Thread: Motor rebuild redux le trios

For the past few months, I've put SNKVNNM through some winter upgrades after 4 years and 11,000+ mile.

Funny thing about building a FFR... as much as you plan things out, you will always find something you "should" have done but sometime, it does take some miles to figure them out.

The first thing was power brakes. After realizing why brake boosters were invented, I realized I do need them; not for stopping while driving, but to hold the car on an incline!!! That's now been installed but found I have a bad master cylinder so the company I bought the brake kit from is shipping me another one but here's a pic of the completed installation (for now):



The next thing I discovered was the foot well (foot box) is way too cramped for a long drive. GR2KX was another good reason to expand the foot well to the right of the gas pedal another 1" overall. It's not much, but it will allow me to bend the pedal away from the brakes so the next time I hit the brakes in a panic stop, I'm not hitting the throttle at the same time! Here's a shot from the outside (engine bay):



From the photos you figured out the motor has been removed. This is actually the entire reason for the winter modifications; I had developed a growing leak at the timing chain/water pump area. It had started as a small dribbling leak but finally it started to really "spray" so I started with the intent on doing everything in the car but after thinking about all the other mods I wanted to do, it only made sense to remove it. So IF you have to remove a motor out of the car, you MAY as well do some upgrades, thus, the spiraling motor rebuild began (for the 3rd time); note, the upgrades are fairly basic: new camshaft from Comp Cams ( XE282HR ) and new cylinder heads (Edelbrock Victor Jr.) - they replace the older XE274HR and Edelbrock Performer RPM pieces - that combination was good for 355 RWHP; hoping to get a bit more than that:

The short-block. The way this looked about 4 years ago!

Checking end play (didn't take a picture of the camshaft measurement but it's essentially the same, only the dial indicator was on the sprocket):


The drain plug that I had problems with a few weeks back is now taken care of:


Lubed up the camshaft with Compcam Cam Lube:


Degree-ing the camshaft; came within 2 deg. of the actual card information.


Tom Monroe's book (aka, the bible):


The Vic Jr. are now installed:


Rod clearance


Now for the timing chain cover. I did trim the gasket after initial fitting:


Cover installed along with dampener. I did install some temporary bolts next to each outlets after this photo was taken.


Final installation of rockers; all adjusted:


Almost done:


Thinking about new valve covers and air-filter cover; thinking BLACK...

Awesome rebuild! Should be a rocket

thanks!
well, when it was putting out just over 350hp in my 2500lbs FFR, it certainly feels like it. From the dyno, it was 355HP and 385 ft-lbs. of torque. Backwards calculations using a 15% drivetrain loss, puts flywheel at approx. 418HP.

Estimates at the flywheel, is suppose to be a bit north of 450hp so applying the 15% drivetrain loss, I expect RWHP to be around 382HP and over 400 ft-lbs. of torque.

8% increase.

That's a lot of money for just that much. But it takes into account, I'm using a 650CFM Barry Grant. The issue/bottleneck is the carburator now. I should be using a 750CFM and with that, I suspect a 10% increase which is a bit more reasonable.

The cam really didn't change all that much in terms of lift but duration did increase (higher HP but at higher RPM level). But the heads flow much more than my original set so I'm already thinking swapping to a bigger carb in the future.

Originally Posted by 289FIA_Cobra

thanks!
well, when it was putting out just over 350hp in my 2500lbs FFR, it certainly feels like it. From the dyno, it was 355HP and 385 ft-lbs. of torque. Backwards calculations using a 15% drivetrain loss, puts flywheel at approx. 418HP.

Estimates at the flywheel, is suppose to be a bit north of 450hp so applying the 15% drivetrain loss, I expect RWHP to be around 382HP and over 400 ft-lbs. of torque.

8% increase.

That's a lot of money for just that much. But it takes into account, I'm using a 650CFM Barry Grant. The issue/bottleneck is the carburator now. I should be using a 750CFM and with that, I suspect a 10% increase which is a bit more reasonable.

The cam really didn't change all that much in terms of lift but duration did increase (higher HP but at higher RPM level). But the heads flow much more than my original set so I'm already thinking swapping to a bigger carb in the future.

When I used to race in ama and wera...the superbike rules were that any all cams can have change in duration but not lift compared to stock...the results were always good hp..but the powerband was so small because of that and it moved it so high because of that..

it is good to see a sbf build...I build so many bbc's that i forgot what a sbf even looks like to build lol.

Very Nice Herman! She'll be a running little Snake when you are done!

Originally Posted by Revved

Very Nice Herman! She'll be a running little Snake when you are done!

"LITTLE SNAKE".....

pretty much done. Still have a few odds and ends (spark plugs and wires). Primed the oil system - bleeds out all the rockers.

Awesome - love the guide book handy at all times!
What is the current weight on the cobra overall?

Current weight (by way of corner weighing) is 2500 lbs. with me inside it although I've gained about 10 lbs. in 4 years.

a new pic just for fun: