Planning a new 383 build that is now going to be a 400

[87vette81big]

Sorry for the loss of your friend Bob.
Hanging out with Rick will be good for both of you.
55 is young yet.
43 here & 44 later this year.

 

[Indycars]

I really hate to hear that, maybe I can lighten your load and take your mind off last week while you are here. If you have the right attitude to be an RN in the past, then you have to be someone who cares about others.

 

[grumpyvette]

just remember gentlemen....lots of clear and detailed pictures of course are required, while you work on either those cylinder heads or the t-bucket engine install!

 

[Indycars]

Yes Sir !

 

[busterrm]

Okay gentlemen, I am in new territory here, first time to cc a set of heads. So Rick is the bossman! I am waiting for their lil companion Zoey to come and supervise us! Rick just informed me that Zoey will be supervising me, as he doesn't need any supervision. :roll:

 

[busterrm]

Pesky lil varmits, a small speck of dirt got caught in the burret and we had to start all over again. GRRRRRR!!!!!

 

[Indycars]

Pictures probably better at telling everyone what we've been up to today instead using my words.








Busterrm: Had a accident on the work table, red stuff everywhere. My lil block holding the head fell out and one valve got bumped and it peed red alcohol all over.

 

[busterrm]

Okay we made the first pass of ccing the heads. Rick is preparing for the engine and tranny install.
Here are a few pics of our results, which amazed both Rick and myself! A friend had told me that RHS head casting are usually pretty accurate, this proves it! So basically what we are going to do is polish and deburr them and reassemble them.

 

[grumpyvette]

wow! you guys are so darn good Id let you work on my cars without supervision, and I won,t usually even go to a chevy dealership mechanic unless I know the guys I have working on my car so that really does say you guys are impressive!

 

[busterrm]

Well Grumpy, that was just measuring! We are having a discussion on the contact area of valve seating. The valves as produced from RHS have a very narrow seat contact area. We lapped one exhaust and came up with two different measures. Average of the two is .0435, possibly different areas measured. Are these dimenisions what we need?

 

[grumpyvette]

Most of the machinists prefer an intake-seat width of 0.040-0.060 inch. Narrower seats generally improve flow but are also less durable. Narrow seats work best on drag-race applications where the engine is freshened often, I generally try to go for durability and try to lap the seats to fall in the .050-.055 range on intake valve seats and .070-.080 on exhaust seat widths. Harder seat materials (e.g., induction-hardened seats) allow you to run slightly narrower seat widths than in the past while retaining excellent durability. Since exhaust valves operate at extreme temperatures, they require a wider seat to conduct heat away from the valve through the seat. Most shops specify 0.060- to 0.080-inch seat width for the exhaust side.

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=8460&p=29682#p29682

viewtopic.php?f=52&t=1159&p=2362&hilit=lapping#p2362

 

[busterrm]

How much will our .043" seat width typically increase in the first hour the engine is running ???

Will it come close to the preferred .080" width???

Rick

 

[grumpyvette]

I doubt youll be able to feel or measure the difference
without a flow bench and accurate dyno,
the thinner seat may not last as quite as long by a few thousand miles but again I doubt youll notice in the real world

 

[busterrm]

These are the heads with no modifications, we are polishing them at the moment. Again, Rick and I were very amazed that the chambers were as uniform in raw form.

 

[busterrm]

Well, after mine and Ricks 3 day trek to do my heads, I finished lapping the valve seats tonight. I am sure Rick will be glad to know that both the exhaust and intake widened within specs. The 500 grit lapping compound I have worked well, after just one pass with the lapping tool the intakes are around .045 -.050, and the exhausts are around .060 -065. Once I clean the dyken red dye off the seats I will polish the valves and use a head gasket I have and polish the area where rest of the cylinder lines up with head to make the full circle. Then I will clean them up real well and reassemble them. I think I will have good luck once the pistons are polished. These probe pistons already have a dull luster to them already, so getting a good polish will not be hard.

 

[busterrm]

Here are some pictures from our Little RHS head project:
During the cc'ing process.

About to start the polishing process.

Last pass of polishing, you can see the polishing compound in the chamber to the far right.

First head is polished and Rick is lapping the seats. We did a preliminary pass lapping the seats, the compound Rick had is fine and a few seats needed a little more work.

 

[busterrm]

Here are some misc pics, of course these are Rick as the photographer and me applying the elbow or axle grease.


The little cloud says that we had to make a couple stops to hold the plexiglass on the head, as we had it leveled just a little off to have the bubble at the top of the chamber where the burret ran the liquid into the chamber.

The little cloud says that we used lithium grease to create a seal around the chamber against the plexiglass.

 

[87vette81big]

Very Nice Bob.
Your RHS Heads are some of the Highest Quality cylinder heads anywhere.
Rank at the Top of Race Heads like Brodix
Latest combustion chamber design that Top Sportsman drag racers use.
The Nova is going to surprise many on the street.
If enough rear tire traction the Front tires will have sunlight underneath.

 

[busterrm]

Okay, before I go any farther, I forgot a very important thing. My friend Rick did me a wonderful favor and I need to say this.
A great big THANK YOU to Indycars for helping me do the work on my heads, and for putting up with this Old Texan!

Well, I got home tonight and decided at least one of the heads would be done before I shower and go to sleep. Well, the drivers side is reassembled, I did all the clearance checks to assure proper operation when the engine is running. I only ran into one snag, I misplaced one of the Super Locks(10 degree), man I looked everywhere no lock. So I stole one from the other head, get the head assembled. Then what do I find underneath the lid to my Diet Coke? Yes, you guessed it, the missing lock. Here is a suggestion to anyone using Super Locks, those suckers are hard to keep in place while letting off the spring compressor. My buddy Bill and I invented a new product, we call it "B and B's gooumpuckie", guaranteed to keep anything in place while assembling engine components. We are going to make it lime green dye # 14, coolest stuff, and its slicker than monkey spit. :lol:
Actually, I pulled out my can of high temp disc brake bearing grease (aka gooumpukie) and dabbed a lil bit on each lock and it worked like a charm.

 

[Indycars]

I believe you should be nice to everyone ......even most Texans look like this !!!

I think you might be alittle late to market with your gooumpuckie! :lol: