First I would like to start by Thanks to the following.....
MP John (http://www.modularperformance.com/) and MMR Racing (http://www.modularmustangracing.com) for answering my gabillion questions....
This is the way that I did things, please use this as a guide line...Your results may vary
If you need to see why I am building, you can go here.....
[ame="http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=459260"]Found the culprit - SVTPerformance[/ame]
Here we go....
The first thing I did was remove and disassemble the engine. I didn't get many pics of that, but that much is pretty straight forward....the only thing I can suggest on the engine disassembly is to take your time and take some pics, just incase you get stumped on how something goes back. I can also suggest that you be meticulous at keeping the rod caps with the correct rod. They can not be mixed and matched....
After getting in my new JE pistons (part number 257543), I tore the old piston and rods apart. This is done by removing the wire clip on one end of the piston wrist pin and tapping the pin out of that side.
Then the fun begins....the first thing I had to battle was the new Spiral locks that came with the JE pistons.
After you get over the shock of how thin they are, grab each end of one with your fingernails and spread them apart about 1/2 inch...
Then get one end of the spiral lock into the groove in the piston pin hole of the piston on one side of the piston.
Then with a small flat head screw driver, start working the rest of the spring down into the groove until it is all in...it will take a couple to get the hang of it.
Once it is in, you are 1/2 way done with one side....you see each of my pistons take 2 spiral locks per side... so push that one down as flat as you can in the groove and grab the next lock and do the same thing on top of that one...when you are done, you will have 2 locks on that one side...
Once you go through and do 1 side of all 8 pistons, it is time to add the wrist pin and rods...
The JE's came with some nice shinny wrist pins...
That didn't last long, when installing the pins into the pistons, you will want to put some lube on them. I used Permatex Assembly lube from Advance Auto Parts...about 3 bucks for a bottle...
Smear that on them real good and then grab you a piston and rod...The first thing you will want to make sure of is that you are installing the piston onto the rod with the correct orientation. I am not saying all are like this, but with mine, if you were looking with X-Ray vision through the block, all of my pistons came out with the writing on the rod facing the rear of the block, and all the little lock tabs in the rod caps for the rod bearings were on the left side...so the passenger side lock tabs were away from the center of the block (toward the passenger exhaust), and the driver side bearing lock tabs were toward the center of the block (toward the intake)...since my pistons had 4 valve reliefs in the top, I made sure I oriented them correctly on the rod...the big valve reliefs are for the intake and should go to the top of the cylinder bore (near the intake)...the little valve reliefs are for the exhaust and should go to the bottom of the cylinder bore (near the exhaust)....remember I said be meticulous when disassembling (pay attention to the rod and piston orientation...
Line up the pistion pin bore and the rod pin bore and slide the pin through...
Make sure you have clearance on both sides of the rod....JE recommended at least .050"....I have plenty...
After you have done all 8, it is time to install the second set of spiral locks per piston....Remember spread them apart about 1/2 inch and insert on end in and follow it around with a small screwdriver until it is completely in.
Remember 2 per side on that one also....when it is all said and done, you will have 4 locks per piston....2 on each side....make sure the piston rotates and slides on the wrist pin and you are done with the pistons for now....
You may not want or need to do this next step, but I just did it for piece of mine. I went to Harbor Freight tools and purchased me a digital Gram scale. Just so I could weigh my piston and rod combos....the cool thing is each one weighed between 1111 and 1112 grams....so they are pretty much exactly the same weight...
Now it is time to check some bearing clearances....for this I used 2 more handy dandy tools I got from Harbor Freight....a digital caliper and a telescoping gauge set....
First thing you want to do is put your rod bearings into your rods and rod caps....This is really simple, but I can not stress to enough, one word.....CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN....ok, that is 3 words, but be sure to keep your hands and area clean when dealing with the bearings....I don't know how true this is, but I have heard that common household dust will score a bearing if not removed before assembling....What I did is took some rubbing alcohol and a lint free cloth and used that to clean the bearing seat and the back of the bearing (DO NOT USE THIS ON THE BEARING FACE...JUST THE BACK...USE REGULAR SOAP AND WATER FOR THE BEARING FACE)...AND NO ABRASIVE PADS...
only clean this with alcohol...
the back of the bearing also....NOT THE FACE
After you get them clean with a Lint free towel (use a different towel for all parts) insert the bearing into the rod and cap...be sure to line up the bearing locks with the notch in the rod and cap....
