My dad was a fantastic mechanic. Early on he taught me that, if you don't know what broke something, you haven't fixed it. Your oil leak chase reminded me of him. In the military, we used to find radar rotary joint problems the same way. Thanks for this fine, educational video.
Jim is a legend. Full of tricks and knowledge accumulated from years of experience. I don't see how anyone could leave even the slightest negative thought or comment about you guys. I still wish he would start making farming videos. Awesome video.
@@frankc1430 you evidently have never been around very many farms , because i have yet to meet any sort of farmer who is cheap ,, i don't know any farmer who has a shop and mechanics on call to fix broken equipment ,, the mechanic IS the the farmer ,, and nearly every farm i have worked for has a shop of their own of some sort
I just find it amazing that you guys find the time to do this channel and still are able to be farmers. I don't think America appreciates their Farmers enough. I live in Michigan, and people get so angry about farmers slowing traffic. They don't think about that slab of bacon they ate for breakfast in the morning or the eggs that they had for their omelette or the grains for the toast they ate.
That was Epic guys! The cleaning guy (aka dad) knows his onions and a few tricks lol. I really loved the oil leak fix trick. I'd never have thought of using a shop vac to suck silicone sealant into the gaps! That was really neat. The customer should really love this engine. Fit the engine and visit the tire shop immediately lol
I once had this problem with a smog small block where I decked the block and installed higher compression heads. Doing both of those changed the angle of intake manifold enough that if I put lots of silicone it wouldn't leak right away but eventually after a day or two it would start. My elderly neighbor suggested that I check that. Once the intake flanges were machined and I port matched the runners that little small block would wind up like a rubber band and it never leaked at the intake ends again.
If you deck the block doesn’t that change the geometry of the intake angle ? That would explain why it leaks on just one side. I always let the silicone firm up with the parts lightly assembled so that it compresses rather than pushes out when it’s torqued.
@@bluecollar58 Exactly. Depending on the amount of material removed from the deck and/or cylinder head surface, not to mention the aftermarket manifold, the fit needs to be checked of the intake manifold to the block and heads. Usually the bottom of the intake that meets the wall of China has to have some material shaved off. It can't be too tight against the block or the sealer will squish out and not seal.
A word of advice specifically for all the retrofit TBI systems, (doesn't matter what brand) is that if you're running a dual plane manifold, the notch between the left and right banks has to be cut so that there's communication between the two planes. This is irrelevant for single plane intakes, but for dual planes and that type of throttle body injection you can't have the two planes sealed off and separate from each other. Most dual planes have that notch already cut in but a lot of them don't, and this type of injection just won't work without it.
This manifold has the notch in the divider. The issues mentioned in this video with the EFI were strictly user error due to us not having proper O2 sensor placement. The similarities in the dyno results between the Fitech EFI and the Edelbrock 750 reassure me that the Fitech was working as intended on the second day, and with further time to allow the unit to self tune (and the ability to make parameter changes for further tuning) it will likely continue to outperform the carb. For those who feel we should have went with a single plane intake; this is a street engine, not a race engine. We're hopeful the customer will be conscious of the fact that the higher RPM this engine is run, the wear on components increases dramatically and as such, the life of the engine decreases dramatically. With that considered, we felt the dual plane manifold would put us exactly where we wanted our power range to be. In a perfect world with unlimited time and funds, it would be great to test multiple different manifold options and make an educated decision based on the goals of the engine from there.
@@JAMSIONLINE yeah I know, just wanted to put the manifold thing out there into the ether, the manifold thing can be a nightmare for the unsuspecting. Felt like a good place to put that out there. That's a fantastic build BTW! I should have said so!! Sorry!
The keys to this build are the good cylinder heads, correct compression and enough valve overlap. The supporting equipment also has to be up to the task. With a tighter lobe centerline angle (107° would be better) this combination would have made even more torque.
I had an oil leak on a fresh engine build at the front of an oil pan. It was already in the car. Leaking near the timing cover. We we’re at the track. We just squished some silicone in there and let it dry. Worked great, never leaked again. Ran that motor several seasons. Wasn’t pretty but it worked.
You guys are so fortunate that the "cleaning guy " is such a talented machinist. Such a fantastic build ! Job well done , I'm sure the customer is going to be so pleased.
This was a awesome build! I most say I didn’t think the syringe trick would work but nothing makes me more impressed than to be proven wrong! Good job guys! Would love to get a engine build by Jim’s Automotive
Hats off to your honesty...!..easy fix...clever...!..it wasent like u were hide'n a bad part...always impresed with the level of pride & quality work...!..& its "always" cool to see a father & son work together & get along so well..!..nowadays...!...thanks 4 an enjoyable series on this 383 build...well done..!
I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t ask people what’s wrong, I ask the symptoms and the desired end result. Much easier than doing exactly what the customer wants but doesn’t fix the problem.
