greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Picked up a brand new normalized merlin II with a 4.25 bore last weekend, getting it punched .250 over tommorow Diamond nitrous series pistons on the way....

BTW 498 SOLD

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

woot!

AlkyIROC

I like my 540 but I could punch my Dart Big M block out even more if needed. I'm not sure if you could take that Merlin block much more than that. 0.250" overbore is a lot.

What heads cam etc do you plan on using?

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Apparently, World used the same casting for the 4.250 block and the 4.500 block. The specs say 4.6250 max bore and at 4.600 it will have min .300 major thrust. We are sonic testing this morning before any machine work. I figure at 4.500 I`ll have room for many rebuilds. Last year was the straw that broke the camels back, just too much bad luck with stock blocks...heli coils,sleeves, hard block, decks etc, etc.. Heck I even bought a tall deck prior to this one, merlin III pro block, it was good deal but when I ran across this one, I couldnt pass on it, sold the pro block to a guy who runs a 65 skylark and sprays 600 on 638`s. This one is a nice upgrade to a stock block, it`s not a Big M or even as good as a merlin III but whats nice is blind head bolt holes, case is expanded for better cooling, high nickel content, dont need .300 tall lifters, all my junk will fit on it! Granted a tall lifter boss is better but I really wasn`t budgeted for a new short block build so re-use of as much equipment as I already own is important. It doesn`t have billet caps, nor splayed outers...straight cast caps. So as long as it can hold 1500 HP or so it will suit me fine. The .070 bare block I have weighs 210 pounds, this thing is close to 290 at 4.250 LOL!

I figure the extra cubes should give me another 60-70 hp on the conservative side, maybe the AFR 325`s that I`ll re-use will pick up a little cfm with the bigger hole under them. I know they are smaller runners but they are moving 400 cfm @ .700 with the port match and rev valves, the little bit of clean up douglas porting did to them. Only thing in my corner is it`s still a heavy car so the undersized port will help but it will hold HP back on top.

Thinking about sticking the 498 cam in it but it may be too far off base, 278/288 .775 112CL ?? I`m thinking with the mis match heads I should give bullet a call, probably should have a low to mid 280 on the intake right? Whats in your 540 Stephen for intake duration?

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

should be a killer motor with how that 498 was running!

AlkyIROC

Sounds like a good heavy casting similar to my Big M block. I think my bare block was around 260 pounds. Lots of extra metal in it. I know that if I bore the block .100" over, the cylinder walls will still have at least .250" of metal.

For the last few years I was using a Comp Cams 11-740-9 camshaft.

112 LSA
.748/.748 lift
286/298 @ .050
5000-7500 rpm range

It's actually a mild cam and very easy on parts. It worked well especially when I was using unported Canfield 310 heads. I switched to some heavily ported Dart 360 heads and but I could feel the engine running out of power at the top end (7500 rpm) so I picked up a new cam over the winter to compliment the larger heads. I now have a 11-750-14 4/7 swap cam in the engine and won't know how well it works until later this weekend.

114 LSA
.800/.800 lift
277/292 @ .050
4300-8000 rpm range

JesasaurusRex

iTrader: (3)

Congrats man sounds like a well placed purchase. Imma need some space with all those cubes

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Haha Thanks, it was long time coming! Checked bores before the big Hog out on the bore bar lol! Plenty `o meat in it!! we measured between .324-.339 on major thrusts after bore at 4.495 ! Block is rough bored, pistons are in hand now as well. Talk me out of a callies compstar crank and I beams, think they`ll be perfect for the HP and my budget.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

You can donate that motor to my slow car if you like


Congrats on the new purchase, can't wait to see how it turns out!

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Sure I`d donate, (shipping is really really high from mi to il though) LOL...Thanks man, I cant wait either even though it`ll be kinda mismatched with the smaller heads, and now to top it off the pistons were miss boxed and the bore guy just opened it up another .030....548 cid now. Midnight bore and hone, good guys but wont wait if you make mistake! Well anyhow, the pistons are mine for good, .043 1/16 3/16 rings grooves, gas ports, forced pin oilers, 180 wall pins, cnc contorued domes (no smoothing by hand!) just SICK pistons!!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

i have a set of diamonds in mine...they live up to their name good customer service too...i'll be using them from now on

Shagwell

KILLER!

I'll agree that a regular Merlin block is not a Dart or even a Merlin III, but it's still steps above a stock block(coming from a guy who runs both hard).

Check with Ray D(598nos on YB) about bigger CI with the smaller afr heads. His combination works very well and I believe he's using the same heads.

I would think something in the neighborhood of 280-286 intake and 292-300 exhaust, roughly .790 lift, 112-114 ls. You'll want a 112+ ls and at least 10-12* more exhaust duration to suit the nitrous. - I run over .800 lift in the 496, the cam for the new 582 would scare you. Go big or go home!

