engine builder, february 2014

2014FEBRUARY

EngineBuilderMag.com

BONUSSUPPLEMENT!

>Vintage V8: Cadillac Engines >Oil Specs >Valvetrain Selection

SERVING ENGINE BUILDERS & REBUILDERS SINCE 1964

Weighing In on

Balancing Work

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2 February 2014 | EngineBuilder

ENGINE BUILDER founded Oct. 1964Copyright 2014 Babcox Media Inc.

ENGINE BUILDER (ISSN 1535-041X)(February 2014, Volume 50, Number 02): Published monthly by Babcox Media Inc., 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333 U.S.A. Phone (330) 670-1234, FAX (330) 670-0874. Peri-odical postage paid at Akron, OH 44333 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ENGINE BUILDER, 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333.A limited number of complimentary subscriptions are available to individuals who meet the qualification requirements. Call (330) 670-1234, Ext. 275, to speak to a subscription servicesrepresentative or FAX us at (330) 670-5335. Paid Subscriptions are available for non-qualified subscribers at the following rates: U.S.: $69 for one year. Canada: $89 for one year.Canadian rates include GST. Ohio residents add current county sales tax. Other foreign rates/via air mail: $129 for one year. Payable in advance in U.S. funds. Mail payment to ENGINEBUILDER, P.O. Box 75692, Cleveland, OH 44101-4755. VISA, MasterCard or American Express accepted. Publisher reserves the right to reject any subscription that does not conform tohis standards or buying power coverage. Advertising which is below standard is refused. Opinions in signed articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of this magazine or itspublisher. Diligent effort is made to ensure the integrity of every statement. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by return postage.

COVER DESIGN BY NICHOLE ANDERSON

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.14 Features ON THE COVER

Balancing WorkIn high-revving engines, any imbalance multipliesexponentially as the rpms go up. Whether you're buildinga stock engine, a high-revving performance engine or aslow-turning diesel engine, you can't overlook theimportance of balance. The idea behind balancing is toequalize reciprocating forces as much as possible.........42

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Choosing The Right OilMotor oil can make or break an engine. It lubricates themain and rod bearings, cylinders, pistons and rings, thecamshaft and valve train. It helps cool the bearings,pistons and valve springs, and helps keep the engineclean. When it comes to choosing a motor oil for a givenengine application, you have a lot of options from whichto choose. Tech editor Larry Carley advises you on the oilsbest suited for your engine jobs. ....................................14

Vintage V8s - CadillacFor more than a century, the name Cadillac has beensynonymous with performance, style and passion. InSeptember 1914, Cadillac introduced the first V8 engine ina series produced, mass market automobile. Find out whathas separated Cadillac all these years...........................24

Columns

Editor’s Page ................................10By Ed Sunkin

Historically Speaking

Tales From WD ............................48By Dave SuttonThe Pieces of a Mopar Performance Plan

Tech Talk ......................................51Rebuilding Liberty

DEPARTMENTS

Events & Industry News........................................4Shop Solutions ....................................................12Supplier Spotlight ................................................55Cores/Classifieds/Ad Index ..................................58NASCAR Performance ..........................................60

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Valvetrain ComponentsSelecting the right components to make a race-worthyvalvetrain is crucial to assembling an engine that will last –and win. Weakness in any part of the valvetrain will equal aperformance engine catastrophe. Discover the tips tocreating a high-performance valvetrain. ............................36

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Meet the Beetles:VW Classic Celebrates 65 Years in U.S. Last month, the Volkswagen Beetle celebrated 65 yearssince it first arrived in the United States in January1949. That year, a Volkswagen “Type 1,” or Beetle, wasshipped to New York City by Ben Pon, Sr., a Dutchbusinessman and the world’s first official Volkswagenimporter.

That car – and another, subsequent Beetle – foundbuyers the same year, marking the first time thatVolkswagen vehicles were sold in the United States.

A cultural touchstone for an entire generation andone of the most iconic cars in the world, the Beetle ledto the establishment of the first Volkswagen of Americaheadquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, in October 1955.In 65 years, Volkswagen has grown from selling twoBeetle models in the U.S. to a brand that offers 11different models that are sold by 644 dealers. In 2013,Volkswagen sold 407,704 vehicles, its second straightyear of selling more than 400,000 vehicles and the firsttime this feat had been achieved since the 1970s.

By the mid-1950s, more than 35,000 Beetle modelswere on the road, and by 1960, nearly 300,000 hadfound buyers. Americans were not only drawn to theaffordability and practicality of the early Beetle, butwere so charmed by its unique design, its size and its

Industry EventsMarch 6, 2014HRIA Education Day and Training Detroit, MIwww.sema.org/hria-education-day or 909-978-6690

March 15, 2014AERA Tech & Skills Conference Hosted by Liberty Engine Parts, Louisville, KYDetroit, MIwww.aera.org

March 26-28, 2014 2014 Hotrod & Restoration Trade Show Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, INhttp://www.hotrodshow.com or 800-560-9941

May 16, 2014AERA Tech & Skills Conference Hosted by Sunnen, St. Louis, MOwww.aera.org

Circle 14 for more information

For more industry events, visit our website at

www.enginebuildermag.com or subscribe to

www.aftermarketnews.com.

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fuel economy, that they’d forged anemotional bond with the cars.

“Since its arrival in the UnitedStates 65 years ago, the VolkswagenBeetle has preserved its reputation ofbeing more than just a car, but asymbol of uniqueness and freedom,”said Michael Horn, president andCEO of Volkswagen Group ofAmerica. “The Beetle has becomepart of the cultural fabric in Americaand we are proud that its richheritage continues to live with fansaround the States.”

From custom paint jobs to open-top Dune Buggy bodies, the Beetle fitperfectly into the counter-culture ofthe 1960s. By 1968, as many as423,008 Beetle vehicles a year werebeing sold in the United States.

In 1977, the last “Type 1” Beetlerolled off the production line inWolfsburg, Germany.

Volkswagen introduced the NewBeetle in 1998, a vehicle that paidstyling homage to its predecessor,although its engine was water cooledrather than air cooled, and mountedat the front rather than at the rear.

Redesigned for just the secondtime in history, the third-generationBeetle entered the U.S. market in2011. While staying true to its roots,today’s Beetle would beunrecognizable to buyers in the1950s, thanks to its combination ofpowerful and fuel-efficient engines,sure-footed handling, and myriadtechnology and safety features.

PERA Sets Dates ForAnnual Fall ConferenceThe Production EngineRemanufacturers Association(PERA) will hold its 69th annual FallConference Sept.17-19 at theSeelbach Hilton Louisville,Louisville, KY.

The conference programs aredevised to stress the importance ofgood communication between alllevels of the industry, as well as thegeneral public, and continue theassociation’s mission on thenecessity for continual education inorder to remain alert to changingconditions in the internationalbusiness scene.

The conference is expected toinclude a tour of Jasper Engine andTransmission. More information onthe PERA conference will beprovided on the Engine Builderwebsite and in print as it becomesavailable.

If you’d like to make suggestionson program content, contact EdKiebler at [email protected] orDave Monyhan [email protected].

For questions regarding PERA,visit http://www.pera.org

Ward’s 10 Best Engines of2014Penton’s WardsAuto has namedthree diesels, a tiny 3-cylinder turboand a battery-electric vehicle to itsannual 2014 Ward’s 10 Best Engines,illustrating the importance of fueleconomy as automakers develop andmarket advanced new powertrains.

This is the 20th year for Ward’s 10Best Engines, a competition createdto recognize outstanding powertrainachievement, world-classtechnologies and those rare enginesor electric propulsion systems thatare so compelling they help sell thevehicle.

The winners, which include eightengines using direct fuel injectionand six with forced induction,emerged from a field of 44powertrains evaluated byWardsAuto editors in October andNovember. To be eligible, a new orsignificantly improved engine orpropulsion system must be on sale ina production vehicle during the firstquarter of 2014. Base price is capped

at $60,000, up from $55,000 last year.The Ward’s 10 Best Engines

competition pits the latest enginesavailable in the U.S. market againstthe returning winners from theprevious year. Usually, at least fourengines that won the prior yearreturn to the winner’s circle. Thisyear, only two are returning winners:Honda’s 3.5L V6 and Audi’s 3.0Lsupercharged V6.

“We weren’t looking to throw thebums out, as they might say about anelection. We were just reallyimpressed with a flood of newpowertrains,” says WardsAutoWorld Editor-in-Chief, Drew Winter.“What was great yesterday might beless impressive tomorrow becauseengine technology is changing sorapidly.”

The 2014 Ward’s 10 Best Engines are:• 3.0L Supercharged DOHC V6 -

Audi AG (Audi S5) (BELOW)• 3.0L Turbodiesel DOHC I6 -

BMW AG (BMW 535d)• 6.2L OHV V8 - General Motors

Co. (Chevrolet Corvette Stingray)• 2.0L Turbodiesel DOHC I4 -

General Motors Co. (ChevroletCruze Diesel)

• 83-kW Electric Motor – ChryslerGroup LLC (Fiat 500e EV)

• 1.0L EcoBoost DOHC I3 - FordMotor Co. (Ford Fiesta)

• 3.5L SOHC V6 - Honda MotorCo. Ltd. (Honda Accord)

• 2.7L DOHC H6 - Porsche AG(Porsche Cayman)

• 3.0L Turbodiesel DOHC V6 -Chrysler Group LLC (Ram 1500)

• 1.8L Turbocharged DOHC I4 -Volkswagen AG (Volkswagen Jetta).


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Permatex Introduces NewCorporate Logo Permatex, a leading innovator inchemical technology for automotivemaintenance and repair, hasdeveloped and launched a new logofor its Permatex brand. The newdesign will be used as both a graphicfor its corporate identity and as alogo mark for its product packagingand marketing communications.

The new logo update continues touse the same well-known corporatecolors of blue and orange, theubiquitous Permatex swirl and a fontthat is somewhat similar, but arefresh to the current typography.

In addition to product packaging,the new logo is being incorporatedinto all marketing materials,including website, social media,cataloging and other forms ofcommunications. Permatex retailpartners and media outlets may usethe new logo immediately as needed.

IPD Joins BU Drive USA inTurbocharger VentureIndustrial Parts Depot (IPD), LLC ofTorrance, CA, and BU Drive USA,Inc., a BU Drive group company (BUDrive GmbH is based in Germany),have announced the creation of ajoint venture (JV) company namedIPD Turbocharging Systems. Thisnew organization will focus on salesand service for the distribution ofBorgWarner, Holset, IHI, andMitsubishi turbochargers, and willprovide IPD RemanufacturedTurbos.

Russell Kneipp, president of IPD,said, “Turbochargers are a corecomponent for the servicingrequirements of IPD’s globaldistribution network, and are anideal complement to IPD’s growingproduct portfolio. IPD has beeninvolved for decades in theturbocharging industry, and this newJV with BU Drive USA (a technology

and quality driven company)provides IPD with the opportunity tooffer our customers a range ofturbochargers with the level ofservice and quality that theydemand.”

Jack Lorimer, CEO of BU DriveUSA, added, “The combination ofBU’s turbocharger andremanufacturing technical expertiseworldwide, (see photo to the right),along with IPD’ssales, distribution,manufacturing andquality processes, isa recipe for successin the critical andcomplicatedbusiness ofturbocharging.”

Blower DriveService Sold toStevenYetzke’s BeltDrives Ltd.Blower DriveService (BDS), theSouthern California manufacturerand distributor of superchargers andsupercharger components andhistorically a leader in superchargercomponents for street drivenvehicles, has been acquired byanother Southern Californiacompany with ties to thesupercharger industry, Belt DrivesLimited (BDL).

“I’m proud to announce that mycompany has come to an agreementwith the Railsback family, who haveowned BDS since its inception, tobuy their company,” Belt Drives Ltd.owner, Steven Yetzke said. “BDL hasbeen making supercharger pulleysfor many years and we are heavilyinvolved with and support dragracing. We have sponsored severalTop Fuel bikes through the years sothis acquisition made perfect sensefor me, my company and BDS.”

The sale won’t interrupt the day-to-day business of BDS.

Yetzke said Norma Iskenderian,who has been managing the BDScompany for more than two decades,will stay in her present position andCraig Railsback will also stay onand assist with special projects.

BDS will continue to do businessfrom its current location at 12140

Washington Blvd., Whittier, CA90606. The engineering, assemblyand sales departments will alsoremain at that location while some ofthe manufacturing will be moved tothe BDL plant at 5500 E. La PalmaAve., Anaheim CA 92807.

The Belt Drives facilities includetheir own aluminum foundry, over50 CNC mills and lathes, gear-cutting department and a rubber

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Industry News



manufacturing facility that includesstate of the art CAD design andrapid prototyping.

NADM/DIESEL Motorsports2014 Schedule SetThe National Association of DieselMotorsports is in its eighth year ofproviding sanctioned diesel sledpulling and drag racing eventsacross the United States.

Diesel Motorsports and NADMhas grown quickly with events nowall over the country. Many state,regional clubs/associations anddiesel promoters are putting diesel

events in many different rural towns.Many of NADM’s 60-plus events arethe affiliate events that local andstate clubs host throughout thecountry.

Flowmaster Performance Exhaustreturns as the VIP Title sponsor thisyear among many others that havebeen with NADM for many years.

The following is the schedule andsponsor list for 2014 as of February 3.

Diesel Motorsports Schedule• March 7/8: Texas Diesel Spring

Break – drags, pull, dyno,ShowNshine, tractors, trucks, semis –Denton, TX

• April 26: Outdoor Expo – Sledpull, Dyno, ShowNShine andOutdoor Expo Show – Heber City,UT

• June 19: EFILive Powertour –Multiple Locations to Muncie, IN

• June 20/21: Haisley MachineThunder in Muncie – Drags,Pull,Dyno, ShowNshine

Friday Night 21: Muncie DragwaySaturday 22: Gaston Lion’s

Fairground – Muncie, Indiana• July 17 EFILive Powertour –

Multiple Locations to Bloomsburg,PA

• July 19: East Coast DieselNationals – Drags, Pull, Dyno,ShowNshine – Numidia Dragway,Numidia, PA

• August 2: West Coast Shootout –Spokane Raceway/Drag Racing –Spokane, WA

• Aug 15/16: Industrial Injection’sRocky Mountain Diesel Shootout –Drags, Dyno, ShowNShine, SledPull – Friday night drags at RockyMountain Raceway, Saturdayactivities at Heber City/WasatchCounty Fairgrounds – Salt LakeCity/Heber City, UT

• September 26, 27: BuckeyeDiesel Blast – Drags, pull, dyno,ShowNshine, tractors, trucks, semis –Dragway 42, West Salem, OH

For more information:www.DIESELmotorsports.US

Gumout Partners with TopFuel’s Leah Pritchett andDote RacingGumout Performance Additives hasannounced the sponsorship withyoung drag racing star, LeahPritchett and the Dote Racing TopFuel dragster team, for the 2014NHRA Mello Yello Drag RacingSeries.

Gumout, offering automotiveperformance products for nearly 70years, returns to the NHRAprofessional drag racing ranks withthe partnership with the Ohio-basedTop Fuel squad and the talented

California native, Pritchett behindthe wheel of the Gumout/DoteRacing 8,000-horsepower, nitro-burning dragster.

Gumout became a drag racingstaple in the 1970s and 1980s with

the legendary “Grumpy’s Toy” ProStock car campaigned by Hall ofFamer, Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins.Gumout expanded its motorsportsactivities following the Jenkinsassociation with a variety ofcompetitions including circle trackracing, road racing, boat racing andoff-road racing.

Pritchett, 25, grew up near thefamed Pomona Raceway inRedlands, CA, and competed in herfirst drag racing event at Pomona atage 8 in the NHRA Junior Dragsterprogram. The Cal State University,San Bernardino communicationsgraduate worked her way throughthe drag racing ranks includingdriving in the Pro Mod division andNostalgia Funny Cars beforeentering the Top Fuel division in2013.

Pritchett, who recently marriedTorrence Racing Top Fuel car chief,Gary Pritchett, was an NHRADivision 7 champion at age nine,NHRA Wicked West Coast championat age 16 and was the first womandriver to break the five-secondbarrier in a Nostalgia Funny Car. Shealso won the NHRA Hot RodHeritage Series championship andscored multiple victories in the ProMod class including wins atCharlotte and Las Vegas.

The Dote Family, a threegeneration racing team, began indrag racing in the 1980s and iscurrently operated by Mike Dote,and his wife, Connie. The DoteRacing team joined the Top Fuelranks in 2009 and is focused oncreating a top caliber effort in 2014 .

Dote Racing, led by crew chiefDoug Kuch, is based in Monroe, OH,and hired Pritchett for the 2013NHRA season opener in Pomona. Injust her second Top Fuel race, sheupset reigning NHRA Mello YelloTop Fuel champ Shawn Langdon inPhoenix, and at Topeka, sheadvanced to the semi-finals withvictories over Top Fuel race winnersAnton Brown and Doug Kalitta.

Mopar Supplies GEN3 5.7LHEMIs to King Of HammersMopar will be testing its mettle in thesouthern California desert at the 2014Griffin King of The Hammers, anevent built around what many con-


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sider the toughest one-day, off-roadrace in the world that combinesdesert racing and rock crawling.

Organized by the ULTRA4 RacingSeries, the week-long event is heldevery February on public lands inJohnson Valley, CA in an off-highwayvehicle area known as “TheHammers.” Competitors, divided intofour distinct categories, race on a 100+mile course that runs over terrain thatincludes sandy washes dotted withcreosote bushes, flat dry lakebeds,sand dunes and, of course, the world-famous rock canyons and trails from

which it derives its name.Competing in the Every Man

Challenge race category, which allowsoff-road enthusiasts a chance to racetheir stock and modified stockvehicles, Mopar’s GEN3 5.7L HEMIcrate engine will power the sixvehicles competing in a newly createdspec class in which each entry isoutfitted with the same equipment.These unique “4700 Spec Class” 4×4vehicles have a custom tube framedesign based loosely on a JeepWrangler.

The 5.7 crate engines Moparprovided are the off-road race versionof the recently announced ScatPackage performance upgrades forthe Challenger and Charger. Theevent serves as a proving ground forthe engine, set-up and parts.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson team up onReinvention Project In February, car enthusiasts began toput their know-how to the test in anattempt to guess the various featuresof Earnhardt Jr.’s and Johnson’screations. A virtual garage hosted atwww.ReinventionProject.com invitesengine builders and consumers toselect the parts that the drivers hand-

picked for their high-performancetrucks, from Chevrolet Performanceengines, to American Eagle wheelsand Goodyear tires. Clues and updates will be releasedvia Valvoline’s social media channels– with the hashtags #TeamJimmie or#TeamDaleJr – to help participantsrevisit and fine-tune their online truckbuilds along the way.

Both drivers said they were excitedto participate in the ReinventionProject.

“Having the flexibility to rebuildand reinvent nearly every part of myshop truck from the ground up issuch a cool experience,”said Johnson,driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet SS.

“The finished productis going to be second-to-none,” added EarnhardtJr., driver of the No. 88Chevrolet SS.

Valvoline is theOfficial LubricantsSupplier of HendrickMotorsports and will befeatured as a majorassociate sponsor of theteam’s Chevrolet SS racecars in 2014.

In addition toEarnhardt Jr. andJohnson, Sprint CupSeries drivers KaseyKahne and Jeff Gordonwill also use Valvoline oilin their race cars.Hendrick Motorsportsuses a specially designedValvoline racingformulation in itsChevrolet R-07 racingengines in the elite Sprint

Cup Series. This marks a reunion of sorts, as

Valvoline was a team sponsor from1993-95, supplying lubricanttechnology that contributed toHendrick Motorsports’ first Cupchampionship with Gordon in 1995.

Inspired by the brand’s mostrecent “Valvoline 140” campaign, theReinvention Project celebrates theadvancement that has taken place inthe more than 140 years sinceintroducing motor oil in 1866.

For more information, andcomplete program rules, visitReinventionProject.com. ■


Industry News


The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will introduce itsfirst vintage car race June 6-8 when a large field ofamateur drivers take to the road course and try outthe oval for the historic three-day event.There will be 12 vintage racing classes featured bythe SportsCar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA),and IMS has made provisions for a special marqueeclass. Participating in the top category will mostlikely be former Indy 500 drivers, or other pros whohave competed in the various divisions featured atthe Brickyard. Reports say that some cars from theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museummay be taken from their display for the event.SVRA drivers vary by demographic but are primarilyowners of high-end collectible race cars who race atsuch venues as Sebring, Road America and WatkinsGlen. This will be their first chance at Indy.


I enjoy history. And I’m guessingthat those in the engineperformance and rebuildingindustry like you have an affinitytoward history as well. It could bewhy many of you are in thebusiness of bringing back to lifeengines that have accumulatedmiles of roadway travel on familyvacations, or set records on bankedtracks, quarter-miles, dry trails of aBaja race or across the Salt Flats.

It’s not just a job to you, but acalling, as you are the one whosetalents of rebuilding powerplantsallows the next generation ofautomotive enthusiasts see avintage Model T chug up next to asupercharged muscle car at theWoodward Dream Cruise alongmetropolitan Detroit, or park side-by-side at a vehicle restorationshow in Indianapolis.

It seems like each month,another vehicle or automanufacturer is celebrating somesort of historical milestone thatpiques our interest. In fact, thismonth, we are running an articlefrom John Gunnell on a century ofthe Cadillac V8 engines.

Recently, another automotivehistorical news item crossed mydesk – the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (serial numberCSX2287) has become the first automobile to become a federallyregistered historic car!

The Shelby Cobra, part of thecollection at the Simeon FoundationAutomotive Museum inPhiladelphia, has an extensiverace history, competing atDaytona, Sebring, Reims, Spa-Francorchamps, Oulton ParkTT and Tour de France.

It was the first of six such carsbuilt by Shelby American between1964 and ‘65, and the only one builtby hand at Carroll Shelby’s Venice,CA, shop.

Peter Brock of Brock RacingEnterprises and the designer of thecar, said having his Shelby CobraDaytona Coupe design recognizedas the very first car to be includedin the permanent archives of theLibrary of Congress is a great honorand the thrill of a lifetime.

“I’m very proud that the ShelbyCobra Daytona Coupe helped leadthe way to American’s first win inthe FIA InternationalManufacturer’s GT Championshipin 1965,” said Brock.

“The Coupe’s revolutionary design contributed to standards forautomotive aerodynamic efficiency.

According to Mark Gessler, president of the Historic Vehicle Association (HVA), this achievementis a proud moment for our industry.

“It has been nearly 120 yearssince the first automobiles were

produced in the U.S. During thattime, we have implementednational programs to recognize ourhistoric buildings, airplanes,spacecraft and vessels but not ourhistoric automobiles. Through ourwork, we hope to celebrate thecontribution of the industry’spioneers, the vehicles theyproduced and the preservationefforts necessary to ensure futuregenerations appreciate the uniqueroll of the automobile in shapingAmerica.”

The National Park Service,which administers the HeritageDocumentation Programs, workedwith Gessler and the HVA todevelop criteria for automobiles tomeet to be included on the HistoricAmerican Engineering Record.

Gessler said his organization isworking on adding more vehiclesto the federally documented historyrecords, such as the 1907 ThomasFlyer, the original Ford Pygmy, a1918 Cadillac Model 57 and the firstMeyers Manx.

I don’t know about you, but I’mlooking forward to discoveringwhen these vehicles make history –again. ■

History in theMaking

EDITOR Ed [email protected]

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The first test drive of theShelby Cobra Daytona CoupeCSX2287 at Riverside (HistoricVehicle Association)

The 1964 Shelby Cobra Coupe Becomes First Federally-RegisteredHistoric Vehicle


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Upgrade Your Engine StandsMost of the engine stands in myshop were manufactured offshore.Though they are pretty good, in justa few minutes you can increasestability and load capacity.

I simply MIG weld all the jointswhere the legs, main body anduprights join.

Another quick tip is whenmounting in-line six blocks on thestands, especially Cummins 5.9L and6.7L, I make slight modifications tothe mounting head and now I mountto the side of these blocks instead ofthe bell housing end.

Darin DriscollAutomotive Machine & Supply Inc.Fort Collins, CO

Resurfaced Head Deburring ToolI found a great tool for deburringcombustion chambers afterresurfacing cylinder heads. I took acommon chainsaw sharpening file,removed the “rat tail” handle,chamfered and radiused this end fora comfortable fit in my hand.

I also radiused the business endso it would not do any damage if ittouches the freshly machined valveseats inside the chamber of the head.Now I have a tool that will quicklyand easily deburr and detail aroundthe circumference of any combustionchamber after surfacing withoutrunning the risk of nicking a seat, orhaving a cartridge roll scratch thefreshly machined surface of the head.

Jake SampsonSampson Racing Engines (SRE)Saint Paul, MN

Torque Plate Honing GMLS-Series EnginesWe have found that due to the lengthof the head bolts and the fact thatthey finish approximately 1-1/2inches from the mains, considerablebore distortion will occur if torqueplates are not used when finishhoning the GM LS-series engines.

We use two torque plates and all15 bolts per side fully torqued. We

routinely find 0.0025” cylinderdistortion if we don’t use both platesand all the bolts in a finished form.

When you consider that an LS-3has a piston-to-wall clearance spec of0.0008” you can see why a straightand accurate bore finish is critical.We also line-hone the blocks withtwo torque plates and bolts installedsince we have measured 0.0005”distortion in the hosing bore. Thismight be alright for a street car, butin a race motor, it is something toconsider.

Sylvain TremblayLes Ateliers de Moteur Competi-tech Inc.Quebec, Canada

Magnetic Catch MatsSmall valve locks, especially thosefor obscure import applications, canbe difficult to get into place andinevitably, if you’re not careful, canpop out and easily get lost on orunder your work station.

Magnetic sheeting is available inone foot increments and can be usedto make a counter mats (2’ x 3’) andfloor mats (2’ x 4’) that can be putdown around your head assemblybench to help catch that lock youmight otherwise lose. The material isnot expensive and available online.

This is a cheap investmentconsidering what you might pay fora lock and the freight to get it to you.Not to mention all the time wasted insearching and the holdup on the job.

Terry KiehnauTerrys Rebuilding LLCGreen Bay, WI

Silicon and Glass BeadsDon’t MixMany times you will have analuminum head with some left oversilicon gasket on the surface.

Attempting to bead blast thesilicon off will only result in adamaged cylinder head. Thealuminum will continue to be wornaway by the abrasive glass beadwhile it bounces off the silicon.

When you finally remove the

silicon, you will be left with a wornaluminum surface that seems raisedwhere the silicon once was. Clean allsilicon off the before attempting toglass bead any aluminum part.

Jeffrey MyersMAR Automotive Inc.Philadelphia, PA

Changes in Piston DesignLast month in the January issue, wediscussed changes in piston ringdesign. Changes in rings also meanchanges in the pistons they ride on.A century ago, you could find castiron pistons in your motor.Aluminum soon proved to be alighter weight and more durablematerial to cast pistons from.

Pistons didn’t really change muchfor the next 60 years. The newlightweight, fuel efficient,electronically controlled engineshave brought many changes topiston and ring design that allowsome of today’s engines to stay onthe road for well over 200,000trouble-free miles.

Lighter Pistons- Reduced weight by reducing

compression height, or the distancefrom the piston pin to the top of thepiston.

- A reduced section thickness produces a lighter piston.

- A smaller or shorter skirt andless contact area also reduces a piston’s weight.

Hard Anodized Top Ring


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Grooves- Hardening the ring groove reduces wear.- Eliminates micro-welding between piston and ring.Reduced Ring Groove Back Clearance- Improves ring stability and reduces blow-by.Narrower Ring Grooves- A shorter compression height necessitates narrow rings to fit

between the pin and piston crown.- Narrower rings allow for less tension or drag.- A smaller ring pack is a lighter ring pack.

Engine Pro Technical Committee with thanks to Hastings Piston Ring Co.


Shop Solutions –The Power ofKnowledge

Engine Builder and Engine Pro presentShop Solutions in each issue of EngineBuilder Magazine and at enginebuilder-mag.com.

The feature is intended to provide ma-chine shop owners and engine techni-cians the opportunity to share theirknowledge to benefit the entire industryand their own shops.

Those who submit Shop Solutions thatare published are awarded a free oneyear membership to the Engine Re-builders Council and a prepaid $100Visa gift card.

Engine Pro is a nationwide network ofdistributors that warehouse a full line ofinternal engine components fordomestic and import passenger car,light truck, heavy duty, industrial, ma-rine, agricultural and performance ap-plications. They also produce engine parts underthe Engine Pro name that offer premiumfeatures at an affordable price.


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Every engine builder knows theimportance of using not onlyhigh-quality motor oil in an

engine, but also an oil that has theright additive package and viscosityfor the application. This is especiallyimportant in performanceapplications where extremes of heatand pressure can push manyordinary motor oils to the brink.

Motor oil can make or break anengine. It lubricates the main androd bearings, cylinders, pistons andrings, the camshaft and valve train. Ithelps cool the bearings, pistons andvalve springs, and in turbochargersit keeps the shaft bearings alive. Oilalso helps disperse and neutralizecombustion byproducts andmoisture that end up in thecrankcase, and it helps keep theengine clean.

The additives that are used inmotor oils can vary quite a bit as canthe base stocks that are used toformulate any given motor oil.Additives make up about 20 to 25%of a quart of oil. Additives help boostthe performance level of the basestock oil, and include Viscosity IndexImprovers that allow multi-viscosityoil to flow more easily at coldtemperatures while retaining filmstrength and viscosity at hightemperatures.

The blend of base stocks andadditives is what distinguishes onemotor oil from another. So don’tthink all motor oils are more or lessthe same. Even motor oils that havethe same viscosity rating and serviceratings may perform quitedifferently depending on thesituation.

Types of OilWhen it comes to choosing a motoroil for a given engine application,you have a lot of options from whichto choose. There are conventionalmotor oils made from refinedpetroleum, various types of“synthetic” oils, “synthetic-blends”and “semi-synthetics.” Synthetic oilsare typically made up of extremelyrefined or “hydro-isomerized” oils,called Group III oils by the API(American Petroleum Institute). Forextremely demanding applicationsblends of “PAO” (Polyalphaolefin)and “POE” (polyol ester) base oilsare used, which are API Groups IVand V, respectively. Syntheticsprovide the best lubrication at bothends of the temperature spectrum,flowing more easily at coldtemperatures while resisting

viscosity breakdown, oilconsumption, oxidation andsludging at high temperatures.

Synthetic-blends and semi-synthetics are a more affordablealternative to a full synthetic, andtypically contain less than 30%synthetic oil by volume. Blends helpbolster the performance properties ofconventional oil, and are a step upfrom an ordinary Group II base oil.In fact, most of today’s“conventional” 5W-20 and 5W-30multi-viscosity oils are actuallyblends and contain a certain amountof Group III oil.

As for the various additives in oil,many are necessary to achieve theminimum API requirements formulti-viscosity rating, wearresistance, cleanliness and so on. APIrates motor oils differently if they are


Choosing the‘Right’ Oil

Feat

ure

The additives that are used inmotor oils can vary quite a bitas can the base stocks that areused to formulate any givenmotor oil.

BY LARRY CARLEY, TECHNICAL EDITOR

Motor Oil Can Make or Break an Engine

14-22 TechFeat Oil 2/17/14 3:17 PM Page 14


15 amsoil_Layout 1 2/17/14 3:19 PM Page 15

for gasoline engines or dieselengines.

Up to StandardThere is also a “donut” that showsthe service rating, viscosity and fuelsaving properties of the oil. Thecurrent API standard for gasolineengines since 2011 has been “SN,”which supersedes the previous“SM” rating (2010), “SL” rating(2004) and “SJ” rating (2001).

All previous gasoline serviceratings are now obsolete. Motor oilsmeeting the most current gasolineengine specifications will also have a“Starburst” on the front label.

Many engine manufacturers printthe Starburst in their servicemanuals to direct customers to thehighest performing engine oilsavailable.

The current API service rating fordiesel engines is “CJ-4” (introducedin 2010) which supersedes theprevious “CI-4” rating (2002) and

“CH-4” (1998) ratings. CJ-4 oils are primarily for moderndiesel engines designed to meet EPA 2010 (on-road) andTier IV (off-road) emissions regulations.

These engines burn ultra-low sulfur fuels (less than 15PPM), have EGR systems, diesel particulate filters andmany use DEF and exhaust catalysts – the previous CI-4oils are for diesels with EGR systems.

Some oils are formulated to minimize friction forbetter fuel economy (“energy conserving” oils). Some areformulated for longer oil drain intervals (“extended life”oils). Some are formulated to meet the special needs ofolder high mileage engines (“high mileage” oils thatcontain an extra dose of seal conditioners, dispersantsand detergents).

Others are formulated to provide the kind ofprotection demanded by high-performance engines(“street performance” oils with extra anti-wear additivesand “racing oils”).

Other Engine OilsThere are also specialty oils for marine engines, small air-cooled engines, diesel engines, and special fuelapplications such as ethanol, propane and natural gas.Don’t forget the all-important break-in oils that areformulated with no detergent to help piston rings seatquickly and with extra ZDDP (zinc dialkyldithiophosphate) anti-wear additive to prevent the camand lifters from scuffing.

Choosing the “right” motor oil, therefore, is just asimportant to the longevity of the engines you build aschoosing the brand and quality of all the other parts thatgo into your engines.


Oil Feature


API Service Symbol “Donut”The API “Donut” identifies oils that meet current API engine oil standards. Itincludes the SAE viscosity grade, API standards, and other important performanceparameters met by the oil.

The top of the “Donut” displays the API performance standard. The letter “S”followed by another letter (API SN) refers to oil suitable for gasoline engines, andthe letter “C” followed by another letter and number (API CJ-4) refers to oil suitablefor diesel engines.

The center of the “Donut” shows the SAE viscosity grade. The bottom of the“Donut” tells whether the oil has resource-conserving properties when comparedwith a reference oil in an engine test and will be labeled as “Resource Conserving.”



17 lubriplategrease_Layout 1 2/17/14 3:19 PM Page 17

Which to Choose?If you assemble an engine and do theinitial break-in and tuning, yourcontrol kind of oil goes in thecrankcase both during the break-inand dyno sessions.

If you are using a break-in oil(which you should be!), drain it afterthe initial break-in. Don’t leave it infor the dyno tuning. Break-in oil isfor break-in only, not for tuning ordriving.

If you are just machining parts fora customer or leaving the finalengine assembly and break-in toyour customer, your customer (or hissponsor) usually decides whatbrand, viscosity and type of oil touse – and that may lead to problemsif they choose the wrong oil. Insituations like these, you shouldrecommend a specific type oflubricant both for break-in andanother for everyday driving orracing. There’s no guarantee yourcustomer will follow your advice –unless you warranty the engine andrequire a certain type of oil to keepthe warranty in effect.

This is essentially what GM hasdone with their “dexos1” oilspecification for 2011 and newerChevy LS engines. Oils that meet thedexos1 performance specificationsare a high-quality full synthetic that

exceeds current API SNrequirements.

It supersedes earlier GMspecifications (such as GM6094M,GM4718M and GM-LL-A-025), andis recommended for 2010 and olderGM engines as well as new ones. Byrequiring dexos1, GM is encouragingcustomers to use high-quality oil thatwill provide the best possibleprotection in their engines. GM isalso requiring oil companies tolicense any product that claims tomeet dexos1 requirements. There aresome full synthetic oils on themarket that do meet the dexos1requirements, but are not labeled assuch.

The dexos1 specifications requireadditional friction modifiers toimprove fuel economy, additives tocontrol aeration (which is necessaryfor variable valve-timing), additivesto improve oxidation, varnish,corrosion and deposit control to keepthe engine clean (which also helpsminimize emissions over the life ofthe engine), and viscosity improversand/or base oils that resist viscositybreakdown for extended serviceintervals. In sort, oils that meet thedexos1 spec far exceed therequirements of most currentindustry oil standards.

Many auto makers use synthetics

as the factory-fill oil in their high-performance models, and forapplications where an oil reminderservice light tells the vehicle ownerwhen to change the oil. Most of thesesystems do not actually measure thequality of the oil in the crankcase butuse a mathematical algorithm toestimate remaining oil life.

The estimation is based on avariety of inputs including hours ofengine operation, miles driven,ambient temperatures and so on.

Oil life in many instances is alsobased on using high-qualitysynthetic oil, not an ordinaryconventional oil. Under ideal drivingconditions, the service light mightnot come on for up to 10,000 miles,12,000 miles or longer! Because ofthis, it’s important to use oil that’scapable of going that kind ofdistance – and a high-quality, longlife oil filter.

Many conventional oils can go upto 7,500 miles between oil changes,though 5,000 miles is a safer interval.Pushing conventional oil beyond7,500 miles is asking for trouble –especially if the engine has a lowflow PCV system that may allowmoisture and sludge to build upinside the crankcase. Chrysler 3.5Lengines are notorious for sludgingup for this very reason. A lot ofToyota engines have experiencedsimilar problems.

Euro Engine OilsLike their domestic counterparts,European auto makers such as Audi,BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and VW allhave their own oil requirements. Thedifference is many of the Europeanrequirements are engine specificrather than make or model specific.Consequently, there are a LOT ofdifferent specs to take intoconsideration when choosing amotor oil for a European application.

The latest European standardswere updated in 2012 and includethree basic sets of ratings for gasoline& light-duty diesel engines, light-duty diesel with exhaust aftertreatment, and heavy-duty diesels.Within each of these sets aresubcategories that cover differentengine performance requirements:

Oil Feature

Down the Pipeline

Anticipated for licensing in 2017, GF-6 will be the new automotive specification forpassenger car motor oils (PCMO). The International Lubricants Standardization andApproval Committee (ILSAC) is currently developing this standard.

This new specification is intended to increase fuel economy, enhance oilrobustness, improve wear protection and reduce engine aeration. OEMs movingtowards turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline in order to meet fuel economystandards are also hoping to reduce the wear and occurrence of low-speed pre-ignition.

Recent new engine designs and manufacturing technologies advocate the use oflower viscosity grades in passenger car vehicles while maintaining enginelongevity. Global regulations for better fuel economy have increased both OEMand end user interest in low viscosity engine lubricants. This is evident today as wesee an increase in the use of SAE 5W-20 and even SAE 0W-20 viscosity grades overthe thicker SAE 10W-30 and SAE 10W-40 grades. Look for this direction in lowerviscosities to continue with the introduction of the new viscosity grade in GF-6.




19 maxima_Layout 1 2/17/14 3:18 PM Page 19

• A1/B1, A3/B3, A3/B4 & A5/B5for various gasoline and light-dutydiesel applications.

• C1, C2, C3 & C4 for catalyst-equipped gasoline and dieselengines

• E4, E6, E7 & E9 for heavy-dutydiesels.

Each subcategory has specificrequirements for viscosity, shearstability, evaporation rates, sulfurand phosphor content, wearresistance, high and low temperatureperformance, sludge resistance andoxidation resistance according to theapplication.

Using these basic standards, theEuropean auto makers then come upwith their own specs for the variousengines they produce. Audi, forexample, has a number of oilspecifications including 501.01,502.00, 505.00, 505.01, 504.00 &507.00.

Volkswagen has similarspecifications: VW 502.00, 505.00,505.01. Each number represents adifferent oil requirement. Finding allof these requirements can be achallenge, as can finding a list of“approved” oils that meet thevarious Euro requirements.

The best place to find this kind ofinformation is on each vehiclemanufacturers’ technical serviceinformation website.

Asian Model Oil StandardsA group called the InternationalLubricant Specification AdvisoryCommittee (ILSAC) made up ofAsian and U.S. automakers isresponsible for oil performancestandards for Asian nameplates.Though not exactly the same as ourown API standards, the currentILSAC “GF-5” rating correspondsclosely to the API “SN” rating.

Motor oils that meet the AsianGF-5 specification have improveddeposit protection for pistons andturbochargers, more stringent sludgecontrol, improved fuel economy,enhanced emission control systemcompatibility, seal compatibility, andprotection for engines using ethanolfuels such as E85.

The current GF-5 standard hasbeen in effect since 2010, and isbackwards compatible for previousGF-4 and earlier ratings.

On the ShelfMost branded oil products that arefound on auto parts store shelvesand other retail outlets carry both theAPI and ILSAC ratings, plus anyother vehicle manufacturerspecifications they also meet.

Most packaged motor oils arequality products that should performsatisfactorily for most motoristsunder normal driving conditions andoil change intervals.

Most of the synthetic oils aresuitable for performanceapplications, but many are NOTracing oils. Worse yet, most ofcommonly available brands of oilthat meet current API SN and ILSACG-5 requirements are ill-suited foruse in pushrod engines that have flattappet cams. Consequently, if youwant a specialty oil, high-performance oil or racing oil, youmay have to buy it direct from anaftermarket oil supplier or their localdistributor.

Local speed shops often carrythese kinds of oils, but you usuallywon’t find them in your typicaldiscount auto parts retailer.

ZDDP ReductionsIn recent years, the critical anti-wearadditive ZDDP has been graduallyreduced to help extend the life of thecatalytic converter (phosphorus cancontaminate the catalyst if the engineis using oil).

Back in the 1980s, motor oilstypically contained around 1500PPM (parts per million) of ZDDP. Inthe 1990s, that was reduced to 1200PPM, then down to around 800 PPMin 2005.

That level of anti-wear additive isadequate for overhead cam enginesand pushrod engines that have rollercams, but it has proved to beinadequate for engines with flattappet cams, causing accelerated camlobe and lifter wear – especially ifstiffer valve springs are used.

The demand for longer drainintervals has also caused the amountof detergent to increase, whichinterferes with the anti-wearprotection provided by ZDDP andcompounds the problem.

To address this issue, numerousaftermarket suppliers now offerZDDP crankcase additives that canbe mixed with conventional orsynthetic oil.


Oil Feature

The New Diesel Oils

Four years ago the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reducedthe level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mandate fuel economy improve-ments for heavy-duty engines and medium-duty vehicles. New regulations would im-pose different fuel-efficiency targets based on the size and weight of diesel fueledon-road tractors, pickup trucks, buses, vans and service vehicles.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Engine Manufacturers Association(EMA) were tasked to develop a new commercial engine oil performance categorycalled Proposed Category 11 (PC-11 for short). With new diesel engine advance-ments, new oils will address improved fuel economy, GHG emissions, improvementsin oxidation stability, shear stability, resistance to aeration, and work in conjunctionwith biodiesel fuel.

To address the issue of fuel economy and low viscosity, fuel efficient engine oils willbe used. Currently, the vast majority of the U.S. market uses SAE 15W-40 oils fordiesel engines, but this is likely to change over time. Currently being tested are SAE5W-30 and SAE 10W-30 diesel motor oils.

It is important to note that the regulations designed to reduce GHG emissions andmandate fuel economy improvements to the motor oil only apply at this time to on-highway and not off-highway vehicles.