The positive and negative pressure trick was brilliant. I’ve used the vacuum to keep oil from draining from the pan before, but I’d never have thought of this.
Nice work, gentlemen! Just a word of caution on the “self-tuning” of those ECUs: as you saw with the O2 sensor placement, the engine lives and dies by that O2 sensor. It is important to limit the amount of trim adjustment the ECU can do once a decent fuel map has been “learned” to, for example, 10% or so. I don’t recall if the FiTech has the ability to limit the trim learning as it’s been a while since using one, but similar Holley systems have that capability. If those learn limits are left wide open, the engine is one failing O2 sensor and a good burnout away from coming back to the shop.
Don’t know if it’s still done but what I did way back in the 60s was to O-ring the block and use the factory head gasket No trouble even with a 6-71 supercharger on a small block Chevy engine! JIM ❤
That was a great idea to use a syringe with RTV there are so many great hacks that some of these old guys if they don't share them they're going to die off with them. Thank you for letting us know that this will work. I have chased this same issue and installed and pulled a intake to fix the issue to find it out why it was failing to seal this gentleman has a lot of knowledge and has seen great different things that will work. Great video that just got you a new subscriber. Thanks again.
What a treat to watch a non race/ performance shop build such a well prepared small block.The care in machining,and assembly marvelous.The heads were the secret sauce to the torque,and horspower.Whay a beast of a 383 street motor
If you installed the O2 sensor near the end of the collector without an extension pipe (at least 18 inches) it could cause the O2 sensor to be exposed to too much ambient air back flowing into the end of the header. This would cause the O2 sensor to read lean at the sensor sending a signal to the fitech computer to add fuel causing a rich condition. I have seen similar issues with holly sniper systems so it may be worth looking at. Good luck, love the channel.
Very knowledgeable man, lot of this knowledge is acquired over 40 years experience and lots of trial and error! Wish I knew half as much as Jim about building engines ! He reminds me of my uncle who was a motor machinist and was very particular with his work, he wanted everything to be perfect when it left th shop!!!
Ok, that vacuum trick is awesome. I've been working on motors and machines since I was a kid and never would have thought of that but danged if it doesnt work beautifully. Thats a trick I will definitely keep in mind.
Anyone who has rebuilt a small block knows you always gotta put a nice amount of gasket sealant in the V where head and intake meet you always put a nice glob there or you get leaks as yall did but it’s understandable since yall don’t do many of these. Y’all did really nice work tho on the machine work I’d definitely use yall for the machine work and balancing 👍🏻👍🏻
I am amazed at using an old block and then the intensive work gone to make this a Class A++++ job. Phew. Now I have to see you guys build an engine that NEEDS a custom block! As always, a treat to see the process and detail that goes into good work.
The syringe is a good idea. Never thought of that. Might have to try that one. Most of the stuff I do is machined metal to metal, so it may be too tight to work. That a perfect scenario to use that.
Ive used an actual vacuum pump for this type of fix before but I gotta say, the shop-vac is the most farmer thing Ive seen since I left Oklahoma. Love it!
Or ticked. If it was my engine I'd paid a bunch of money for ..I'd want that pulled and resealed properly especially if it's in a performance application.
@@Boga217In what way was it not sealed? You'd be happy to pay for taking off the manifold, applying sealant and re-assembling to achieve the same result. If I was the customer I would applaud the intelligent solution that was employed.
@@johncrowley5612 it was sealed but not well. If you have to inject new sealant onto old new it is one more connection that can leak. So I never said it wasn't sealed..it just was not done properly the first time by his son who admittedly is not an expert by his own words. And as a customer I shouldn't have to pay you more to do your job properly second time.
As the customer I would download the video so when it leaks I can make him fix it right again. His dad's cheap and doesn't want to waste time/labor money to tear down again, clean it, apply proper amount of sealant and reassemble.
I haven't even seen the whole thing and I loved it. These guys love what they do and it shows. Very informative videos and I enjoy watching all of them. Hats off to you gentlemen, job well done 👍🏼
Well done. Love these old "farmer" tricks. I backyard-wrenched for years in the late 80s and into the 90s (pre-internet), and if I heard tips like these from others I always felt like I'd struck paydirt. Many times, the best knowledge is the simple, slick tricks that can get you out of a bind while saving you time and money.
Well done! Ive learned again! When you deck a block or machine heads you need to lower the china wall, been too long, cant remember. BUT! Dry fitting the inlet with strips of credit card, uou can see ( feeler guage) the gap on the china wall. (the 'flat' on the "v" of the underside of the inlet manifold.
Grinding the crankshaft yourself was a good idea because you will always get it where it needs to be. The big companies no matter their name don’t have perfect quality control.
That HP was made at 5000 ft elevation.. certainly does make a difference. Good job. As for the oil leakage.. did the angles of the manifold match the head surface angles? You know quite well how aftermarket parts can vary!
I thought the dyno was on pikes peak. 30% correction factor seems like an extreme amount unless it was like 130deg too. I would have figured 10% a more honest correction for 5000ft elevation.
I am 100% gonna try this with the front timing cover on my 6.7 Cummins. The inner gasket at the block has sprung a leak and it’s not bad enough to warrant me taking the whole front of the engine off but enough to leave drips where I park. The best info and tricks are the ones made in the field when time is important and like me not wanting to take the whole engine down. Great job yall thank you for sharing this trick with us!!
I don't see anything wrong with this technique. This is exactly how I would deal with it myself. The only exception I have is the vac may pull enough silicone thru to have a glob in the valley that one day will provide a good kick 🦶 in the end.
I considered the same about excess getting into the engine. But the leak was probably not even pin hole size. It only takes a tiny, tiny hole to make big soap bubbles. I think any material that worked through would have been negligible.
I built my own race motors I would pull intake off an check the angle of the intake to head. Most every time just had to take off few 1000s off the bottom of the intake an then when I would bolt it down it would make the angle of the intake an head tighter, an it would seal a lot better. I am just saying it is something that worked for me.
If and only if you use a quality, oil-proof rtv. Use VW D176 white rtv on every China wall seal. Before that it was Dow Corning 670B but that stuff was $50 a tube back in the late 90s. Ultra Black Permatex holds up ok for a few years but will eventually soften up. The Mercedes black RTV is pretty badass too.
Way back when I was younger we built lots of engines, every time we decked the block a great deal we had intake ( China wall ) sealing issues. We started removing as close to possible the same amount off the intake allowing it to set lower in the V and we had lots more luck sealing the intake. Another thing is we used to use silicon and run large beed and let intake sit overnight just sitting loose with bolts finger tight and look at the smash of the beed. Then the next morning do final tightening.
Great video, I had this exact same scenario on a SBC in my Nova. I had the same Idea of pushing a little silicon just like you did but I didn't think to use vacuum. Great tip, I appreciate your honesty.
I appreciate the comments about proving the problem. I do that every day. When fellow techs tell me they need help replacing major components like a pump, my gut reaction is that the pump is fine. And usually it is!
I worked at a performance machine shop for a short time and we did exactly what you did when looking for and sealing that oil leak. So much better than removing that intake and cleaning all of the silicone off to reseal it.
Wonderful work! So many bits from different manufacturers always takes a lot of time to get right. At least you did not have to take the manifold off and machine it to match the valley angles better (like I did last engine). That was a real pain! I am going to remember this silicone injection under vacuum trick, what a gem of an idea.
😊The following is intended as the ULTIMATE compliment: “Jim, you SNEAKY B*ST*RD!” Rigging up air pressure to find that oil leak was pretty damn clever. Rigging up vacuum to pull sealant into the leak was ABSOLUTE GENIUS! Nicolaus, kudos to you as well for the quality of your video work, editing, and narration. It’s been great to see all that improve as I watch through your earlier stuff, and it’s been genuine FUN to watch both you and your dad growing more and more comfortable in front of the camera!
Love this build y'all! I have the same 638 casting 4 bolt main block in my 92 stepside reg cab 2wd. Its now a forged flat top 355 with a decked block (slugs are .007 in the hole), Dart iron eagle heads with 2.02/1.6 and mild port work. A big Comp hydraulic roller with Vortec roller lifters, dog bones and hold down tray, It has a 1980s torquer 2 intake port matched to the heads that was my dad's from the back in the 80s, and a quick fuel 850 e85 carb. I took it to Dyno day at my local tuners place and in 95° heat, it made 456/448 thru a 700r4 and a 1998 explorer 8.8, the factory 10 bolt didnt like multiple 300 ft long burnouts. That engine is 10 years old now and it still runs like O.J Simpson
When available, we cleaned the leaks, then used zyglo developer (powder) and ran the engine. Leak areas became very visible. Good video. Liked the vacuum & syringe.
I love what you guys do, but if I was a customer I might be a little upset that I got a new motor from you and the crank is already 10/10. I know, everyone comes here and wants to pick apart ever aspect of a video and I know this sounds like that. I love all the work that you guys do. You care about the product you put out and the guy that runs your hot tank is the best!! Keep the videos coming and I'll keep watching.
Can I sell you a set of stock HD barrels .010 over then so they fit .010 pistons and loose out on that first over boar and one less oversize I can get out of a set of new barrels I sell you? I get they had allot of time already in the crank, but when you make a mistake, you eat it, not the customer. Or tell them prior and give them the bro pricing for the oversight.
The first machine shop I worked in was in 1978. The last machine shop I ran for twelve years. I used this method, especially for older engines that had poor sealing technology. It's a great way to have a leak free engine.