Now in order to check the clearance, you will need to bolt the cap back to the rod (remember the caps should always stay with the rod they came off of...and the bearing locks go to the same side..
Since I purchased new ARP 2000 Rod bolts (part number 200-6207) I will use the factory bolts to check the clearances with....you will see why later..
So tighten the caps down to torque (I used 45ft/lbs as per ARP's instructions)....then smear some assembly lube on the bearing surfaces, use the gauge to get the diameter of the inside of the of the rod...
now lock it in, and take it out of the rod....then measure it with the digital caliper....I came up with a final diameter of 2.0902 (the pic is for reference only )
Now measure the rod journal that this rod will be on, on the crank....I came up with 2.0890...this gives me a bearing clearance of .0012....I wanted between .001 - and .0015....preferably closer to the .0015 range, but .0012 is OK with me....ask around as to what you will want yours set to....
Now the reason I said to use the old rod bolts for this is so you can get the caps broke back apart without having to have the special (expensive) rod/cap cracking tool...
just break the rod bolts loose, and screw them out a few threads....the put the socket on top of the bolt and tap it with a hammer...keep alternating between the 2 bolts with light to medium taps...2 or 3 and it will break loose....
When I got the block back, I took a sanding stone on a , and cleaned up the very sharp edges around the rail, timing cover rail, and the bearing saddles in the block. You may or may not want to do this step, but I have read that sharp edges lead to cracks....Just be very careful not to hit the bearing seat or the freshly bored and honed cylinder wall.....
When you get finished with the sharp edge cleaning, you will need to give it a good bath with soapy water. I used dawn and a 5 Gallon bucket....then mounted it on the engine stand and hosed everything out really good. Then I took the and a blower and blowed out every nook and cranny....after you finished blowing it out, I wiped the cylinder walls and bearing saddles down with Automatic Transmission Fluid...You can use straight 30 weight oil if you like. This will keep surface rust down until you are ready to throw in the crank and such....
I didn't have my camera to document the above, sorry.....
The next day, I started by using the rubbing alcohol to remove the ATF from the bearing saddles....
After you get the Bearing saddles cleaned, it is time to install the upper bearing halves. It can be a bit confusing, because with the engine upside down, you seem to wanna think it is the lower, but it is really the upper bearings...the caps are the lower....they slide in just as the rod bearings did, be sure to line up the locks in the bearing with the lock slot in the bearing saddle...the ones with the oil hole slit in them go in this portion....the ones without the slits go in the caps....and the one with the rails on the side goes in the #5 (rear most) cap.....The #5 (rear) bearing saddle takes a thrust washer...it doesn't have sides....When I installed the thrust washer, I installed it with the flat (smooth) side up against the block..
After you get all the bearings installed, lather them down with assembly lube.....
Now bolt the caps down in their correct location....no need to do the jack screws or the side bolts (discussed later), and using the telescoping gauge and caliper as I did with the rod bearings, measure the size of the bearing bore on the block and then the corresponding bearing journal on the crank and subtract the journal from the bore and that is your clearance. I came out with .0018....this was fine with me....now remove all of the bearing caps keeping them in order...
Then carefully lay the crank (which also got a soap and water bath and a light coat of oil) into the bearing saddles...and give it a quick spin to smear the assembly lube around....
Now insert the thrust washer in the rear flat side against the block...ridged side against the back of the crank...
Now I installed the ARP main studs....I didn't install them prior to installing the crank, because I thought that would be more of a hassle to get the crank maneuvered around them....I screwed them in just hand tight...remember to put the ones with the studs on top in the place the factory bolts with the studs on top came from....this is for the pickup tube and tray....
Now it is time to install the bearing caps....remember they need to go back where they came from...and the arrow points to the font of the engine....be sure to smear some assembly lube on the bearings you put in the caps...after you have them installed, torque them down to factory specs or whatever ARP recommends if you use ARP bolts or studs....I torqued mine to 60 ft/lbs in 3 steps (20,40,60). Also, there are jack screws screwed into the sides of each bearing caps....they will go in a lot easier if you screw those all the way in before installing them...this can be done with a long 5/16 allen bit.....you will have to give them a few love taps to get them down...I used a rubber mallet to do this...
