In the non-FE forum, you'll see me whining about what really was my inexperience with the tool, combined with some tricks of the trade to make it go easier.

Looking for opinions on what I ended up with

These are all minimum numbers, as any direction and clock position was bigger, so rather than post everything, I am just posting the numbers I think are significant, anything not listed here was .177  to over .200

Looking at drivers side bank, outward edge toward freeze plugs, I found my thinnest cylinders about 1.5 inches from the deck, all on one bank, pass side was significantly better

5 - 0.126  6 - 0.134  7 - 0.118  8 - 0.134

If adjusted for a "worst case" torque plate hone to 4.09 (I mention that because they likely won't need the full .010 to get there).  I would end up at:

5 - 0.121 6 - 0.129  7 - 0.113  8 - 0.129

It gets thicker as you go deeper, the passenger side of the block is thicker, and all dimensions around the block are thicker than those minimums.

Game plan is max 500 hp engine cammed for 5500-ish peak.  Not a racer, in a 4x4 street truck, but planning a 4032 forged piston as tight in the bore as I can with either a 1.0/1.0/2.0 ring pack, or potentially a 1.5/1.5/3.0 and want to make sure bore is stable

Thoughts?  Specifically on the .113 number?  Also, knowing a sonic checker seems to be voodoo on a round cylinder, would you run 10% less than .113 if we added a WAG factor?

Thanks

I have a used flex plate for a 410/428.  Teeth look good. 50 plus shipping

If you need to know any identifying marks, let me know

Going on Ebay Sunday

Need something that can go .020 or .030, prefer something within driving distance from Omaha, NE.  No special numbers needed, industrial/irrigation OK, just looking for a machinable hyd 428 block.  Post here or PM me, thanks!

I am having a tougher time finding voltage regulators that last for over a year or behave nicely, but I would like to keep my dual alternator belts and stock brackets

Does anyone have an easy swap for an FE that can take the dual groove pulley?

Unfortunately it was by replacing it with a 390 LOL

I will dive in to the 445 in the next few weeks, but wanted to let everyone know how the 390 did.  It was a bench build, leftover parts I had, a roach std/std 360 I bought locally, Brent shared a leftover cam he had, and I went real low budget.

Now:  390 cid, cast 4V piston, .004 below, for 9.45:1.  square decked, line honed, 427 cast crank at .010/.010, CJ big bolt rods resized and mag'd, C8AE-H heads, unported, new guides, cheap Elgin stock valves with back cut and decent multi-angle valve job, Alex's springs, Viton seals, HMV-272 cam, on 109 ICL, headers, unmodified Streemaster and a 750 3310 with a 4 hole 1 inch spacer.

Of course it was a heavily ported solid lifter, 10:1 445, custom cam, Ersons, ported RPM, 1000 Holley, etc. etc etc etc

Is it slower?   OMFG it is WAYYYY slower LOL    NP435, 3.50s, 2nd gear used to light them up, now chirps a little and pulls hard to 5000, 3rd used to break loose and pull hard to stupid speeds, now it just sort of goes faster....4th is sorta snoozy now where before it would scare you in the 4x4 and 4 inch lift very quickly

That being said, it is a very nice combo, and I had a blast just cruising around today, all you hear is a little header noise at acceleration, all the growl behind you, and no more of the noise.  Now I can get to dialing in the rest of the truck to where it used to be

For those following over the years  , the 445 had been apart more than you'd expect and unlike any job I have done before, I ended up starting to just swap parts.  Anyone who gets paid to do this work knows how much of an insult it is to say you are blindly swapping parts, but I got there with the blessed 445 LOL

The only thing I haven't checked or replaced is that I never zyglo'd the Probe pistons, but from day one it has always made this noise and did so with different block, valvetrain and all kinds of different components.  My hunch is I will find a cracked piston at a pin boss, but I hadn't seen anything using just my eyeball in the past.  I won't assemble this 445 again until I definitively find the noise though!!!

This little 390 is sure a sweetheart, going to be hard to get me to pull it back out, but another 200 hp will eventually be welcome again, once I figure out what next with the 445

I am building a mild 390, nothing too fancy, but would like to put a set of CJ valves in the C8AE-H heads. normally a big old nothing-burger, but I am running stock pistons in this mild one

Has anyone ever used a 2.09/1.66 combo with the factory 390 4V pistons?  These are the cast 4 valve relief with no dish like the ones below and marked 390 4V in the pin area.  Example below, but not mine, found on the net. 



Specifically concerned with radial valve clearance going from a 2.03 to a 2.09, not a lot of difference, the exhaust should have plenty of room but the intake side looks pretty tight and I need to make the decision before assembly.

To the guys with some time on a balancer

Assuming a crank/balancer/flywheel that was balanced with a heavier combo, when would lightening things up be too much to keep your existing balance? 

Keep in mind I am not asking about my combo, this is academic... I am rebalancing, but I was playing with numbers and it's a significant difference.  I know balancing is as much art as science, and higher RPM builders often overbalance using a slightly heavier bobweight, but when is overbalancing too much?

Using a 50% balance factor for reciprocating weight,, a $ 427 crank, factory rods and old TRW pistons, we came up with a bob weight for my 427 of 2340 according to my notes.

I am building a little long rod 396 using the same crank, etc, but the combo is a lot lighter with Diamond 4.08 pistons, and with the same 50% factor comes up to a bob weight of 2190 grams, or 150 grams difference

That would equate to about a 56% recip weight balance factor.  Thoughts?

Thoughts?

I need to replace the booster on my F100, its a, 8.75 inch diameter single diaphragm.  I was considering using one of the aftermarket dual diaphragm 7 or 8 inch models to gain a little valve cover room and get a little more stopping power.

Has anyone tried them, any downside?  Will a dual 7 or 8 push harder than a rebuilt original you think?  I assume you need to use a GM master cyl, but I can't see any other downside.