It’s not always just about time. While many people may disagree, it’s our opinion that it’s best to leave as much undisturbed as possible at this stage in the game. Like was said in the video, the intake can always be pulled if it doesn’t work, but this saves us any wasted gaskets as well as any risk of contamination (or worse, an accidental nut or bolt dropped where it shouldn’t be… obviously we’re extremely careful… but Murphy’s law…) At the end of the day, it’s another example that shows how many ways there are to skin a cat, and how many people do and don’t like other people’s ways.
Your channel showed up on my UA-cam homepage as I'd watched a few engine rebuild videos from Pakistan/India. I really admire your attention to detail and work to ensure that the quality is second to none, The videos from that part world of engine rebuilds and brakes component manufacturing are scary. I love your knowledge and expertise.
i use ACDELCO UV oil dye. You need a little pocket uv flashlight. Poor the dye in the oil. let the engine idles or drive it and come back at night or in a dark room. Youll find the leak right away in a matter of minutes. It works everytime
FYI, I worked at a Ford dealer a fiew years back , worked on a cobra mustang 4.6 4 cam it had a oil leak , found out it was head gasket leaking , on further inspection after tear down ,was checking where oil could have gotten through i found out that there was small metal shaving in between the MLS head gasket layers close to the oil passage to the top end , so I suppose anything is possible ,especially new parts ,, great videos guys!!
I'm a retired aircraft mechanic and we used the vacuum technique to seal leaks on wet wings all the time.
8802 fuel tank sealant is a whole different animal
Been there done that
Hate working on wet wings. Retired now
Did not mind too much working with 8802. Digging out the old sealer was the real problem. I was a A&P for 45 years.
😊Repaired a gas tank with jb weld once on a homebuilt. Stopped dripping on my knee for about a month. Then sent it to a shop to reweld.
My dad was a fantastic mechanic. Early on he taught me that, if you don't know what broke something, you haven't fixed it. Your oil leak chase reminded me of him. In the military, we used to find radar rotary joint problems the same way. Thanks for this fine, educational video.
Jim is a legend. Full of tricks and knowledge accumulated from years of experience. I don't see how anyone could leave even the slightest negative thought or comment about you guys. I still wish he would start making farming videos. Awesome video.
One hell of a teaching moment. Great way to trouble shoot an oil leak!
Anyone who criticizes what this guy is doing has never been around a farm. 😂 Farmers are the best engineers. Good job fellas.
Who cares
No! They're just cheap!
@@frankc1430 you evidently have never been around very many farms , because i have yet to meet any sort of farmer who is cheap ,, i don't know any farmer who has a shop and mechanics on call to fix broken equipment ,, the mechanic IS the the farmer ,, and nearly every farm i have worked for has a shop of their own of some sort
@@wildcoyote34 I live in the middle of a farming community! I know a lot of farmers! Anything else you want to know?
@@frankc1430
Yes, we are cheap bastards
The air and vacuum "trick" is brilliant. This is what 40 years of experience gets you.
same time to do it the correct way
I just find it amazing that you guys find the time to do this channel and still are able to be farmers. I don't think America appreciates their Farmers enough. I live in Michigan, and people get so angry about farmers slowing traffic.
They don't think about that slab of bacon they ate for breakfast in the morning or the eggs that they had for their omelette or the grains for the toast they ate.
To be fair, shutting down an entire highway with a 36 tired trailer behind a track job at 6.30am is really impolite.
Where I live, the roads are so narrow that everything blocks the road.
That was Epic guys! The cleaning guy (aka dad) knows his onions and a few tricks lol. I really loved the oil leak fix trick. I'd never have thought of using a shop vac to suck silicone sealant into the gaps! That was really neat. The customer should really love this engine. Fit the engine and visit the tire shop immediately lol
I once had this problem with a smog small block where I decked the block and installed higher compression heads. Doing both of those changed the angle of intake manifold enough that if I put lots of silicone it wouldn't leak right away but eventually after a day or two it would start. My elderly neighbor suggested that I check that. Once the intake flanges were machined and I port matched the runners that little small block would wind up like a rubber band and it never leaked at the intake ends again.
Was it me, or could you see the angle difference of the intake and head?
I've seen that quite often, and I wonder if the different manufacturers have different ideas of 90° angle...
I was thinking along those lines myself but don’t have much personal experience to go on.
If you deck the block doesn’t that change the geometry of the intake angle ? That would explain why it leaks on just one side.
I always let the silicone firm up with the parts lightly assembled so that it compresses rather than pushes out when it’s torqued.
@@bluecollar58 Exactly. Depending on the amount of material removed from the deck and/or cylinder head surface, not to mention the aftermarket manifold, the fit needs to be checked of the intake manifold to the block and heads. Usually the bottom of the intake that meets the wall of China has to have some material shaved off. It can't be too tight against the block or the sealer will squish out and not seal.