After you get them torqued, now it is time to torque the jack screws (the 5/16 allen thingies you screwed in)...I backed them out until they just touched the block rail....then torqued them in 2 steps to 89 inch lbs.....44 the first go round them 89 the second...
After you get them torqued, it is now time to install and torque the side bolts....the factory bolts are not reusable, so I purchased a set of side bolts from MMR....these are allen bit bolts and they can be used over and over...they recommended them on any more than 500hp....I torqued these in the factory sequence to 25lbs....
After I had all the bottom end bolts torqued (main studs, jack screws, and side bolts, I slid the crank as far back as it would go.
Then I mounted a magnetic dial indicator on the front of the block and set it against the crank snout....and then set it to 0....then I slid the crank as far as I could forward and read what the dial indicator had moved....it moved .008, so that is my end play....specs are .005 to .012, so we are good.
Now I got started on the rings....I laid out all of my top plasma moly rings, all my second rings, and all my oil expanders and rings....first I grabbed the top rings and slid them into a cylinder...this will end up being their permanent home...using one of the pistons upside down, I slid it down about 1 1/2 inches into the ....then using a feeler gauge, I measured the end gap...Now is the time to mention that I purchased the CP file to fit rings...so they will have to be filed to the end gap I wanted....the initial gap was about .002 which is way too tight....I am looking for .028 on the top ring....this is what was recommended for me from CP to run 20 - 25 lbs of boost and 700 -750rwhp....so I pulled the ring out of the cylinder and walked over to my makeshift ring filer (a file clamped in a vise)....they make special tools for this, but if you are careful and take your time you can do it just as I did...Just remember you can always take more off, but you can not add back....so stop and measure often....this took a long time....but the results were worth it....once you get a ring filed for a cylinder, mark it somehow to notate which cylinders they are for...some use tape, I just left them in the cylinder bore they were filed for....after you do the top ring, do the second ring remember to keep them with the cylinder they are filed for....I set my second ring to .033 as recommended by CP....the oil rings do not need to be filed....just make sure you have at least .015 clearance on the top and bottom oil ring rail...the expander (the weird looking thing) can touch....be sure to smooth the edges of the side that you file...I used a knife hone to clear off the jagged part from the flat file....Oh yeah, file from the outside in and only file one side of the ring, keeping it as flat and straight as the factory side...
After you get all the rings filed, it is time to install them on the pistons....this can be tricky, and yes they do make special tools for this, but it can be done without it if you are careful....just don't try to force it to go....just slide it in the groove and walk it on....when doing the oil rings, it is easiest if you install the funny looking expander first, then install the little thin rail rings on top and bottom of the expander...so the oil groove has 3 things in it...the rule of thumb for the second ring and top ring is, if it has a dot on it, the dot goes toward the top...if it doesn't have a dot, but is beveled, the bevel goes toward the top, and if it doesn't have a dot or a bevel, either side can go toward the top....take your time and pay attention to how you install them....also remember if you have your pistons marked for a specific hole...put that bore's rings on that piston....remember how we installed the pistons on the rods earlier...these 2 go hand in hand....
Once I had the rings installed on the correct pistons, it is time to orient them correctly....the top and second ring gap should be 180* from each other....I put all the top ring gaps at the top of the cylinder toward the intake at 12 ...all the second ring gaps at the bottom of the cylinder toward the exhaust at 6 o'clock....the oil expander end gap (or lack there of, they touch....pay attention) is close to the top ring end gap somewhere between the piston pins at around 1 o'clock....and the top and bottom oil rails are on the bottom of the cylinder at about 7 o'clock and 5 o'clock.... but be sure to follow your ring manufacturer's recommendations.... after you get them all lined up, get your ring squeezer and wipe the inside of it with or SAE 30 oil to help them slide, and lock it down around the rings...lock it tight....then slide the of the rod down in the cylinder bore (careful not to scratch the side walls)....set the ring squeezer flush with the top of the block...you can tap on it with a rubber mallet to get it flush if you like....I did.....double check to make sure the rod journal on the crank is all the way at the bottom of it's stroke....now hold firm tension on the squeezer agains the block and with the bottom of the hammer handle, tap the piston down into the cylinder....remember keep pressure against the block...if you feel any , pause and see what is going on...don't force it...
