Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Thank you mt-engines. I do have some tootsies

So what kind of radius should I go for when removing the sharp edge from the combustion chamber? Something very slight or something bigger like a 1/8" radius?

Quick question about my cylinder heads. The machine shop did a light deck on the heads for a nice gasket surface. I noticed the edge of the combustion chamber is pretty sharp. Should I knock down the sharp edge with a file or sandpaper roll or something?

I’m puzzled by your choice of a stage 2 cam for an application requiring torque. Have you looked at the dyno charts on their website? Your chosen cam (on a 5.3) makes minimal improvement below 4500, do you plan on sustained towing above 4500? A stage 1 seems like a more suitable choice, IMHO. I wat...

I just watched the Richard Holdner video again. The stage 1 did not lose any torque down low over the stock lq4 cam. The stage 2 lost 6 or 7 ftlbs below 3500 but sustained the torque curve significantly further before dropping compared to the stage 1. Its been a while since I bought the cam, but it ...

I’m puzzled by your choice of a stage 2 cam for an application requiring torque. Have you looked at the dyno charts on their website? Your chosen cam (on a 5.3) makes minimal improvement below 4500, do you plan on sustained towing above 4500? A stage 1 seems like a more suitable choice, IMHO. I wat...

Ok thanks.

Thanks. I did read that thread and copied it in cleaning up the intake ports. Just seemed strange to leave a 1/8" step in the middle of the port after taking time smoothing out the bowl area and other spots that thread mentions.

So I thought I would see what the factory gasket looks like in regards to intake port match. The Mahler gasket mates up with the truck intake fine I think. I bolted the intake, gasket, and head together on the bench. Traced the gasket od on the head, pulled it apart, put the gasket itself to the hea...

The BTR cam makes about as much power as the $230 Elgin-1838-P You will be satisfied. I also hope your Tuner knows what they are doing, some guys just load a similar bin file without really modifying the part throttle, tip in, etc. You can also ask him if he has a lean cruise patch, It makes part t...

Ok I appreciate the replies. Just wanted to check because it's easy to install a thicker head gasket while apart if compression is too high. Hopefully the tuner I got can squeeze some decent fuel mileage out of it too compared to a stock tune. I ordered the btr stage2 v2 truck cam for it hoping that...

The stock tune pulls out something like 10 degrees of timing almost immediately. And takes for ever to put any back in. This can be adjusted, also power enrichment delay needs to be adjusted. You can find 20whp and about that torqueon a stock enginewith a tune. With a 220@.050 cam and lq4 heads you...

Are you doubting what the engineers at GM rated the towing capacity also? You will be fine if you are at 10:1-11. you have knock sensors that will pull timing twin 02 sensors and multiport fuel injection. just dont be stupid and try going up a 6 percent grade in overdrive, full timing 10,000lbs and...

I appreciate any input on my build for compression ratio goals. Im rebuilding a Lq4 for towing and daily driving. I just want it to last a long time, have more power than a stock Lq4, and be a good multi tool truck. Want to have no problem running cheap pump gas while towing heavy loads up long high...