A word of advice specifically for all the retrofit TBI systems, (doesn't matter what brand) is that if you're running a dual plane manifold, the notch between the left and right banks has to be cut so that there's communication between the two planes. This is irrelevant for single plane intakes, but for dual planes and that type of throttle body injection you can't have the two planes sealed off and separate from each other. Most dual planes have that notch already cut in but a lot of them don't, and this type of injection just won't work without it.
agreed, a single plane intake works better, and for a chevy, finding a "street" intake manifold should be easier than other brands.
I remember this from engine masters a while ago. On the most recent sniper episode I'm surprised they didn't note that.
This manifold has the notch in the divider. The issues mentioned in this video with the EFI were strictly user error due to us not having proper O2 sensor placement. The similarities in the dyno results between the Fitech EFI and the Edelbrock 750 reassure me that the Fitech was working as intended on the second day, and with further time to allow the unit to self tune (and the ability to make parameter changes for further tuning) it will likely continue to outperform the carb. For those who feel we should have went with a single plane intake; this is a street engine, not a race engine. We're hopeful the customer will be conscious of the fact that the higher RPM this engine is run, the wear on components increases dramatically and as such, the life of the engine decreases dramatically. With that considered, we felt the dual plane manifold would put us exactly where we wanted our power range to be. In a perfect world with unlimited time and funds, it would be great to test multiple different manifold options and make an educated decision based on the goals of the engine from there.
@@JAMSIONLINE yeah I know, just wanted to put the manifold thing out there into the ether, the manifold thing can be a nightmare for the unsuspecting. Felt like a good place to put that out there. That's a fantastic build BTW! I should have said so!! Sorry!
@@Drmcclung no, I absolutely appreciate the comment and the information for other viewers! :) Just offering some more clarification everyone lol
Didn't expect that much power. Good work pays off. 👍🏻
The keys to this build are the good cylinder heads, correct compression and enough valve overlap. The supporting equipment also has to be up to the task. With a tighter lobe centerline angle (107° would be better) this combination would have made even more torque.
@@Joshie2256 They should have used a single plain intake on it
@OneIssueVoter No, he does have a 522HP engine. See the difference between engine horsepower & wheel horsepower.
@@Bill-xc8leno they shouldn't use a single plane. They are looking for low end torque.
@OneIssueVoteryou are wrong my friend.
The 383 is my favorite configuration for the OG SBC. Massive power in a compact NA package.
I had an oil leak on a fresh engine build at the front of an oil pan. It was already in the car. Leaking near the timing cover. We we’re at the track. We just squished some silicone in there and let it dry. Worked great, never leaked again. Ran that motor several seasons. Wasn’t pretty but it worked.
Customer is definitely going to enjoy that HP level! 530Ftlbs is a tire killer
Dude! I've been reading and watching engine builds since the mid 80s. This is one of the best I've seen and I love this motor. Keep them coming.
I’m glad you were willing to talk about the problem and showed how you went about repairing the problem.
You guys are so fortunate that the "cleaning guy " is such a talented machinist. Such a fantastic build ! Job well done , I'm sure the customer is going to be so pleased.
Finally, an engine that is hitting numbers that are at least acceptable for its displacement! Great build, lot's of attention to detail!
a proper camshaft can do that to any stock v8. Making appropriate horsepower for the cubic inchs
This was a awesome build! I most say I didn’t think the syringe trick would work but nothing makes me more impressed than to be proven wrong! Good job guys! Would love to get a engine build by Jim’s Automotive
That’s awesome! I’ve heard about doing the syringe method before, but I have never actually seen it done. Glad everything worked out for you guys!!!!!
To see real repair work rather than replace is something that is rare today. You track down the problem and experience won the day. CONGRATULATIONS
Great work guys, thanks for the warts 'n all presentation. That real life experience of the difficulties is pure gold. Terrific result!
I remember years back. A SBC 383 was strong at 425/425 or 425/450. Nice build. I love the valve covers.
you can make them numbers on cast heads 350 with the proper camshaft.
Hats off to your honesty...!..easy fix...clever...!..it wasent like u were hide'n a bad part...always impresed with the level of pride & quality work...!..& its "always" cool to see a father & son work together & get along so well..!..nowadays...!...thanks 4 an enjoyable series on this 383 build...well done..!
I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t ask people what’s wrong, I ask the symptoms and the desired end result. Much easier than doing exactly what the customer wants but doesn’t fix the problem.
Love videos like this where the old timers are sharing their tricks. Knowledge is priceless.
The positive and negative pressure trick was brilliant. I’ve used the vacuum to keep oil from draining from the pan before, but I’d never have thought of this.
i use the negative pressure trick to keep from getting oil on me when changing oil
Nice work, gentlemen!
Just a word of caution on the “self-tuning” of those ECUs: as you saw with the O2 sensor placement, the engine lives and dies by that O2 sensor. It is important to limit the amount of trim adjustment the ECU can do once a decent fuel map has been “learned” to, for example, 10% or so. I don’t recall if the FiTech has the ability to limit the trim learning as it’s been a while since using one, but similar Holley systems have that capability. If those learn limits are left wide open, the engine is one failing O2 sensor and a good burnout away from coming back to the shop.
