Small Block Pawn!

Small Block Pawn!

Author
Discussion

MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th July 2015
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Aluminium CNC Rocket block soon to be in my car.


BogBeast

1,136 posts

262 months

Tuesday 14th July 2015
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Nice, always like a good bit on CNC. Whats the weight saving over an iron block?

chuntington101

5,733 posts

235 months

Tuesday 14th July 2015
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Stunning! What are the specs of the new block? be interesting to hear the weight also. Guessing around 100lbs lighter than a iron SBC block and similar to a LS.

Any reason for not going LS, or even the Dart LS next block.

Racingroj

488 posts

162 months

Tuesday 14th July 2015
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Very nice Mark. I would like to see some pictures if the engine when you have built it up.

MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th July 2015
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Really a bit OTT. Block is PBM race block. Apparently the strongest and most durable SBC block on the market.
Why did I not convert to LS. I figured would be just to pricey as my car is SBC currently. The price of even a crate engine plus all the bits that would need to be changed just seemed too much! I figured no change out of at least £15k. This short engine will cost £6500 tax paid in the UK!+£2500 for a proper dry sump system!
SO I have taken the best bits of my already heavily modified (by me) AS 550hp SBC. i.e. the AFR heads, Cam, Shaft rockers, race lifters, EFI & ignition system etc and plan to fit to this short engine.
As always the best laid plans are not quite working. I was going to use a world products Ally block but delivery delays and quality issues caused me to select this one which was in fact the same price.
However having got pissed off with delays I rushed this order and have discovered that some more money needs to be spent! The Dry sump pan that I have is no good as this block has wider pan rails to easily clear my 4inch stroke. This block has a raised cam tunnel and has been specced and delivered with needle roller cam bearings which I am not sure about! hence I need new billet cam and timing gear etc adding £800 to the cost. I am sure there are a couple more surprises to come!
So the price gap is narrowing but this engine will be more akin to the March Can Am racers that I am fond of so all is good! Can I afford to fit individual throttle bodies a la CanAm racers? I am waiting till the end of the conversion to see what I have left!

chuntington101

5,733 posts

235 months

Friday 17th July 2015
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Keeps us updated on the build Mark.

Can I ask what made you go for these guys over say Brodix?

MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Friday 17th July 2015
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It is the latest incarnation of the "Rodeck" block as used in CanAm racing.

Heads cleaned up for reinstall

Edited by MarkWebb on Friday 17th July 21:55

k wright

1,039 posts

258 months

Monday 20th July 2015
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I have a Dart alloy block as well and would advise an alternative. The block is great, the selection of other items is not. This will be a problem when selecting an oil pan and requires that you are very careful with the intake manifold and distributor mounting (different angle than stock SBC).

F.C.

3,896 posts

207 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
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Nice looking block.
Just a heads up, and may not be your specific block, there is anecdotal chatter on various forums about changing out the ally main caps for steel or titanium on Brodeck blocks, It seems there have been a few crank failures and I get the gist that fingers were pointing at the bearing caps.
I get the idea some of these were pushing the 1000 hp mark though.

MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
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No distributor on this engine so no probs with that. Oil pan is a special as its wider to clear stroke. Have sourced one at a cost!
More pics of build


[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/YOM3vrub[/url]


MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Sunday 30th August 2015
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Despite being told that rods would clear. They didn't! so a bit of judicious grinding has been done. Ready to dial in cam now! Slow progress but moving forward.

JoulesCanAm

328 posts

185 months

Monday 31st August 2015
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Looks awesome and not that dissimilar to my CanAm build; although I have a Dart Aluminum block stroked to 427CI, dry sump, AFR heads and custom Kinsler EFI. The car weighed in at 2298 lbs wet.

Julian

ezakimak

1,871 posts

235 months

Monday 31st August 2015
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interesting build!

are you doing anything else in the bottom of the crank case to reduce the pumping losses like windowing the block/porting the bottom of the block. these are some Hayabussa barrels that have been modified to reduce the pumping losses in the bottom of the crank case. make it easier for air to move from under 1 cylinder to the next.




any idea about what vacuum level the dry sump pump will pull in the crank case? what seals are you using, will they cope with vacuum?

MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Saturday 5th September 2015
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Caps are already billet steel.
Hmm the huyabusa block is identical to my radical ones!
I am not an expert but I assume that because the "separate sections" of the crankcase have 1 piston up and one down & vice versa that pumping losses are not great???
Not planning on running much vacuum.

MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Sunday 6th September 2015
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A few more for anyone interested. The 3rd shows the cam position sensor magnet mounted on cam sprocket. An alternative to fitting a sensor unit in distributor position.



deadscoob

2,263 posts

259 months

Sunday 6th September 2015
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That's fantastic.

T-Rev

109 posts

277 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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Hi Mark, what a lovely piece of engineering. Won't this effectively be your third engine mod? I can understand going this route rather than LS with all the electrical extras and you're probably a little optimistic with your £15k estimate for an LS conversion? Looks fantastic, but deep down I think you're going to miss the old oily, hot, temperamental SBC!!! Looking forward to seeing the progress and completed job. Just an observation, isn't the dry sump oil pump shaft a little too far forward? Keep up the good work.
Cheers, Trev.

ezakimak

1,871 posts

235 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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MarkWebb said:
Caps are already billet steel.
Hmm the huyabusa block is identical to my radical ones!
I am not an expert but I assume that because the "separate sections" of the crankcase have 1 piston up and one down & vice versa that pumping losses are not great???
Not planning on running much vacuum.
The air still has to travel from under 1 cylinder to under the other one on the opposite bank, going around the corner and crank ect.

more vacume = less air to move = better ring seal = more power apparently.

they actually make vacuum pumps for those not running a dry sump as it is supposed to result in a power gain?
http://www.moroso.com/eb/catalog/navigationPath/1:...


Steve_D

13,737 posts

257 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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David Vizard was advocating pulling a vacuum for power gain more than 10 years ago.

Steve

MarkWebb

Original Poster:

983 posts

216 months

Friday 1st July 2016
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Its been a little while but progress is being made albeit slow.