Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Why do you recommend .040 side clearance , that seems excessive to me , I would not want to exceed .025 to keep the rods from dancing from side to side , what would you suggest for vertical clearance , with what weight oil , also try the right side tomorro , your a little grumpy. Have a great day :...

nominal is 2.200 When running at about 7,000 RPM, a good steel 4340 crankshaft having a 5.300" stroke with that rod journal diameter will get about .035" shorter from end to end simply because of flex; be certain that the involved rods will have no angularity when running. Then the rod be...

Actually, with that probable 5.300" stroke, I would run minimum .040" rod side clearance and guide the rods side movement within the piston; (piston guided rods); similar to a 2-stroke. What diameter is the rod journal on that crank ? nominal is 2.200 When running at about 7,000 RPM, a go...

SBC, 406ci, 13:1 on E85, Dirt track engine, 1200 laps. Shaeffers 5-50 oil every 10 nights. Anyone here smarter than me? After the oil change interval results cam back every was really good except for a note of "high insoluables". I assumed race track dirt, It kept me up at night so I remo...

I got roped into building this using a myriad of parts. It is the biggest CI I have messed with and I am having some doubts about clearances. The patient: 706 bbc, 14.6, BME alum. rods, Pontiac heads, 300 shot of n2o, Dan Olson wet sump, vacuum pump, 2400 lb car, bruno trans. The rod bearing cleara...

After the "extended " additions are tig welded, I take an acetylene torch and blacken the entire area ... then ad oxy and heat that entire area until the soot disappears to anneal it, then cover it with cardboard so it cools slowly.

I have seen Larry Meaux weld up to an inch onto an intake runner divider. Is there any reason not to use 1/4 aluminum plate and weld that to the dividers instead? Then port and shape it accordingly? Thanks To extend a divider into the plenum area, I use 3/16" or 1/4" aluminum all the time...

I have an unknown solid roller cam we are going to try in my Son's sbc 377. Cam specs are 298@.020 266@.050 .445 lobe on the intake, 306@.020 268@.050 .420 lobe on the exhaust. Thinking the shift will be at 7500. 11/32 2.08 / 1.6 stainless valves. We have a rev kit. I have no idea what valve spring...

I take it you are talking like a 23 head with those low hp per inch listings? The ls has some decent port area and ssr height over some conv 23 heads. Valve angle is better in ls. Imo if perimeters of valve size stay same. Let's say 2.125 in both conv 23 and ls 15 deg. We used to make 750 hp with 2...

Change of plans on the build after talking with some people and reading the comments. I’ll just cut some weight on the car to compensate for less hp. No big deal. I’m looking at cans with the following durations 230/238, 234/236, and 236/248 on 109-110 LSA’s +4 maybe? I don’t want a mild steady lop...

Higher comp [within reason] will give greater power/efficiency for a given capacity at full throttle. At part throttle higher comp is not really playing a part here as we are not filling the cylinder with fuel air mixture, burn efficiency is at play here, chamber design, an active charge and fuel/i...

For those of you with LS engine experience. Using the example of a 4.00" bore x 3.75 stroke, iron block, well done cathedral port heads, cast intake, methanol carb, dome piston providing at least 12:1 compression, enough cam for 7400 - 7500 shift point. Given the above guideline, what is the p...

The under 6000 rpm sort of tells the story. These days it is fairly easy to buy what you need in terms of cylinder heads. There are so many options available in off the shelf stuff. You didn't specify how "odd ball" your project is. Good heads for an ancient Y block Ford can be difficult....

Unless you are going to a single plane manifold for more top end power with the 2 barrel ... use the stock stuff.

I have an LQ4 with cnc ported #821 heads, 387 cid, (4.020" x 3.812"), with a much larger cam, (257/266@.050" - .730"/.710" valve lift), which dyno'ed at 687 horsepower using 1 7/8" headers and a 2 plane intake manifold ... A Holley 2-plane, 300-133 , dual-quad intake w...