Well kinda back to being able to work. SO am starting on the BIG Countach engine We start with a damage block and salvage it, if it blows up, well no harm no foul as it was no good to start. I felt like I could build a big 6 ++ liter engine for my Countach, so. 1st pic shows block on boring machine. Next I had big sleeves made. Sleeves are the same quality as what would be made for a diesel engine super strong. The SUPER nice people at ADVANCE SLEEVE in OH came through for me, working with me all the way.. Well that is it for today. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well let myself get bit by a dog today, not bad, just on my left hand, not much damage just 2 bite marks, but it is sore. Anyway, we next install a custom redone Diablo crank. Crank is balance "0" at each end. Takes lots of extra time to do that, but I will accept nothing less. The better the balance the better the engine will run and last. We had to make the Diablo crank work in the Countach block. We installed it and, it did not want to turn freely. Checking we found the main bearing saddles were not true. Since this was a damaged block to start with, we line bored it, still was not true. We had to go into each saddle and check it. Found 4 of them to be "0" on one side and as much as .003 off on the other side. So, the guy I work with(old guy like me), says, I can make inserts and square everything up. He did, now crank rotates just fine. Thats it for today.. Stay well everybody. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Missed yesterday, had a Dr. apt. Anyway, we have crank in and turning fine, so next we get the pistons and rods. Pistons by my friends at Wiseco Pistons, they make all my pistons, if you look close at the wrist pin location, you will notice the wrist pin is located into the oil ring area. This was done to compensate for the extra long connecting rod, by my friends at Crower, they make all my rods and have been for over 25 years. Each piston was weighed taking the lightest piston and using TARE function on the scale, each piston was made to weigh within one tenth gr. Most race engine builder are ok with 2 gr difference between pistons, sorry not me. Then the rods were done the same way. Took me around 4 hours to achieve those numbers. Just my way of building an engine. I bet that F1 engine builders go to the same extreme measures when building an engine. Next pic shows the top of the piston, this is how we achieved the 11 to 1 compression. Till next time Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
An update on the 400 GT engine, I everyone remember what it looked like several months ago. Waiting now on distributor caps, and a few other odds and ends, then it is ready to be shipped. Image Unavailable, Please Login
congrats Chad the rings and rubbers for spark cables i supplied to you went into this qv carbed engine or for an other one?
We have talked pistons/crank, now lets look at where the real power is made, the heads, the valves, the retainers/springs, etc. Looking at the pics you can see that my valves are considerable bigger than the stock valves. My intakes are 35 mm and the exhaust are 31 mm, makes a big difference when it comes to making more power. The problem is, you CANNOT use this size valve in a stock bore engine. The 2nd pic shows the normal stock size valves. My heads have Kawasaki valve springs with 25 more lb seat pressure and considerably more open pressure. The retainers are titanium about 1/2 the weight of the stock iron parts. The valve adjusting shims, are from a BMW and are only 2 mm thick compared to the stock parts that are around 4 mm thick. This saves even more weight that the valve spring has to control. The more weight you can remove in that area the less work the spring has to control, means more RPM the engine can turn, without valve problems like valve float.. If you want you can make more power from your heads even with the stock valve, there are a few tricks that can be done and the heads can always be returned to 100 % stock form. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The little things. These are some of the small things, that can be done so engine revs quicker. The idler shafts, notice how thick the 1st pic is and how thin the 2nd is. This makes a big difference in instant throttle response. Also 3rd pic shows the crank gears. I drilled them, and saves quite a bit of rotating mass, again makes a difference. Also cuts down on the load put on the gears. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
This is from the QV engine? Yes, just bits of things I am doing for my big QV engine, the one for my Countach.
As a further update,,,I found out today that it would be at least as much as 6 more weeks before I see the new rods that are being made. DARN, DARN. I am ready to start on this engine NOW.
20 Apr 2019 New rods here.. 1st pic shows difference between stock rod and my new rod. The stock rod weighs a bit over 560 gr. My rods weigh around 528 gr, quite a bit of difference. See the pic and you will see the difference between the rods in weight. I will massage each rod until I have all weighing the same thing. It take several hours to do this, but to me it makes a difference. The better the balance for all the parts the better the engine will be. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thought I would show the old 372 cu in crank vs the new 409 cu in crank. Old 372 cu in crank 1st it weighs right at 60 lbs. The new 409 cu in crank in 2nd pic it only weighs around 40 lbs. Next thing to do, is clean the block considering it has been sitting for quite a while. I will flush all oil holes and main oil feed line in block. Once I am happy with that, will install the 409 crank. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Today we measure valve springs. I measure each outer and each inner spring. I then line up all the outers from the strongest to the weakest. Then I do the same thing with the inners. Then I go back and assemble the strongest outer with the weakest inner. My springs usually end up +/- 5 lb. I have found over the years most people will not take the time to do this. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Lets, go back to the rods. I show weights of 529.20 and 528.36. So rods are not even. BUT when you take rod apart and remove the heavy grease on the bolts, everything changes.. Now the rod that weighted 529.20 now weighs 527.57, the rod that weighed 528.36, now weighs 527.07. So the point is, the grease used makes a BIG difference. Depending on who put the bolts in the rods from the factory, one person may use a little bit of grease the next person a lot. These rods were suppose to be 1gr from the factory, so it would not be much of a job for me to make them all the same. So if someone wants to balance their rods, MAKE sure you clean everything before you start weighing and balancing. It is the little things that count in a race engine and for that matter even a street engine. The closer/better the balance, the longer the life of the engine, naturally depending on how it is cared for. It takes hours to do things correct, but only a few minutes to screw something up, because someone is in a hurry.
What you see, is about 3 hours worth of work, but as you can see, each rod now weighs 525.77 gr. Originally they weighed 528 from the factory. Next is several hours of cleaning everything and matching rods with pistons. I might have a short block done this weekend, unless my wife has something else for me to do. Image Unavailable, Please Login