21 motovicityroyal_Layout 1 2/17/14 3:18 PM Page 21

Several companies have alsointroduced “Hot Rod” or “StreetPerformance Oils” that containhigher levels of ZDDP to protect thecam and lifters (usually around 2000PPM). Although some supplierspromote the fact that their racing orperformance oil contains moreZDDP than competitive products,more isn’t necessarily better.

According to some oil experts,once you get beyond 2000 PPM ofZDDP, additional ZDDP doesn’treally provide much additionalprotection and can accelerateacidification and sludging.

Choosing a ViscosityAll multi-viscosity motor oils have atwo-digit designation. The firstnumber in a multi-viscosity ratingrefers to the oil’s cold flowcharacteristics while the secondnumber refers to its hot flowcharacteristics.

Thus, a 5W-20 oil acts like astraight 5W oil for easier coldweather cranking and lubrication ofcritical upper valve traincomponents, and maintains itsviscosity when hot, like a straight30W oil for good oil film strengthand oil pressure.

Most late model engines arefactory filled with multi-viscosity5W-20 or 5W-30 motor oil, and some(mostly imports) require 5W-40, 0W-20 or 0W-30. It’s important to followthe viscosity recommendationsbecause many of these engines havetighter bearing clearances thatrequire low-viscosity oil for properlubrication. Thin oils also work bestwith Variable Valve Timing (VVT)systems, and flow more quickly tooverhead cams following a cold start.

Thinner oils improve fueleconomy. But if the oil is too thin, itmay not provide enough filmstrength at high temperature toprotect the bearings in an enginewith increased bearing clearances.On the other hand, thicker oil isgood for maintaining good oilpressure in a performance engine.But if the oil is too heavy it mayinterfere with the normal operationof the variable valve timing system,or be slow to circulate when a coldengine is first started. Churning

excessively thick oil can alsogenerate heat and rob the engine ofpower.

Addressing GDI NeedsAnother factor to consider whenchoosing motor oil is how it maycontribute to intake valve deposits.This has become a major issue onmany late model Gasoline DirectInjection (GDI) engines.

Deposits can form on the intakevalves in these engines because fuelis sprayed directly into thecombustion chamber rather than theintake port.

There’s no fuel spray to keep thevalves clean so the detergents in thefuel do almost nothing in theseapplications.

Oil drawn into the intakemanifold through the PCV systemcombined with any oil that gets pastthe valve guides can oxidize andform deposits on the valves. Overtime, this can interfere with airflowand cause performance problemsand even misfires.

A motor oil with a low volatilityrating (its “NOACK” number, whichis based on the ASTM D5800 lab test)is best for GDI engines because itwill reduce oil consumption andhelp keep the PCV system and intakevalves clean. Most recent Europeanoil specifications call for a lowNOACK rating (less than 15%).

Re-Refined OilsAnother change in motor oils is theintroduction of more “green”products that contain up to 50% ormore “re-refined” motor oil. The U.S.generates about 1.8 billion gallons ofwaste oil a year.

About 60 to 70% of the used oilthat is recovered is burned as a heatsource for various industrialprocesses, but nearly 30 percent isrecycled and made into usable basestocks for lubricants and otherpetrochemical products. Used motoroil can be re-refined eight to 10times, extending the useful life of avaluable waste product.

Recycled motor oil is re-refinedusing a multi-step refining procedurethat is very similar to that which isused to refine crude oil. Theresulting base stock is as good or

better than comparable virgin oil,and meets the same API and OEMperformance requirements when it isreformulated with the properadditives.

Re-refined motor oil is being usedsuccessfully by numerous fleets, theU.S. military and ordinary motorists.

Oils For the JobThe oil you ultimately decide to use(or recommend) for a particularengine will therefore depend on theengine, bearing clearances, the typeof fuel it burns and how the enginewill be used.

For an everyday driver, most off-the-shelf oils (conventional orsynthetic) should work just fine.

Choose a viscosity that’sappropriate for the bearingclearances and ambient temperaturerange (5W-20, 5W-30 or 10W-30 foryear round driving).

Heavier oils (15W-40, 15W-50,20W-50, etc.) should only be used forwarm weather (65°F or higher).

If you are building a performancesmall block or big block with a flattappet cam, make sure the oil youchoose contains extra ZDDP, or use aZDDP additive.

If the application is an all-outracing engine, choose high-qualityfull synthetic racing oil. Racing oilscontain extra ZDDP as well asadditional friction modifiers, and canhandle temperatures up to 250 to300°F (or higher).

They also contain fewerdetergents, which means they arefine for racing but should NOT beused for everyday driving becausethey get dirty fast. If the engineburns alcohol, make sure theadditive package is for alcohol. Fornitrous engines, use a 15W-50 withan additive package that can handlethe extra fuel dilution.

For any kind of enduranceapplication (off-road), choose racingoil that can handle crankcasecontaminants as well as elevatedtemperatures and loads. Popularviscosities include 20W-50 and 15W-50.

For turbo diesel engines, a highquality 5W-40 with adequate ZDDPis usually the best choice. ■


Oil Feature



23 champion_Layout 1 2/17/14 3:18 PM Page 23

For more than a century, thename Cadillac has beensynonymous with

performance, style and passion.And in those early years of theCadillac Automobile Company, itwas a former loom mechanic –Henry Martyn Leland – who wascredited with forging thetechnologies that separated Cadillacfrom the other automobilebusinesses that were springing up atthe turn of the 20th Century.

Leland was born to Quaker par-ents in Vermont in 1843,and 43 years later in 1890,Leland took his familyand his talents to Detroit,MI to seek his fortune inthe growing automotiveindustry.

In June 1901, OldsMotor Works signed acontract for Leland to make CurvedDash Olds engines. Leland designedone that developed 23% more horse-power than an engine developed atthat time by the Dodge Brothers —John and Horace. Unfortunately,Olds rejected the Leland designedengine due to retooling costs. A yearlater, Henry Ford took his design.

In August 1902, two of Ford’sbackers called Leland in to appraisethe automobile factory so they couldsell out. They felt Ford was too

involved in building racing cars.Leland showed them the engine thatOlds had rejected and suggestedthey stay in.

They completed the first Cadillacon Oct. 17, 1902.

The single-cylinder Cadillacwould be built for half a dozenyears. The first four-cylinderCadillac arrived in 1905. The Model30 of 1909 had a refined four thatwould advertise “1/1000th of aninch is the standard measurement.”

Mass ProductionGeneral Motors then boughtCadillac for over $5.5 million. InSeptember 1914, Cadillacintroduced the first V8 engine in aseries produced, mass-marketautomobile.

The 3-main-bearings 314.5-cid V8had a 3-1/8 x 5-1/8 in. bore andstroke.

It was a 90-degree L-head withnon-detachable heads and two castiron four-cylinder blocks on analuminum crankcase. With a 4.25:1


Cadillac 1915 V8 Type 51: The 314.5-cid V8 was developed 100 years agoin 1914 and had three mainbearings. It was first usedin a car in the 1915 CadillacModel 51

Exploring 100 Years of EightCylinder Cadillac Engines

Feat

ure

Vintage V8sBY JOHN GUNNELL, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

24-35 TechFeatVintageV8s 2/18/14 9:18 AM Page 24


25 epwi_Layout 1 2/18/14 9:47 AM Page 25

compression ratio, it made 70 hp at 2400 rpm and 180lbs.-ft. at 1800-2200 rpm.

The engine had rockers with roller cam followers, a1.5 gallon crankcase and a 5.25-gallon cooling system.Its Johnson float feed carburetor had auxiliary aircontrol. The water jackets and combustion chamberswere integral with the blocks.

Coolant circulation and temperature control relied onan impeller pump with a thermostat for each block.

Three 1-7/8 in. bearings protected a crankshaft withfour throws in one plane. The fork-and-bladeconnecting rods were a Leland trademark.

Rod bearings were made available in standard, .005under and .020 under. Three rings were wrappedaround the pistons and came in standard, first andsecond oversize.

A single camshaft with eight cams was used. A silentchain drove the camshaft and generator shaft. Thegenerator and distributor were rear mounted since atwo-cylinder power tire pump was up front.

The updraft carburetor had a water-heated intakemanifold. The dual exhaust system (without balancepipe) had log-type exhaust manifolds.

Cadillac used 1-9/16-in. diameter, 5/16-in. lift flatexhaust valves flat and tulip-shaped intake valvesactuated by adjustable tappets connected to rocker armswith the roller riding on cams.

Cadillac’s firing order was 1L-2R-3L-1R-4L-3R-2L-4Ras viewed from the rear and each bank was numberedone through four from the front.

The valve chamber caps were stamped H, L, or LLfor high or low compression ratios. A three-pointsuspension kept the engine smooth for the era.

The mounts were of ball-and-socket design at thefront and solid at the rear.

Lubrication ChallengesOn early engines, the oil relief valve was cast integralwith the starter gear housing. Later, the oil relief valvewas a separate unit mounted on the angular face of thecrankcase.

The lubrication system was recirculating andpressure fed from a gear-type oil pump. The pumpdrew in oil from the crankcase and forced it through a

header pipe running inside the crankcase. Leads ran from this header pipe to the main bearings

and then through drilled holes in the crankshaft to theconnecting rod bearings.

The pistons, cylindersand all were lubricated byoil slung up from the lowerends of the connecting rods.Oil from the rear end of theheader pipe ran to thepressure relief valve.

Then, the overflow from this valve was gravity fed tothe camshaft and chains, before draining to thecrankcase.

In 1916, Cadillac offered only one series, the V8-powered Type 53. Erwin G. “Cannonball” Baker andWm. F. Sturm drove a V8 roadster from Los Angeles toNew York in seven days, 11 hours, 52 minutes. Theybettered their previous time in another car by threedays, 19 hours, 23 minutes.

Continuing refinements of the V8 had broughtdetachable cylinder heads for 1918, an inherentlybalanced crankshaft in the V-63 of 1924 and detailchanges in the interim 85.5-hp Series 314 V8 thatendured until 1936. Then, Cadillac came out with a new


V8 Feature

The 1902 Cadillac single- cylinder engine, designed byHenry Leland, displaced 98.2 cu.in. and generated 10 hp.

Henry Martyn Leland (February 16, 1843 – March 26, 1932)was a machinist, inventor, engineer and automotive entre-preneur - and was instrumental in the founding of both lux-ury automakers Cadillac and Lincoln.


Gen III V8 that introduced unit-block construction and downdraftcarburetion in a design that wouldsurvive until 1949.

The 1936 V8 came in two

displacements. Both were L-headswith the cast iron block cast withthe crankcase. Series 60 Cadillacbuyers got a 322-cid version thathad a 3-3/8 x 4-1/2-in. bore and

stroke and a 6.25:1 compressionratio. This produced 125-hp at 3400rpm and 155 lbs.-ft. at 1000 rpm.

The engine had three mainbearings, hydraulic valve lifters anda Stromberg EE-25 dual downdraftcarburetor. Its crankcase capacitywas 7 qts. And the cooling systemheld 30 qts. of coolant.

In this engine the water jacketran the full length of the cylinderbore and a more rigid crankshaftwith six counterweights was used.

Cadillac used new connectingrods with the large ends split at anangle. This allowed them to beremoved through the top of theengine. Hydraulic valve silencerswere used, along with newmanifolding and a downdraftcarburetor.

Suction-type crankcaseventilation was employed to takefumes out of the engine through theexhaust system. The lubricationsystem was simplified by restrictingpiping only to the hydraulic lifters.A combination fuel pump and


V8 Feature


Cadillac 1936 Monobloc V8: In its first year, the Cadillac Monobloc V8 wasoffered in two displacements, with the larger one being the exclusive Cadil-lac V8 thru 1949.



NOS NichingsThe intertwining of the Internet with the rebuilding industry has had a tremendous impact for shops acquiring the engine partsneeded for a build. Whether it’s for a classic restoration or a performance rebuild, the ability of looking up inventory from partssupplier not only simplifies the rebuilder’s job, but also puts their mind at ease knowing a component can be located and deliv-ered in a timely manner. While this can easily understood when searching the numerous suppliers of Ford Mustang and Chevymuscle car engines and components, the Internet is truely a beneficial tool for searching hard-to-find parts from vintage and pre-War vehicles, in this case, vintage Cadillac engines.Many rebuilders and their customers have discovered the advantage of new old stock (NOS) parts. These parts, produced by thesame provider who manufactured them for sale at the car dealership, allows a vehicle enthusiast to have a vehicle restored tonearly original condition. And NOS parts means they may be nearly as old as the vehicles they were built for, but have never beenfitted to a car. While new old stock parts are great to some, they often demand a price premium. This is not only because the qual-ity may be better than modern updated pieces, but they can be added to a period correct vehicle without sacrificing originality.When gathering parts for such a build, first and foremost, use a respected and competent supplier that specializes in vintageparts. These companies can be located using Engine Builder’s annual Buyers Guides.

Here are a few additional options for when it comes time find proper vintage pieces:

• Ebay is home to a vast number of online vendors specializing in every make, model and age. A quick search will often reveal any number of parts available for bid or immediate purchase.

• Craigslist is a free local classifieds site giving buyers and sellers the ability to deal locally. Popular vintage items can move fast,so be prepared to jump on a good deal.

• Online forums are a great place to find information on any vintage car. Many larger forums also have a classified section whereboth cars and parts can be found for great prices.

• Local events such as swap meets and classic car shows are another excellent way to find parts with face-to-face interaction.

No matter what the country of origin, there is always a source of used parts to keep any vintage vehicle moving down the road.

The parts problem can be tough at times, but for those who love this type of restoration work, it is simply another part of thechallenging aspects of rebuilding vintage engines.Source: Cars.com



vacuum pump was mounted on thefront engine cover.

The starter was on the right side,in front of the bell housing. Thegenerator could be serviced byremoving an access panel under theleft front fender. The radiator waspressurized.

In its pricier Series 70/75 modelsCadillac went to a 346-cid V8 basedon the 322-cid version. It had a 3-1/2 in. bore, 135 hp at 3400 rpm and170 lbs.-ft. at 1000 rpm. Cadillackept the 346-cid V8 until 1949, whena compact, but very sturdy,overhead valve V8 with five main-bearings arrived.

It would last 30 years withoutgetting stale, but growing moremonstrous in size and power astime rolled on. The original had a 3-13/16 x 3-5/8 in. bore and strokeand displaced 331 cu. in. With a7.5:1 compression ratio it made 160hp at 3800 rpm and 312 lbs.-ft. at1800 rpm. It had hydraulic valvelifters, a 5 qt. (or 6 qt. with filter)sump and an 18-qt. coolant capacity:

A Carter WCD two-barrelcarburetor fed it.

This “Cad V8” started—andparticipated in—the postwarhorsepower race. By 1952, it had afour-barrel carburetor and cranked

out 180 hp. Thirty ponies wereadded in 1953, with 20 more piledon the next season. By 1955, the 331V8 had a 9.0:1 compression ratio,250 hp. A dual four-barrelcarburetor 270-hp version was


V8 Feature


Cadillac 1949 High Compression V8: America’s first modern overhead valve V8was the 331-cid high-compression Cadillac engine introduced in 1949.


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standard for Eldorados and optionalon other models for $161 extra.

A 1956 bore increase to 4.00 in.meant 365 cu. in. With a 9.75:1compression ratio 285 hp was on

tap. The dual-carb Eldorado V8 wasgood for 305 hp. For 1958, theEldorado came with three two-barrel carburetors and 335 hp.Compression was up to 10.5:1 for

Cadillac’s 1959-1960 “finmobiles”which had a longer stroke, 390 cu.in., 325 base hp and 345 hp in tri-carb Eldorados.

During the late ‘50s a recessionmoved car buyers towards compactimported cars with fuel-efficientfour-cylinder engines. With leadtimes being what they were then,Detroit reacted slowly to this changeand, by the time it had, thependulum swung back again. AtCadillac, the only engine availablein 1961-1963 was the 390 with asingle four-barrel carburetor and325 hp at 4800 rpm.

In 1964, what was basically the’49 V8, was bored (4.13 in.) andstroked (4.00 in.) to 429 cu. in.Cadillac advertised 340 hp at 4600rpm and 480 lbs.-ft. of torque at3000 rpm. This was a large engine,but had a high power-to-weightratio. It was used in the front-wheel-drive Eldorado (with dualexhausts). In 1968, the bore andstroke went to 4.30 x 4.06 in. for 472


V8 Feature


By 1953, Cadillac’s V8 engines were cranking out 210 hp.


cid and 375 hpTo keep a watchdog government

happy, in the ‘70s Cadillac adopted a8.5:1 compression ratio to permitutilization of low-lead or lead-freegasoline. A high-energy electronicignition system debuted in 1974, Salesplunged due to an Arab nations' oilembargo. In mid-1975, Cadillaclaunched the international-sized Sevillewith a 350-cid fuel-injected V8, whilefull-size models got electronic fuel-injection for a 500-cid engine that wasthe biggest V8 of modern times. In1977, the full-size models weredownsized. All non-Seville Cadillacscarried a new, smaller, 425-cid V8. In1978, Sevilles could be ordered an Oldsdiesel V8. The Eldorado wasdownsized for 1979 and used a 350-cidV8. Big Cadillacs kept the 425-cid V8and all models could be optioned withthe Olds diesel.

A new 1980 Seville had front-wheeldrive and a standard diesel engine.

Other Cadillacs turned to a 368-cidgas V8. A fuel-injected version wasstandard on Eldorados and optional forSevilles. Late in the year came someshocking power plant news—a Buick-built V6 for Cadillacs.

A different kind of “V8” arriving in1981 would bring Cadillac nothing butgrief. The variable displacement (V-8-6-4) engine seemed like a good idea atthe time, but it was trouble and lastedonly one year, except in limos. TheBuick V6 remained an alternative.

For 1982, Cadillac launched its four-cylinder subcompact the Cimarron. Anew aluminum-block 249-cid 4100 V8replaced the troublesome V-8-6-4 as the

standard engine in other models. The 1985 deVille and Fleetwood models were two

feet shorter and used transverse mounted V6s or V8s.Even Fleetwood limos were front-drives, but theBrougham soldiered on with rear-wheel drive. Brand-new Eldorados and Sevilles arrived for 1986 andlimousines finally dropped the V-8-6-4 engine. Rear-drive Fleetwood Broughams kept the 5.0-liter V8.

Cadillac's introduction of the Allanté in 1987highlighted what was called the “New Spirit of


V8 Feature


In 1968, the bore and stroke of theCadillac V-8 went to 4.30 x 4.06 in.which added up to 472 cid. This enginedeveloped 375 hp.


Cadillac.” The Allanté was based upon the GM-30platform and utilized a 4.1-liter (249-cid) 170-hp V8.

Cadillac's best-selling Sedan deVille model and bothdeVille models used a 130-hp version of the 4.1. A 5.0-

liter (307-cid) V8 with 140 hp and 346lbs.-ft. was standard in Broughamsand optional in Cadillacs.

With the elimination of theCimarron in 1989, Cadillac returned toits traditional position of offeringautomobiles powered exclusively byV8 engines.

By this time, Cadillac was markingits 75th year of offering V8s. Amongthe highlights for 1990 was a 4.5L V8with a 25-hp increase to 180 forEldorado, Seville, deVille andFleetwood models, and an optional5.7L V8 for the Brougham. The

Allante’s 4.5 developed 200 hp. Some Cadillacs built forcoachbuilders or for towing used a 5.7L (350-cid)Chevrolet-built V8.

Cadillac observed its 90th Anniversary in 1993 in abig way, introducing the pioneering Northstar engine,with limp-home capability. This was a 4.6L (279-cid)aluminum block and heads, overhead valve V8 withdual overhead cams with a 10.3:1 compression ratio,direct acting hydraulic tappets and a tuned portinduction system.

It was rated 270 hp/300 lbs.-ft in Eldorado SportCoupes with the Sport Performance package and 295hp/290 lbs.-ft in the Eldorado Touring Coupe, SevilleTouring sedan and Allante. The aluminum block usedcast iron liners. The deVille, Sixty Special, Seville andEldorado came standard with a 4.9L (300-cid) 200-hpCadillac V8 and the Fleetwood used a 185-hp Chevy 350.


V8 Feature


Allante’s 1986 4.1L (249-cid) V8 hadmulti-port fuel injection and roller hy-draulic lifters to help it make 170 hpat 4300 rpm and 235 lbs.-ft at 3200rpm.

Developed in 1988 for the deVille, Fleetwood, Sevilleand Eldorado, the 4.5L (273-cid) V8 developed 155 hpin base form and 200 hp in the Allante.


The Northstar engine of 1995,powering all Cadillacs except theSedan deVille and Fleetwood,helped to mark the 80th

Anniversary of theCadillac V8.

The V6 Caterazipped into thelinep in 1996 as a1997 model. It wasthe first timeCadillac offered aCadillac-builtengine other than aV8 since 1988. Allother Cadillacsused Northstar V8s,which came in 275-and 300-hpversions.

Cadillac’smillennium-ending

2000 lineupfeaturedcompletelyrestyled full-sizedeVille sedansbuilt on a much

stiffer platform shared with someother GM marques. Eldorado andSeville remained largely unchangedin appearance, but received tweaks

to their Northstar V8s.The 4.6L 275-hp Northstar was

used in the Seville SLS thru 2004,the Eldorado ESC thru 2002 and thedeVille and deVille DHS thru 2005.The 300-hp version was used in theSeville STS until 2004, the EldoradoETC thru 2002 and the Deville DTSuntil 2005. Its final appearance wasin the last 2006-2011 DTS series.

The 4.4L Northstar V8 used inCadillac’s later V-Series were allsupercharged. The present STS-Vengine produces 469 hp and 439 lbs-ft. The 2006-2008 XLR-V uses thesame supercharged Northstar V8 asthe STS-V, but in a 443-hp 414 lbs-ft.version with the supercharger andfour intercoolers built into theintake to fit under the lower hood.And lest we forget, CadillacEscalade SUVs were powered by theChevy-built Vortec 5700 V8, 6.0LGen III series V8 or Gen IV 6.2L V8.In addition, the CTS-V sports caroffered a variety of Corvette V8sincluding Z06 and ZR1 performancemills with as much as 638 hp. ■


V8 Feature


Beginning in 1996, all Cadillacs but the Fleetwoods used the4.6L (279-cid) Northstar V8 which was rated 275 hp insome models and 300 hp in others.


Selecting the right components tomake a race-worthy valvetrain iscrucial to assembling an engine

that will last – and win. Thepushrods, rockers and valve springsmust be able to handle all of thestresses of the camshaft rotating withhigh spring pressures and with hugelift. As we all know, weakness in anypart of the valvetrain will equal aperformance engine catastrophe.

While the type of parts you chooseoften depends on the application(street performance, circle track, drag,marine, etc.), you also must fallwithin the parameters of yourcustomer’s budget. Affordabilityoften limits your choices if a customerjust doesn’t have the bucks to buildan ultimate engine.

The issue of valvetrain durabilitymay need to be voiced by you to acustomer, especially with enduranceracing where the engine isexpected to last a certainnumber of laps without anyvalvetrain failures.

The thought process thatyou go through when planningthe valvetrain components foran engine build is usuallybased on your past experience.Unless you’re pushing the envelopeor experimenting with somethingnew, you tend to stick with the samebrands and types of parts you’veused successfully in previous engines.

The safe approach here is – “if itisn’t broken, don’t fix it, right?”

But there may come a time thatyou need to build an engine for anextremely competitive class where afew extra horsepower may make thedifference between winning and

losing. When these cases come intoyour shop, you may have no otherchoice but to try different valvetraincomponents to see if there’s anyground to be gained.

PushrodsStock pushrods are okay for stockengines, but are usually not stiffenough to handle stronger-than-stockvalve springs. If you’re building aperformance engine – stiffer is betterto get your customer to the finish line.

Reducing weight in the valvetrainobviously increases an engine’s rpmpotential. But the weight of thepushrods is something you don’twant to minimize because it willincrease flex and the risk of bendingor breakage.

The pushrods have to be stiffenough to handle the valve springs,so the stiffer the valve springs, the

stiffer the pushrods need to be.Weight on the pushrod side of the

rocker arms has much less effect than

weight on the valve side of the rockerarm. The lift ratio of the rocker armshas a leverage effect that multipliesspring pressure when the valvesclose.


A high performance valvetrainincludes many components. Inthis article, we’ll turn our focusto three essential parts: thelifters, pushrods and valvesprings.

Feat

ure

Pick-a-PartSelecting Valvetrain Components for aPerformance Build


Builder Tip: Pushrods can flex quite

a bit at higher engine speeds, like a

pole vaulter’s pole. As the lifter

rises on the cam lobe and pushes

the pushrod up against the rocker,

the pushrod can deflect. How much

it deflects depends on the load

(valve spring pressure) and the

stiffness of the pushrod.

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37 sbi_Layout 1 2/18/14 9:46 AM Page 37

Chrome-moly pushrods are a stepup, and for serious racing thepushrods will also have to be thickerwalled (.080˝ minimum), largerdiameter and possibly tapered (ifthey’ll fit and you are not using guideplates). Some aftermarketperformance pushrods are availablein wall thicknesses up to .125˝, andothers use a double wall constructionwith an aluminum tube inside a steelouter tube. The inner tube addsstiffness and weight. And if you’reworried about weight, don’t bebecause added mass on the pushrodside of the rockers is much lessimportant than mass on the valveside.

If you’re not sure how muchpushrod stiffness a motor needs,check with your pushrod supplier.They can advise you on whatpushrods to use based on theapplication, cam and valve springs.As one pushrod supplier put it, “Thesame cam and valve springs in onekind of racing application mayrequire pushrods that are differentfrom those that would be the bestchoice for a different type ofapplication. Everything is veryspecialized today, so you have toconsider all the variables, not just thecam grind and valve springs.”

Pushrod FitPushrod lengths are often custom-sized to fit a performance engine. Thelength of the pushrod will depend ona number of factors, including theinstalled height of the valves, thecenterline and geometry of the rocker

arms, and theposition of the cambase circle relativeto the block andheads.

Pushrods haveto be correctlysized to keep thetips of the rockerscentered over thevalves as theyopen and close.Wrong lengthpushrods canresult in sideloading on the valves, uneven valvestem and guide wear, and pushrodbending and breakage.

The tip of a roller rocker armshould be centered over the valvestem when the cam is at mid-lift. If itis off-center, it will produce sideloading on the valve stem.

An adjustable-length pushrod orsimilar pushrod measuring devicecan be used to determine the correctsize. Install the adjustable pushrod,adjust valve lash as it will be set onthe engine (zero lash if you are usinghydraulic lifters), then measure thelength of the pushrod.

Round-off the length to the nearest.050˝, since that’s the increment thatmost custom pushrods are made tosize. Check with the pushrod supplierto see if they measure pushrod lengthend-to-end, or if they add acompensation factor for the oil holesin each end.

If an engine has cup-end pushrodsrather than rounded-end pushrods,measuring the length can be tricky

because the size and shape of the cupcan vary depending on themanufacturer. One trick is to place a5/16˝(.3125˝) steel ball in the cup-end,measure the overall length of thepushrod with the ball in place, thendeduct the diameter of the ball to getthe true length of the pushrod.

Valve SpringsWith high-revving engines, stiffer isnot only better, it’s a must. Stockvalve springs can keep up with thedemands of the valvetrain to about5,500 to 6,000 rpm, but beyond thatthe engine will need stiffer springs,double springs or possibly even triplesprings depending on the engine’sredline, the lift and duration of thecam, and the weight of the valvetraincomponents on both sides of therocker.

Increasing the rocker arm lift ratiogenerally requires increasing the

spring rate to maintain thesame rpm potential.Going from a 1.5 rockerratio to a 1.6 ratio mayrequire a valve spring thatis about 6.5 to 7% stiffer tomaintain the same redlineas before.

Spring harmonics alsoplay a big role in howmany rpms a set ofsprings can handle beforethe valves start to float.Beehive springs with theirtapered profile tend to bemore resistant toharmonics thanconventional coil springs.But the shape of a beehive


Valvetrain Feature

With high-revving engines, stiffer isnot only better, it’s a must.


spring means you can’t use a doublespring – so there’s no backup if youbreak a spring (as is the case withdouble springs).

How much spring pressure do youactually need? If you are building amild-performance small block enginewith a flat tappet cam and no morethan .450˝ lift, single springs with 80to 90 lbs. of closed seat pressureshould work just fine. For a hotterstreet/strip engine with a flat tappetcam, single springs with 100 to 120lbs. of closed seat pressure (300 to 330lbs. open pressure) are usuallyrecommended. If the engine has aroller cam with heavier lifters, youmight need springs with 120 to asmuch as 250 lbs. of closed pressuredepending on the cam grind, theweight of the valvetrain componentsand peak engine rpm.

