Poor life choices - C4 content

In reply to Pete Gossett :

Did you buy that seal from Chevy or is it a catalog piece from the parts store?  I always buy those seals OEM because they're made to fit perfectly and they often revise the design as time goes by.

In reply to Jerry From LA :

The first one was whatever cheap crap came in the Rockauto $50 rebuild kit. This one was a FelPro. I'll try to get an oem one next. 

Did you grease this one?

Pete, I'm in for 280hp at the wheels.

Im in for 250. At 5k. With 280 torque at 3k

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Yes, the seal was greased and I oiled the balancer. 

I'm planning on reinstalling the air pump(to save $36 off the Challenge budget from the bypass pulley), and I was just reading about people using them as a vacuum pump. Apparently drawing a vacuum can free up a couple HP, but I'm thinking it might prevent future seal failures at WOT?

BTW: 153hp & 202ft/lb. 

Well that's not what I expected. 

153 hp and 202 lb-ft? It is almost like the car is trying to have the last laugh.

I didn't expect much, but I thought 175hp or a bit more would be likely. Even accounting for drivetrain loss and/or dyno inaccuracy, it seems I'm likely below the stock 230hp rating. 

I'm not blowing smoke though, so I don't have any blow by problems. I'm wondering if the head gaskets in the kit were thicker than stock? Oh well, I'm more concerned with the front seal problem at the moment. 

I'm beginning to think this car is possessed (ala Christine) and taking revenge on your choice of thread title.

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

It's certainly living up to my expectations. 

In reply to Pete Gossett :

 well, pack up all your Holley Jets and distributor spring s, etc and maybe we can kidnap the Nelson Clan and get them to help tune  it track side.

70hp loss is what our tuner told us to expect from typical SBC manual drivetrains. That would put you in the ballpark. 

Of course that could be total crap. That was 20 years ago, you couldn't Google statistics like that back then. 

Pete, I'm so sorry.  That must have been a real let down.

Do what Ovid n Flem suggested and let Mr. Nelson whip up a magic tune.

In reply to Indy-Guy :

I'm way less concerned about the HP than the seemingly constant crank seal failures. This engine was only intended as a somewhat short-term solution while I sort out the rest of the car, get the chassis/suspension dialed in, and decide whether I want to go the easy(and probably cheaper) route of a 383 or travel down the LS-swap rabbit hole. 

I wouldn't doubt the Felpro seals. I've always had good luck with them, AFAIK still good quality in a world full of crappy stuff.

My thought is a basic problem with the balancer sealing surface. It may look good but has just a rough enough sealing surface to grind on the seal lip. I'd invest first in a balancer sleeve. Easy and cheap fix. Next, since you've got the balancer out and the front end of the motor accessible, possibly a timing cover replacement (cover bent/hammered out of shape). Two-piece timing covers are cheap and a good idea so you'll never have to drop the oil pan to remove the timing cover again. Makes seal replacement easier too since you can do it on the bench.

Cheers,

Mark

PS: I jumped back in the fray, bought a 93 Vette. Already had to replace the Optispark!

I'm sure the brain trust at the Challenge can get this thing running great for you.  

Are you still planning on an engine swap?  The basic re-build seems to be fine on what you have.  I'm sure you are junk yard heads, a cam and some headers away from 400hp?  Now you've come this far it seems a shame to start over.

I'm starting the 'Keep this engine petition' right now.

One vote from me.

Hell I'll throw a vote in the "keep this engine" bucket as well, you've really been fighting with it and doing a good job as of late. 

153 to the tires is low but the 700r4 (that is what it has right) sucks up plenty of power. How were the AFR's? Close? There's probably a lot of power to pickup with a carb if the tune isn't quite right. 

Oh and for what it's worth my vortec headed 350 put down 325hp with a decent cam, th350 trans, 10 bolt rear, holley carb/msd ignition, long tubes, basic stuff - there's plenty to be gained yet if you stick with what you already have. 

I have 3 possible next moves:

1.) New heads, headers & exhaust for this engine. Obviously the cheapest option, but I'd need to find heads that work with the current aftermarket cam(or get another one). This also goes on the presumption that I didn't berkeley anything up rebuilding it, and that the engine will actually hold together long-term - I'm not that confident.

2.) Crate motor. If I go this route I might as well get a 383, of course I'd need headers and exhaust as in #1. It would otherwise be straightforward.

3.) LS-swap all the things! As much as I'd love to go down this path, I only see it being worthwile if I go for an aluminum block, 4l60e, and with the hardware/software to control it all properly. Oh, and I'd need to upgrade to a Dana 44 to handle it all too. I'm not sure this car is worth the expense of all that, at least not yet.

While I could certainly do these sequentially - #1 next year, #2 a few years later, and #3 once I've completely lost my berkeleying mind - I really think #2 is the most reasonable solution, probably wouldn't leave me wanting more power(for a while), and wouldn't instanly destroy my Dana 36.

In reply to Pete Gossett :

I've got an almost new set of .030 over pistons for ya

So were your dyno numbers after tuning it or did you not get that far due to the leak?

In reply to RossD :

I didn't do any tuning on the dyno. I may be able to get another degree or 2 of advance out of it. I set it at 32-BTDC all-in when I put the distributor back together & in, but haven't tried dialing it past that yet.

I got the front seal changed(again) tonight. I still didn't find any obvious problems, so I'm wondering if the timing cover may be slightly off-center. There's no way for me to tell without removing the water pump, and that's not happening before the Challenge.

I'm bring a spare seal with us, here's hoping we don't have to change it at the track. 

Option 4 would be to keep a casual eye on craigslist or equivalent for someone's freshly rebuilt project motor that just has to go. 

More of a gamble but that's what makes this so much fun!

In reply to jfryjfry :

That's true, I just saw a 454 for $1500.