Finnegan's Garage Ep 24: Aluminum Vs Cast Iron Engine Parts
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- I'm building a 598ci Big-Block Chevy for my friend, Jeff. It's gonna be a bad mofo. The foundation is an aluminum block made by the folks at Brodix, right here in the good ol US of A! In this video I'll compare the lightweight block and a set of Brodix SR20 aluminum heads to old, cast-iron Chevrolet parts and show you how to take a couple of basic measurements so that you can order custom pistons for your next engine build. Wanna know the difference in weight between the iron and aluminum parts? Don't worry, I've got ya covered there, too. Most importantly, you can help keep this channel going by copping a brand-new That'll Buff Out t-shirt from www.fsmgarage.com
thanks for the support! You can get lots of behind-the-scenes info by following me on Instagram @finnegan999 and twitter @mikefinnegan999
I like how you disproved another common myth of the weight of iron BBC parts. So many times I've heard "you'll save 80-90 lbs with a set of alum heads". Nope, more like 60. And then I've read advertisements saying the stock iron block was 250+ and you save near 120 lbs by going to alum block. Nope, only 60ish again.
Even though 124 lbs is a lot, it's not the near 200 lbs that a lot would hope for.
Thanks for showing the truth.
the funniest thing about finnegan is that he can be jerry-riggin on roadkill. But on his channel, he is all professional business! Love the 2 shows, keep up the work!
When P.A.W. closed its doors I damn near cried...was one of the last places left where you could get damn near any block and build package you wanted at a decent price
Why do some haters dislike this video mike rules he’s a normal everyday person that helps us people that can’t buy that already built race car keep up the great work love your channel viewer for life
Love all your content brother. I live in SC but was actually born in Valencia, CA and some of the things these Good 'ol boys do out here just truly amazes me sometimes. Good to learn how it is done the right way, yet not professionally at the same time. LOL. Keep up the vids I will support any way I can.
Love your channel I've learned a lot thanks very much keep it coming 💀💯
I have the inside mic’s and outside micrometers along with dial indicators, or let’s just say I’ve blueprinted a number of motors. Dial calipers can flex if you aren’t careful. 😀
I’m old school, I like the cast iron and making what was once big power. Nothing like a 496 Stroker motor
I also have so many Magic Bolt Bins! Perfect when pulling cars from the grave! Keep up the awesome work Mike!
I can certainly vouch for how difficult it is to find big blocks in junkyards nowadays. Even the Vortec 8100s are impossible to find. I was looking for a big block Chevy and ended up calling 30 junkyards before finding one with a 1990 4 bolt 454 that ran for $750. Seemingly, this junkyard incedentaly had every old engine ever too, from Chrysler Industrial Hemis, to Ford Flatheads, to Chrysler Poly 318's, to a 426 Hemi, to an LS7 (!) 454, that the owner was keeping for his own project.
I hope I at least get a chance to see you work on the truck a little after New Year's this year if I might add. anyways I'm a big fan of Finnegan's garage you're so years before so happy holidays. and cheers !!!
Hey Mike, I am a mechanical engineer. I heard you mention something about piston speed, and I got really curious about how rod ratio effects this, so I made a piston speed calculator. You input crank shaft length (center of main journal to center of crankpin journal), connecting rod length (center of rod bearing bore to center of wrist pin bore), and engine rpm of interest. The output is max piston speed and a graph of piston speed vs crank shaft position in degrees. I really hope you read this because I'd love to pass it along to you!
I've Always wanted to see more of pound counting on blocks and parts. Thanks FSM!
Thanks for watching!
Hey Mike! You should be able to lift the arm on the hoist by hand (5:48) to get it to where you want it or take the slack out of the straps instead of standing there and pumping 40 times (Where the video cut lol)..... At least that has worked on all the pickers Ive used over the years.....
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE continue with all the information you are giving us trust me we appreciate it and we love it thanks for your time
Amen to the car gods about that random bin of fasteners. Saved me more times than I can count!
Great show !....I know that the iron BB is around 770lbs ....My small block is around 550lbs ....I had things front end springs and such setup for a BB,(Crank and heads = HEAVY , in an extreme way !) ,so and but after working with someone on their BB I went big small block !
On Monday I went to the hardware store and bought three things. One was zip ties and another was duct tape. That day I used at least 40 zip ties to finish a job. Yesterday I only used one zip tie. Monday was a good day.
Yoooo the magic bolt bin is the story of my life! Saved me so many times lol.
only on finigan's garage would the words "blew his ass gasket out" be herd.
wheelitzr2 I specifically used that phrase in my grandfather's eulogy
Like a Hot Dog down a hallway!
Only on Finnegan's Garage can his biggest fans not spell his name right
lmfao
Finnegan's Garage how about a green hornet update. ?
Hey Finnegan that's an answer Freigburger can find out on Engine Masters
Thank you, thank you thank you! Someone has FINALLY done a weight comparison of these engines!!! It took forever for someone to do but at least I am still vertical to see it. And I'm old-:--) Small block next time>>???? haha
Thanks to roadkill and finnegan's my imperial conversion to metric is coming along just nicely :-D
great video good tips thanks for the refresher course
Hydro Auto Salvage in Hydro, OK has a lot of the 4 bolt main engines. He even has some Cadillac 500s. It's off of I-40. You will have to stop by sometime on your way through!
iconic vehicles as graphics for your shirt for the win
More Green Hornet next time? Or getting the drag boat into the water? Maybe a test and tune with Blasphemi? Maybe a drag race technique episode? How to bang shift, reaction time on the tree, etc?
Those CAS crane scales are from Korea, they are pretty good. A 2 piece setup (separate loadcell & indicator) with Chinese parts would be about $60 + eye bolts & calibration, that can be done with any known weight even water.
I've got a 598 BBC sitting in my garage, cast GM performance 10.2 block with brodix heads and intake if you need to compare one to and all aluminum one.
Yep, This has made me decide to go ahead and go for a 8/71 Alu BBC instead of cheap 5.3LS Twin'd.
I don't plan on making over 800 So a 12 or 14 seems a bit over kill for that. "
But Yeah, Turbos on a big block would make good power but The only reason I was going that was with the LS, Was cheapness. Super is the goal.
Thanks for the comment sir, Have a great day.
damn bud, you get to hang out in a huge garage, with a friend, and get to fooling with engines and gambling. it looks like a good life from here.
cant wait to see the next video!.
Your channel is freaken awesome.. shoutout from Sacramento California
never say expert, expert defined = ex = has been / spurt = drip under pressure. always a professional
Once again a great video as always. Keep them coming. Good job mike 👍🏻
Thanks for watching!
The word virgin means pure and free from any other metals like fillers when recycled so pretty much it's never been stamped or pressed.. had a lot of time in my hands 🤓
At 12:32 she was no longer a Virgin, Jeff was having his way with her. lol
He busted a trump and grabbed it's kittykat
hahha XD didn't even notice this at first
Someone could have fucked that block when it was sitting in Brodix warehouse...
Finnegan you have some beautiful lifting form on that aluminum block I love it lol 👌
Can't wait to see the C10 honking.. one word. AUTOCROSS!!
Aluminum is great until you have a cooling issue and it melts 😁 My old man bought me a 1962 Buick Special project car back when I was getting ready to start driving. It had a 215 aluminum V8 in it. Pretty wild how light the block was.
Chalk for the win. Use it on future episodes. Reminds me a bit of Engineering Explained channel heh.
Hah, nice one. Looks like you scared friend with your Hey. Almost made him jump xD
great video probably my favorite one yet love anything to do with engines.
That so called "deck height " will change if you are planning to finish bore the bearing journals as your associate mentioned.
"I'm hungry, lets get tacos!" Every single time me and my friends work on our cars.
