C130 Chief
Mechanical Genius
Wow, a Jeep Testarossa.
4.0L HO Jeep Engine Build
- Thread starter ramcharger
- Start date
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ramcharger
Dismember
LMAO, yeah man, all this for a maybe 20 hp.
I'm in the garage and just checked lifter preload with a dial indicator. With a .030" shim under each rocker pivot I have between .035" and .045" pre-load and rocker geometry looks fine with the stock pushrods and rockers. This is good news..... Now, if I can only find a manifold for three two barrel Webers... :bootysha:
On another note, I imagine that these shims can be used on a Magnum engine to adjust lifter preload if the builder is on a budget.
ramcharger
Dismember
Thanks Mike!
Made a bunch of progress yesterday and more will be done today. One thing that I thought I would note is that half the head bolts are 18mm and the other half are 5/8". All bolts get torqued to 110 ft. lbs. with the exception of the very front drivers side head bolt. That bolt gets sealer as it extends into the water jacket and is torqued to 100 ft. lbs.
I also installed a Flow Kooler water pump that is supposed to flow 30% more coolant at idle and then drop off to standard volume as the revs rise. The thermostat housing is bad corroded so I'll be picking up a new one and it's standard in stock stock stuff from the local parts store.
ramcharger
Dismember
More progress today. I got the stat housing and it was stamped "China" and I thought "Oh crap, here we go". Suprisingly the sealing surface was flat BUT.... The casting internally was a little thick and it interfered with the two braces on the thermostat. I looked at the gasket it came with and was much it thicker than stock so I used that gasket and everything fit. Zero problems with the Flow Kooler pump.
The oil pan gasket is a one piece rubber with a steel core, very nice. This came in the Fel-Pro gasket kit. The kit wasn't cheap but it has everything and all the paper gaskets are the premium blue stripe stuff. I've never had an issue with the blue stripe leaking on me. Anyway, got the oil pan on after frantically searching my picture folders for a picture of the oil pan bolts. Some are studded for brackets for wiring harnesses, trans lines, etc. I couldn't find the picture (I swear I took them) but I figured it out with a quick look in the engine bay.
Next was cleaning the new used '99+ intake manifold. As you can see in the pictures below, the later manifold is a much nicer piece with a larger plenum and smoother turns. I had to put a little love dent in the cheapo header I bought but I would've had to do the same with the early manifold too. I was going to paint the manifold but it came out so nice I decided to leave it be. I used a brass brush and some purple crap I bought on sale at VatoZone. Let me tell you, there is nothing quite as much fun as crouching down in crushed rock scrubbing down an intake in the blazing sun...
Since I can't leave well enough alone, I did a deep gasket match as well. I'm aware that there are different burrs for aluminum vs. cast iron but I just buy the cast iron ready stuff and lube the carbide burrs. I did it this way 20+ years ago and by goodness, lo and behold it still works and no issues with clogged bits. As you can see, quite a bit of material needed to be removed. There's quite a bit of meat but always what you're doing and how far you're going just as with any porting job.
Tomorrow I'll paint the header. Even though it's advertised as stainless steel, the nickel content must be really low 'cause that sucker is starting to rust and I live in the arid Southwest. Oddly, my Dynomax plain steel exhaust doesn't have a spec of rust and they were all piled in the corner of the garage together. WTF. So, I got a can Rustoleum 2000 F paint. So far I've been really impressed with their 500 F engine paint as its super tough and covers really, really well. I put 3 coats on my cylinder head and still have over half a can left and it took only a can to do the entire block. So far I've been impressed by any super high temp paint I've ever used and I've tried them all with the exception of the Eastwood stuff. No matter how well I've prepped (sandblasting and multiple solvents plus heat to de-gas) they always blister and peel. I'll let you all know this works out.
Pardon the gratutious dog picture but Maxi always want's to get in on the hot rodding action. No, I didn't pose her there, she just thought she was going be in a "Ms. Manifold" contest. :-D She is truly the quintesential shop dog.
The oil pan gasket is a one piece rubber with a steel core, very nice. This came in the Fel-Pro gasket kit. The kit wasn't cheap but it has everything and all the paper gaskets are the premium blue stripe stuff. I've never had an issue with the blue stripe leaking on me. Anyway, got the oil pan on after frantically searching my picture folders for a picture of the oil pan bolts. Some are studded for brackets for wiring harnesses, trans lines, etc. I couldn't find the picture (I swear I took them) but I figured it out with a quick look in the engine bay.