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

Glad to hear about the purchase.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Thanks ****, I`ll look him up, and thanks for the cam numbers, it`s more than I`m running in the 498 and it noses over after 7200 on the spray so I know it`ll be worse with the bigger rotate er. I`ve been lucky so far with parts, I can only hope the luck keeps up lol. Maybe I`ll be able run with that kansas kid?? Another teaser picture.

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

You'll have no problem keeping up with me. Kid.. I am 37.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Some times i wish i had stuck to the BBC plan, but the LS swap just saved so much money and get MPG is awesome for being a carbed SBC that can spin 7200.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Jealousy Reins Suuupreeem!! LOL!!

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

all these big cube bbc guys in here whewwwwwww

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Hey No Offense 1Bad....I`m on the other side of 40, and I always wondered why guys 8-10 years older called me kid?? Tell me about your 555 in detail...if you will?

Cubes matter not, it`s all whats behind the whole package, theres a few "just over" 400 inch small blocks that make me look like I`m taking a joy ride down the track. One in mind has a set of williams all pro heads 21 degree, they flow more air than then my afr 325`s and the ports are a good 50 cc smaller!?! Sprays the bajesus outta of it but clicks the lights weeelll ahead of me!

Shagwell

Those All-Pro sbc heads are flat nasty. - My buddy's over @ S&E are running sbc powered x275 cars, one with those heads has already been 5.0x's on a single kit but is offing it all in favor of a procharger.

My 496 is liking heading into a loose 25.5 stock suspension notch back those guys have sitting at the shop.


The only thing that beats cubic inches is cubic dollars......

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Sold the Whole 498, intake to pan! I think I`m sticking with the AFR`s though, found a racer who has a set of 357`s with T&D rocker shafts, triple spring, ti retainers, manley sd valves, new this spring for decent money.

Block was bored .280 over because of a missed box set of pistons...that could have gone better but whatever. So here is what I have done.

merlin II .280 over
diamond nitrous series pistons
total seal ap rings gapped
compstar I beam rods hung
compstar 8 counter wieght crank
ati super dampner
coated king bearings, rod,main,cam
deck checked and paralleled to allow .010 in the hole (9.790)
rotating assembly balanced
bores chamfered and re-honed to remove chamfer edge.

ordering morel roller lifters, the manley triple springs are 350 on the seat and 1010 over the nose, trying to decide if pushing the lift over .800 is worth while or not..heads will flatten out at .800 on the intake at 425 cfm

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

My AFR heads flow within 2 cfm from .800-1.00. It wasn't worth it to me to go any larger on the cam.

Please update if you dyno. It should make great power.

Shagwell

If the heads aren't breathing beyond .800, then there's no point pushing the valvetrain beyond that. Just spec the duration for your CI/powerband and have out. I'd imagine a 114ish LS.

Good luck with it!

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Some top head guys I've seen (Darin Morgan is one for example) say you want the heads to continue to pick up flow as the valve lift increases. Head should flow well to 1" and never level out or go backwards. It makes a difference even if you dont run anywhere near that lift since motors see a wide range of pressure differentials, not just 28" of water on a flow bench. But that doesnt mean you should run more lift cam. Motor will only need a certain lift to meet an RPM goal so going with more lift can hurt some.

That 540 should move even with the 325 heads. They are good heads especially if you have them cleaned up. Perhaps spend abit more on port work and get them opened up abit larger to suit the cubes better? Probably save a few bucks over a new set of heads that way.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

That would be great if they did but like most heads, they level off somewhere. I`ve plotted the intake and exh port pressures, the intake never come close to 28 inches, exhaust do though. Heres some early anaylsis of the build up. BTW I`m using the afr 357 heads not the 325`s, they were sold! This summary is as close to realistic as I can get it and the numbers do look close to expectations (mine at least) Great software for engine builders.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Yeah, most heads i've seen were only flowed to 1" and if they kept rising to that point, it was considered a good head. Now on some of those big block setups where you run .800-.900"+ lift, you may want to check it to 1.2-1.3". I have seen one head flowed like that.
Its interesting that the software doesnt show intake pressures getting close to 28". I have read an article where they attached alot of pressure reading devices to a running 525" bbc motor and claimed to see as much as 7.5psi of suction on the intake port from exhaust scavanging, and the piston draw on its downward stroke was only 1.5psi. This is 41" of water at 1.5 psi and 207" on 7.5 psi. A port will usually choke out at an earlier lift than what is seen on a 28" h2o flowbench.

But that motor is gonna be pretty awesome. Curious to see how it does. You think it will make over 1000hp? Its only 1.82 hp per cubic inch so I would think that isnt out of the question. Its feasible to see that much on sbc's with great 23 deg heads these days let alone a BBC head.

