I thought I'd post an update on my 2674cc B23 stroker project.
Heads by Paul in Denver has done a great job getting the block bored and decked and it's all ready to go. They sonic-checked the block and then bored it 30/1000's over after making sure the cylinders would handle that much. The old block was too worn to go to 20/1000's. Once all the parts come together, they will lighten my flywheel, too, shaving it down to 18 pounds.
Mile High Crankshaft took 8 weeks to do my crank. They have a reputation as being the best in town but I would definitely never go there again. As for their work, they did a nice job on setting up the 90mm stroke and welding up the sides of the journals so the engine is no longer piston-guided -- now it's crank-guided. It just should not have taken them this long after they told me they'd do the job within two weeks when I first brought the crank in.
The rods are Eagle aftermarket ones: 350 Chevy chro-mo pieces that are 6.25" long. This gives me a decent rod ratio but not much height left in the tops of the pistons. In retrospect, after the crank and pistons (see below) took so long, maybe I should have gone with custom rods rather than trying to find some off-the shelf ones. We'll see how this works out in the end. The rods are rated at 500 hp in a V8. I'm not sure if that means you cut the number in half for an I4 or not? pbonsalb feels this is the case, but what's the concensus? Will I have weak rods that can only handle 250 hp or is each rod in the set capable of 500 hp? Really, we'll only know once I throw boost at the engine, but I was curious what everyone else thought, especially people who've done this modification.
Now, the piston story: I took qwkswede's advice and went with Diamond Racing pistons in Michigan. So far, I have faxed in my order sheet to them three times and I just now heard back from their sales guy about building the pistons. It has taken 4 weeks just to get them to talk to me and I actually got put on terminal hold this morning when I tried to call them. I'm thinking of going with Ross pistons instead. Does anyone have any experience with either of these manufacturers? Would I be better off switching or should I stay with Diamond, assuming I can talk to them? Ross tells me 2-1/2 weeks to make a set and Diamond tells me 4 weeks.
So, anyway, once this is all done, I'll have a 15G, a ported 531 head, 2674cc displacement with 90mm stroke, 3" mandrel-bent exhaust, a mystery cam that came with the head (supposed to be pretty aggressive), cone intake, and adjustable cam gear. I'm pretty sure I'll throw in the browntops I have and get a Walbro fuel pump to handle the fuel requirements if I turn up the wick to 20 pounds. I'm hoping for 300 ponies. Whatchoo think?
Heads by Paul in Denver has done a great job getting the block bored and decked and it's all ready to go. They sonic-checked the block and then bored it 30/1000's over after making sure the cylinders would handle that much. The old block was too worn to go to 20/1000's. Once all the parts come together, they will lighten my flywheel, too, shaving it down to 18 pounds.
Mile High Crankshaft took 8 weeks to do my crank. They have a reputation as being the best in town but I would definitely never go there again. As for their work, they did a nice job on setting up the 90mm stroke and welding up the sides of the journals so the engine is no longer piston-guided -- now it's crank-guided. It just should not have taken them this long after they told me they'd do the job within two weeks when I first brought the crank in.
The rods are Eagle aftermarket ones: 350 Chevy chro-mo pieces that are 6.25" long. This gives me a decent rod ratio but not much height left in the tops of the pistons. In retrospect, after the crank and pistons (see below) took so long, maybe I should have gone with custom rods rather than trying to find some off-the shelf ones. We'll see how this works out in the end. The rods are rated at 500 hp in a V8. I'm not sure if that means you cut the number in half for an I4 or not? pbonsalb feels this is the case, but what's the concensus? Will I have weak rods that can only handle 250 hp or is each rod in the set capable of 500 hp? Really, we'll only know once I throw boost at the engine, but I was curious what everyone else thought, especially people who've done this modification.
Now, the piston story: I took qwkswede's advice and went with Diamond Racing pistons in Michigan. So far, I have faxed in my order sheet to them three times and I just now heard back from their sales guy about building the pistons. It has taken 4 weeks just to get them to talk to me and I actually got put on terminal hold this morning when I tried to call them. I'm thinking of going with Ross pistons instead. Does anyone have any experience with either of these manufacturers? Would I be better off switching or should I stay with Diamond, assuming I can talk to them? Ross tells me 2-1/2 weeks to make a set and Diamond tells me 4 weeks.
So, anyway, once this is all done, I'll have a 15G, a ported 531 head, 2674cc displacement with 90mm stroke, 3" mandrel-bent exhaust, a mystery cam that came with the head (supposed to be pretty aggressive), cone intake, and adjustable cam gear. I'm pretty sure I'll throw in the browntops I have and get a Walbro fuel pump to handle the fuel requirements if I turn up the wick to 20 pounds. I'm hoping for 300 ponies. Whatchoo think?
