• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

427 engine (part 2) - RHS block

Got a call from Aaron this morning to tell me the valve covers went on without a hitch. He was also able to eliminate that alternator bracket extension and put the oil return line directly into the valve cover instead of into the oil inlet cap. So it looks a lot cleaner under the hood now.

He's going to drive it around a bit this afternoon to make sure there aren't any kinks remaining, so hopefully it will be coming home tomorrow. Looks like the weather is going to be clear, is not pretty chilly, so I'm going to be doing some driving around town with it to break in that clutch. I really want to get this completely wrapped up as soon as possible.
 
WoooooooooooooHoooooooooooooooooo Rich. That's good news for you. Look's like you will get yours back before I get mine back. It finally looks like this is coming to an end for the both of us. Good luck on your driving it again. Do you remember how?
 
vetteguy61 said:
WoooooooooooooHoooooooooooooooooo Rich. That's good news for you. Look's like you will get yours back before I get mine back. It finally looks like this is coming to an end for the both of us. Good luck on your driving it again. Do you remember how?
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I'm sure it's going to drive a lot differently than before. More power, lighter flywheel and driveshaft, and a heavier clamping clutch overall are going to add up to an entirely different feel engaging the clutch. Wouldn't surprise me to stall it a few times till I get used to it. I'm going to keep the RPMs down till the clutch breaks in and the final tune gets done.

Hmm, I have to rearrange the parking arrangement in the garage a bit. I want to put the C5Z on the lift so I can do some cleanup underneath.

Honestly it was just a relief to not get a phone call from Aaron where he says something like "Rich, we've got a problem....". Not his fault, of course, but it did get me cringing a bit every time I saw his number on the caller ID. I just hope the "streak" of good news continues for a while.
 
Amen to that Rich. I hope I get some news this afternoon about mine. They are going to switch out oil pumps and see if the new one I bought is bad. Keeping my fingers crossed that is the problem. If it is they could have the car up and running by tomorrow or Fri. I think I should be made an honorary owner of the Corvette Division for all I've spent on this motor.lol
 
vetteguy61 said:
Amen to that Rich. I hope I get some news this afternoon about mine. They are going to switch out oil pumps and see if the new one I bought is bad. Keeping my fingers crossed that is the problem. If it is they could have the car up and running by tomorrow or Fri. I think I should be made an honorary owner of the Corvette Division for all I've spent on this motor.lol
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Well, first I want to say I hope all goes well with both of you.

Rich, are you coming down the 15th?

Mike, was the 383 your first build? I know it's been done twice but I was just wandering about the past.
 
Bob K said:
Rich, are you coming down the 15th?
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I doubt it, Bob. Three reasons: (1) I've been waiting a LONG time to get my car back, and I want to put those break-in miles on as soon as possible, yet I'm not willing to trust it for a long drive down to Clearwater. So I want to drive it through downtown Tallahassee all through the weekend. And (2) The temps are really screwed up (for this being Florida, anyway). Lows for the next few nights are forecast to be 21-22 degrees here through Saturday morning, so we're going to have to drip the outside faucets and cover some of the more tender plants. And finally, both Connie and I got sick recently and Connie hurt her sides and back coughing so much. She's taking pain pills, but honestly, I'm not sure how well she would take sitting in a car for the 4 to 5 hour drive down there.

The stars just did not line up properly, I guess. But hopefully things will finally start turning around and we'll be able to get out of here for events. We're chalking off the entire last year (+) as pretty much a loss as far as this retirement thing is concerned.
 
Rich Z said:
I doubt it, Bob. Three reasons: (1) I've been waiting a LONG time to get my car back, and I want to put those break-in miles on as soon as possible, yet I'm not willing to trust it for a long drive down to Clearwater. So I want to drive it through downtown Tallahassee all through the weekend. And (2) The temps are really screwed up (for this being Florida, anyway). Lows for the next few nights are forecast to be 21-22 degrees here through Saturday morning, so we're going to have to drip the outside faucets and cover some of the more tender plants. And finally, both Connie and I got sick recently and Connie hurt her sides and back coughing so much. She's taking pain pills, but honestly, I'm not sure how well she would take sitting in a car for the 4 to 5 hour drive down there.

The stars just did not line up properly, I guess. But hopefully things will finally start turning around and we'll be able to get out of here for events. We're chalking off the entire last year (+) as pretty much a loss as far as this retirement thing is concerned.
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I'm disappointed that you and Connie and of course Mike won't be down. I would get Connie in for xrays. She may have cracked some ribs due to coughing. Or, she may have pneumonia.
 
Bob K said:
I'm disappointed that you and Connie and of course Mike won't be down. I would get Connie in for xrays. She may have cracked some ribs due to coughing. Or, she may have pneumonia.
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She went to the doctor's last week. I think she just pulled some muscles severely. She had a very wet sounding cough that I was concerned about. I'm just hoping she doesn't come down with another bug anytime soon, as she just wouldn't be able to cough effectively with the pain she is experiencing. THAT could lead to pneumonia.... So I'm trying to get her to take it easy so she heals faster.
 