The system has limp mode safeguards just like a stock ECU.
Don’t know if it’s still done but what I did way back in the 60s was to O-ring the block and use the factory head gasket
No trouble even with a 6-71 supercharger on a small block Chevy engine!
JIM ❤
These guys are experts in their craft, never have I viewed engine building like this !! So easy to listen to and follow. Well done guys.
That was a great idea to use a syringe with RTV there are so many great hacks that some of these old guys if they don't share them they're going to die off with them. Thank you for letting us know that this will work. I have chased this same issue and installed and pulled a intake to fix the issue to find it out why it was failing to seal this gentleman has a lot of knowledge and has seen great different things that will work. Great video that just got you a new subscriber. Thanks again.
Thank you. Very enjoyable video. Love the old school tricks to stop a small oil leak..
She's a runner! Going to be a tire flying machine. Really enjoy how you guys work together.
A real polluter. Atta boy.
@@lamarw7757go mow some grass with your electric lawn mower. You're on the wrong channel here.
This has been one of the coolest build series, I’ve ever seen!
What a treat to watch a non race/ performance shop build such a well prepared small block.The care in machining,and assembly marvelous.The heads were the secret sauce to the torque,and horspower.Whay a beast of a 383 street motor
If you installed the O2 sensor near the end of the collector without an extension pipe (at least 18 inches) it could cause the O2 sensor to be exposed to too much ambient air back flowing into the end of the header. This would cause the O2 sensor to read lean at the sensor sending a signal to the fitech computer to add fuel causing a rich condition. I have seen similar issues with holly sniper systems so it may be worth looking at. Good luck, love the channel.
Those valve cover are beautiful, as are the numbers, solid build!
Nice work. Great to see the two of you working together.
Very knowledgeable man, lot of this knowledge is acquired over 40 years experience and lots of trial and error! Wish I knew half as much as Jim about building engines ! He reminds me of my uncle who was a motor machinist and was very particular with his work, he wanted everything to be perfect when it left th shop!!!
We may need a tips and tricks episode. Pretty cool trick, i would have pulled the intake.
Heh, that video would last a lifetime
Ok, that vacuum trick is awesome. I've been working on motors and machines since I was a kid and never would have thought of that but danged if it doesnt work beautifully. Thats a trick I will definitely keep in mind.
Always so impressed by you guys, the calm approach you take with everything is spot on
Ingenuity at its best. Way to go. Got my license in 1956 at 17 and worked on cars my whole life. love the ingenious ways to fix things..
O2 sensors will need to be at least 18 inches from air, Ie. End of pipe or exhaust leak. It will read way leaner than it is.
I like those valve covers, they're super unique. Love the old school approach of your channel gentlemen, thank you.
34 degree's at full advance is the number my late model SBC liked also. Nice HP and TQ numbers
Anyone who has rebuilt a small block knows you always gotta put a nice amount of gasket sealant in the V where head and intake meet you always put a nice glob there or you get leaks as yall did but it’s understandable since yall don’t do many of these. Y’all did really nice work tho on the machine work I’d definitely use yall for the machine work and balancing 👍🏻👍🏻
I don't know what happened to scat but the last 2 350 cranks I got from them had rod journals with almost a half thousand taper on the same journal
I am amazed at using an old block and then the intensive work gone to make this a Class A++++ job. Phew. Now I have to see you guys build an engine that NEEDS a custom block! As always, a treat to see the process and detail that goes into good work.
The syringe is a good idea. Never thought of that. Might have to try that one. Most of the stuff I do is machined metal to metal, so it may be too tight to work. That a perfect scenario to use that.
Ive used an actual vacuum pump for this type of fix before but I gotta say, the shop-vac is the most farmer thing Ive seen since I left Oklahoma. Love it!
Great job! I wouldn't have thought about using vacuum. I bet the owner will be tickled.
Or ticked. If it was my engine I'd paid a bunch of money for ..I'd want that pulled and resealed properly especially if it's in a performance application.
@@Boga217In what way was it not sealed? You'd be happy to pay for taking off the manifold, applying sealant and re-assembling to achieve the same result. If I was the customer I would applaud the intelligent solution that was employed.
@@johncrowley5612 it was sealed but not well. If you have to inject new sealant onto old new it is one more connection that can leak. So I never said it wasn't sealed..it just was not done properly the first time by his son who admittedly is not an expert by his own words. And as a customer I shouldn't have to pay you more to do your job properly second time.
As the customer I would download the video so when it leaks I can make him fix it right again. His dad's cheap and doesn't want to waste time/labor money to tear down again, clean it, apply proper amount of sealant and reassemble.
@@Boga217 If you'd watched the video it was clearly stated that in the event of it leaking in future they'd help the customer out.
