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View Full Version : Mild pump gas 454 build and dyno test.



obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:48 PM
There was quite a bit of indecision by the owner on this build, to say the least. I tried to educate him as best I could as to the differences in size, power and cost, and after discussing 468 flat tappet, vs 496 and then roller cam options, he decided he wanted to go with the flat tappet 468. I had a nice rotating assembly with 7416 forged GM crank, GM rods and Arias forged pistons, along with some nice 990 heads. This engine is to go in an 18' jetboat, and the customer lives in Utah and runs at altitude. As it came closer to time to assemble his engine, there was talk about moving to the river, and I had 2nd thoughts about the compression ratio the domed Arias pistons would provide with the 990 iron heads, so made the decision to purchase new KB Icon forged pistons that would yield 9.6-1 compression that I deemed safe and appropriate for a pump gas iron headed engine. It was sometime later, after that assembly had come back from balance that he decided that it would be more fun to have a solid roller cam, and to dyno the engine, which meant he would like some bragging rights....hmm so now we have a mild compression engine that we were going to run a dual plane aluminum intake and single carb, hmm might have to give that some thought.

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:49 PM
We started with an extra nice 4 bolt 454 block,, freshly bored and honed .061" oversize (the extra .001" for the marine application)

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5402.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5403.jpg

Here is one of the new KB forged pistons:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5453.jpg

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:49 PM
The block gets the standard "Obnoxious" deburr treatment, which is not only cosmetically pleasing, but also helps prevent the owner getting cut while cleaning the bilge in the boat. Before and after photos of several details on the block:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5697.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5702.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:50 PM
A few more "detail" photos, including rear main cap for smoother oil flow, and also the oil return to the block from the oil filter:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5709.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:51 PM
I am not able to shoot photos during the block washing process with the degreaser and water flying all over, but I normally do a complete 3 step wash, solvent or degreaser with brushes and scrubbing,, high pressure water through all passages, then a soap and water wash, applied with a high pressure sprayer,, more brushes and scrubbing, another high pressure application of a more diluted soap and water mix,, and then finally all oil passages rinsed with a very high pressure nozzle on the hose, every direction it can be accessed from.

The cylinders get oiled down as soon as they are blown out, and the block is allowed to dry prior to masking for paint. I have dedicated oil pan, timing cover and pipe plugs so that I can do a neat job and not get overspray on gasket areas. I use masking tape and paper to cover the top, tracing the outline of the head gasket rather than just a straight line of tape.

I also prefer to install the new brass freeze plugs prior to painting, since they won't stay shiny very long. I have always had excellent luck with Aviation grade Permatex(by Loctite now) brushed into the holes in the block carefully, so there won't be a bunch on the surface I want to paint.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5715.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:52 PM
After the block is painted, I install the cam bearings. The box shows the positions the bearings need to go in, and to make it easy I use a felt pen to write the numbers on them near the oil hole that will need to be aligned with the oil hole from the main saddle. Durabond cam bearings are the accepted norm for most of my builds. When something works with no failures, why change?

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I think the glare obscures the oil hole in the bearing, but it gets carefully aligned with the oil passage in the block, so the cam bearing won't be starved for oil.

I put a piece of white paper towel inside the installed bearing so I could get a photograph showing the entire hole of the bearing is basically centered in the oil passage.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5725.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5723.jpg

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:52 PM
Then valley screens are epoxied into the valley since it's a roller cam engine, just in case there is a problem with a lifter tie bar or something, to help prevent debris getting into the bottom end and beating parts up.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5742.jpg

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:53 PM
The crankshaft was measured, and bearing clearances determined by torquing bearings in place. I guess I didn't get photos of the mains being measured on this one, but here is one of the rods being checked with the dial bore gauge.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5755.jpg

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:54 PM
Some of the new parts waiting to go in the new engine, next to the notes on bearing measurement prior to adding the rod bearing clearances.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5746.jpg