Next was cleaning the new used '99+ intake manifold. As you can see in the pictures below, the later manifold is a much nicer piece with a larger plenum and smoother turns. I had to put a little love dent in the cheapo header I bought but I would've had to do the same with the early manifold too. I was going to paint the manifold but it came out so nice I decided to leave it be. I used a brass brush and some purple crap I bought on sale at VatoZone. Let me tell you, there is nothing quite as much fun as crouching down in crushed rock scrubbing down an intake in the blazing sun...
Since I can't leave well enough alone, I did a deep gasket match as well. I'm aware that there are different burrs for aluminum vs. cast iron but I just buy the cast iron ready stuff and lube the carbide burrs. I did it this way 20+ years ago and by goodness, lo and behold it still works and no issues with clogged bits. As you can see, quite a bit of material needed to be removed. There's quite a bit of meat but always what you're doing and how far you're going just as with any porting job.
Tomorrow I'll paint the header. Even though it's advertised as stainless steel, the nickel content must be really low 'cause that sucker is starting to rust and I live in the arid Southwest. Oddly, my Dynomax plain steel exhaust doesn't have a spec of rust and they were all piled in the corner of the garage together. WTF. So, I got a can Rustoleum 2000 F paint. So far I've been really impressed with their 500 F engine paint as its super tough and covers really, really well. I put 3 coats on my cylinder head and still have over half a can left and it took only a can to do the entire block. So far I've been impressed by any super high temp paint I've ever used and I've tried them all with the exception of the Eastwood stuff. No matter how well I've prepped (sandblasting and multiple solvents plus heat to de-gas) they always blister and peel. I'll let you all know this works out.
Pardon the gratutious dog picture but Maxi always want's to get in on the hot rodding action. No, I didn't pose her there, she just thought she was going be in a "Ms. Manifold" contest. :-D She is truly the quintesential shop dog.
ramcharger
Dismember
Here's a pic of the injectors I'll be using. These are Ferd injectors off a 5.0 HO engine and the guy I bought them from was kind enough to send me the set of 8 for a whole 40 bucks. Check Summit for they they want for 24 lb. injectors new of any style. The connectors are EV 1 style so they plug right in and use the same O rings as stock stuff. The stock injectors are the pintle style but these are disc 4 hole type as can be seen by my rockin' cheap canon camera on the macro setting. Wherever he got these from, they are clean. The original pintles were coated in carbon.
I'm thinking some kid killed a low mileage 90's mustang to my benefit. I just hope he didn't kill himself in the process.
I'm thinking some kid killed a low mileage 90's mustang to my benefit. I just hope he didn't kill himself in the process.
ramcharger
Dismember
OK, I'm Baaaack! Here again to annoy those who don't care. 
Did a lot work this past week with the help of some "Extra Dark & Rich" coffee blend I found. For the larger plenum manifold to work I had to put a little "Love Dent" in the header. As I mentioned before, I went ahead and painted the "Stainless Steel" header as it was already starting to rust, and that's here in the dry South West. Ahhh, the price of high performance.
I used an impact socket and a 1 lb. ball peen to do the dirty work. Marking where you want the dimple makes everything cleaner.
Did a lot work this past week with the help of some "Extra Dark & Rich" coffee blend I found. For the larger plenum manifold to work I had to put a little "Love Dent" in the header. As I mentioned before, I went ahead and painted the "Stainless Steel" header as it was already starting to rust, and that's here in the dry South West. Ahhh, the price of high performance.
I used an impact socket and a 1 lb. ball peen to do the dirty work. Marking where you want the dimple makes everything cleaner.
moparornocar72
Jack Of All Trades
Nice work man I too have looked at my 4.0L in my 99 jeep grand cherokee wondering what it is capable of. It's a torquey sob with just some more air and a cat back exhaust. Keep us posted!
ramcharger
Dismember
Will do. I just ran into some problems with my trusty garage computer. It's a 800 mz pentium that has been through -20 to 110 F temps and is running Windows 2k, lol. My camera software and it sometimes don't get along and it's days are numbered.
After securing the header and manifold the next order of business was getting the harmonic damper on. I ordered a Dorman from Rock Auto thinking that I trust their quality control.... I opened the box and it said "Made in China". Crap, here we go again. Sure enough, the internal bore of the HB was .002" tight so I improvised. I used a Craftsman 11/16" impact socket that I ran a bolt through and wrapped some 80 grit aluminum oxide over and centered on my drill press with the belt moved on the press to the lowest speed. The second pic is halfway done and really doesn't show the nice cross hatch I acheived. Once the press was set up, it took maybe 10 minutes going very slowly and constantly checking my progress before the HB was ready to mount with the fit I desired (about 3/8 to 1/2" tight hand fit on the crank snout then press on with a HB installer).
ramcharger
Dismember
Well, looks we had a little outage.... I lost my last post so I'll try again. :read2: Damn, I was on a roll...
