Building a filled block / aluminum rod LR 2.2L 7-bolt, feedback wanted

[twicks69]

Hey everyone, it has been a while since I have fooled around with building an engine so I am open to hearing feedback from members regarding the assembly.

The setup is:
97-99 Split Thrust 4G63 Block
Manley 94mm billet 7-bolt crank
R&R 153mm aluminum rods 23mm pin, 3/8" L19 fasteners
Diamond 3.3661" bore 2618 alloy custom pistons
Diamond Pro Select Piston Rings
ACL HX-Series main and rod (drilled) bearings
ARP L19 1/2" Head Studs
ARP Main Studs

I have several questions to confirm / answer regarding block clearancing, machining and assembly:

Block clearancing:
The block I am working with is currently a stock torn down motor, no machining done yet.

With the block clearancing, I just have a stock piston and stock 22mm wrist pin sitting on an aluminum rod; I didn't want to fool around with drilling a stock piston to take a 23mm pin and have it waste time. So that would be a ~0.039" pin gap on the rod currently.

With block clearancing, should I stick with a minimum of 0.080" of clearance between aluminum rod and block webbing/ cylinder walls? I was assuming a minimum of 0.060" + the 0.020 from the pin gap.

Block machining/ block filling:
I am assuming after I have a clearanced block, I should pull the freeze plugs and port plugs, and it should be baked to remove the oxidation, then hot tanked.

I will have the oil squirters in the mains drilled, tapped and plugged. Anyone know the sizing typically used for tap/plugs?

I have a torque plate here, and I will be using L19 1/2" studs. The cylinder head will have my shouldered 1/2" dowels in it too when it comes to actual assembly. It is looking like I will be doing a full-filled block and running water through the head only. I am assuming I will be welding the water ports on the head then? Are you guys welding on a -16AN ORB weld bung onto the cylinder head then by the cam gear side after removing the freeze plug? The block and head(s) are not o-ringed currently. I am assuming that if I do a full fill, then I will be using a solid copper head gasket and a stainless steel o-ring in the head and a receiver groove in the block? If I do a 1/2 fill, then I will be using a MLS gasket made for the 1/2" studs and no o-ring, and have open ports on the cylinder head with the water going through the regular electric water pump -16AN adapter plate I am running.

For filling up the block with hard-blok, is there a method that works the best? If funnels, got any pics or dimensions? I will set up my pneumatic vibrator to either bolt on or make a magnetic base for it. Do you use clay, or something else to plug up all the water outlet areas?

Piston to wall (PTW):
Recommended PTW for the Diamond pistons is a 0.0035" minimum spec, now being a half or likely a full fill block, should I shoot for 0.0045"-0.0055" with a 1/2 fill block and 0.0055-0.0065" on a full fill block?

Ring gaps:
The motor will be in the 50-65psi range on gas or E85/mix.
I have not used Diamond piston rings before. They use a symmetric silver stainless steel 1st upper ring and an assymetric 2nd lower ring. The rings are numbered N150; I am assuming that this is also the top of the ring marking. Now with the ring gaps, are these like Total Seal gapless rings where I should be doing a bore x 0.008 for the top and a bore x 0.007 for the bottom rings? which would be 0.027-0.028" gap top and a 0.023-0.024" bottom gap. Build sheet shows bore as 3.3661 on piston. And then a minimum oil rail gap of 0.015" for both of the rail rings?

Installation:
With the pistons, I am assuming the identification mark on the top of piston faces the timing belt side for them. With the rods which orientation should I do, the R&R logo / rod bearing locks facing the front or the rear of the engine block? Logo/Locks face front of block correct?

Rod bolt torque out-of-box / stretch / torque spec for assembly:
The rod bolts are torqued out of the box, I'll have to check the initial figure. I am assuming the rod bolts installed out-of-box before removal are at ZERO STRETCH? I will set up the connecting rod in my connecting rod vise and will use a bolt stretch gauge. Recommended stretch is 0.0065"-0.0070" bolt stretch for the 3/8" ARP L19 bolts, and a spec torque value LIMIT of 75 ft/lbs. Is there a value that you guys are torqueing the rod bolts to on average for these fastners to see the desired bolt stretch range? I have a 3/8" box wrench adapter for my torque wrench I will be using IF it fits. Guessing I'll have to use a standard 3/8" 12-point socket on the torque wrench then check bolt stretch every time. R&R specs using 50W motor oil for the assembly / stretch measurements on the rod bolts. Should I cycle the rod bolt 3 times to the final stretch value?

Rod bearing and main bearing sizing:
I am using ACL HX-series bearings for mains and rods. The motor will be on 20w50 oil. The rod bearings are already drilled for the pins in the rod caps. I have a couple sets of main and rod bearings to work with.