The "fitted" main bearings are set into the saddles and lubricated with a good quality assembly lube. Here I use Clevite bearing lube that gets carefully spread on the clean bearings. I also put a bit on the rear main seal after it has been "glued" to the block and rear main cap. Note also the correct direction of the lip of the rear main seal.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5749.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:55 PM
Here's a few shots showing the cleaned, assembled rods and pistons, and one of the rod cap showing the fresh hone marks from being resized. They also get the Clevite bearing lube. Main and rod bolts all get lubricated with oil prior to assemble, necessary to achieve proper torque specs. Note the blue rod bolt protectors, used to keep the rod bolts from nicking the crank.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5756.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:55 PM
The camshaft installed, the double roller timing set is installed. Make sure the oil galley plugs are put into the block first, otherwise you might forget and have a huge internal oil leak. The camshaft is "degreed" or checked with a degree wheel to make sure it's installed as it was designed. In this instance, I had to use the 4 degree retard position(after the photo was taken, since it clearly shows it straight up, or at 0 degrees), and installed the 112 LC cam at 110.5, or 1 1/2 degrees advanced, primarily to counter the affect of the timing chain stretching.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN5754.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:56 PM
I have taken a strong liking to the Cloyes two piece timing covers, with the built in adjustable cam thrust adjustment. I think it's practically fool proof, and saves a bunch of time cutting down a thrust bumper for proper cam end play. The Cloyes cover does not include a front seal, so don't forget to buy one, and it should be carefully pressed into place. I use gasket cinch to help insure there are no leaks around the perimeter of the seal. I also care fully oil the thrust prior to bolting it onto the cover, and had previously oiled the thrust bearing behind the billet timing gear, as well as putting some oil on the chain and gears.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6095.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:56 PM
I have taken a strong liking to the Cloyes two piece timing covers, with the built in adjustable cam thrust adjustment. I think it's practically fool proof, and saves a bunch of time cutting down a thrust bumper for proper cam end play. The Cloyes cover does not include a front seal, so don't forget to buy one, and it should be carefully pressed into place. I use gasket cinch to help insure there are no leaks around the perimeter of the seal. I also care fully oil the thrust prior to bolting it onto the cover, and had previously oiled the thrust bearing behind the billet timing gear, as well as putting some oil on the chain and gears.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6095.jpg

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http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6098.jpg

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:57 PM
I like the one piece pan gaskets,, not so wild about the bright blue Fel Pro against a black engine, so I use grey ROL gaskets, which appear to be identical to the more expensive GM gaskets. I tried some red Permatex gasket adhesive on the front seal instead of my normal Gasketcinch. Other than the two ends, I use just a tiny bit of silicone at all 4 corners, both between the block and gasket, and also between gasket and pan, and a small bead on the bottom of the pan gasket ends.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6104.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:58 PM
After taking the 990 heads to the machine shop to be cleaned and get a freshen up valve job, it was evident they were a nice piece, polished chambers,, and ported intake and exhaust runners. The roller valve springs get checked on the Rimac spring tester to verify that they are what I thought I was buying., and then set at 1.900" installed height for about 225 lbs on the seat.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6123.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:58 PM
The heads then get a treatment similar to the block. All surfaces masked, spark plugs holes included, intake surface masked and trimmed to match the intake gaskets.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6116.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6117.jpg

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:59 PM
The Fel Pro 1027 head gaskets are set onto a carefully cleaned block surface, and the head surfaces are also cleaned to help insure proper sealing. Then they are bolted onto the block with a new set of ARP cylinder head bolts and torqued according to ARP instructions, using a high quality pipe thread sealer on the threads since the head bolt holes go into the water jackets in the block.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6119.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6127.jpg

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 03:59 PM
Although there is a large number of roller lifters available, I chose to use the new Comp Endure X lifter with the forced roller oiling. The rockers are a really nice set of used Comp Pro Magnum rockers, with a brand new set of ARP poly locks. Pushrods are Comp .080" wall one piece pushrods. Length was determined with adjustable pushrods set to give proper geometry. The lifters get soaked for a bit in a mix of STP and oil, so that it won't all run off right away


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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 04:01 PM
Once Dave decided he wanted a roller cam, I suggested changing the original dual plane intake to a single plane, figuring it would work better with higher rpm. I tried a Dart single plane intake, but it would not clear the ridge on the 990 heads, so I spent a few minutes thinking about grinding the edge of the intake,, or removing the heads and grinding them,,, wasn't excited about either. I had offered to get the Dart intake polished, but Dave declined, so while I was looking over the problem, I decided to get a polished Professional Products intake that would compliment the look of the new Quick Fuel carb, Rex stainless steel scoop, and fabricated Obnoxious Racing Engines valve covers that still had not arrived.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6134.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 04:02 PM
Ok,, still no valve covers, but had to get it on the dyno so I didn't miss my turn. I put some cast aluminum ones on for the dyno test, which was probably a fine idea anyway to keep the new fabricated ones from being scratched up. I chose the dyno at Sissell's Racing Heads, mostly because I know Mike Kirby and trusted him to take good care of the engine I spent so much time putting together, and I knew I would be allowed to be as involved as I wanted to be with it as well.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6143.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 04:02 PM
Here's Mike checking the specific gravity of the 91 octane pump gas. One of the guys asked why I wasn't running it with race gas. My reply was how would that help tune and determine how it was to be normally run? The engine got run for a bit to build some heat, and run a bit with a mild load to help seat the rings. There's also a couple of shots of the computer monitor. I tried to catch one at peak horsepower, but wasn't that quick on the shutter.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6150.jpg