For a high-revving circle track ordrag racing engine that is running aflat tappet cam, double springs withclosed seat pressures of 130 up to 200-plus lbs. may be needed to handle therpms. Many Pro Stock drag racers are

using triple springs with up to 475lbs. of closed seat pressure, and over1,000 lbs. of open valve pressure. Inmost instances the open springpressure will be two to three times theclosed seat pressure, so the valvetrainmust be strong enough to handle it.

The main disadvantage withhigher spring pressures (besides theload they create on the valvetrain) isthat stiffer springs don’t last as longas springs with less spring tension.That might not be a big deal on a dragmotor where the springs can bereplaced often, but on a street car orendurance engine, short spring lifewould not be desirable.

An important point to remember isthat good quality springs areexpensive. Watch out for cheapsprings that seem like a bargain, butwon’t hold up and will lose pressurequickly or break.

Strengthening Springs The quality of spring wire from somesuppliers has increased significantlyin recent years. The best springs are

made from “super clean wire” that isa high grade alloy with almost noinclusions or imperfections. When thewire is formed, it is rolled in such away that any inclusions in itsmicrostructure are pushed to thecenter of the wire.

The center experiences the leaststress, so the overall strength anddurability of the wire is enhanced.The wire is then scanned with anelectrical eddy current to reveal anyhidden imperfections before it ismade into a valve spring.

Some spring manufacturers arealso using special surface finishingprocedures to extend spring life. Shotpeening has long been used to createcompressive residual stresses in theouter layer of the spring wire. Shotpeening leaves a matte finish on thesprings, while hardening the surfaceto help the spring handle higher loadsand speeds without failing.

Nitriding has a similar effect. Bydiffusing nitrogen into the surface ofthe spring, the surface is made harderand stronger. Polishing is another


Valvetrain Feature



technique that can eliminate smallsurface imperfections and extendspring life. Springs can also becryogenically treated to improve theirmetallurgy and longevity.

However, if cost is not an issue,titanium springs are the way to go.Titanium is lighter than steel and thesprings are typically made with largerdiameter wire but fewer coils. Thisallows a titanium spring to handlemore valve lift without coil bind. Thereduced mass and inertia of atitanium spring also increase thenatural frequency of the spring tolessen harmonics at higher enginespeeds. Titanium also has a lowertorsional modulus than steel whichmakes it more springy than steel.Consequently, the springs hold theirpressure longer and resist taking a setat elevated temperatures.

With conventional steel springsand beehive springs, the quality andpurity of the wire are extremelyimportant for spring reliability andlongevity. Most valve springs are nowmade from high silicon wire orchrome vanadium wire. Ovateshaped wire can also provide somelongevity advantages over roundwire, and a spring made of ovate wirecan handle more valve lift withoutcoil bind. Surface treatments thatmicropeen and/or polish the springsreduce stress that can lead to springbreakage. One supplier of valvesprings who uses a specialmicrofinish process on its springssays it improves spring durability at

least 10%. Springs can also be nitritedto improve durability.

Rock OnValvetrain stability also depends onthe rocker system. Shaft-mountedrockers are much more rigid andstronger than stud or pedestal-mounted rockers, and don’t require abulky stud girdle for reinforcement.But shaft-mounted rocker systems areexpensive and may not be allowed by

some racing rules.The advantages of a shaft rocker

setup is that the shaft holds therockers in better alignment,eliminating the need for a separateguide plate for the pushrods. Thisreduces flex in the valvetrain athigher speeds for better valve control.The shaft can also supply oil pressuredirectly to the rockers to improvelubrication and reduce friction.

The position of the shaft may alsolower the pivot point of the rockersslightly with respect to the valves andpushrods. The improved geometry ofshaft-mounted rockers reducesfriction between the tips of the armsand top of the valves, and is typicallygood for an extra 15 to 20 horsepowerwith no other changes.

Choosing rockers with a higher liftratio can add horsepower with littleor no loss in low rpm torque, idlequality or vacuum. By opening andclosing the valves at a faster rate, theengine flows more air for the samenumber of degrees of valve duration.High lift rocker arms also reduce theamount of lifter travel needed to openthe valves, which reduces friction andthe inertia of the lifters and pushrodsthat must be overcome by the valvesprings to close the valves.

On the other hand, you also haveto make sure the valve springs canhandle higher ratio rockers so thecoils don’t bind and bottom out. Youalso need to check clearances betweenthe top of the valve guides and theunderside of the spring retainers to

make sure there’s enoughspace to handle the extramotion.

Roller lifters have muchless friction than flat tappetlifters, and they don’t havethe lubrication, cam break-in and wear issues that flattappet lifters can have withlow zinc oils. A roller camalso allows more radical

lobe profiles and faster valve openingand closing rates for more “areaunder the curve” (valve opening) tomake more horsepower and torque.

The main advantage of roller liftersis that they provide a huge reductionin friction compared to flat tappetlifters. This not only reduces parasitichorsepower loss in the valvetrain, butalso wear on the cam lobes.

Lubrication is less of an issue withroller lifters, but is still important in

40 February 2014 | EngineBuilderCircle 40 for more information

Builder Tip: For every gram you reduce the

weight of the valves and retainers, you can

typically add another 35 to 40 rpm to the

engine using the same springs. Reducing

valve weight also improves valvetrain

stability and control.


performance engines with highspring pressures. At higher rpms, therollers on the bottoms of the liftersmay skip and slide rather than rotate.So the need for a good anti-wear ad ditive in the oil is still important(though less critical than with flattappet lifters).

Roller lifters also provide anotherimportant advantage over flat bottomlifters: they allow more radical lobeprofiles and faster valve opening andclosing rates. That means more “areaunder the curve” (valve opening) formore horsepower and torque.

The drawbacks with roller liftersare added complexity and cost. Rollerlifters can be heavier than flat tappetlifters, and may require a hinged leverbetween adjacent lifters to keep thelifters in proper alignment (if thelifters don’t have a flat on one side toprevent them from rotating out ofposition).

The most critical area in a rollerlifter is the roller bearing. If the needlebearings are not perfectly matched insize, the largest one will bear most ofthe load and eventually fail. Onesupplier said they size their needlebearings to the nearest micron andcarefully match all the needlebearings to improve the durability oftheir roller lifters.

The advantage of flat tappet liftersis that they are relatively simple andcheap compared to roller lifters. Withsolid lifters, there’s not much that cango wrong. The lifter is nothing morethan a hollow steel bucket with aslightly convex bottom. The lifterrides on the cam lobe and transfersthe rotary motion of the lobe intovertical lift. That motion passes upthrough the pushrods to operate therocker arms and open the valves.

Solid lifters work well in high-revving engines, but do requireconstant valve lash adjustments. Asolid lifter valvetrain is also quitenoisy because of the clearancesbetween the rocker arms and valves.That’s not an issue in a race car, butfor a street car it may be aconsideration. However, solid liftersdo provide the ability to change thevalve lash by adjusting the rockerarms or pushrods. This allows camlift and duration to be tuned slightlyto adapt to changing track conditions.

With hydraulic lifters, there’s anoil-filled bucket inside the lifter. Oil

pressure enters the lifterthrough a small hole inthe side and fills thepiston cavity. A checkball and spring in thelifter trap the oiltemporarily, allowingthe piston to moveupward and take upslack in the valvetrain.

This eliminates valvelash, noise and the needfor frequentadjustments. But thetrade off is addedcomplexity, cost and atendency to “pump up”at higher rpms.Hydraulic lifters areusually the best choicefor stock engines, streetperformanceapplications and lowrpm torque motors thatdon’t rev muchbeyond 5,500 to6,000 rpm. ■


Valvetrain Feature


Lubrication is less of an issue with rollerlifters, but is still important in performanceengines with high spring pressures.


Whether you're building astock engine, a high-revvingperformance engine or a

slow-turning diesel engine, you can'toverlook the importance of balance.Every time the pistons in areciprocating internal combustionengine change direction, they generatea force. That force is created by thereciprocating and rotating mass of thepiston and rod assembly. If this force isnot balanced by an equal and oppositeforce, it will create a vibration.

In a low revving engine, a littlevibration may seem hardly noticeable.But over many miles and millions ofcycles, even a small vibration can takea toll on the crankshaft and bearings.

In a high-revving engine, anyimbalance multiplies exponentially asthe RPMs go up. A small imbalance at1000 RPM becomes a huge imbalanceat 8,000 RPM. An imbalance of only afew ounces can generate a force ofover 200 lbs. at 8,000 RPM! That's a lotof shaking and stress on the engine'sbottom end.

Most race car drivers don't care thatmuch about NVH (Noise VibrationHarshness) but they do like to finishraces. An engine with a severeimbalance can literally shake itself todeath. The forces generated byimbalance can cause fatigue cracks incrankshafts and fretting in bearings. Soif something breaks as a result ofimbalanced forces inside the engine,the race is over for our unfortunatecompetitor.

Passenger car and light truckowners do care about NVH, and theyalso want their engine to last as manymiles as possible. An engine that isn'tproperly balanced can produceannoying vibrations and harmonics

that can be felt throughout thedrivetrain and chassis. And eventhough the engine may never bepushed that hard, the forces generatedby imbalance will, over time, shortenthe life of the engine and otherdrivetrain components (including themotor mounts).

With slow turning diesel engines,balance may not seem that important.But most diesels are hard workingengines, so even a small imbalanceover a long period of time can shortenthe life of the crankshaft and bearings.Over-the-road truck drivers alsoappreciate a smooth running dieselengine with minimal NVH.

Balance not only reduces NVH for asmoother running engine, it alsoimproves engine reliability anddurability by minimizing forces insidethe engine that could do it harm.

Minimizing Balance ProblemsThe basic idea behind engine balancingis to equalize reciprocating forces asmuch as possible, and to make sure allrotating mass (the crankshaft and thelower half of the connecting rods) arein balance so the crank spins smoothlyabout its center axis.

When a rotating object such as acrankshaft, flywheel or tire is out ofbalance, it wobbles because its center ofmass does not align with its axis ofrotation. The heavy spot wants to pullthe object off-center as it rotates.

The centripetal force generated bythe imbalance multiplies exponentiallywith the speed of rotation (doublingthe speed quadruples the force),creating a shake or vibration.

Balancing a rotating object requiresplacing it in a spin balancer so theheavy spot can be pinpointed. In the


Reducing shaking and stress on an engine’s bottom end

Feat

ure

Some well-known engine builders haveexpressed that proper balancing can add20 horsepower to an engine.


Weighing In on

Balancing Work

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43 rpExpo_Layout 1 2/18/14 9:46 AM Page 43

case of a tire balancer, a weight equal tothe imbalance is then attached to thewheel rim opposite the heavy spot toequalize the forces.

With a crankshaft or flywheel, it'smuch easier to lighten the heavy spotthan it is to add weight, so the balancerpinpoints the heavy spot so a hole orholes can be drilled into the componentto reduce the imbalance. It usuallytakes several spins and correctionsbefore balance is achieved.

The really tricky part is balancingthe reciprocating forces inside a V6 orV8 engine. Unlike rotating forces thatspin around an axis of rotation,reciprocating forces are moving backand forth.

In a single-cylinder engine, there isnothing to counter these forces exceptthe counterweight on the crankshaft.

If the mass of the counterweightequals the weight of the upper half ofthe rod, piston, wrist pin and rings, theforces will be balanced and the enginewill run smoothly.

If not, the engine will shake.

Balancing Various Engine TypesWith a horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine, two pistons arealways moving in when two pistonsare moving out. Consequently, the forces, equal andopposite, are essentially balancedprovided the weights of each pistonand rod assembly is equal. Balancingthese types of engines is fairly simplebecause all you have to do is equalizethe weights of the piston and rodassemblies.

With an inline four-cylinderengine, two pistons are moving upwhile two pistons are moving down.The motions of the pistons offset eachother, but because they are nothorizontally opposed the crankshaftneeds counterweights to offset thereciprocating forces.

Things get much more complicatedwhen we start talking about V6 and V8engines, because one bank of pistons ismoving at an angle to the other bank ofpistons.

This creates force interactions thatneed to be offset by carefully

positioned counterweights on thecrankshaft.

In a 90-degree V6 or V8 engine, themass of the counterweights shouldequal 100% of the rotating mass (lowerhalf of the connecting rods and rodbearings), plus 50% of the reciprocatingmass (the upper half of the rod, piston,wrist pin and rings) times two (becauseeach rod journal has two connectingrods and pistons).

A few extra grams also needs to beadded to compensate for oil in thebearings and clinging to the parts. Thetotal mass you end up with is what thecounterweights have to equal tobalance the engine.

For example, if each piston weighs680 grams, the wrist pins weigh 190grams, the ring set weighs 60 grams,and the small end of the rod weighs290 grams, the total reciprocatingweight for each piston and upper rodassembly is 1220 grams. Take half ofthat amount (610 grams), then multiplyby two and we end up with 1220grams of reciprocating weight thatneeds to be offset by counterweightson the crankshaft. To that, we have to


Balancing Feature



add the rotating weight of the big endof each connecting rod and bearing(650 grams), also times two becausethere are two rods per journal. Whatwe end up with is a combined weightof 2520 grams that the counterweightshave to offset to balance the engine.This is referred to as the "bobweight" towhich the crankshaft is balanced usingbolt-on weights.

When a 90-degree V6 or V8crankshaft is balanced, bobweights thatequal 50% of the reciprocating massand 100% of the rotating mass areassembled and attached to each rodjournal on the crankshaft to simulatethe rods and pistons. The crank is thenbalanced to the bobweights, usually bydrilling the counterweights to equalizethe forces.

Counterweights can also be milledto remove weight for a cleaner, moreaerodynamic result, but this requiresremoving the crank from the balancerand removing the bobweights so thecrank can be milled, then carefullyreinstalling the bobweights in the exactsame position as before and respinningthe crank to see if additional

corrections are needed.With 60-degree V6 engines, the

angle between the pistons is less so adifferent value must be used whencalculating the reciprocating mass forthe bobweights. This will varydepending on the application, and mayrange from 35% to 40 or 45%. Thevalue may also vary depending onwhether or not the engine has balanceshafts.

The balance shafts have offsetweights that help counter both enginedynamic vibrations and vibrationscaused by uneven firing orders.Balance shafts must be correctly timedto the crankshaft, otherwise the forceswon't cancel each other resulting inunwanted vibrations.

In some cases, weight may have tobe added to a crankshaft to offsetheavier pistons/rods. This can be doneby drilling holes in the counterweightsand installing heavy metal tungsten(Mallory) plugs.