AlkyIROC

Conventional 24* heads have their limits. When you start getting into the big cubic inches or the high HP numbers, you move to a spreadport design like 18* Big Chiefs etc.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

I dont know, I`m thinking if I can get 925-940 I`d be doing good (I`m sure a N/A suited cam would be a better performer vs. this nitrous stick) I know max effort 555-565 can go well over 1000HP but this is not a max effort (at least off the bottle) it`s compression is low( 6.61 dynamic...asking the builder about this one..lol ) 15.1 would be ideal along with (even conventional) heads that move 450-500cfm, Ti valves, sheet metal intake with 2 quads, big cam journals, light weight parts and a better ring pack, then yes 1000 would be a cake walk. I might dyno this one just so I know, it would be interesting, just have to find out how much wallet lightening will be required and who to trust around here. If it were not for the diamond pistons I fell into, Curtis Boggs (RFD) heads would have done the job along with chamber tailored pistons and his designed Eldey 565 SV intake and 1 carb..but not this go around.

Here ya go..this will run with most chiefs
http://www.raceflowdevelopment.com/R...victor-pro.htm

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Yeah Curtis has some great heads for both bbc and sbc Cost a pretty penny but worth the power they make.

Shagwell

Curtis has some killer stuff. I dream of one day running his "conventional" raised runner billet oval ports on the blower motor........


Chiefs are nice, but they really aren't suited for engines below 600ci. Even then, till you go boosted or north of 640ci most of the aftermarket "chiefs" are too big. Some of the best running 632's I know of are running the old-school buick/pontiac "cheifs" vs the darts & brodies which tend to be a bit large. - That said, I also know a couple of very mean conventional headed 632's on the jug.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Toying around today at work with the 21049 moroso pan, took the windage tray out to clean it out good and got to thinking about the oil level, moroso says 6-7 quarts. heres a small pic of it with 5 quarts in it, I know add 1 qt for the filter....but does the engine oil gallies and return oil make up for that other quart? with 5 in the sump its creeping up on the seperation/windage area....would 6.5 be a safe bet or would you run the full 7 and hope your noit flooding out the scrapers rendering them useless?

Shagwell

BBC valve covers can easily hold 2qrts a piece while the engine is running, plus all the oil gallies - run the full 7.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

thanks, I was running 7qts before but was not 100% sure if it was too much or not.

Cleaned the block up Saturday morning for assembly mock up again, 1st time was for rod to block clearance and deck clearance checks, which showed no cam tunnel work or side rail work was needed but the deck was not square or straight, driver bank had .010 incline from front to rear. Deck was set to 9.790 to give a .010 in the hole deck height for the piston/rod combo.

Crankshaft is on the bigger side of the clearance windows and the coated bearings are .0007 on average thicker than a UN-coated bearing, line hone and main bore diameter`s were checked and fell well within tolerances but it`s running too tight IMO to put together. Swapped around a few shells and this is the best so far..

#1 .00225 with a 2.7490 journal
#2 .00271 2.7488
#3 .00290 2.7487
#4 .00295 2.7488
#5 .00321 2.7484

rods are all consistent at 2.1998- 2.1999 and they all give me .0017 bearing clearance, way too tight again, a coated STD X set will or should give optimistically another .001 putting me at .0027 rod. The front main bore has to be tight even with the crank journal running a tad larger than the other 3 in the 1-4 specs...

1 un-coated upper in the #1 main saddle for an easy fix? I would think it would give me .0003

just measured an un-coated upper .00035 thinner

Shagwell

Wasn't this all just done/checked @ a machine shop?


Seems odd it gets preogressively better towards the back. Rear is a little overly loose, but I would cope being direct off the pump, middle is good, front two a bit snuggly.

I too, think the X rod bearings should get you in shape there. .0025-.003 for steel rods is fine.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Nope, they just did the deck and the balance, they said the line hone was not needed. Just had a buddy come by tonight to double check my measurements...his mic reads 5 digits after the decimal. his shows the journals a switch smaller
2.74830
2.74800
2.74800
2.74800
2.74770

main bores with bearings

2.75050
2.75050
2.75010
2.75035
2.75140

front main still is .0022 oil clearance, the rods are on the bigger side of the window so can`t open them any to get better rod bearing clearance, rod journals according to his mic

2.19995
2.19985
2.20000
2.20000

Still have to mic the rod bores with the bearings but looks like the X`s will fix the rods, the mains will need a few X`s in select upper positions to get the desired clearances...I have my doubts the local machinist can take .0005 tenths off my crank and keep it round... play with bearings on the mains, saddles are top of window except the number 1

Shagwell

^ meaning they caused the deck issue.

You cen get much of that polishing w/ emory, just takes patience and a little arm work-out. - I'd go after the front two mains & the rods that way first, then step to the X's as needed.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

how do you ensure roundness when polishing material off with emory?

