Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

ch408w wrote:Always remember.... If you miss it by .0005 loose, you know it...... it you miss it by .0005 tight, everyone will know it !!!! ( comes out the pan )

Or... A little loose and no one will know, a little tight and the whole world will know.

Thanks Mike... So I should be good to go with .020 top and .024 second? 4" bore? I would probably run them at .018 top & .020 second if this is a milder performance deal I normally use .0045/inch top & .005/inch second as a base for normally aspirated street or street/strip setting The...

Thanks Mike...

So I should be good to go with .020 top and .024 second?

I am putting together a "budget" Ford 302 to go into a Mustang for a fun car to do some open track events. The "donor" engine came from a 1996 Explorer with 207,000 miles. I hot tanked the block yesterday and honed the cylinders. I can not believe how good the pistons and cylinde...

I am currently running ~.040 on the intake and .090 on the exhaust in an 8700 rpm SBF. Steel valves, steel retainers, beehive springs and a hydraulic roller. I have been tempted to go closer on the intake but I have had my share of "piston assisted valve return". I had a buddy of mine who ...

OOPS, just re read and saw this was a SBFord. What about that thin block hanging on an engine stand all supported from the back? I think I would have it on a work bench laying in the crank so there was darn sure to be no distortion/flex in the main bulkheads of the block. Adger... Funny you mention...

Short story long... I had some problems with the mains in my small block Ford last year using the King XP series bearings. Not the bearings fault. Anyway, I needed a bearing with .001 less clearance so I could clean up the main journals as there was some taper. What was the cause of your original p...

Adger Smith wrote:Could the crank have a crack in it? I had one that ate up # 2 main a couple of times before I figured it out. That one got in my pocketbook and taught me a lesson or two.

Adger, we checked it and all appeared to be fine...

Well we checked everything out... Main bores were good but the crank was bent .002 and only the #5 main journal. We have absolutely no idea how the #5 journal became bent as it was straight when it came off the grinder. We only took .001 off of each main journal. We put the crank in v-blocks and set...

I had a defective set of Mahle/Clevite 590HX bearings come through a few weeks ago - locked up the crank on the thrust for no good reason(maybe the pinch issue mentioned above - but the 590H thrust bearing was fine, just on the tight side clearance wise) on a new Dart block - got in a set of ACL ra...

Mike the inside width of the thrust brg. and compare it to the width of the main saddle width. Had a small block Ford recently like yours with Clevite-Mahle brgs. that would lock down when torqued. The bearing was too small of a width where it went in to the block and was distorting and losing clea...

. My "crank guy" did suggest that if the crank is bent that I go outside and play with his pet pigs while he straightens it. I really don't want to watch him beat on it with a hammer and chisel... Those pigs wouldn't be named Lucy and Ethel would they?? Ahhh, you know Lucy and Ethel too? ...

have to check anyway was it overheated or over torqued with wrong lube on the bolts? Never over heated. We have to drive the car to the scales after a pass then can tow back to the pit. I don't believe the temp on this engine has ever been over 160* as I launch the car cold. As far as the torque on...

Strange... When I was sanding the thrust for clearance I would put only the thrust bearing on the crank with the crank out of the block to check it with a feeler gauge to see how much material I was removing. I sanded it to give me a total of .005 clearance by checking it with the feeler gauge. I r...

Are the marks on the upper or the lower bearing shell. Or both shells. It could also be the block main line is out as well. You should do the test for runout anyway but it could be magnafied if the block main line is slightly stepped. The runout check will tell you for sure but not sure how they wi...