We depart Pleasanton CA Sept 25th... so will miss the LeMans at COTA. I have a busy October.... with the GG Lonestar Nats. Fly home - load the Rig... head for the NorCal Shelby event at Thunderhill... then I think we're heading for INDE Motorsports near Tucson for a charity event (the one I took Gwen's R8 to last time). Thinking about running the Lotus at that event. So basically October would be over by the time I got back home. LOL

Then it's time for TURKEY and skiing!! Yippppeeeeeeeeeee

Lookin good Steve. About done yet? :popcorn2:

Certainly you can find some better company to hang with in Texas than Weld. :getout:

Closer than any blue car I know.....

I figure hanging out with Weld is like giving to charity. I'm doing a good thing for the world because new people aren't forced to interact with him.... :weld: :poke:



Spent most of tonight filing rings and working on the alternator mount. Here is a pic of the mount as it is. I used some 1/4 plate and have some 5/8x.120 DOM to use as a spacer for the bolts. Plan is the reinforce is back to the block near the motor mounts there is less flexing. I also want to retain the driver side idler pully using an aluminum spacer i will fab and add an idler pulley near the mount closest to the center of the engine. I think this will give me maximum wrap of all pulley. To clear the thermostat housing I am hoping a manual adjuster like this one (https://www.texas-speed.com/p-2838-a...r-wpulley.aspx) will move the pull to the center an down enough to clear. Luckily Texas Speed is now local so I'll try to pick one up tomorrow.

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More progress made over the weekend. Short block is together with only a little time needed to finish the engine build.

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I also think I made more progress with the accessory drive. I think I'm going to try to reroute the belt like the truck setup and build my own manual belt tensioner. I'm a little worried about the clearance needed since the area under the TB and rear the radiator hose will be tight. Does anyone know a tolerance that is reasonable for whip in the belt in and out of load using a manual tensioner?


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Okay -- this might at first seem like a stupid question - but I'm going to ask it because I've seen this mistake made before... Not saying YOU made any mistakes - I'm just asking...


Did you match up the piston valve notches with the valve placement in the heads...


And did you offset the ring gap...


Torque with the proper lube??

All good questions and thanks for confirming

When I first hung the pistons I did not think about the valve reliefs and needed to rehang half of them.... it sucked... There is a left and a right in the kit you you do have to pay attention. I also have all the rods hung correctly with the large chamfer towards the crank.

I set all the ring gaps, took me over a day to do. I decided on the circle track spec which equated to basically .023 2nd and .022 first. I felt I'd rather have a little too much gap and not worry about heat expanding the rings and cracking the piston. It also sucked but the are right on for each hole.

I used ARP lube for all bolts except the rod bolts because Carrillo has a special lube they want to use for there specs

And this is why i'm paying someone else to build my engine haha. i would be second guessing myself for months about stuff like this.

I'm far from an expert but have build many engines in general over the years. I just take my time, double check all the measurements and continuously roll the engine over to make sure nothing is binding up. This is my first LS so I'm hoping it goes as well if not better than all the SBC's I built in the past... If I screw it up I pull it back out and learn what not to do again..:EmoteClueless:

So, that belt is really close on both the top and the bottom of the radiator hose. Do you have enough clearance to move the PS pump up or down? It looks like if you help one you will hurt the other...

I was thinking to possible use an under drive PS pulley. First I need to see how the modern PS pump pressure compares to an old style pump when using a steering box. By using a larger diameter pulley the belt will hug the WP pulley more and clear the hose. If I also keep the tensioner lower the angle seems to create at least 1/4" clearance with the intake tube. I was also going to grind a small portion of it down for reassurance. It's all just mocked up by hand in the pic so it's hard to say. I have the same concern you mention.

Oh, and I should have talked you into taking TOW to cars and coffee this morning. I complete forgot about it until 8am this morning.