If the counterweights are not heavyenough to completely balance theengine internally, additional weightscan be added to the flywheel, flexplate

and/or harmonic balancer to offset anyresidual imbalance. This is calledexternally balancing the engine.Externally balancing an enginerequires mounting the flywheel,flexplate and/or harmonic balancer onthe crankshaft when it is spun in thebalancing machine.

Engines that are externally balancedfrom the factory include older smallblock Fords (302 & 351W) and Chevy400. Chevy small blocks, most Chevybig blocks, Chevy LS and late modelFord V8s (4.6, 5.0L & 5.4L) are allinternally balanced from the factory.

Internal balance is always bestbecause it keeps the offsetting weightcloser to the reciprocating forces thatneed to be balanced. Moving theweight out to either end of thecrankshaft can sometimes createadditional dynamic forces that causevibrations of their own. Also, changingthe index position of the flywheel orharmonic balancer on an externallybalanced engine (or replacing eithercomponent) will upset the balance.

On most V8 cranks, there are onlysix counterweights to save cost and


Balancing Feature



reduce weight. The counterweights arepositioned in such a way that theyoffset not only the piston and rodassemblies on their own journals butalso the adjacent journals. Some racingcranks are available with eightcounterweights (two for each pair ofpistons), which often helps reduce highRPM vibrations even better, especiallyon long stroke cranks.

Crankshaft counterweights aretypically made to a specific targetbobweight. In other words, the size,positioning and mass of thecounterweights is designed to offset aspecific piston and rod weight, (plus orminus a couple percentage points).With stock cranks, the bobweight ismore or less equal to the weight of thestock pistons and rods. Withperformance cranks, variousbobweights are available depending onthe rod/piston combination you wantto use. If the rods and pistons arelighter than the crankshaft targetbobweight, the counterweights willhave to be drilled or milled to balancethe engine. Likewise, if thepistons/rods are heavier than the

target bobweight ofthe crank, heavy metaland/or externalbalancing will berequired to achieveproper balance.

This is importantinformation to keep inmind if you are usingparts from differentsuppliers, or arereplacing one set ofpistons or rods with alighter set of pistonsor rods. You may endup with a mismatchthat requires a lot ofdrilling or milling toachieve properbalance.

Speaking ofbalance, most 90-degree V6 and V8 engines are "neutral"balanced, meaning they are balancedusing 100 percent of the rotatingweight and 50 percent of thereciprocating weight of the pistons androds. Neutral balance works best inmost applications because all the forces

are offset and equal. But in some high-revving performance applications suchas NASCAR where an engine may berunning at 8,000 to 9,500 RPM orhigher for most of a race, this may notbe enough. The side effects ofcombustion at such speeds can createadditional forces that may have to be


Balancing Feature


Balance between the crankshaft and its related compo-nents is critical to providing a smooth, trouble-free pow-erplant.


offset by "overbalancing" the engine.Some engine builders say they have

found additional horsepower andsmoothness at high RPM when theyslightly overbalance an engine. Insteadof using the standard 50%reciprocating weight when calculatingtheir bobweights, they use 51 or 52% orwhatever to achieve a certainoverbalance.

This will obviously upset normalengine balance at lower RPMs, butmay provide some performanceadvantages at high RPMs. The onlyway to know for sure whether or notoverbalancing produces any significantgains is to test the engine on a dyno.

How close should an engine bebalanced? It depends on theapplication, but the closer you can getto neutral balance the better --especially for high-revving engines.

Several crankshaft manufacturerswe interviewed for this article saidperformance cranks should bebalanced to plus or minus 2 grams orless.

Many electronic crank balancers areaccurate to 0.1 grams (0.004 oz) so it is

possible to shoot for near zero balance.But the closer you get to near zero, themore spins and corrections it takes toachieve such near perfect balance.

Realistically, an engine doesn't haveto be that close to be good enough.Most stock street engines will runsmooth enough if they are balanced to1 oz. (28 grams), although many latemodel engines have much tighterfactory specifications (as little as 4 to 6grams). For a high-revvingperformance application, aim for therecommended 2 grams or less.

If you are buying a rotatingassembly (crank, rods and pistons)from a supplier, buying a pre-balanced assembly will save you timeand trouble and assure a smoothrunning engine.

If you are buying a crank from onesupplier, and pistons and rods fromother suppliers, find out the exactweights of the parts to determine thetarget bobweight for the crankBEFORE you buy the crank.

This will simplify the balancingprocess and minimize the amount ofdrilling or milling that needs to be

done on the crank to balance theengine.

Suppliers of performance pistonsand rods are doing a much better jobthese days of accurately matchingweights between parts. Even so, youshould still weigh all the parts, andequalize to the lightest in the set whencalculating a target bobweight for thecrankshaft.

Balancing TipsIf you are doing your own enginebalancing, one of the keys to achievingreliable repeatability is to make sureyour equipment is accuratelycalibrated. This includes not only the balancer, butalso the scale you use to weighindividual parts. You should alsofollow the same proceduresconsistently.

When you're mounting bobweightson the crank, make sure the weightsare installed in the exact same positionevery time. Also, make sure the nutsthat hold the bobweights together aretight and don't come loose while thecrank is spinning. ■


Balancing Feature



Customer sales reps (CSR) who work for your localW.D., or any parts person for that matter, are expectedto not only take orders, but are often times called uponto choose the parts a shop will use for a build or repairs.

Reps may be asked to help diagnose a problem orfailure without ever seeing the vehicle, and they mayhave no previous hands-on experience with theapplication.

They’ll be the first person you turn to find parts fora very new application or a very old obsolete part.They are liaisons to parts manufacturers when youhave a problem with a part, and often a pair of earswhen you just have a personal problem. I know of oneCSR who encouraged a tired and burned out machineshop owner into taking a vacation that led him to anew career in a very desirable place tolive.

We’re going to put a rep to the testthis year. If you saw the December issueof Engine Builder, I hope you had achance to check out the Profitable Performance column titled, “For TheLove of A Good Cause.”

The PlanIn that column, we introduced our 392 Magnumengine build and our plans to raise money for aworthwhile charity, The Independence Fund. Andthat rep for the job, well, that would be me.

Spawned from a previous article I wrote whichran in 2010, we’re going to take a dare to be differentapproach, use shelf stock parts that anyone mightwork with everyday, and apply them to a less thanpopular performance application. And I’ll be makingthose choices. Of course the application will dictatewhat’s available, and I’ll work with various partsmanufacturer’s recommendations.

The PlayersI’m just one of the players, though, and besidesfinding and choosing the parts, I’ll also be reportingon our progress and relating it to business throughthese columns. Like any good plan, we do have ateam. Engine building is much more than the parts.

We needed a good fully equipped shop, experiencedperformance machinists and a dynamometer to reporthow we’ve done.

I was lucky enough to get a call from Joe Degraw ofGrawmondbeck’s Competition Engines, Mason CityIA, who volunteered to help.

Steve Tosel, also of Grawmondbeck’s, had beenkind enough to find and supply us with our 318Chrysler core motor. I guess Joe and his partner StacyRedmond had discussed our project and decided theywanted in. And we’re excited to have them.

Like many shops today, this one known for theirwinning race motors, will also tackle a stock rebuild, arestoration motor, AG and industrial motors and allsizes of cylinder heads. And much like many of your


Assembling the Piecesof Our 392 MagnumProject CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Dave Sutton

[email protected]

Players, Parts and the Plan

Tale

s Fr

om W

D

The staff at Grawmondbeck’sCompetition Engines are nostranger to horsepower, makingthem a perfect candidate forour Magnum project.

48-50 TalesWD Mopar 2/18/14 9:13 AM Page 48

shops, you can find any combinationof these lined up on engines standson any given day.

And, as an added bonus, I haveSteve Tosel, an avid Mopar racer, toturn to for advice and hopefully afew Mopar tricks. Another nicefeature is a complete dyno cell onpremises and all the hookups we’llneed for our big inch small blockChrysler, thanks again to Steve.

I’ve known and worked withthese professionals from Iowa formany years. You were probably firstintroduced back in 2006 when thesmall block Chevy they built tookfirst place in the first ever AERA E85Engine Buildoff, which wassponsored by Engine Builder.

But the story does not stop there –2008 brought to the industry asecond E85 build competition andthe guys from Mason City provedtheir knowledge of buildinghorsepower with any fuel type bytaking first place – again.

The PartsWe’ve got the people and a place,

now the fun part. Muchlike a new job in yourown shop, we’ve beendeveloping a parts listspecific to our needs. Astroker motor needs astroker crankshaft. Ourscomes to us from ScatEnterprises. We’lluse their 4340 steel,standard weight4.00” stroke 340main journalcrankshaft. Sinceour 318 shares thesame journal sizesas the higherdemand 340, thischoice was easy.

In December’s ProfitablePerformance article, I suggested theplan for our build was to come upwith a muscle motor the factory hadmissed. Your late 60s and 70s Moparperformance engines all came withsteel cranks, and that’s what we’vechosen. This engine is also designedfor street driving and durability, sowe won’t go with lightweight

components. To connect

our strokercrank to the appropriatecompression height pistons we’ll beusing a set of Scat Pro Comp series4340 I-beam connecting rods. For thehorsepower and torque we areshooting for, these will be perfect.And the truth is, a set of stock rodscould be prepped with a good set ofrod bolts and reconditioning to meetthe need of a customer with asmaller budget, but we are planning


Tales from the WD

n


Grawmondbeck’s Competition Enginesis a full service automotive machineshop, specializing in custom high per-formance and stock rebuilds for alltypes of vehicles. The shop has beenserving the North Iowa area since 1993.

48-50 TalesWD Mopar 2/18/14 9:13 AM Page 49

to ring this motor out on the dynoand part of the goal was to upgradefor a more durable motor than astocker. These are also bushed for afull floating wrist pin. Just like the340 factory muscle motor.

MAHLE Clevite will get the nodfor the bearings for our crank to spinon. Since we went for a steel crankwith large radius fillets, we’ll beusing an “H” series performancebearing.

Our performance mains feature agrooved upper shell and non-grooved lower. The rod bearings arechamfered and narrowed to fit therod journals. All journals arestandard Chrysler dimension. Nosmall block Chevy rods or journalshere — it’s an all Mopar design.

At the business end of theconnecting rods we’ll hang our shelfstock stroker piston. A set of ICONdished pistons specifically for thisapplication, in a .040” oversize willnet us our 392 cubic inches with the4” stroke crank. Again, our premiseis to shop the books for parts youmight otherwise overlook to net a

performance engine fromour original grocery getter.Adding 74 cubic inches toour little V8 should reallywake things up. But adding thatmany inches, 9.25 ci per cylinder,will certainly raise the compressionratio to something beyond pump-gasif we stick with a flat top design.That is why we’ve chosen a morestreetable dished head designed forsomething around 9.5:1 staticcompression ratio. These beautifulforgings are made from a verydurable 2618 alloy, feature a .120”wall pin that is standard .984”Chrysler diameter to work with astock or aftermarket connecting rod.

Our IC847 ICON pistons aremachined for a 1/16” x 1/16” x3/16” ring pack. This might be alittle narrower than Chrysler would

have used in the day, but withcurrent piston ring technology weshould have no problems. Factorymotors today may come with athinner ring pack, and we all knowhow long today’s engines can last.

So for rings we’ve turned to ourfriends at Engine Pro. I would haveliked to have used a set of the newNitro Black performance rings, butour Dare-To-Be-Different bore sizewon’t allow that, at least not at thistime. But they did come throughwith a set of nodular iron plasmamoly standard tension rings that willhave no troubles sealing up out fresh.040” oversize cylinders.

To round out our rotatingassembly, we’ll use a standardChrysler style flex plate and a streetperformance, fully degreed harmonicbalancer from Engine Pro. The wholeassembly will be balanced by Joe andStacey at Grawmondbeck’s who willalso clean and machine our 318 blockto spec.

The shortblock build should bepretty straight forward. Durabondcam bearings and a brass plug kitfrom Melling Tool. We’ll also replaceall the block hardware with a FinishKit, also from Durabond. Again, alltypical parts used in your shopseveryday. This should net us a strongand dependable shortblock worthyof a Muscle Car installation.

Like any good plan, once you seethings moving in the right direction,it’s hard to not focus on thecompletion.

And I’d like to remind everyoneto check out the Independence Fund(www.independencefund.org). Thisplan will not be successful withoutserious participation by not only ourgracious parts suppliers and ourtalented knowledgeable machinists,but also you. It will be your supportand financial participation in ourraffle that will bring this plan to a successful ending. ■


Tales From the WD


The ASE Master Certifiedmachinists at Grawmondbeck’s arevery familiar with various enginebuilding.

48-50 TalesWD Mopar 3/4/14 1:15 PM Page 50

In 2002, the Jeep Liberty was thefirst Jeep to use the two newChrysler-developed Power-Tech

engines – the 2.4L straight-4, (whichwas eliminated in 2006), and the 210hp 3.7L V6.

The 2.4L I4 PowerTech is a Neonengine variant based on theChrysler engine that was designedoriginally for the Dodge andPlymouth Neon compact car. Thenaturally aspirated 2.4L 4-cylinderPowerTech engine provided 150 hp(110 kW) and 165 lb.-ft. (224 Nm).

In its short life, the engine wasavailable in the 2002-’06 JeepLiberty, as well as the 2004-’06 JeepWrangler, but was discontinuedwhen Jeep introduced the Compassand Patriot small crossovers.

While those two crossovers alsoreceived a 2.4L I4 as a base engine,these were of the Global EngineManufacturing Alliance (GEMA)joint-venture engine architectureand should not be confused withthe Neon/PowerTech engine of thesame displacement.

Although the 2.4L PowerTechengine was only available for arelatively short time, the engine isconsidered very reliable with nomajor problems associated with it.

2.4L PowerTech I4 SpecsThe 2.4L PowerTech is a doubleoverhead camshaft with hydrauliclifters and four valves per cylinderdesign. The engine is free-wheeling,meaning it has provisions forpiston-to-valve clearance. However,valve-to-valve interference canoccur if the camshafts are rotatedindependently.

Displacement: 144.0 CID (2,360 cc)Stroke: 3.82” (97 mm)Bore: 3.46” (88 mm)Power: 150 hp (110 kW)

Timing MaintenanceRecommended timing beltreplacement for the PowerTech 2.4Lengine in the Jeep Liberty/Wrangleris 120,000 miles. The following stepsprovide information on removaland replacement of the 2.4L I4timing belt.

