Pulled the 555" engine out of the Vette on Saturday and tore down it down today. That's always interesting and a little scary because you never know what you're going to find in there!
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The good news is everything still looked perfect! The Mahle pistons still had the coating on the skirts, the Clevite H bearings..both rod and mains still looked nearly new. I mean the little scratches from my mic when I measured the clearances were still visible! The Callies crank is fine, the old Engle roller cam is still perfect also even after all these years. The Jesel belt drive setup was dry as a bone.
Man...this thing really has turned out to be *Son of Bubba-( S.O.B. for short). Bubba was the nickname given to my old 427 that took 20+ years of abuse and never gave up (still have it!). S.O.B. is obviously from the same stock! My wife and I have a joke that every 20 years I get a new motor...man..only 8 more to go on this one!
You can see my trademark *deck it 'till the piston hits the head* is still visible on these pistons also.
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Here's the new Diamond dished pistons that are going in. They are heavier than the Mahle's and about the same as the old SRP's. Going to have to do a little balance work looks like.
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Otherwise I'm going to stick with what's been working. *Too much* oil pressure, Milodon stepped pan, ATI damper etc etc. Oh yeah..the distributor gear looks brand new also even with all that oil pressure!
This thing is going to have a completely different personality when I get finished...not sure what to expect.
JIM
The good news is everything still looked perfect! The Mahle pistons still had the coating on the skirts, the Clevite H bearings..both rod and mains still looked nearly new. I mean the little scratches from my mic when I measured the clearances were still visible! The Callies crank is fine, the old Engle roller cam is still perfect also even after all these years. The Jesel belt drive setup was dry as a bone.
Man...this thing really has turned out to be *Son of Bubba-( S.O.B. for short). Bubba was the nickname given to my old 427 that took 20+ years of abuse and never gave up (still have it!). S.O.B. is obviously from the same stock! My wife and I have a joke that every 20 years I get a new motor...man..only 8 more to go on this one!
You can see my trademark *deck it 'till the piston hits the head* is still visible on these pistons also.
Here's the new Diamond dished pistons that are going in. They are heavier than the Mahle's and about the same as the old SRP's. Going to have to do a little balance work looks like.
Otherwise I'm going to stick with what's been working. *Too much* oil pressure, Milodon stepped pan, ATI damper etc etc. Oh yeah..the distributor gear looks brand new also even with all that oil pressure!
This thing is going to have a completely different personality when I get finished...not sure what to expect.
JIM