after you get the piston out of the ring squeezer, stop.....do not keep going....flip the engine over so you can see the bottom and take hold of the rod end....wipe it clean with some alcohol, and insert the rod bearing if you have not already done so....wipe the rod bearing clean and it with some assembly lube....
then with one hand guide it to it's home on the rod journal as you gently tap it home with the other...small light taps....guide it slowly...don't nick the rod journal, or you will be resurfacing the crank and buying oversized bearings....after you get it there, get that rod's cap (remember you can not mix and match them) and clean it out with some alcohol....then inser the bearing into it....douse that with some assembly lube....
remember when you put it on the rod, the rod locks go on the same side of the rod.....then take the ARP 2000 rod bolts and lather them up with some ARP moly lube....don't be shy....then according to ARP directions, you torque them to 45lbs, then loosen it (loosened it 4 complete turns), then tighten it again to 45lbs, then loosen it (4 turns again), then tighten it a final time to 45lbs....this is supposed to work the lube down through the threads and gives you a more accurate torque reading...
Congratulations, you have done 1....
7 More to go....just take your time and do each of the rings and pistons correctly...make sure you orient them correctly and you put the rod bearing caps on correctly and keep them with the same rod they came from....it is just time consuming....
but the end results are worth it
Since the oil pump is the lifeline of the motor, I didn't skimp any on it and bought the Billet pump (part #10227). I got mine from Modular Performance http://65.109.173.141/catalog/cobra....html?osCsid=a67af98aaeff5f78ba8636b40142ed52 ....These bolts torqued to 89 inch lbs, and if you are looking at it from the front, the bottom right bolt is actually the long bolt on the driver guide...
Before you mount the studs and pins in the block remember to clean up the head mating surface on the block...the first thing I did was take a 3m scowering pad on a cheapo angle air and polished the mating surface up....be sure not to use or an abrasive wheel, you don't want to remove any metal, you just want to polish up the surface....after you finish cleaning it up, be sure to put the handy dandy alcohol to work again and wipe them down with a lint free cloth...this will remove any oil film left over from the shortblock build....
Now insert the dowel pins....the goes in the upper right and upper left head bolt holes.....
Now get out your ARP head studs. I used a thread chaser to run down in the head bolt holes in the block....this will make sure that there is no gunk in the threads...take it all the way to the bottom....after you have done each head bolt hole, take your stud (large thread section screws into the block and short thread section is the top....also the end that you can insert an into is the top) and put some thread sealer on the threads that you are screwing into the block. I don't know if this is needed, but I didn't want to take any chances of a head stud going into a and leaking all over the place. Then using the appropriate size allen wrench, screw the studs in hand tight....don't hammer down on them, just until they bottom out, then a smidgen more.....after you get the studs in, slide the gasket down in place....be careful not to scratch the sealing coating off of the gasket...take your time....
If you are using new heads, you are ready, but if you are reusing your old heads, be sure first to have the machine shop look them over to make sure they are level....then using the same 3m scotch pad, clean up the gasket mating surface on the head....then wipe it down with alcohol....Take great care when you slide the heads down on the studs....it really helps if you have a partner to help you on this part....I used felpro gaskets from MMR....these gaskets are marked left and right, so it is hard to get them mixed up....
When aligning the chains, follow the manufacturer's recommendations...I missed pics of that, but the way I did it was to put the crank at about 10 o'clock (number one piston at ) and make sure both of the keyways on each of the cams are down (the dots on the cam gears will be up)...align the short chain's copper links with the dots on the cam small cam gears and install the short chain tensioner... then bolt the heads down...I used Felpro gaskets from MMR and torqued them with ARP Moly lube in 3 steps to 90 ft/lbs....30, 60, then 90....90 will give you a workout....Then I took the tensioners and guides and bolted them on...be sure to torque them to specs. I think it was 18 ft/lbs.....then align the copper links on the primary chains with the dots on the big cam gears and the dots on the crank gears...if you can't find the copper links on the big chains, just lay them out and close each side together...the 2 end links will be vertical and the rest will be horizontal...put a mark on the 2 vertical links....those will be your reference points....
After the heads and chains were on, I coated the cams and followers with assembly lube to help with the first startup.....
Next finish buttoning it up with valve covers, exhaust manifolds, gear, timing cover, balancer/pulley, , and it is ready to drop in....
