304 budget rebuild - guaranteed to make you cringe

[EYY]

Not planning on zero decking the block, I know it'll provide more compression, reduce possibility of detonation and give tighter squish etc. -just this time I'm trying to avoid spending any money I don't have to.

The flat tops are the cheap/easy/nasty way to get comp up, and only cost me 150 including new rings.

I've done the calculations and in theory with the piston .020-.030 down the bore, should give around 9.75:1 static. I think with zero deck height it was around 10.2 but will do the calculations again when I take measurements. According to hpepete's measurements, stock VN chambers are 64cc's and VT chambers are 59cc's.

Yeah, from reading on pcmhacking it looks like the maf based engines are more difficult to tune. Looks like I've got plenty of research ahead of me

 

[Immortality]

Not planning on zero decking the block, I know it'll provide more compression, reduce possibility of detonation and give tighter squish etc. -just this time I'm trying to avoid spending any money I don't have to.

The flat tops are the cheap/easy/nasty way to get comp up, and only cost me 150 including new rings.

I've done the calculations and in theory with the piston .020-.030 down the bore, should give around 9.75:1 static. I think with zero deck height it was around 10.2 but will do the calculations again when I take measurements. According to hpepete's measurements, stock VN chambers are 64cc's and VT chambers are 59cc's.

Yeah, from reading on pcmhacking it looks like the maf based engines are more difficult to tune. Looks like I've got plenty of research ahead of me

I get similar numbers to you. I though VN's were about 62 and VT 59, doesn't really mater if you don't deck the block as the VT heads will be the way to go.

What PCM are you intending to run? MAF isn't so much harder to tune, just a different methodology and requires some different thinking.

Interested to see how this turns out..these type of builds are fun.

Agree with above decking block is way to go.

Joined pcmhacking site,have understanding of basics but it still spins me out the more get into it.

I think these type of build are much more typical of what the average guy does and tend to surprise in a good way

 

[EYY]

Let the cringing begin...
The test subject:

Pulled the manifold off. The good - the spider cradle is in one piece. The bad - plenty of sludge and looks like it hasn't lived a nice life. Snapped one of the bolts at the front of the drivers side head. Luckily there's a fair bit of the bolt protruding from the head. I'll weld a nut to it and try to unscrew it, if i can't, I'll drill it out and retap the thread.

Had a hell of a time trying to get this head off. Somebody's tried to replace the head gaskets before and damaged the cap head screw at the front of the head. I managed to snap a 1/2" extension bar with a 1/2" drive impact gun trying to get it undone, and eventually totally stripped the inside of the cap screw. I hammered a conveniently sized 3/8 drive torx bit hard into the screw and welded a 3/8 extension bar to a 1/2" drive socket and then used a 3/4" to 1/2" drive adaptor and managed to get it undone with the 3/4" impact gun. Dodgy as hell, and can't believe it worked. This thing's a monster and sounds absolutely awesome

Bore appears to be standard size, and cylinders on this side look good. Lip is barely noticeable, and can't even catch my fingernail on it. Looking to be a great candidate for this build, even though it looks rough with all the sludge and carbon.

More updates to come. Have the day off tomorrow so will try to get it on the engine stand and have the sump off.

Btw immortality, will be running the 531 pcm

 

[EYY]

Searched the part numbers on the pistons and they appear to be ACL pistons which came factory in the roller blocks, so is standard bore size.

I had a quick look at the deck height, and the pistons actually hang out of the cylinder by .003" going by my quick measurements (I did scrape the carbon off to do these measurements). I've only checked the drivers side so far though. I'll only really be able to measure properly when I fit the new pistons though. All of the parts are with a family friend since they were closer to the seller, I just have to pick them up and I'll post pics of the new parts too. When I reassemble, I'll be using a dial indicator.

 

[gtrboyy]

Must have been allergic to oil changes that one.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Priority mains oiling.....look that up if you don't already know what it is.

 

[EYY]

I may look into priority mains piling on the 308 I plan to build. This one's just a quick/cheap throw together job. I figure if I don't spend too much on it, I won't feel as bad giving it a hard time.

Just looking at the compression ratio, with the VT heads looks like it'll be around 10.3:1 with the current deck height assuming the flat tops maintain the same height.

Any idea on the maximum safe compression with my cam choice running 98 and LPG? VN heads may be the better option to lower the comp a little.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

I plugged the cross over in #4 cam bearing seat and drilled an extra hole in #1 cam bearing seat. This forces more oil down to the big ends. I also modded the oil pump by grinding out the feed gallery making it larger and smoothing out all the square edges to allow better flow.

Pretty sure I put pictures up somewhere....I'll find them.

 

[Immortality]

I don't think it forces more oil to the big ends except at number 4 where it cross-fed to the other lifter gallery. It's not really priority mains oiling, there is no such thing on a standard Holden block.

TK's thread on the AV8 forum has all the oiling mods for the Holden.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

There is a priority mains oiling mod and there is also the cam gallery mod, it changes the way the oil is fed to the crank journals. I got it from AV8. I followed his oil pump mod too.