Well, almost......

Talked to Aaron a little bit ago and he said there are a couple of minor things he wants to look at tomorrow.

  1. Coolant temp is around 201 degrees, which seems a bit warm considering the outside temps are only around the 39 degree mark. So he wants to check on the thermostat that Harwood put in there. I had a 160 degree in the LS6 but I don't know what was put into this engine. Shouldn't be any big deal, but he wants to check it out before I take it home.
  2. When a pinched wire caused the turbo return pump to fail, some oil evidently got into the air inlet side of the system. So he wants to pull the pipes and intercooler down to clean them out.

No biggies, but it will delay my picking up the car another day. I'd rather have such bugs worked out beforehand anyway. Aaron also suggested an oil cooler sometime down the road. Since the 2009 LS7 in my C6 Z06 has a 10.5 quart capacity, and the LS6 oil pan on my RHS 427 now in the C5Z only has a capacity of 6.5 quarts, I think that may be a good idea. But we're going to hold off until everything else is done so we don't complicate things.

Everything appears to be doing great, according to Aaron. The tune isn't done, yet, but he says it has good power and nothing obvious as to any problems. The new Granatelli valve covers fit perfectly and fixed the oil leaking problem. He is going to test drive it some more on Thursday, which I would prefer. I'd rather him find any gremlins (nearly everything is BRAND NEW in that drivetrain now) than for me to find them on the way back home.

But the game plan, if everything goes OK tomorrow, is to have me pick the car up Friday, put miles on the car over the weekend, and then try to get Jim Smith in next week to finish and polish that tune.

Got my fingers crossed.....
 
I've been told that you should keep the oil temp above 200 so it will burn off impurities. If the engine temp will stay constant at 201 you may want to leave it there at least through the winter.
 
Bob K said:
I've been told that you should keep the oil temp above 200 so it will burn off impurities. If the engine temp will stay constant at 201 you may want to leave it there at least through the winter.
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Yeah, that is a point that I should research. Thanks.
 
On the c4 the engine temp are normally 208 and the second fan does not come on until it reaches 228. With full syn oil the oil temp is 220. I think 201 is acceptable in a fresh engine that is still tight. If the temp is too low the engine will not get good combustion. Not that it is a concern for you but if the temp is to low then the gas mileage drops off. There is a sweet spot that the manufactures like the engine to run at to improve emission readings and mileage. Got my fingers crossed that nothing else pops up and you get to pick it up on Friday.

The outside temp here have been 10 degrees or lower and I still run 208 on the water temp.
 
Actually, I believe the reason that the manufacturers put the coolant temp up higher than it used to be is because it helps with emissions burn off. Frankly, I like my engine to run a bit cooler, which is why I went with an aftermarket radiator and a 160 degree thermostat with the LS6. That dropped the average coolant temp down from 217 to around 185 degrees.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18347

I would like to see the same out of this 427 beastie, if possible.

My guess is that Harwood did not put a 160 degree thermostat into this new engine.
 
Shoot! I'd better have Aaron check to make certain I still have that aftermarket radiator in my car! :eek: I didn't even THINK of that till just now.....
 
Well Aaron checked, and yes my DeWitts radiator is in the car.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that the oil pan gaskets are leaking. He's not sure exactly WHY at this point as the bolts appear to be tight. Matter of fact, they are so tight that they can't pull them out. The bolts are stainless bolts with an allen head instead of the stock bolts and apparently the allen head slots got rounded when they were put in. So he's having a lot of difficulty with them. He thinks the bolts may be too long and just not sealing the pan to the block properly.

I can't blame Chris on the choice of the bolts used as these came in a stainless bolt dress up kit that I bought for an LS1/LS6 engine. But why the heck they got tightened down to where the allen head slot got rounded down is just beyond me. I'm sure there are torque specs for those bolts that should have been adhered to.

The lower part of the oil pan, what I've heard called the "bat wing" is also leaking where it bolts to the upper part of the pan as well.

I should have known better than to get my hopes up..........

And you know I'm fully expecting to hear Aaron tell me that the engine has to be pulled to get to them.... :bang:

How much C4 do you all think it would take to launch that car to the moon?
 
Rich Z said:
The bad news is that the oil pan gaskets are leaking. He's not sure exactly WHY at this point as the bolts appear to be tight. Matter of fact, they are so tight that they can't pull them out.

But why the heck they got tightened down to where the allen head slot got rounded down is just beyond me.
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You answered your own question. He was trying to stop the leak.
 
Rich Z said:
How much C4 do you all think it would take to launch that car to the moon?
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Been there......... done something similar!
It wouldn't take much, believe me. Probably launch a million pieces instead of the whole car though. C4 is incredible stuff........at least it was in 1968-69 when I was "having fun" with it.
Andy :wavey:
 
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