Mike, try out Coosa Valley Performance in Cartersville as your machine shop. Bryan is the best you are going to find in the south!
yeah most of the any size v-8s are tough to find in any brand lol 598 is a lot of displacement the ls is all aluminum except for some early truck motors and they hold up fairly well
Just courious what did you do with the original engine, and the summit racing engine from the elcamino?
Got a little nervous when you put the aluminum block on that chair!!! Another great episode. You done abusing the Monza would love to ls it??? The grind on the combustion chamber is almost pornographic on the aluminum heads.bmp
Finnegan......hats brother. We need hats!
On the cast iron block you gotta account for that one spark plug left in the head, could make all the difference!
damn. didn't notice that.
Finnegan's Garage holy crap you replied, love your videos man! Keep up the awesome work!! Been a follower of roadkill for years now.
That's a sweet engine. I always thought you ordered your pistons first, then the machine shop measures them and fits the bore size to them. I mean, why would you need custom sized pistons to match a bore you can make any size you want?
that is a solid way to do it. but, if you have a really good machinist working on the block and the pistons then you can do it the other way.
124 lbs saved! Great! so you can install a/c and cruise under the hood?
perching a small fortune in Brodix aluminum block on a $5 bar stool--- you've been spending too much time on Roadkill.
83 GT I nearly had a fit when the stool rocked a bit!
well, the engine block only weighed 136 pounds im sure both of them weigh more than that and have sat on it?
More worried about it over balancing and falling 3feet onto the concrete floor.
iron or aluminium will disappear also known as wapourising , if you drop it on the floor ... ... its normal ... if you ask the official 9/11 repport ...
why do you need it??? Its a waste of time and money.
Im dying here.
I kept waiting to see if you were planning on an aluminum crank.
lets see you find some good mopar big block parts to compare, not hemi but wedge,I have a 440 ironhead, 645 hp 620 tq on a budget.
love you channel, proud owner of 68 chevy c10 but also very poor, wish I could have the parts you have, I'd have the coolest truck in school, love the LS swap. that's a dream of mine
@5:00 haha I get it! MBA because he has an engine masters degree XD
Congrats on the the newest Finnegan.
Thanks for watching!
My 79 Monte had a 72 buick 455 out of an electra and complete eng w/internals no torque conv or flywheel - cast iron intake was pushing 500lbs put alumi heads intake and and dropped well over 100lbs.
When running boost to these separate engines. witch one would be able to handle more ? cast or aluminium.
that bar stool is stronger than my last relationship.. 😂😂
I liked your discussion of what the difference in power would be between identical cast iron and aluminum engines. I've been wondering about that for years. I think the cast iron engine would make slightly more power, but not enough to overcome the weight penalty to actually make a car faster.
i think you're right.
Nice informative ep.
Great episode, always great for tech, some facts and a laugh. Down Under fan here. Id swap you a jar of Vegemite for a T?shirt
Hey man you prolly won’t see this but I know you mess with boat engines I had a question that you’ll probably know the answer to. I was wondering if I could put aluminum heads on my cast iron block if the boat uses the lake water to cool and not a closed system. Thanks man love the vids
I was just googled it and can't find an article about it either so I propose that you ask fryburger and dulchech do that on a future episode of engine masters
Any nitrous slant 6 horney comming up soon, from Jakobs green hornet?
Finagin what are your thoughts on mono leafing a truck
Take two engine blocks of the same external dimensions, but different displacement. The block with the greater displacement will weigh less simply because more material has been removed from the bores etc...
loving the show, don't sell out bud.
did I hear Finn' Correctly A 5 inch stroke crank will fit in that 9.8 deck block ???
I don't understand why they can't bore out the iron block as much as the aluminum, if it's sleeved wouldn't it be the same as long as venter point I'd the same distance for both.?