Shagwell

Most shops have a rotator & a power band sander. - When doing it by hand, you have to make a full wrap around the crank. I usualy split off a roughly 1/2" wide section of emory, roughly 2' long. Wrap it around the crank twice so that you have one complete loop + the two sides standing up to pull with each hand, then work it back forth across the journal while working it. - I've never put a crank in w/o hand polishing before hand.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

ok, cool. what are you using to clean it after the emory?

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Sometimes I wish I were still working with the junk, throw it together and NEVER give a second thought Hahhaaaa LOL Spray the bajezzus outta it..never lift motorsports

Shagwell

brake clean and shop air @ 125psi.

...any question as to why I have a 2-bolt main GM block in the car when I have two 4-bolts, two darts and a merlin III on the shelf?- I'm about to put a 2-bolt GM into the 4's @ 140+mph, I got no reason to lift until the carb is the only thing not in the diaper.....

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Small update....I tried some un-coated bearings and picked up 3-4 tenths of a thou, still sitting at low 2`s for oil clearances, going to have to order some x`s and half shell it to get over toward the 3`s. So anyway, I went ahead and mocked it up for checking intake port match to the heads, what thickness gaskets needed and dome to chamber. Had to touch the pistons with the sander ever so slightly right where the two valve reliefs meet at the quench area, the pistons clear the chambers now with no gaskets. I decided on cometic`s .041 MLS`s for head gaskets. Intake gaskets will be the std .060 thick which I did not expect, last set of AFR heads needed the .120 thick 1275`s. Port match looks good, the intake is trace cut for dart 355`s. The manifolds exits are smaller by about 1/16 all the way around the port except for the roofs, they are exact. took some real crappy pictures.. haha, I almost gotta squint to see them, fixed the resolution on my phone camera tonight after looking at them LOL..

87_TA

Impressive, that car will be downright scary now! You going for 170? Very Nice!!

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

PM me where you got your pistons. I have been shopping them and the price varies a lot. BTW you will like that Sniper Jr. It did well on my engine when I redynoed last spring.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Thanks, I have had second thoughts about selling the CNC super victor but its gone now so I`ll have the porting kit out soon for the sniper.

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

The Sniper doesn't need much, just a gasket match and a blend below the mounting pad.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Finished up the sniper, port matched and cleaned up the entrances / plenum, added the fogger holes and started plumbing it.





Also did another mock up for piston to valve and pushrod length, everything is fitting perfectly, usually it`s not this easy




Should be running within the next month or two just in time for deep snow

dropped the bling on it to get a glamore shot LOL !!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

:drool:

Shagwell

bling a.k.a. motivational pic. - Puts me in "drink beer in lawn chair while staring at it mode" for the evening, but makes me work hard the next day - lol.

greezemonkey

iTrader: (14)

Well it`s been a long winter and I made it out to the track Saturday before Easter. The engine sounds amazing, nice chirps coming out of the exhaust, everything is looking good, no leaks, good OP and nice water temps (nice to have a water block again) I have not been in the chair in quite some time, many nervous jitters. After a few short pulls along with the street tire guys it was clear there would be no hooking it today. I was only here to test the engine though so that's okay. after the 2nd pull some erratic miss fires started before getting back to the pit, a full valve train and secondary ignition inspection revealed nothing...after re-assembly and trying to start the car we found it was not possible..this is where it gets good (now that I`m looking back) first hit of the ignition switch....CLICK..no crank... OKAY must be a bad battery so I pull the 16 volt turbo start and drop in the 12 volt Interstate...cranks but slow. Cranking it only reveals that it sounds like like the timing is really late, explosions in the exhaust. Move crank trigger pick-up closer, no luck, move pick-up for more advance, same result. Eliminate the msd retard box, same results. Finally after what seemed to be hours, find the crank trigger wires melted together near the passenger header but still tucked away a good 4-5 inches, cut out the meltage and spliced the ends back together. Okay now we are ready right? Nope..cranking it still reveals the problem is still there...UUGH! After a few attempts again for what seemed for no reason I realize that letting the ign switch back just hair from the full crank position allowed the car to start normally..WTF? THREE problems all at once what are the odds? So making my way back to the stage lanes I realize the 16 volt alt that outputs 19.1 doesnt like the 12 volt battery, it`s not charging at all! Well with 10.5 volts I put it on the brake after a good heating of the tires and let go only to spin instantly and pull 2nd right out the box. It hooked with 2nd and third came right away as well, a good 300ft before the 1/8 cone, engine sounded fine and was hooked up so I rode it out to the 1/4 stripe and got this slip. This engine feels like my 496 but with the plate kit on! I cannot wait to see how well this thing will run on motor set up in this nitrous trim!