'on the shelf' sleeve that is different from those dimensions...but acceptable anyways. I wouldn't sweat having a sleeve installed....I've seen several 'heavy hitters' in this area that have installed a couple of sleeves in their blocks - with NO problems whatsoever!!:TU:
When I worked in a machine shop I put some sleeves in different engine blocks and almost all of the time the bores would go out of round next to sleeve. Maybe I had to tight a fit on the sleeve, anyway something else to consider. :beer Tom
John, Yes, your block can be saved. I had an engine one time that got named Old Faithful. The reason was that it had been blown up three times and had three sleeves installed. Can't remember now but the smallest bore it would have had was 4.375" but most likely was 4.390". Sleeve thickness at final bore was .050", even had two sleeves side by side. One of the bores had the entire lower portion broken off so all I had was a .050 thick sleeve in the crank case. Scary but it ran. This engine pushed the wagon to 9.50's Every time I broke it I thought that was it. But as we all know waiting to the last minute to get ready for the Nat's puts you in a bind. So I would end up repairing the old block. This block had all the pain staking work done to it and it was always quicker to repair it than do up another. The final straw that took it out forever was the last sleeve my machinist (at the time) installed, had put to much interference and it ended up cracking the block right into the main web. I was very upset to say the least. But that machinist was not, he hated repairing it for me. It needed to have a more dramatic death. The crack was found after we ran the car at the Nat's. The sleeve's were purchased from LA Sleeve and were of High Ductile Iron. We remachined them in house with a step at the top because some of the bores had no bottom to seat against. John just fix the thing and get back to business, winning.
Sleeve Hi John .My Dad (Jack), broke a cylinder on his 494 on the dyno on his first pull.The cylinder was paper thin (core shift).They took it off the dyno and sleeved it, and it has been running great every since.This motor dynoed at over 700 horsepower and runs low 10s in a 3850 lbs skylark and he hasnt had a bit of trouble with it.I think he sleeved the cylinders next to the bad one also , but i cant remember.His e-mail is jjhouse at collinsville .com.Email him with your email address and he can explain it better.Take care.Tom Haeffner.
Re: Sleeve The photo is on the following link. Just scroll down the page a bit. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.p...rpage=25&highlight=sonic testing&pagenumber=2
This is good to know, I had the #7 rod bolts break so pieces of the lower portion of the #7 & #8 cylinders in the crank case area are broken off on my girdled, O-ringed, extra head bolts for Stage 2 heads, poured lifter galley 4.350 block. Was wondering if it could be sleeved.
My machinist successfully sleeved my 464 that I ran lady year at the national's. 10.20's. It's my backup shortblock and serves me well so far.
Ran 1 for years with no issues. Most large diesel engines have sleeved cylinders and they take a beating.