With the aluminum rods, I am assuming I should have the rod bearing gap around 0.0025-0.0030"? or should I be a looser in the 0.0030-0.0035" rod bearing gap on the aluminum rod? With the mains, should i shoot for 0.0020-0.0025"?

I think that these are most of my questions, or things swirling around in my head currently to just confirm.

Thank you all for your insight in advance!

 

[TeamFury]

Nice to see you getting back in the swing of thing's Tim. I can't answer all of your questions but this does not sound like it will be street driven at all. With that being said on your block go with a full fill. After seeing cracked blocks right above the half filled blocks I wouldn't risk it and that's not even power levels you are going to be hitting. I have had the opportunity to work on a higher hp DSM and he ran a wet block with welded head. The block was machined with stainless steel o-ring and we just used a OEM mls head gasket this was good up in the 900h.p range on an auto north of 60psi 76mm BW. After talking with quite a few people that motor is being full filled, head welded o-ringed and receiver groove with a copper gasket this season. I don't know how availability to copper h.g gaskets are for you but last year they were on back-order so you may want to get on the horn now. Very smart going with a copper gasket though as it will be much cheaper replacing a h.g than torching your head then having to get it repaired.

Piston to wall clearance I believe .0055" either direction you decide on a half or full fill. That is the clearance that was used on the wet block I was referring to. He didn't have massive blow by either or filling up catch cans every other pass. I'm not familiar with Diamond pistons but this block used custom Shearer 11:1 with gas ports. What kind of compression ratio are you running and do they have gas ports?

I wish I could give you more advice but I don't have any experience on aluminum rods. I will tell you that Jewer has been very helpful answering a lot of questions over the past few years. The new motor is at Force Engineering that I mentioned above I'm sure you know them guys.

 

[twicks69]

Thanks for the info, the pistons are ~8:1 comp ratio, boost will be around 5-6 bar. They are gas ported as well, coated skirts only.

I'll call Devin and get a copper gasket and a spare from him, along with the 1/2" L19 studs.

Regarding PTW, the minimum PTW is 0.0035", then ~0.0045" for boost applications, and ~0.0055"-0.0065" for filled iron block applications per Diamond.

For the O-ring, do you know what diameter stainless steel and what the cut depth/exposed height of the wire and the cut depth of the block receiver groove used?

Yes, I know Tyler Hassing at Force Engineering, I'll give him a buzz. I'm also in contact with John Whalen, and I'll get a hold of Reichen and Devin too so I can bounce the scenarios off them.

 

[95eclipser]

Can you report back on what info you gather from them. This could be a good thread to learn from.

 

[twicks69]

Ok, so here's the details after conversation with John Whalen on the subject matter. He has been a great help for me to bounce ideas off of over the years with these things.

Block machining / filling:
I will do my connecting rod grind work clearancing first. This also gives me the opportunity to check rod journal clearance with the rod bearings to see if I need to chamfer the rod bearings along the edges so they don't jam up on the crank chamfer.

Then I will pull all the plugs out, then bake the block to remove all the crud and rust, then wash, then either drill/tap/helicoil for 1/2" head studs OR I will retain the 11mm CA625+ head studs I have been using. I will discuss this later a bit from the little research on the subject matter so far. Then, I will port out the steam ports on the engine block deck a bit larger, and then install main studs and torque girdle down to spec. Put in new freeze plugs, install plugs where needed. Prep for filling.

Filling will start with adding as much as possible of the hard-blok through the water pump passageway and vibrate the block while continuing to feed it more and more material. Once it is full to the point I need to cover the water pump side, I will tape it up and put on a blockoff plate and seal it up for curing. Then return to the top of the block and use miniature funnels down the water passages on top and pushing the material in and vibrating the block. Fill to top. Install MLS head gasket and torque to spec for head studs (11mm CA625+ at 100 ft/lbs, I still have to find out on the L19 1/2" bolts if it is the right solution for my setup). Let it harden up to the point you can take off the water pump plate and let cure for ~2 weeks.

Do block machining. Balance the new 7-bolt billet 94mm crank with a flywheel dowel installed to within 2 grams, and check balance of flywheel. Test fit rods with new pistons/pins to confirm clearance measurements. Start prep of block.

Piston to wall (PTW):
I will be shooting for 0.0060" for PTW with the Diamond pistons on a full fill block.

Ring gaps:
I will be shooting for 0.022" 1st ring, 0.025" 2nd ring, and check the oil rails for a minimum gap of 0.015" for the rail rings, and no modification to the oil scraper.