MP John (http://www.modularperformance.com/) and MMR Racing (http://www.modularmustangracing.com) for answering my gabillion questions....
This is the way that I did things, please use this as a guide line...Your results may vary
If you need to see why I am building, you can go here.....
[ame="http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=459260"]Found the culprit - SVTPerformance[/ame]
Here we go....
The first thing I did was remove and disassemble the engine. I didn't get many pics of that, but that much is pretty straight forward....the only thing I can suggest on the engine disassembly is to take your time and take some pics, just incase you get stumped on how something goes back. I can also suggest that you be meticulous at keeping the rod caps with the correct rod. They can not be mixed and matched....
After getting in my new JE pistons (part number 257543), I tore the old piston and rods apart. This is done by removing the wire clip on one end of the piston wrist pin and tapping the pin out of that side.
Then the fun begins....the first thing I had to battle was the new Spiral locks that came with the JE pistons.
After you get over the shock of how thin they are, grab each end of one with your fingernails and spread them apart about 1/2 inch...
Then get one end of the spiral lock into the groove in the piston pin hole of the piston on one side of the piston.
Then with a small flat head screw driver, start working the rest of the spring down into the groove until it is all in...it will take a couple to get the hang of it.
Once it is in, you are 1/2 way done with one side....you see each of my pistons take 2 spiral locks per side...
so push that one down as flat as you can in the groove and grab the next lock and do the same thing on top of that one...when you are done, you will have 2 locks on that one side...Once you go through and do 1 side of all 8 pistons, it is time to add the wrist pin and rods...
The JE's came with some nice shinny wrist pins...
That didn't last long, when installing the pins into the pistons, you will want to put some lube on them. I used Permatex Assembly lube from Advance Auto Parts...about 3 bucks for a bottle...
Smear that on them real good and then grab you a piston and rod...The first thing you will want to make sure of is that you are installing the piston onto the rod with the correct orientation. I am not saying all are like this, but with mine, if you were looking with X-Ray vision through the block, all of my pistons came out with the writing on the rod facing the rear of the block, and all the little lock tabs in the rod caps for the rod bearings were on the left side...so the passenger side lock tabs were away from the center of the block (toward the passenger exhaust), and the driver side bearing lock tabs were toward the center of the block (toward the intake)...since my pistons had 4 valve reliefs in the top, I made sure I oriented them correctly on the rod...the big valve reliefs are for the intake and should go to the top of the cylinder bore (near the intake)...the little valve reliefs are for the exhaust and should go to the bottom of the cylinder bore (near the exhaust)....remember I said be meticulous when disassembling (pay attention to the rod and piston orientation...
Line up the pistion pin bore and the rod pin bore and slide the pin through...
Make sure you have clearance on both sides of the rod....JE recommended at least .050"....I have plenty...
After you have done all 8, it is time to install the second set of spiral locks per piston....Remember spread them apart about 1/2 inch and insert on end in and follow it around with a small screwdriver until it is completely in.
Remember 2 per side on that one also....when it is all said and done, you will have 4 locks per piston....2 on each side....make sure the piston rotates and slides on the wrist pin and you are done with the pistons for now....
You may not want or need to do this next step, but I just did it for piece of mine. I went to Harbor Freight tools and purchased me a digital Gram scale. Just so I could weigh my piston and rod combos....the cool thing is each one weighed between 1111 and 1112 grams....so they are pretty much exactly the same weight...
Now it is time to check some bearing clearances....for this I used 2 more handy dandy tools I got from Harbor Freight....a digital caliper and a telescoping gauge set....
First thing you want to do is put your rod bearings into your rods and rod caps....This is really simple, but I can not stress to enough, one word.....CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN....ok, that is 3 words, but be sure to keep your hands and area clean when dealing with the bearings....I don't know how true this is, but I have heard that common household dust will score a bearing if not removed before assembling....What I did is took some rubbing alcohol and a lint free cloth and used that to clean the bearing seat and the back of the bearing (DO NOT USE THIS ON THE BEARING FACE...JUST THE BACK...USE REGULAR SOAP AND WATER FOR THE BEARING FACE)...AND NO ABRASIVE PADS...
only clean this with alcohol...
the back of the bearing also....NOT THE FACE
After you get them clean with a Lint free towel (use a different towel for all parts) insert the bearing into the rod and cap...be sure to line up the bearing locks with the notch in the rod and cap....