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obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 04:03 PM
I somehow opted to set the timing at 34 degrees total for the first pull, even though I would normally think about 36 degrees. Coupled with the custom Quick Fuel 850 CFM carb that was built to match this engine's specs, right down to cam size, jet boat application, RPM range, and even my guess at horsepower, the first pull on the dyno was almost equal to the best we made for the day. A second pull so that Mike could have a better feel for the torque of the engine netted a best of 606 horsepower at 6300 rpm, and 566.9 ft/lbs torque at 4800-5000 rpm, with torque numbers over 500 ft/lbs between 4000 and 6000 rpm.

We did pulls with 36 degrees of timing,, and also jetted down a couple of sizes looking for more heat and power, but both dropped a little bit of power.

I chose to run Torco Racing Oil for the dyno runs since it was available right there, even though I normally would just recommend running something that is easy to get anywhere, such as Vavoline Racing Oil,, which many regular parts stores still sell. The dyno oil will be drained and the oil filter changed before it leaves to go into the boat.

The ratio of horsepower to cubic inches worked out at almost 1.3-1. I think we could have pulled more power with a touch more compression (remember this engine is only 9.6-1), but for what it is, it makes a lot of bang for the buck! I am pretty sure some guys with tunnel ram engines are going to be left scratching their heads when this clean little sleeper runs past them.

obnoxious001
01-08-2013, 04:04 PM
So,, Dave picked up the finished product today:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o256/obnoxious001/Dave%20Lee%20468/DSCN6184.jpg

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WMC
01-08-2013, 06:28 PM
Looks good Barry. love the valve covers

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

Wendi
01-09-2013, 09:23 AM
Now this is what I'm talking about. Good stuff Barry. You've got talent!!!

GoFastRacer
01-09-2013, 08:32 PM
Looks good Barry..:action-smiley-035:

obnoxious001
01-09-2013, 11:16 PM
Thanks William, Wendi and Art.

Wheeler
01-10-2013, 10:07 PM
Very nice Barry, thanks for taking the time to post it!

obnoxious001
01-17-2013, 03:13 PM
Very nice Barry, thanks for taking the time to post it!

Thanks for taking the time to look!

niceguyeddie
02-08-2013, 01:05 PM
Very cool build!

niceguyeddie
02-08-2013, 01:23 PM
What kinda boat is this going in?

rivermobster
02-08-2013, 02:27 PM
Nice write up bro!

Tapatalk 2.0/HTC One

obnoxious001
02-08-2013, 04:09 PM
Very cool build!


Nice write up bro!



Thanks guys,, put this one together a few years ago for a jet boat. First outing, before he did anything to the pump, he beat a boat with 100 more cubic inches.

niceguyeddie
02-11-2013, 08:29 PM
he beat a boat with 100 more cubic inches.

You can't shake a stick at that.

Brian
09-18-2013, 10:33 AM
Just read this for the first time. Great read! I did have a few questions:

1. I didn't see any mention of you hanging the rods or filing piston rings. Is that something top secret?

2. I noticed that you used what appears to be a stock GM balancer. I was surprised to see you run this instead of a decent after market piece that is but together a little better. Comments?


Brian

obnoxious001
09-18-2013, 12:00 PM
Just read this for the first time. Great read! I did have a few questions:

1. I didn't see any mention of you hanging the rods or filing piston rings. Is that something top secret?

2. I noticed that you used what appears to be a stock GM balancer. I was surprised to see you run this instead of a decent after market piece that is but together a little better. Comments?


Brian

This started off as a mild budget build and escalated as it went, it's possible those Hastings rings were pre gapped and just checked for minimum clearance. Same thing with the damper, it started off with a goal of 500 HP. Some of the spiffy looking budget aftermarket dampers seem to be worse than GM, on a more expensive build, certainly better parts are chosen and used. Nothing special on hanging the pistons, bronze bushed rods, the pistons have spirolocks.

You can see how long since anyone commented on this thread,, it takes quite a bit of time to shoot photos, especially when you consider I need to stop what I am doing and wash my hands to handle the camera, and then several hours of writing and photo editing to post. Maybe it's time to look through some photos and write up something new. I was at Parker over the weekend and there were several boats with forced induction engines that I put together running this weekend.

SofaKingFast
09-18-2013, 01:09 PM
That looks liks a nice build. I hope to do that on my motor which is a 468 roller now. Maybe make some more cubic inch improvements. :-)