Thanks guys, this series was a lot of fun and brought back fond memories of building small blocks with my buddy Fred in the seventies.
I haven't even seen the whole thing and I loved it. These guys love what they do and it shows. Very informative videos and I enjoy watching all of them. Hats off to you gentlemen, job well done 👍🏼
Well done. Love these old "farmer" tricks. I backyard-wrenched for years in the late 80s and into the 90s (pre-internet), and if I heard tips like these from others I always felt like I'd struck paydirt. Many times, the best knowledge is the simple, slick tricks that can get you out of a bind while saving you time and money.
Excellent! I wish more channels were like this
Well done! Ive learned again!
When you deck a block or machine heads you need to lower the china wall, been too long, cant remember.
BUT!
Dry fitting the inlet with strips of credit card, uou can see ( feeler guage) the gap on the china wall. (the 'flat' on the "v" of the underside of the inlet manifold.
Grinding the crankshaft yourself was a good idea because you will always get it where it needs to be. The big companies no matter their name don’t have perfect quality control.
Sweet build! Great gathering of objective evidence with the failure mode analysis and an even cooler repair! These two are the real McCoys
That HP was made at 5000 ft elevation.. certainly does make a difference. Good job. As for the oil leakage.. did the angles of the manifold match the head surface angles? You know quite well how aftermarket parts can vary!
I thought the dyno was on pikes peak. 30% correction factor seems like an extreme amount unless it was like 130deg too. I would have figured 10% a more honest correction for 5000ft elevation.
I am really glad we got to hear that engine run! Sounds great!
Yeah man that's gonna feel addictive . Great torque curve , Was this a fast road cam ?
I like how you two analyze your problems.
Love the content guys always enjoying watching
I am 100% gonna try this with the front timing cover on my 6.7 Cummins. The inner gasket at the block has sprung a leak and it’s not bad enough to warrant me taking the whole front of the engine off but enough to leave drips where I park. The best info and tricks are the ones made in the field when time is important and like me not wanting to take the whole engine down. Great job yall thank you for sharing this trick with us!!
I don't see anything wrong with this technique. This is exactly how I would deal with it myself. The only exception I have is the vac may pull enough silicone thru to have a glob in the valley that one day will provide a good kick 🦶 in the end.
I considered the same about excess getting into the engine. But the leak was probably not even pin hole size. It only takes a tiny, tiny hole to make big soap bubbles. I think any material that worked through would have been negligible.
I built my own race motors I would pull intake off an check the angle of the intake to head. Most every time just had to take off few 1000s off the bottom of the intake an then when I would bolt it down it would make the angle of the intake an head tighter, an it would seal a lot better. I am just saying it is something that worked for me.
Never skimp on silicone on the China rail, you can cut the excess off later. It will never fall off on the inside.
Oh, yes, it can fall off on the inside. Many rebuilt engines have clumps of RTV laying in the oil pan, and have been shown on videos before.
You should see how many Subaru engines have gobs of rtv on the pickup screen when they fail.
If and only if you use a quality, oil-proof rtv. Use VW D176 white rtv on every China wall seal. Before that it was Dow Corning 670B but that stuff was $50 a tube back in the late 90s. Ultra Black Permatex holds up ok for a few years but will eventually soften up. The Mercedes black RTV is pretty badass too.
@@keepyourbilsteins there all oil proof.
@@bigbelconut where?
Way back when I was younger we built lots of engines, every time we decked the block a great deal we had intake ( China wall ) sealing issues. We started removing as close to possible the same amount off the intake allowing it to set lower in the V and we had lots more luck sealing the intake. Another thing is we used to use silicon and run large beed and let intake sit overnight just sitting loose with bolts finger tight and look at the smash of the beed. Then the next morning do final tightening.
I like it
Surely don't call me Shirley LOL! 11:17 re: Airplane movie comedy
Great video, I had this exact same scenario on a SBC in my Nova. I had the same Idea of pushing a little silicon just like you did but I didn't think to use vacuum. Great tip, I appreciate your honesty.
383Ci thats almost 1.4ft/lb per cube;
David Vizard would be proud
I appreciate the comments about proving the problem. I do that every day. When fellow techs tell me they need help replacing major components like a pump, my gut reaction is that the pump is fine. And usually it is!
Nice! Now make sure the owner's vehicle has a rev limiter so he doesn't immediately break this one. Does the FiTech have rev limiting?
That’s a bad dude. Nice job man. I like the high numbers all the way through the pull.
Thank you for your knowledge and video's USA 🇺🇸
I worked at a performance machine shop for a short time and we did exactly what you did when looking for and sealing that oil leak. So much better than removing that intake and cleaning all of the silicone off to reseal it.
Nice, hard to resist slamming it into the Monza
Facts
I was thinking the same thing when I saw it sitting there.