Now in order to check the clearance, you will need to bolt the cap back to the rod (remember the caps should always stay with the rod they came off of...and the bearing locks go to the same side..
Since I purchased new ARP 2000 Rod bolts (part number 200-6207) I will use the factory bolts to check the clearances with....you will see why later..
So tighten the caps down to torque (I used 45ft/lbs as per ARP's instructions)....then smear some assembly lube on the bearing surfaces, use the gauge to get the diameter of the inside of the of the rod...
now lock it in, and take it out of the rod....then measure it with the digital caliper....I came up with a final diameter of 2.0902 (the pic is for reference only
)Now measure the rod journal that this rod will be on, on the crank....I came up with 2.0890...this gives me a bearing clearance of .0012....I wanted between .001 - and .0015....preferably closer to the .0015 range, but .0012 is OK with me....ask around as to what you will want yours set to....
Now the reason I said to use the old rod bolts for this is so you can get the caps broke back apart without having to have the special (expensive) rod/cap cracking tool...
just break the rod bolts loose, and screw them out a few threads....the put the socket on top of the bolt and tap it with a hammer...keep alternating between the 2 bolts with light to medium taps...2 or 3 and it will break loose....
When I got the block back, I took a sanding stone on a , and cleaned up the very sharp edges around the rail, timing cover rail, and the bearing saddles in the block. You may or may not want to do this step, but I have read that sharp edges lead to cracks....Just be very careful not to hit the bearing seat or the freshly bored and honed cylinder wall.....
When you get finished with the sharp edge cleaning, you will need to give it a good bath with soapy water. I used dawn and a 5 Gallon bucket....then mounted it on the engine stand and hosed everything out really good. Then I took the and a blower and blowed out every nook and cranny....after you finished blowing it out, I wiped the cylinder walls and bearing saddles down with Automatic Transmission Fluid...You can use straight 30 weight oil if you like. This will keep surface rust down until you are ready to throw in the crank and such....
I didn't have my camera to document the above, sorry.....
The next day, I started by using the rubbing alcohol to remove the ATF from the bearing saddles....
After you get the Bearing saddles cleaned, it is time to install the upper bearing halves. It can be a bit confusing, because with the engine upside down, you seem to wanna think it is the lower, but it is really the upper bearings...the caps are the lower....they slide in just as the rod bearings did, be sure to line up the locks in the bearing with the lock slot in the bearing saddle...the ones with the oil hole slit in them go in this portion....the ones without the slits go in the caps....and the one with the rails on the side goes in the #5 (rear most) cap.....The #5 (rear) bearing saddle takes a thrust washer...it doesn't have sides....When I installed the thrust washer, I installed it with the flat (smooth) side up against the block..
After you get all the bearings installed, lather them down with assembly lube.....
Now bolt the caps down in their correct location....no need to do the jack screws or the side bolts (discussed later), and using the telescoping gauge and caliper as I did with the rod bearings, measure the size of the bearing bore on the block and then the corresponding bearing journal on the crank and subtract the journal from the bore and that is your clearance. I came out with .0018....this was fine with me....now remove all of the bearing caps keeping them in order...
Then carefully lay the crank (which also got a soap and water bath and a light coat of oil) into the bearing saddles...and give it a quick spin to smear the assembly lube around....
Now insert the thrust washer in the rear flat side against the block...ridged side against the back of the crank...
Now I installed the ARP main studs....I didn't install them prior to installing the crank, because I thought that would be more of a hassle to get the crank maneuvered around them....I screwed them in just hand tight...remember to put the ones with the studs on top in the place the factory bolts with the studs on top came from....this is for the pickup tube and tray....
Now it is time to install the bearing caps....remember they need to go back where they came from...and the arrow points to the font of the engine....be sure to smear some assembly lube on the bearings you put in the caps...after you have them installed, torque them down to factory specs or whatever ARP recommends if you use ARP bolts or studs....I torqued mine to 60 ft/lbs in 3 steps (20,40,60). Also, there are jack screws screwed into the sides of each bearing caps....they will go in a lot easier if you screw those all the way in before installing them...this can be done with a long 5/16 allen bit.....you will have to give them a few love taps to get them down...I used a rubber mallet to do this...