From what I have been told the Buick Big Block was one of the lightest, around the same weight as a small block Chevy from what was said to me.
for those of us less fortunate but able to run aftermarket aluminum heads on a cast iron factory block. Aluminum heads are 17 lbs a pair lighter than cast iron heads by this video. I've had an Aluminum headed BBC since the mid 90's. Seems like it shaved alot more weight off the engine than 17 lbs.
Just hearing about how complicated inches can get.. I'm happy to use center meters.
Aluminum for life!
Also what do you recommend for aluminum big block motors
What should I expect price wise?
Where's a good place to get them?
Block type wouldn't really change power
Cooling hell ya
But not power as long as both are the same
What do you think of the gen V motors? ( basically a ls and big block had a baby)
MyLonewolf25 fuck you
Um depends on which generation of big block mark 1 or mark iv or gen 5 or 6
I am one of those 3 people that want to know all that stuff HAHA Hope to see that motor in a few months/years lol
Chris S Custom make it 4!!!
@@670fastcrf make it 5
Aluminum block for the win!
holy sheittt!!! that ramp truck shirt!!!!!! buying 1
thanks!
Since u gave me a reply im buying 2!!! Lol
Inch for inch an iron engine will make more power, as will an iron head. Though you seldom find an iron head that flows as well as an alloy. Iron holds the heat better and an engine is a heat pump. Plus an alloy engine flexes more.
An alloy head though will soak up some detonation so when you push the limits you can give 1-2 deg timing more. Not recomended for endurance engines!
And then ofcourse many motorsport categories stipulate OEM blocks which are iron. Usually heads are free.
Yeah buddy. Another great vid brotha man. I wish I could come hang with you for a day. I'll be your "intern videographer" for the day 😂😂😝😝. I can dream right ?? 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
thanks but i'm enjoying doing this on my own. :)
Finnegan's Garage I know man. I just want an excuse to meet one of my heros 👍🏻👍🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
I always thought there was a gap between the water pump boss and the deck on a tall deck? The Brodix is flush like a low deck is.
Put that old iron block out at the curb, I will be by to grab it. LOL
I've always heard that all things being equal (flow and such) you'll make more power with iron because it holds the heat in better, but the trade off is more weight compared to an all aluminum block/heads/intake.
Ive heard the same thing. I just haven't met anyone that's actually tested the theory.
It will detonate faster too...
Ford's 460 was the heaviest BB made by the big 3 OEMs, came in around 740 lbs.
TdrSld God that thing needed a lightening made no sense how caddys 500 can weight in less then a 454 lol and that was lighten then the 725 or so pound 429 caddy Ford
460 didn't need 5o be so big
haha just noticed this was uploaded on my birthday!
Just ordered the shirt
thank u!
Hey, I saw a spark plug in one of the iron heads... so if you took that out, it would probably would have been a lot closer. (yeah I know this is two years old.)
Great show like the new helper :0)
What happened to making the lt4's mounts that he said was coming up next after ep23.
What camera do you use? Video is very nice and crisp
I have a question. I have a 1990 BMW E30 and I'm looking to do an engine swap BUT I'm pretty new to working on cars. What would be a good entry level set up? Keep in mind that I'm still learning.
are you still with Motor Trend? I have given up on Motor Trend. Anyways, I really enjoy this show. Very good, and as you say informative.
yes, i am. i still love filming Roadkill every month.
Great video Finn …
Sooooo, how did he check the calipers? You have gage blocks?
I just finished watching the previous episode hoping for this one
Finnegin's Formidable Farrier Force
I remember a time when you'd keep blocks out in the back and piss on them for decades. Which ever survived, that'd be the one worth making a project out of it.
aserta those were the 1500cc bmw engines that they used in F1 cars back in the day.
Why wouldn't calipers be accurate enough for a rough measurement? That's what a machinist uses before he pulls out the big guns.
Thanks for sharing. Do you know the percentage of silica in the aluminum block?
For offroad and dailys i would prefer an iron for the main reason that the iron wont warp as bad as aluminum especially on trails or trafic were you know your going to over heat
Boshears is awesome keep him around