Wonderful work! So many bits from different manufacturers always takes a lot of time to get right. At least you did not have to take the manifold off and machine it to match the valley angles better (like I did last engine). That was a real pain! I am going to remember this silicone injection under vacuum trick, what a gem of an idea.
😊The following is intended as the ULTIMATE compliment: “Jim, you SNEAKY B*ST*RD!”
Rigging up air pressure to find that oil leak was pretty damn clever. Rigging up vacuum to pull sealant into the leak was ABSOLUTE GENIUS!
Nicolaus, kudos to you as well for the quality of your video work, editing, and narration. It’s been great to see all that improve as I watch through your earlier stuff, and it’s been genuine FUN to watch both you and your dad growing more and more comfortable in front of the camera!
Love this build y'all! I have the same 638 casting 4 bolt main block in my 92 stepside reg cab 2wd. Its now a forged flat top 355 with a decked block (slugs are .007 in the hole), Dart iron eagle heads with 2.02/1.6 and mild port work. A big Comp hydraulic roller with Vortec roller lifters, dog bones and hold down tray, It has a 1980s torquer 2 intake port matched to the heads that was my dad's from the back in the 80s, and a quick fuel 850 e85 carb. I took it to Dyno day at my local tuners place and in 95° heat, it made 456/448 thru a 700r4 and a 1998 explorer 8.8, the factory 10 bolt didnt like multiple 300 ft long burnouts. That engine is 10 years old now and it still runs like O.J Simpson
My Dad used Johnson's Baby Powder to find oil leaks.......
When available, we cleaned the leaks, then used zyglo developer (powder) and ran the engine. Leak areas became very visible. Good video. Liked the vacuum & syringe.
I love what you guys do, but if I was a customer I might be a little upset that I got a new motor from you and the crank is already 10/10. I know, everyone comes here and wants to pick apart ever aspect of a video and I know this sounds like that.
I love all the work that you guys do. You care about the product you put out and the guy that runs your hot tank is the best!! Keep the videos coming and I'll keep watching.
Being 10/10 is completely irrelevant if it means the clearances are correct.
Can I sell you a set of stock HD barrels .010 over then so they fit .010 pistons and loose out on that first over boar and one less oversize I can get out of a set of new barrels I sell you? I get they had allot of time already in the crank, but when you make a mistake, you eat it, not the customer. Or tell them prior and give them the bro pricing for the oversight.
Thats "technically" what blue printing does. It refines items to be the best they can.
But i agree! Scat should be better than that.
This was an awesome series to watch. I am amazed at the level of detail y'all go into and it is very much appreciated.
426 HP 430 Ft-LBS
I have used this same trick to pull wood glue into a crack to fix wooden things. Great trick!
I WANT TO SEE A BURNOUT WITH THIS ENGINE !
The first machine shop I worked in was in 1978. The last machine shop I ran for twelve years. I used this method, especially for older engines that had poor sealing technology. It's a great way to have a leak free engine.
man i just love those copper colored valve covers
You made good power.
That's a cool trick, but how long does it take to remove and install an intake manifold? 1/2 hour?
It’s not always just about time. While many people may disagree, it’s our opinion that it’s best to leave as much undisturbed as possible at this stage in the game. Like was said in the video, the intake can always be pulled if it doesn’t work, but this saves us any wasted gaskets as well as any risk of contamination (or worse, an accidental nut or bolt dropped where it shouldn’t be… obviously we’re extremely careful… but Murphy’s law…)
At the end of the day, it’s another example that shows how many ways there are to skin a cat, and how many people do and don’t like other people’s ways.
That oil leak fix is brilliant. Thanks for being willing to show how you did it.
400hp and 420lbft +- 5
Your channel showed up on my UA-cam homepage as I'd watched a few engine rebuild videos from Pakistan/India. I really admire your attention to detail and work to ensure that the quality is second to none, The videos from that part world of engine rebuilds and brakes component manufacturing are scary. I love your knowledge and expertise.
452 hp 468 ft-lbs
i use ACDELCO UV oil dye. You need a little pocket uv flashlight. Poor the dye in the oil. let the engine idles or drive it and come back at night or in a dark room. Youll find the leak right away in a matter of minutes. It works everytime
79 👍's up thank you for sharing 😊
FYI, I worked at a Ford dealer a fiew years back , worked on a cobra mustang 4.6 4 cam it had a oil leak , found out it was head gasket leaking , on further inspection after tear down ,was checking where oil could have gotten through i found out that there was small metal shaving in between the MLS head gasket layers close to the oil passage to the top end , so I suppose anything is possible ,especially new parts ,, great videos guys!!
For God sakes just take the intake off and replace the gasket and reseal it!
@jeffallen3382 haters gonna hate 🤷♂️. The fix worked. Get over it 🤣
Just watched this video. All I got to say is the things your dad did is absolutely brilliant. I learned some cool things. Thanks for sharing this