After you get them torqued, now it is time to torque the jack screws (the 5/16 allen thingies you screwed in)...I backed them out until they just touched the block rail....then torqued them in 2 steps to 89 inch lbs.....44 the first go round them 89 the second...
After you get them torqued, it is now time to install and torque the side bolts....the factory bolts are not reusable, so I purchased a set of side bolts from MMR....these are allen bit bolts and they can be used over and over...they recommended them on any more than 500hp....I torqued these in the factory sequence to 25lbs....
After I had all the bottom end bolts torqued (main studs, jack screws, and side bolts, I slid the crank as far back as it would go.
Then I mounted a magnetic dial indicator on the front of the block and set it against the crank snout....and then set it to 0....then I slid the crank as far as I could forward and read what the dial indicator had moved....it moved .008, so that is my end play....specs are .005 to .012, so we are good.
Now I got started on the rings....I laid out all of my top plasma moly rings, all my second rings, and all my oil expanders and rings....first I grabbed the top rings and slid them into a cylinder...this will end up being their permanent home...using one of the pistons upside down, I slid it down about 1 1/2 inches into the ....then using a feeler gauge, I measured the end gap...Now is the time to mention that I purchased the CP file to fit rings...so they will have to be filed to the end gap I wanted....the initial gap was about .002 which is way too tight....I am looking for .028 on the top ring....this is what was recommended for me from CP to run 20 - 25 lbs of boost and 700 -750rwhp....so I pulled the ring out of the cylinder and walked over to my makeshift ring filer (a file clamped in a vise)....they make special tools for this, but if you are careful and take your time you can do it just as I did...Just remember you can always take more off, but you can not add back....so stop and measure often....this took a long time....but the results were worth it....once you get a ring filed for a cylinder, mark it somehow to notate which cylinders they are for...some use tape, I just left them in the cylinder bore they were filed for....after you do the top ring, do the second ring remember to keep them with the cylinder they are filed for....I set my second ring to .033 as recommended by CP....the oil rings do not need to be filed....just make sure you have at least .015 clearance on the top and bottom oil ring rail...the expander (the weird looking thing) can touch....be sure to smooth the edges of the side that you file...I used a knife hone to clear off the jagged part from the flat file....Oh yeah, file from the outside in and only file one side of the ring, keeping it as flat and straight as the factory side...
After you get all the rings filed, it is time to install them on the pistons....this can be tricky, and yes they do make special tools for this, but it can be done without it if you are careful....just don't try to force it to go....just slide it in the groove and walk it on....when doing the oil rings, it is easiest if you install the funny looking expander first, then install the little thin rail rings on top and bottom of the expander...so the oil groove has 3 things in it...the rule of thumb for the second ring and top ring is, if it has a dot on it, the dot goes toward the top...if it doesn't have a dot, but is beveled, the bevel goes toward the top, and if it doesn't have a dot or a bevel, either side can go toward the top....take your time and pay attention to how you install them....also remember if you have your pistons marked for a specific hole...put that bore's rings on that piston....remember how we installed the pistons on the rods earlier...these 2 go hand in hand....
Once I had the rings installed on the correct pistons, it is time to orient them correctly....the top and second ring gap should be 180* from each other....I put all the top ring gaps at the top of the cylinder toward the intake at 12 ...all the second ring gaps at the bottom of the cylinder toward the exhaust at 6 o'clock....the oil expander end gap (or lack there of, they touch....pay attention) is close to the top ring end gap somewhere between the piston pins at around 1 o'clock....and the top and bottom oil rails are on the bottom of the cylinder at about 7 o'clock and 5 o'clock.... but be sure to follow your ring manufacturer's recommendations.... after you get them all lined up, get your ring squeezer and wipe the inside of it with or SAE 30 oil to help them slide, and lock it down around the rings...lock it tight....then slide the of the rod down in the cylinder bore (careful not to scratch the side walls)....set the ring squeezer flush with the top of the block...you can tap on it with a rubber mallet to get it flush if you like....I did.....double check to make sure the rod journal on the crank is all the way at the bottom of it's stroke....now hold firm tension on the squeezer agains the block and with the bottom of the hammer handle, tap the piston down into the cylinder....remember keep pressure against the block...if you feel any , pause and see what is going on...don't force it...
after you get the piston out of the ring squeezer, stop.....do not keep going....flip the engine over so you can see the bottom and take hold of the rod end....wipe it clean with some alcohol, and insert the rod bearing if you have not already done so....wipe the rod bearing clean and it with some assembly lube....
then with one hand guide it to it's home on the rod journal as you gently tap it home with the other...small light taps....guide it slowly...don't nick the rod journal, or you will be resurfacing the crank and buying oversized bearings....after you get it there, get that rod's cap (remember you can not mix and match them) and clean it out with some alcohol....then inser the bearing into it....douse that with some assembly lube....
remember when you put it on the rod, the rod locks go on the same side of the rod.....then take the ARP 2000 rod bolts and lather them up with some ARP moly lube....don't be shy....then according to ARP directions, you torque them to 45lbs, then loosen it (loosened it 4 complete turns), then tighten it again to 45lbs, then loosen it (4 turns again), then tighten it a final time to 45lbs....this is supposed to work the lube down through the threads and gives you a more accurate torque reading...
Congratulations, you have done 1....
7 More to go....just take your time and do each of the rings and pistons correctly...make sure you orient them correctly and you put the rod bearing caps on correctly and keep them with the same rod they came from....it is just time consuming....
but the end results are worth it
Since the oil pump is the lifeline of the motor, I didn't skimp any on it and bought the Billet pump (part #10227). I got mine from Modular Performance http://65.109.173.141/catalog/cobra....html?osCsid=a67af98aaeff5f78ba8636b40142ed52 ....These bolts torqued to 89 inch lbs, and if you are looking at it from the front, the bottom right bolt is actually the long bolt on the driver guide...
Before you mount the studs and pins in the block remember to clean up the head mating surface on the block...the first thing I did was take a 3m scowering pad on a cheapo angle air and polished the mating surface up....be sure not to use or an abrasive wheel, you don't want to remove any metal, you just want to polish up the surface....after you finish cleaning it up, be sure to put the handy dandy alcohol to work again and wipe them down with a lint free cloth...this will remove any oil film left over from the shortblock build....
Now insert the dowel pins....the goes in the upper right and upper left head bolt holes.....
Now get out your ARP head studs. I used a thread chaser to run down in the head bolt holes in the block....this will make sure that there is no gunk in the threads...take it all the way to the bottom....after you have done each head bolt hole, take your stud (large thread section screws into the block and short thread section is the top....also the end that you can insert an into is the top) and put some thread sealer on the threads that you are screwing into the block. I don't know if this is needed, but I didn't want to take any chances of a head stud going into a and leaking all over the place. Then using the appropriate size allen wrench, screw the studs in hand tight....don't hammer down on them, just until they bottom out, then a smidgen more.....after you get the studs in, slide the gasket down in place....be careful not to scratch the sealing coating off of the gasket...take your time....
If you are using new heads, you are ready, but if you are reusing your old heads, be sure first to have the machine shop look them over to make sure they are level....then using the same 3m scotch pad, clean up the gasket mating surface on the head....then wipe it down with alcohol....Take great care when you slide the heads down on the studs....it really helps if you have a partner to help you on this part....I used felpro gaskets from MMR....these gaskets are marked left and right, so it is hard to get them mixed up....
When aligning the chains, follow the manufacturer's recommendations...I missed pics of that, but the way I did it was to put the crank at about 10 o'clock (number one piston at ) and make sure both of the keyways on each of the cams are down (the dots on the cam gears will be up)...align the short chain's copper links with the dots on the cam small cam gears and install the short chain tensioner... then bolt the heads down...I used Felpro gaskets from MMR and torqued them with ARP Moly lube in 3 steps to 90 ft/lbs....30, 60, then 90....90 will give you a workout....Then I took the tensioners and guides and bolted them on...be sure to torque them to specs. I think it was 18 ft/lbs.....then align the copper links on the primary chains with the dots on the big cam gears and the dots on the crank gears...if you can't find the copper links on the big chains, just lay them out and close each side together...the 2 end links will be vertical and the rest will be horizontal...put a mark on the 2 vertical links....those will be your reference points....
After the heads and chains were on, I coated the cams and followers with assembly lube to help with the first startup.....
Next finish buttoning it up with valve covers, exhaust manifolds, gear, timing cover, balancer/pulley, , and it is ready to drop in....
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