OK, the stock '92 bracket and pump will not work so with the help of some online research I found DJJordache who has done this swap:
http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6355
My thanks are out to him for the part numbers and they worked just fine on my '92 XJ (his was a ZJ) with a few exceptions:
I needed new PS pump Atsco 7140 (about 75 bucks not including the core) and three 8 x 70 x 1.25 metric bolts to attach said pump to the intake manifold. I grabbed some socket head cap screws from "Fastenall" on Bryant and 5th. Dok X, take note.
Note that the bolts MUST be installed before installing the pulley. The pulleys are the same.
OK, the stock '92 bracket and pump will not work so with the help of some online research I found DJJordache who has done this swap:
http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6355
My thanks are out to him for the part numbers and they worked just fine on my '92 XJ (his was a ZJ) with a few exceptions:
I needed new PS pump Atsco 7140 (about 75 bucks not including the core) and three 8 x 70 x 1.25 metric bolts to attach said pump to the intake manifold. I grabbed some socket head cap screws from "Fastenall" on Bryant and 5th. Dok X, take note.
Note that the bolts MUST be installed before installing the pulley. The pulleys are the same.
fishy68
Tyr Fryr's Inc.
Man that sucks having to hone it to get it to fit. Some are made tight but .002" is really tight. I had a PRW I was gonna use on my 408 and it was super tight like that. They said you had to heat it to 200* to install it and even then it was tight. I ended up using a Romac instead and it was just right. Tight but not overly tight.
BTW: Good job in improvising a way to make it fit.
BTW: Good job in improvising a way to make it fit.
ramcharger
Dismember
Belt routing will now change too and the idler on the AC bracket is no longer needed. It could be left on but all it will do is add another bearing to fail and reduce contact of the belt to the water pump pulley.
First pic is previous belt routing (but PS pump no longer tensions).
Second pic is new routing and requires a serpintine belt in the 95" range (+ or - .5"). I used a NAPA (Gates) 25-060950 belt. Not cheap....
First pic is previous belt routing (but PS pump no longer tensions).
Second pic is new routing and requires a serpintine belt in the 95" range (+ or - .5"). I used a NAPA (Gates) 25-060950 belt. Not cheap....
ramcharger
Dismember
I did notice that for proper belt alignment the pulley needed to be pressed on about a 1/4" less than stock. This is why I do this **** on the stand. I'd rather mock up than fk up.
Another issue is the old style timing cover. The factory timing sensor stud needed to be removed to allow for belt clearance. A cut off tool and right angle grinder took care of business quickly. A bit of touch up paint saves me from the wrath of the redhead who powdercoated the timing cover, lol.
This stud is only needed if you plan on bringing your Jeep back to the dealer. If you are, you shouldn't be reading this anyway.
Another issue is the old style timing cover. The factory timing sensor stud needed to be removed to allow for belt clearance. A cut off tool and right angle grinder took care of business quickly. A bit of touch up paint saves me from the wrath of the redhead who powdercoated the timing cover, lol.
This stud is only needed if you plan on bringing your Jeep back to the dealer. If you are, you shouldn't be reading this anyway.
ramcharger
Dismember
Fishy, this was a redneck fix but it worked! Heat was an option but what about the elastomer? I see no reason for a interference fit that tight on just a HB with a KEY for crying out loud. I wonder if they make them tight to compensate for worn crank snouts or under the assumption that a machinist will install them? I just don't know...
When I measured it I was blown away. I wanted to write Dorman right there on the spot but I figured that my time was much better spent making a "wrong" "right" right now, so that's what I did. No wobble or undue runout either (compared to stock).
ramcharger
Dismember
So here's the timing cover with a little gloss black applied. Leanna, I hope you approve....
ramcharger
Dismember
Here's a little something I found I thought might help. Part number is 1724 and it is a BBK item. IAC and TPS bolt right on. Stock is 58mm.
Part number is 1724 and it is a BBK item. IAC and TPS bolt right on. Stock is 58mm.
fishy68
Tyr Fryr's Inc.
Sometimes them redneck fixes are as good as any, LOL.... I see no reason for one to be that tight either. Don't know why they make stuff like that. Maybe mics read less in China?? Heating to 200 is safe as the balancer probably gets close to if not hotter than that when the engine is running. Don't think I'd go much more than that though just to be safe.
Sweet looking TB. Is it bigger than stock?
ramcharger
Dismember
A note on parts and part numbers and this build in it's entirety. This is what worked or needed modification for me on my specific project and I can't garauntee that this will work for any given make, model or part number. This project in it's entirety is probably not for the hobbiest but more for educational purposes for the die hard engine builder that always thinks "I can" with a good set of mics, inside gauges, degree wheel, dial indicator, dial calipers, a good machinist you can trust, etc.
ramcharger
Dismember
You have a good point in regards to operating temperature. One day I'm going to get one of those digital temp guns....
