C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine

LT-4 383 Rebuild "LOTS of Pictures"

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Old 06-06-2008, 08:10 PM
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BlackHarleyMan
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Default LT-4 383 Rebuild "LOTS of Pictures"

Well for those that don't know, my high mileage LT4 spun a FEW bearings, and facilitated my motor upgrade much sooner than expected. (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=2037059) I found a great CF member who knew what he was talking about when it came to motor building, and with his help and support ordered all of the components for this project. I finally decided, at the 12th hour to go with AFR Comp Ported 195's after speaking with Ron over at AI, Lloyd Elliot from EPW, and then Tony over at AFR. I determined that for the money that I was going to spend with AI or EPW to rework my stock LT4 castings, I'd just suck it up and go for the gold. So I ordered my heads on May 16th, and they just came in today.

The heads arrived in perfect condition starting with the shipping container and packing.







Heads came with the 8019 Hyd Roller Valve Springs, and guideplates, I upgraded to the 7/16 studs as recommended by Tony.



Here's a shot of the intake port



Here are the 2.080 race and 1.600 street valves



A shot of one of the exhaust ports



And finally a shot of the intake ports with the GM# 12367777 gasket mocked up on the head. According to AFR's website, I'll need to go with the GM #12528884 LT4 intake gasket instead. I'll have to look into this one just a tad more.




I'll post pictures of the rotating assembly and the headers in a few. I'll also post components and specs and follow Will as much as I can with this build. I'm also working on the entire suspension and every other component on this car so I'll try to keep things down as much as I can for the guy's living with dial-up. Thanks for all your help in support!

R/Noland Smith, Jr.
STSC(SS) USN Ret.

Last edited by BlackHarleyMan; 06-07-2008 at 08:07 PM.
Old 06-06-2008, 08:26 PM
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96_vette
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Nice pics!
Old 06-06-2008, 08:32 PM
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BlackHarleyMan
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I got in on a CF Group purchase through Merle over at Exotic Muscle and ordered his LT4 long tubes with AIR, ceramic coated extension with high-flow cats and the full four O2 sensor bungs.

Here's the Passenger side header







Coated extensions with high-flow cats







And finally a shot of the extension O2 bungs



Noland
Old 06-06-2008, 08:49 PM
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johnnymo63
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Man, oh, man. Those are sweet.
Old 06-06-2008, 09:24 PM
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BlackHarleyMan
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Thanks, but there's more, PLENTY More!.......LOL

Eagle 4340 Steel Lightweight Forged Crank (ESP-43533750057LA) 350 Main, 3.750" Stroke, 5.7" Rod, 1pc Seal, Internally Balanced.





Scat Q-Lite H Beam Rods - 6.000"







383 4 Barrel Manley Pistons, 4.030" Bore, 3.750" Stroke, 6.0" Rod, -12cc 10.1:1 Pistons







Victor Reinz Nitroseal Head Gasket .026" Thick, CCO 4.100"





The FAMOUS Cadillac Racing Lifters






Enjoy, more to come

Noland
Old 06-06-2008, 09:52 PM
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BlackHarleyMan
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I decided to use my Virgin LT4 intake for this build and Will is going to completely bore it out so if I decide to go with a Mono-blade later on, I won't have to do anything but bolt it up. Here's the 58mm gasket on the LT4 to show the amount of 'meat" that has to be removed for just the 58.



I decided to get a Professional Products 58mm TB for this build, seeing how reasonably priced they are.





After a nice thread on the subject (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...php?t=2007050), I went with the masses and pulled the trigger on a Meziere electic HD water pump and Meziere relay kit.







The decision on a Clutch was a long and hard battle, I talked to pretty much everyone on the subject and decided to go with the Spec Clutch setup. After reading TONS on the subject of various types of flywheels, I also decided that a Single Mass Steel FW was best for me and this build. This is the Spec Stage-2+ which is good for 620 ft/lbs of torque, which should be good with headroom for this build. The thing I liked about the Spec setup, is that the entire setup came fully balanced.







And I'll end the night with my last piece for now, which are my Injectors. Got them off of Flea-Bay for a good price, and CF member Jon FICINJECTORS recommeded I have him look at them before using them seeing how they were used, so I took his advice. I dropped them off at his front door while I was in Alanta one weekend, and they were in the mail on the way up to VA before I had even left Atlanta!......Thanks JON!



Head Bolts, Exhaust Bolts, Main and Oil pump bolts are all ARP bolts. I still have to figure out the Oil pan, and the Dampner. The Oil pump was just shipped yesterday, because it is ALWAYS on back order. It's a Milidon MIL-18750, and Will suggested this pump over the Melling due to the Mellings having issues with breaking and the powdered metal construction. Thanks for looking!

Noland
Old 06-06-2008, 10:00 PM
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Zix
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Looks great!! What are the specs of the cam you plan on using?
Old 06-06-2008, 10:08 PM
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The cam is a custom grind that Will has spec'd out, using his own cam grinder that the family business has used forever. I do know that the intake is 544 (or was as of last week), but the exhaust changed from 544 when I was going to have AI port my stock heads to a number that's more like 56X-57X. I'm sure Will can pipe in here and give more clarity on that, but he's planning on making it an enjoyable car instead of a dedicated tire destroyer.

Noland
Old 06-06-2008, 10:13 PM
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You're gonna love the performance of that build when it's done. Ask me how I know...
Old 06-06-2008, 10:16 PM
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BlackHarleyMan
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LOL, OK I'll bite!........How do you know?
Old 06-06-2008, 10:32 PM
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Zix
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Your build looks pretty similar to mine when I put it together a few years ago. You may want to double-check with SPEC, but I think you'll need to remove the weight on the back of the flywheel if your engine will be internally balanced. I'm currently using the SPEC 3+ and have been having some good luck with it!
Old 06-06-2008, 10:42 PM
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Originally Posted by BlackHarleyMan
LOL, OK I'll bite!........How do you know?
Cuz I just stroked my LT1 to a 383. Look at my sig for results! Your build should be at least as good.
Old 06-06-2008, 10:43 PM
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Way cool, I posted that, then went to go look at your sig!......VERY Impressive. I have a very good long time friend that was teaching at MIT after he got his Master's there. I'm currently working on my BS at George Mason in Engineering Management with my area of expertise being in Submarine Sonar related systems.

Will showed me the weights on the back of the steel flywheel and is going to balance the entire assy. He said it was best to keep the weights so if any changes or components needed to be replaced in the future, it's much easier that way. If the motor was being completely internally balanced, then the weights would be ditched and the balancing would be conducted strictly on the crank. Which will not be the case for this motor.

What kind of numbers did you get out of your build with that HotCam and are you still running the HotCam or did you change to something different? Also, what size injectors are you running and who did your tune?

I was looking at the Spec Stage 3+, but I was informed by them that the Stage 3 would not be as street friendly as the 2+ and be more proned to chatter. Given that the 2+ and 3 are only a 70 ft/lb delta in overall torque, I figured I could live with that. I'm glad to know that your Stage 3 is street friendly though, I'll keep that in mind for my 91 High-Po build.

Noland
Old 06-06-2008, 10:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Zix
Your build looks pretty similar to mine when I put it together a few years ago. You may want to double-check with SPEC, but I think you'll need to remove the weight on the back of the flywheel if your engine will be internally balanced. I'm currently using the SPEC 3+ and have been having some good luck with it!
VERY VERY VERY Impressive, I just calculated 536 CHP on your build, which is close to where were shooting for.

Last edited by BlackHarleyMan; 06-07-2008 at 07:17 AM.
Old 06-06-2008, 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by MTVette
Cuz I just stroked my LT1 to a 383. Look at my sig for results! Your build should be at least as good.
Either you just made changes to your profile, or I wasn't loading all of your page. That's a HOT setup you have, It seems like there's alot of 500+ pony runners around here. I like it! and I'd love to drive a car fast enough to take it to the track one time, and after I ran, they kick me off the track for life!......LOL Or until I got a roll bar!

N
Old 06-06-2008, 11:08 PM
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Here's the dyno chart if you're interested;

Old 06-06-2008, 11:20 PM
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VERY, So why does your torque curve start to run off and taper down after 4200rpm? Is that because of your cam, or something else? HP keeps going up and torque stopped being flat and started coming down on you. I'm clueless over here.

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Old 06-06-2008, 11:36 PM
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Your build looks very similar to mine as well. I am running the same crank and rods but with Mahle pistons.





Old 06-06-2008, 11:43 PM
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Zix
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Originally Posted by BlackHarleyMan
VERY, So why does your torque curve start to run off and taper down after 4200rpm? Is that because of your cam, or something else? HP keeps going up and torque stopped being flat and started coming down on you. I'm clueless over here.
It's the cam, and the heads. I built the engine to rev, so peak power is actually around 7200, it's just the way I like to drive (ex-motorcycle racer). The TQ curve is very flat, rather than bulging earlier and falling off quickly, this engine tries to maintain the torque to a higher RPM.

It's actually really fun to drive because it has a nice amount of TQ down low, but then it just keeps building power. The engine actually never feels like it losing power...because it never really does.
Old 06-06-2008, 11:46 PM
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[QUOTE=96lt4c4;1565792524]Your build looks very similar to mine as well. I am running the same crank and rods but with Mahle pistons.

QUOTE]

Very sweet!.......So what heads, cam and what CR are you going to be at with this build?

I'd love to see how the dyno comes out on it, I was going to use all Callies and Mahle when I first started down this path. The builder nudged me in this direction, and since I fully trust him on this, I went with the Manley's. I can't wait to see your numbers! Keep us posted, please.

Noland


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