Gen III 5.7 hemi build advice needed

[crazycuda]

Picked up a 2010 charger for the wife with a worn-out 5.7 (200k).
This is my first time going into one of the new hemis, so I wanted to find out if there were any particular things I needed to pay close attention to on these motors. Example, do I need to order a torque plate ( for a mild build is it needed, but preferred) , replace all the valve seats, follow factory clearances or do they need to be opened up some , etc. My current plan was to just do a stock type hd build (daily driver and wife's lead foot), ditch the mds system (do not want to deal with lifter noise) and go with the updated valve springs and rocker arm spacer supports.
I am also mulling around the thought on ditching the stock manifolds (they look restrictive) and going with a set of shorty headers.
Any do's or don't would be greatly appreciated.
J

[Krooser]

The '09+ heads don't have issues with seats falling out afaik.

I would closely examine the cam and replace it if it shows any wear. And replace the lifters but don't use Mopar lifters. I think Hylift Johnson has the good replacements...Mike Jones will know.

As far as machine work I only had one early version checked out
The opinion was it was flat and square enough to build a daily driver...YMMV.

[crazycuda]

Glad I can rule out valve seat worry of them falling out.
On tear down the only real wear I am seeing is the cyl bores, all the oil rings were stuck and the valve tips and rockers are beaten bad (rocker shafts loosened up)

[Krooser]

I'm no longer surprised at the total lack of maintenence these cars get today... and then the mfgs. are blamed when the engine won't make it to 100,000 miles.

The latest 5.7 I picked up for a core had 100k+... came out of a 2006 Ram 1500. Owner sez it just stopped on the highway and would not crank.

Ran out of oil.... seized two rods on the crank... both snapped off... one piston was broken into pices and was stuck sideways in the bore. There was an inch of oil in the sump and that was filled with debris from the carnage.

Amazingly the bores are still good... just a couple small notches at the bottom of the cylinders to bear witness to the explosion.

[crazycuda]

Talk about carnage dam..
You wouldn't know what the factory bore specs are. Mtchell is showing me 3.920 +/- .0015. Web hunting is showing 3.971. Thats a .051 diff and that looks way off to me. Yet the top of my bore (no ring wear lip) is 3.971 and the loosest part is the 3.920. doing the coin toss should I bore it or just get fresh pistons and give it a stiff hone keeping fingers x. Wifes car so room for fudge factor lol

[BillK]

Talk about carnage dam..
You wouldn't know what the factory bore specs are. Mtchell is showing me 3.920 +/- .0015. Web hunting is showing 3.971. Thats a .051 diff and that looks way off to me. Yet the top of my bore (no ring wear lip) is 3.971 and the loosest part is the 3.920. doing the coin toss should I bore it or just get fresh pistons and give it a stiff hone keeping fingers x. Wifes car so room for fudge factor lol

CC,
Not sure what you have there but the bore on a 5.7 is supposed to be 3.917" I have three blocks here right now and that is what they all measure. Are you sure of your measurement ???? Casting number off block ??

[BillK]

cc,
That year Charger could be a 5.7 or a 6.1 but the 6.1 is only 4.055 bore so something is not making sense.

[crazycuda]

Talk about carnage dam..
You wouldn't know what the factory bore specs are. Mtchell is showing me 3.920 +/- .0015. Web hunting is showing 3.971. Thats a .051 diff and that looks way off to me. Yet the top of my bore (no ring wear lip) is 3.971 and the loosest part is the 3.920. doing the coin toss should I bore it or just get fresh pistons and give it a stiff hone keeping fingers x. Wifes car so room for fudge factor lol

CC,
Not sure what you have there but the bore on a 5.7 is supposed to be 3.917" I have three blocks here right now and that is what they all measure. Are you sure of your measurement ???? Casting number off block ??

Dam Dyslexia (sorry) Correcting myself that changes the variable to .003
casting number 530213190k
has 5.7 cast in the block
If it hit the very top of the bore above the ring wear mark I have 3.917 now when I slide the bore ga down to the ring wear groove (where it changes travel at top of bore) it get 3.920. as I slowly move down in the bore it tapers back to 3.917 at the bottom of the bore. I will say I have a +/- of .0002 due to the factor of tolerance stack between the mic and dial bore ga.
I will say I have little faith on mitchell being accurate on there specs but I called the local dlr and there parts dept said 3.920 was std bore on the 5.7 hemi. I know I am being my neurotic self and over thinking it because its my first time in one of these engines and haven't learned the in and outs on them. Plus as you can see I need to measure, walk away and measure again to verify myself

[BillK]

Dam Dyslexia (sorry) Correcting myself that changes the variable to .003
casting number 530213190k
has 5.7 cast in the block

I got my info from my AERA software which is usually right from the factory specs. Piston and rod assemblies are about $100 from the dealer. They come with rings and bearings I think.

We have had very good luck with lifters from SBI (Eloy) I think they are from the oem manufacturer. But they have been hard to get lately. I think they are on national back order from Chrysler. I have not seen any of the Johnson ones but have not heard any bad things.

I have a torque plate but have done a few basically stock engines without it and not had any issues. Mahle makes some real nice pistons that are factory weight so you dont have to rebalance but they are proud of them. Same with Manley on rods. But if you are doing a basically stock build the stock parts hold up pretty well.

[crazycuda]

Unfortunately I let my AREA membership run out when my business partner passed.
Do they show what the max spec is on wall taper, wear etc. Trying to decide should I bore it or just get stock size and run it a little loose, my gut says go .020 and be done with it. Wife wants it done yesturday lol
I was going to use the silvolite replacement pistons and looking at the melling lifters , those are the only ones I can find available right now that are not 400+ dollars.

[BillK]

cc,
They do not show a wear or taper spec but if you can feel a wear lip then you want to bore it. I suppose you could hone the wear out of it but then you are going to be .003 -.004 big and as short as the pistons are combined with the thin rings I don't think it would be a good idea. Make sure and replace the rod bolts, they are cheap. Send me a pm with your e-mail address and I will send you the specs I have so you can compare them to Mitchell.

We used a set of the Melling lifters about a month ago and they seem to be fine. That was all we could get at the time.