Where to go After BHG

[87M-GTE]

Hey guys,

I have the car mostly apart. Taking the head in today to the machine shop.
I am planning on getting an HKS Stopper and I kinda want to stay on stock internals, but I want to see what you guys have to say.

I want to know what you 7M veterans would recomend engine wise.

My plan for the car is:

- Stock internals...maybe forged
- Thermo remote mounted oil cooler/filter
- .57 trim CT26 for now, PTE down the road
- 550s
- LEX
- BC 272
- BC springs/retainers
- SAFC, Haltech or something down the road
- Methanol
- Fluidyne
- Stock Fan
etc.

I want to make ~500rwhp at the end of the day.
And I pretty much have an idea of how it will be done.

Just want some opinions and/or reccomendations

Thanks Guys!
Sam

 

[mkiiichip]

Are you planning on machining the block?

 

[87M-GTE]

^^^ Yes.

I was just inspecting the cyl head, under cyl. 2-3 on the intake side is a small plaque that says "void guarentee if removed" WTF is that?
a reman cyl head?
I bought this off a member on here like 2-3 years ago.

Also,
The cam bearing caps and cams have wear on them that I can feel with my finger nail. is there a way to fix that? If that would get smoothed out, wouldn't the cams be too small inside there? I was planning on going with BC 272 and valve springs/retainers. Will the grooves on the cyl head cam bearings effect that?

Thanks
-Sam

 

[87M-GTE]

Heres some pics of that plaque i was talking about and of the cam bearings:

Here is a Pic of a spare head.
In the pics above, there are strange marks on the walls inside the head, near where the shims are, this head does not have those marks..

Thanks for the input,
-Sam

---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------

Im counfused.

Please chime in 7M vets. (calling IJ and Upgradedsupra)

Sam

 

[Kai]

272's are a little excessive for 500rwhp, you could make that with a set of stock cams. 264's would be more than adequate.

If you want that sort of horsepower - forged internals are the only way to do it, IMO. Too much stress on stock, cast internals. Get the engine out, have the block bored .020 over, new set of pistons, rods, rings, bearings.

Methanol for 500hp is overkill.

 

[87M-GTE]

272's are a little excessive for 500rwhp, you could make that with a set of stock cams. 264's would be more than adequate.

If you want that sort of horsepower - forged internals are the only way to do it, IMO. Too much stress on stock, cast internals. Get the engine out, have the block bored .020 over, new set of pistons, rods, rings, bearings.

Methanol for 500hp is overkill.

Thanks for the reply,

I just about positive that I'm gonna be going with forged internals.

On my thread on SF, someone thought the 'Plaque' on the cyl. head was a junk-yard ID tag.. anyother thoughts on that?

My question now is regarding the cam bearing surfaces. If they get machined or replaced, will the aftermarket cams bearing surface be too small (or loosely fitting) after the bearing caps are machined?

Thanks for the replys

-Sam

 

[CyFi6]

Thats what my cam saddles looked like. I used some scotch brite to lightly take down the high spots. Then i plastigaged the cams to make sure they were in spec clearance wise, they were a little wide. I sanded the flat part of the caps down little by little, bringing the clearance tighter and into spec. The bore wont be perfectly round after you do this, but the cams are not bearing a huge amount of load and aren't that picky. I have been running my engine like this a few months now with no problems and great oil pressure.

Also, the little stamp pasted on your head is probably because its been to a machine shop. From what i understand if your head overheats, the glue they use melts, causing it to fall off, therefore they wont warranty anything after that.

BTW im curious what those melted spots inline with your headbolt holes are. Particularly visible in the second pic, anyone know what that is? EDIT just realized the OP was asking the same thing

 

[IJ.]

As PM'd on SF the tag is a telltale, as CyFi noted it's there to bust you if you overheat the engine then try to warranty it.

Good cams have a huge affect on the engines personality, yes while you can make 500 on the stock cams you're running everything ragged to get there, a cammed engine just does it so much easier.

 

[te72]

It's always been my belief that if you want an engine to last, build it to withstand 30% more power than you intend to intend to use. In other words, if you want 500hp, make sure it'll hold up to 750. No sense in putting something through undue stress... If you have the means, I would recommend porting the head to match the cams' personality. Did that for my engine, and the thing has absolutely great mid range, but you can tell it wants to breathe up top too.

 

[87M-GTE]

Thats what my cam saddles looked like. I used some scotch brite to lightly take down the high spots. Then i plastigaged the cams to make sure they were in spec clearance wise, they were a little wide. I sanded the flat part of the caps down little by little, bringing the clearance tighter and into spec. The bore wont be perfectly round after you do this, but the cams are not bearing a huge amount of load and aren't that picky. I have been running my engine like this a few months now with no problems and great oil pressure.

Also, the little stamp pasted on your head is probably because its been to a machine shop. From what i understand if your head overheats, the glue they use melts, causing it to fall off, therefore they wont warranty anything after that.

BTW im curious what those melted spots inline with your headbolt holes are. Particularly visible in the second pic, anyone know what that is? EDIT just realized the OP was asking the same thing

Thanks for the good idea regarding the cam bearing caps and about the plaque!

I have no idea what the "melted" spots are. Theres a mark where every head bolt goes.

As PM'd on SF the tag is a telltale, as CyFi noted it's there to bust you if you overheat the engine then try to warranty it.

Good cams have a huge affect on the engines personality, yes while you can make 500 on the stock cams you're running everything ragged to get there, a cammed engine just does it so much easier.

Exactly. Thats why I want to do the motor right the first time. Once thats done there is always room for improvement.
Thanks for clarifying about the plaque as well.

It's always been my belief that if you want an engine to last, build it to withstand 30% more power than you intend to intend to use. In other words, if you want 500hp, make sure it'll hold up to 750. No sense in putting something through undue stress... If you have the means, I would recommend porting the head to match the cams' personality. Did that for my engine, and the thing has absolutely great mid range, but you can tell it wants to breathe up top too.

Agreed. Thanks for the point!


I will be posting pics of the front of the head where the casting numbers are for Ian, or anyone else.

Thanks,
-Sam

 

[87M-GTE]

This is the one I took off my car

This is my spare cyl. head

Sam

 

[IJ.]

Bottom one is newer, compare the dividers in the intake ports there was a change just not sure how early it happened and the 9 may still be the older port layout.

 

[87M-GTE]

Bottom one is newer, compare the dividers in the intake ports there was a change just not sure how early it happened and the 9 may still be the older port layout.

The bottom one is from my 86.5
I'll check the intake ports.

Sam

 

[87M-GTE]

Anyone know what those "melted" looking spots are inside the head?

Thanks agian for the extremely helpful replys guys!

-Sam

 

[IJ.]

Need a Macro flash pic of them Sam.

 

[87M-GTE]

Close ups of the strange marks or the casting numbers?

Way off topic here.. I pulled the cover off my CPS, I caught it before it was ever leaked into. Anyways, on one of the wires the insullation is cracked and I can see the wires. Is that gonna be an issue down the road?

Thank you for the help Ian! I really apprieciate it!

Sam

 

[87M-GTE]

Any ideas about the marks in the cyl head? pics to come this evening

Also, anyone know if that will be a problem for my CPS?

Sam

 

[IJ.]

Of the strange marks of course Sam

 

[87M-GTE]

Here are a few pics of those marks...

Ian, I don't know if you saw my question regarding CPS? Will cracked insulation on the wires cause an issue?
I'll try n get some pics of that as well.

Sam

 

[IJ.]

Are you talking about the circled areas?

As long as the wires can't touch each other or ground on anything it shouldn't make a difference but you need to insulate them.