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4.6 big bore Assembling advice

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  eschaider 
#1 ·
Alright so I think I finally I got everything to assemble my short block and since this will be my first time assembling a motor, even though I’ll have help from friends that build motors for a living I was wounding if there were any forms or books that would help me get through it and get familiar with it ...also any specialty tools I will need .

Here’s a little about the build
-ford racing Big Bore block (3.700)
-Manley18cc platinum pistons with ceramic top coat and Heavy wall pins
-Manley pro series standard weight I-beams
- Manley forged stock stroke crank
- king coated rod bearings (Extra .001 clearance)
-Manley steel top rings
-MMR hurricane billet gear oil pump
-ARP hardware
-Clevite OEM main bearing set for Windsor block

Any help would be appreciated thanks.



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#2 · (Edited)
Short block assembly is pretty pedantic. I would recommend the King bearings with the SI bearing material for the build rather than the coated bearings. The coated bearings have excellent sustained high load characteristics but do not handle embedability of foreign particulate matter very well. If the engine is supercharged I would definitely use the SI bearings.

I would not use the bearings with the additional 0.001" clearance. They are not needed. The oil system is essentially a carefully engineered, controlled leak. By increasing the rod bearing clearance you are changing Ford's oiling hierarchy adding lubricant to the rods at the expense of every other bearing in the engine - especially the cams and cam saddles in the heads which will cost you a set of cams and heads if they fail.

A few more supercharged observations;

  • If you are running 18 psi of boost or more I would give consideration to either lowering the boost or using a figure 8 stainless 0-ring placement with the engine. The big bore versions of the block have done well n/a and not so well supercharged unless you use the figure 8 stainless o-ring sealing technique.
  • Additionally if you load the engine at low rpms and wide open throttle, like you would do by short shifting the engine, you will likely push out a head gasket and torch either the block or the block and the head. Either one is essentially impossible to repair. Aluminum can only be heat treated once.
  • When you torch out a chunk and repair it by welding, the aluminum in the area of the repair will be soft and not be heat treated like the rest of the block. This will give it a predisposition to fail again.
  • Cast iron while weldable also will not perform as well as a virgin casting. It too will provide fertile ground for a subsequent gasket failure.

If the engine is n/a most of the above concerns are a distant possibility.

Ed
 
#4 ·
The figure 8 o-ring grove and receiver groove should be able to be done by any machine shop that is familiar with o-ringing heads and blocks.

The narrowed bearings are only required on cranks that use a full radius fillet in stead of an undercut fillet like on the OEM cranks. If you are uncertain about your crank call Manley and listen to what they say.


Ed
 
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