Build sheet shows bore as 3.3661 on piston.

I will scale out the pistons/pins/ring pack and rods after the rings are all sized up and get them matched nicely. I'll have to borrow a rod balancing fixture since i don't have one.

Installation:
With the pistons, I am assuming the identification mark on the top of piston faces the timing belt side for them. With the rods, the R&R logo / rod bearing locks facing the front of the engine block. Logo/Locks face front of block.

Rod bolt torque out-of-box / stretch / torque spec for assembly:
I will set up the connecting rod in my connecting rod vise and will use a bolt stretch gauge. Recommended stretch is 0.0065"-0.0070" bolt stretch for the 3/8" ARP L19 bolts, and a spec torque value LIMIT of 75 ft/lbs. R&R specs using 50W motor oil for the assembly / stretch measurements on the rod bolts. I will cycle the rod bolt 3 times to the final stretch value/ torque value. I should be hitting a torque value right around 70 ft/lbs

Rod bearing and main bearing sizing:
I am using ACL HX-series bearings for mains and rods. The motor will be on 20w50 oil. The rod bearings are already drilled for the pins in the rod caps. I have a couple sets of main and rod bearings to work with.

I will mic out all the crank rod and main journals beforehand.

With the aluminum rods, I will shoot for the rod bearing gap around 0.0025-0.0030", range with a 0.028" ideal size. With the mains, I will shoot for 0.0020-0.0025". I will be using Redline assembly lube.

With the Manley billet crank, I will be needing to debur and chamfer the oil ports on the crank journals to take the sharp edge out of it, and I will need to chamfer the edge of the rod bearings and check the main bearings as well. The crank has a large chamfer radius on it. I will check side play / side gap in mains and rod journals vs. rod bearing/main bearing/block.

Head Gasket Prep:
Ok, I think I am going to do a full Copper gasket, with a receiver groove in head, 0.010-0.012” protrusion 0.041” stainless wire, so a 0.030” groove cut in the block. Cut pattern will be individual rings, no figure 8.

Head Studs:
Well, between talking with Jon about the head stud stuff, and already doing a full fill block, AND a copper gasket WITH stainless o-ring, AND I already have 11mm CA625+ head studs, I might just stick with them and not do the L19 1/2" studs. I'll see what the torque spec is on them, but it might be too much clamp force on the head casting for my needs. I will figure out this though before I fill the block either way. I found a really nice tech article explaining some of it here regarding a few different application sizes on Subie head stud options, granted, it didn't cover 1/2" L19's, it did cover several other options. https://www.maracing.net/choosing-the-right-head-stud/ -- It is a great read.

Modifying Head Water Passageways:
I will need to get the cylinder heads water passageways welded up, and then grab a couple Vibrant -12AN female weld bungs for the head inlet, then lathe a receiver groove to press-fit it into the freeze plug hole location, then get it welded up on both of them. I will use my -16AN ORB sensor housing off the right-side of the cylinder head to my pressure tank, then -20AN from pressure tank to radiator, then -16AN from radiator to water pump and -12AN from pump to cylinder head. My electric water pump has 1" NPT male to AN male adapters on it already.

That's most of the questions answered right now, i'm guessing i'll find more to ask.

 

[stillrunning]

No expert on the matter but I seem to remember something about allowing or taking into consideration a little extra piston to deck/head clearance to allow for expansion rate of the aluminum rod. Not positive but probably something to check with the rod manufacturer on possibly.

 

[donniekak]

No expert on the matter but I seem to remember something about allowing or taking into consideration a little extra piston to deck/head clearance to allow for expansion rate of the aluminum rod. Not positive but probably something to check with the rod manufacturer on possibly.

With aluminum rods your piston to head clearance should be .050” minimum, closer to .070” is what I like set them up at.

 

[95eclipser]

one questions i have is what direction are you going with the oil pump?

-Stock
-Dry sump
-FFab new billet oil pump

care to give your opinion?

 

[twicks69]

I will be running a Frontline Fabrication billet 7-bolt oil pump with a -16AN ORB breather vent and remote oil filter housing/cooler assembly.

 

[95eclipser]

interested in seeing that setup when its all together.

 

[Bizarre]

So I know it’s been a while but Lets bring this post up from the dead! Very interested in what else happened to your build??

 

[twicks69]

I haven't had time to work on it. I pulled my old race engine around end of March 2020, and the stock bare block and all of these components are sitting in my shop on a shelf. The block needs to be punched out before i can do all the grinding clearance work. Customer jobs first, and the world turned upside down, so yeah.

I plan on revisiting the topic, it is just that customer jobs come first. Hoping in the next few months I will have time to play with my own stuff again.