Timing Belt Replacement1. Remove the air cleaner upper

cover, housing and clean air tube.2. Raise the vehicle on a hoist.3. Remove the accessory drive

belts.4. Remove the crankshaft

vibration dampener.5. Remove the air

conditioner/generator belttensioner and pulley assembly.

6. Remove the timing belt lowerfront cover bolts and the cover.


2.4 L I4 PowerTech is a Neon enginevariant based on the Chrysler enginethat was designed originally for theDodge and Plymouth Neon compactcar.

Feature

Rebuilding Liberty!Engine Notes on Jeep’s 2.4L I4 Engine

BY ENGINE BUILDER STAFF

51-54 Liberty Rebuild 2/18/14 9:12 AM Page 51

7. Lower the vehicle.8. Remove the bolts attaching the

timing belt upper front cover andremove that cover.

Note: For more on removingcomponents mentioned in steps 4-8,refer to the 2003 Chrysler ServiceGuide.

Caution: When aligningcrankshaft and camshaft timingmarks, always rotate the engine fromthe crankshaft.

The camshaft should not berotated after the timing belt isremoved because damage to thevalve components could occur. And,always align the timing marks beforeremoving the timing belt.

9. Before removal of the timingbelt, rotate the crankshaft until theTDC mark on the oil pump housingaligns with the TDC mark on thecrankshaft sprocket (trailing edge ofsprocket tooth).

See Figure 1.Note: The crankshaft sprocket

TDC mark is located on the trailingedge of the sprocket tooth. Failure toalign the trailing edge of the sprockettooth to the TDC mark on the oilpump housing will cause thecamshaft timing marks to bemisaligned.

10. Install a 6 mm Allen wrenchinto the belt tensioner. Beforerotating the tensioner, insert the longend of a 1/8” or 3 mm Allen wrenchinto the pinhole on the front of thetensioner. See Figure 2.

While rotating the tensionerclockwise, push in lightly on the tooluntil it slides into the locking hole.

11. Remove the timing belt.

Timing Belt Installation 1. Set the crankshaft sprocket to

TDC by aligning the sprocket withthe arrow on the oil pump housing.

2. Set the crankshaft timing marksso that the exhaust camshaft sprocketis half of a notch below the intakecamshaft sprocket.

3. Install the timing belt. Startingat the crankshaft, go around thewater pump sprocket, idler pulleyand camshaft sprockets and thenaround the tensioner.

4. Move the exhaust camshaft

sprocket counterclockwise to alignthe marks and to take up belt slack.

5. Insert a 6 mm Allen wrench intothe hexagon opening located on thetop plate of the belt tensioner pulley.Rotate the top platecounterclockwise.

The tensioner pulley will moveagainst the belt and the tensioner setting notch will eventually start tomove clockwise. Watching themovement of the setting notch,continue rotating the top platecounterclockwise until the settingnotch is aligned with the spring tang.

Using the Allen wrench to preventthe top plate from moving, torquethe tensioner lock nut to 22 ft.-lbs.(30 Nm). The setting notch andspring tang should remain alignedafter the lock nut is torqued.

6. Remove the Allen wrench andtorque wrench.

Note: Repositioning thecrankshaft to the TDC position mustbe done only during the clockwiserotation movement. If TDC ismissed, rotate a further tworevolutions until TDC is achieved.Do not rotate crankshaftcounterclockwise as this will make


I4 Feature


Figure 1.


verification of proper tensioner settingimpossible.

7. Once the timing belt has beeninstalled and the tensioner adjusted,rotate the crankshaft clockwise twocomplete revolutions manually forseating the belt, until the crankshaft isrepositioned at the TDC position.Verify that the crankshaft and thecrankshaft timing marks are in properposition.

8. Check to see if the spring tang iswithin the tolerance window. If so, theinstallation process is complete andnothing further is required. If thespring tang is not within the tolerancewindow, repeat steps 5 through 7.

9. Install the timing belt front coversand bolts.

10. Install the airconditioning/generator belt tensionerand pulley.

11. Install the crankshaft vibrationdampener.

12. Install the accessory drive belts.13. Install the drive belt splash

shield.14. Install the air cleaner housing,

upper cover and clean air tube.

Other Liberty IssuesIn 2008, Chrysler revised its 2.4L cylinder head bolt re-torque procedure. The information supersedes theprevious technical bulletin, dated March 25, 2005. Theprevious bulletin should be removed from your files.

The latest bulletin applies to vehicles equipped with a2.4L engine built between Feb. 1, 2004 and April 5, 2005.

Whenever re-torqueing the cylinder head bolt(s), besure to follow the torque sequence as outlined below. Ifthere are no external signs of damage to any parts,attempt the procedure below before replacing a cylinderhead, cylinder head bolts or cylinder head gasket.

1. Using a 6” wobble plus extension friction ball andshallow socket and following the torque sequence, loosenone bolt at a time to 0 torque and then torque that samehead bolt to 60 ft.-lbs. See Figure 3.

2. Repeat step 4 for every head bolt, one bolt at a timein sequence.

3. Verify that each head bolt is at 60 ft.-lbs. beforeperforming the next steps.

4. After all the head bolts have been verified to betorqued to 60 ft.-lbs., follow the torque sequence and turnthe head bolts an additional 90° (1/4 turn).

5. Follow the appropriate procedures to install thecylinder head cover.

Some or all of the technical information was providedby the Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association(APRA). More information and technical bulletins on


I4 Feature


Figure 2.


vehicles equipped with a 150-hp 4-cylinder engine are available throughAPRA; call 703-968-2772 or visitwww.AutoBulletins.com.

Transmission UpgradeIn 2005, the Jeep Liberty and JeepWrangler were upgraded with aNSG 370 six-speed manualtransmission, replacing two, five-speed manual transmissionspreviously used in these applications– the NV1500 and the NV3550 – in aneffort to reduce cost and complexity.

The new transmission is amember of the six-speed NSG 370family, similar to the one used in theChrysler Crossfire – the first six-speed for the Chrysler brand. TheNSG six-speed manual transmissionprovides a 4.46:1 first-gear ratio,

versus the 3.85:1 and 4.04:1 ratios ofthe five-speed transmissions itreplaces, for improved launch andtraction.

Jeep said that the NSG 370 six-speed manual transmission providesoptimal shift quality, improvedquietness and high quality. A newdual-ratio transmission shift-towersystem allows packaging of the six-speed shift pattern within theexisting Jeep vehicles, and it is tunedfor optimized shift quality.

For smooth operation, the firstand second gears have triple-conesynchronization, the third and fourthgears feature double-cone, and thefifth and sixth gears single-conesynchronization.

Chrysler engineers also said thehard-finished gears allow for quietoperation, and the two-piecealuminum case with integratedclutch housing assures powertrainstiffness and light weight. The newfirst-gear ratio, combined with six-speed step spread, allowsoptimization of axle ratios for fueleconomy and performance. ■

Source: Chrysler Group LLC.


I4 Feature

Figure 3.

The Liberty was upgraded withthe NSG 370 six-speed manualtransmission in 2005.

2014MARCH

SERVING ENGINE BUILDERS & REBUILDERS SINCE 1964>Circle Track Engines >Performance Engine Builder of the Year >Building for Race Fuels


2014MARCH

SERVING ENGINE BUILDERS & REBUILDERS SINCE 1964

>Circle Track Engines >Performance Engine Builder of the Year >Building for Race Fuels


Looking for a supplier or manufacturer of a specific engine component? Need a

tool or a particular piece of equipment to finish

that engine build?

Check out the 2014 Engine Builder Stock &Performance Buyers Guides,

available in print in March, or online at

www.EngineBuilderMag.com

2014BUYERSGUIDES



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Speedville.comSpeedville.com is the new address for performance.Whether you’re into drag racing, circle track, road racingor street performance,Speedville.com has you covered! Speedville features allof the quality technical contentthat Babcox Media can provideand that readers have come toexpect from its top-notch tradepublications. Be sure to stop byand sign up for the Pit Crew toearn miles towards gear in theSpeedville Mall and a chanceto win prizes!

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15W-50 Racing OilAMSOIL Dominator Synthetic 15W-50Racing Oil (RD50) provides superiorperformance and maximum protectionin high-performance and racing applications. Dominator is engineeredfrom advanced synthetic technology tobetter withstand the elevated rpm,high temperatures and shock-loadingcommon to racing applications. Its robust formulation, tested and validated by championship raceteams, is designed to provide maximum horsepower without sacrificing engine protection. Dominator provides straight-gradeprotection in a multi-grade formulation.

AMSOIL INC.Phone: 715-399-8324www.amsoil.com

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55-57 Spotlights 2/18/14 9:11 AM Page 55


Prod

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Circle 140

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ZERO blast cabinets are now available in anergonomic body style, which allows the op-erator to sit while working. The cabinet con-figuration provides comfortable knee-roomfor the operator without interfering withthe free flow of media for reclamation andre-use. Standard cabinet features include:large, quick-change window, reverse-pulsecartridge-style dust collector, suction-blastor pressure-blast models. HEPA filtration asan option. Cabinets can work with glassbead, aluminum oxide and other recyclablemedia. Applications: cleaning, de-burring,peening, and finishing.

Clemco Industries Corp.Phone: 800-788-0599www.clemcoindustries.com

Circle 135

Web-Based Valvetrain Parts Catalog

SBI has released a Web-based version ofits acclaimed catalog in order to provideusers with real-time updates on additionsto the company’s line of replacement valvetrain parts for close to 3,000 applications divided among late-modeldomestic and import passenger car, lighttruck, performance, marine, agricultural,heavy-duty and forklift/industrial. Thecatalog also features listings of K-LineBronze Bullet-brand valve guide linersand miscellaneous K-Line tooling stockedby SBI, Exclusive Master Distributor forK-Line. Based on SBI’s CD-ROM catalog,the SBI Web-based catalog allows theuser to search the database by parttype/part number, vehicle type, enginemanufacturer, or specific engine andmake codes.

S.B. InternationalPhone:1-800-THE-SEATwww.sbintl.com

Circle 139


Product Sp

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Circle 145

Have You Been ToEngineBuilderMag.com?The redesigned Engine Builder website –

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Engine Pro High PerformanceConnecting Rods

Engine Pro H-Beam Connecting Rods areforged from 4340 steel and produced onCNC machinery. They are finished in theU.S. to ensure precise big-end and pin-endbore sizes. Rods are magnafluxed, heattreated, stress relieved, shot peened andsonic tested to ensure they provide thestrength required for high horsepower ap-plications. Engine Pro connecting rodsequipped with standard 8740 bolts are ratedfor up to 700 horsepower in small blocks,and 850 horsepower in big block applica-tions. Visit, www.goenginepro.com.

Engine ProPhone: 800-ENGINE-1www.goenginepro.com

Circle 144

Circle 142



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Advertiser IndexCOMPANY NAME PAGE #Amsoil 15Atech 50Automotive Service Equipment 29Camcraft 33Champion Brands 23Clemco Industries 35Cloyes Gear & Products Inc 47Comp Performance Group 28,49Dakota Parts Warehouse 9Darton International 4Dipaco Inc. 44DNJ Engine Components 1Driven Racing Oil, LLC Cover 2Eagle 3Edelbrock Corp 46Engine & Performance Warehouse 25Engine Parts Group 13ESCO Industries 53Fentech Company Inc 45

GRP Connecting Rods 27Injector Experts 7Liberty Engine Parts 5Lubriplate Lubricants Co 17Manton Pushrods & Rockers 34Maxima Racing Oils 19Mobil 1 Racing 32Motorstate Distributing Cover 3Motovicity Distribution 21Packard Industries 30,31Performance Trends 52Race & Performance Expo 43Rottler Manufacturing Cover 4SBI International 37Scat Enterprises 11Scorpion Racing Products 40Spectro Oils of America 16T & D Machine Products 39Trac-Pro 41

58-59 Class-Cores 2/18/14 9:10 AM Page 59

Track Talk

So long single-car qualifying. In 2014, NASCAR is

ramping up the prerace excitement level with a newknockout Coors Light PoleAward qualifying format for itsthree national series – a movedesigned to make qualifyingmore compelling and moreclosely like actual on-trackcompetition.

"We believe the timing isright for a new qualifying for-mat across our three nationalseries," said Robin Pemberton,

v i c e presidentfor com-

petition and racing develop-ment. "This style of group qualifying has all the makingsof being highly competitiveand more engaging to our fansin the stands and those watching on television andonline.”

The new qualifying formatwill not apply to the firstNASCAR Sprint Cup Seriespoints race of the season – theFebruary 23 Daytona 500 –which features single-car runsand two qualifying races to set

the lineup forThe GreatAmerican Race.Heat races todetermine thelineup for theJuly 23 NASCARCamping WorldTruck SeriesM i d s u m m e rClassic race atE l d o r aSpeedway willstill be used aswell.

At racetracksless than 1.25 miles, the CoorsLight Pole Award new

qualifying procedure willbe as follows:

The first qualifying session will be 30 min-utes long and include allcars entered in the race.The 12 cars that post thefastest single-lap time inthis session will advanceto the second and finalround. The remainingcars will be sorted basedon their times posted inthe first round of qualify-ing in descending order.

There will be a 10-minute break betweenthe two qualifyingrounds.

The second and finalqualifying round will last10 minutes, with thefastest single lap timeposted by each car settingthe top 12 spots on thegrid.

At racetracks longerthan 1.25 miles, there willbe three Coors Light PoleAward qualifying rounds.

Before the start of

qualifying, cars or trucks will belined up on pit road based on arandom draw and may exit pitroad at any time while thegreen flag is displayed. Eachdriver may complete as few oras many laps as he or shechooses during the allottedtime period for each segment.Pit road speeds will be enforcedduring each session.

Drivers will be allotted just asingle set of tires during qualify-ing, which means fans will see alot of different strategies.

“For the drivers and teams,we believe this new qualifyingwill fuel even greater competi-tion leading into the events,”said Pemberton. “Additionally,it provides our tracks, broad-casters and other key partnerswith a greater opportunity todevelop more entertaining content for our race weekends."

NASCAR previewed theconcept of group qualifyingwith its national series teamslate last fall and expects the newformat will be a well-receivedimprovement by its fans, com-petitors, tracks, sponsors, andmedia partners.

NASCAR Adopts KnockoutQualifying for 2014 Season

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Overhaulin’ the Coors Light Pole Award

qualifying format, NASCAR says, underlines the

sport's on-going commitment to innovation.

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engine builder, february 2014

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