Thanks Fishy and yep, 4mm larger than stock. I did notice that the throttle arm hits the manifold..... I expect that they want me to buy a "super duper tornado twist spacer" to make it fit, lol. I think doubled up gaskets will do nicely. 8) By the way, the BBK is stamped "Made in USA"..... Just goes to say, high performance is never easy nor is it ever bolt on, lol.
Edit: I'm just sitting here staring at this engine and realizing...... it's time to drop this thing in! I prefer to do this with the cam cover off (to prevent the chain from mucking up the finish) but covered with rags of course. Oh yeah, and bolting the motor mounts to the block might be beneficial too....
ramcharger
Dismember
Got to go to work today to pay for all this stuff. I'm hoping that once this job is done, I'll have time to drop the engine in and get the exhaust on.
So here's the timing cover with a little gloss black applied. Leanna, I hope you approve....
LOL!!! I'd approve even more if my original plan to set the timing marks off in Hemi Orange had worked out but the castings wouldn't cooperate.
The motor looks terrific Joe!!! You should be very proud of all your efforts. Can't wait to hear it run!
ramcharger
Dismember
Thank you very, very much. This means a lot to me coming from you. :cheers: Well, you gave it your best shot and it was an experiment so what the heck, now we know.
My 3 hour job today turned into a 5 hour job so I didn't get home until well after 4 had to feed the dogs, put clothes in the dryer, etc. I got out to the garage and realized how dang tired I was so I figured I'd take care of the small stuff and have it ready to drop in Sunday morning. I'm physically beat and dropping in an engine by myself when dead tired is a bad idea, so I figured tonight was a good time to pay attention to detail and make sure everything is tip top and ready to roll.
I replaced all the O-rings on the oil filter adapter bolt and adapter and installed it. I installed the adapter from the later engine although either would fit fine. Note that there is a roll pin that locates the adapter in the proper position (not shown in picture) and if you get this wrong you can either mush the roll pin or crack the adapter. BTW, I always grease the o-rings to facillitate installation and to prevent leaks from pinched rubber. Just above the adapter is the oil pressure sensor fitting. Be sure you got this in and I always use liquid teflon on pipe thread style fittings to prevent leaks.
ramcharger
Dismember
At this point I installed the distributor. Since the distributor has no effect on timing, (this engine has a crank position sensor) I just put the #1 cylinder on the compression stroke @ 14 BTDC and made sure the rotor was pointing @ the #1 wire in the cap. There is a sensor built in to the distributor but I'm 99.9% sure that this is a cam position sensor. Needless to say I also made sure the oil pump drive was engaged too.
One thing that scares me a bit is that the dizzy is a Lucas unit. Back in the day when I worked on a lot of English bikes we called Lucas the "god of darkness" as the stupid Zener diode would crap out and smoke the headlight, lol.
One thing that scares me a bit is that the dizzy is a Lucas unit. Back in the day when I worked on a lot of English bikes we called Lucas the "god of darkness" as the stupid Zener diode would crap out and smoke the headlight, lol.
ramcharger
Dismember
The next step was installing the IAT (Intake Air Temp Sensor). No big deal and I used liquid teflon sealer as this a pipe thead. The location of the sensor is quite a bit back from the engine and more towards the front on the later style manifold which should give the computer a colder reading richening the mixture a bit. The empty hole on the early manifold is where the sensor would mount. I may have to lengthen the leads, but I'll now for sure once the engine is installed. Also, I had to be sure to use the early style sensor so the harness would attach correctly. The connectors ARE different.
ramcharger
Dismember
With the addition of the BBK 62mm throttle body, the old IAC and TPS need to be installed. They do include a T20 Torx Security bit (has a hole in the center) but I also have a set just in case anyway. My old IAC body was pretty carboned up so I got that cleaned up and installed with the new BBK supplied gasket. Very straight forward swap. The TPS needs to installed by clocking it forward so it meshes with the blade on the throttle shaft and rotated back till the holes align and of course, the TB should be checked for free movement afterward.
While mocking up the BBK TB I also found that the throttle lever would hit the manifold at WOT which could cause a very dangerous situation. A quick look revealed that the "Angle of the Dangle" was not 90 degrees so a quick adjustment with my handy dandy angle adjustment tool (pliers) solved the problem.
While mocking up the BBK TB I also found that the throttle lever would hit the manifold at WOT which could cause a very dangerous situation. A quick look revealed that the "Angle of the Dangle" was not 90 degrees so a quick adjustment with my handy dandy angle adjustment tool (pliers) solved the problem.
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