Putting A Little Pep In My 390's Step

[Nightmist66]

This build started out 3 years ago after I had a collapsed hydraulic lifter I was fighting. I just wanted to swap to a slightly larger solid flat tappet and run Drag Week '17. Well, one thing led to the next and the engine is out of the car and bare block. Glad I took it apart. Went to machine shop to have it cleaned up and found a crack on the #4 main. Rats. So, the original block and heads went into storage and gave me a good excuse to build it better. This is part 2 of the rebuild. Couple problems last year on first go around and decided to do it better this time.

This will be pic heavy, grab a beverage and get comfortable.

Basic run down of setup:

D4TE-1 block from a dump truck, dist. bushing from POP installed
2U crank from original 390
Scat 6.490" h beams with ARP 2000 bolts
Custom CP 4.085" flat tops, 8cc reliefs with metric 1.5, 1.5, 3.0mm rings (Napier second)
Custom 4140 cross-bolt main caps
Ishihara Johnson crank scraper
Canton screen windage tray
Schumann HV oil pump, POP billet drive, POP oil pump studs
Milodon 31130 oil pan and matching pickup
Solid roller cam, Crower hippo lifters (Not releasing cam specs)
Jay's timing set with Pioneer steel thrust plate
Blair's street pro port heads w/ 2.200, 1.650" valves, street exhaust port, 53cc chamber
Victor Reinz #3389 head gasket for 12.5:1 compression
Edelbrock RPM intake port matched and plenum mods
Erson rockers with upgraded DSC shafts and custom 7075 stands, ARP studs
Smith Bros. pushrods
NGK race plugs #7 heat range
Factory dist. with Pertronix Ignitor III, light advance springs, quicker curve, Crane steel gear
Scratch built 750 annular currently, probably switch to an 820 BG annular once in car
King main bearings, Federal Mogul rod bearings, Durabond FP-33 cam bearings
Factory 427 dual port oil filter adapter, modified
Pioneer SFI damper with billet aluminum crank spacer, oil slinger
C3AE timing cover
Ford Racing billet steel flywheel
PRW HV water pump, logo removed/ Robert Shaw high flow 160 t-stat
PBF covers going on in car, switching to Moroso Ultra 40 wires, Pertronix digital HP ignition box
Factory starter
Mad Dog 2" headers into some custom merge collectors

[Nightmist66]

Starting with the mirror 105 block, it was cleaned and magged. Extensive oil mods throughout. Went to a local machinist who made some nice custom cross bolt main caps. I told him what I was looking for and he delivered. 4140 steel caps with 2-2 1/2 thou press on each side into block skirt. I told him keep them close to pan rail to not cut as much from the main webbing.








#5 cap modified for studs. Deburred edges later on...


I later added some 3/8"-24 shallow holes for slide hammer removal

[Nightmist66]

Block needed four sleeves, two on each bank. No sleeves were adjacent cylinders, luckily. I unshrouded for the big valves. Block decked and left pistons .003" down. Crank was still at stock journal size. Crank was cleaned, magged, shot peened, ground, and polished. I ordered 10 under bearings for mains and rods and had clearances set. Crank also got some special treatment after it left the machine shop.

Rods and pistons:

[Nightmist66]

Blueprint everything. Here is why you should spotface or mill the bolt hole pads flat on the oil pump. New pump mocked up with studs snugged up:




A couple oil mods to the heads. Radiused feeds, enlarged and blended drainbacks, and tapped feed hole for 12-28 set screws drilled for restrictors.







Heads got some logo removal for a stock look once painted. Rough cut here and finished with some sanding.

[Nightmist66]

Rotating assembly in and checking fitment for crank scraper and windage tray. Crank scraper took some fine tuning to get everything in check. I removed the small scraper from the Canton tray.

[Nightmist66]

The bumpstick. Solid roller. I don't want to give the specs. Lift somewhere between .6-.800", duration between 260-280. Lobe separation is 110, 106 centerline.



Degreed in with Jay's adjustable timing set.

[Nightmist66]

Wrapping up the bottom end...No side seals on rear cap. Filled channels with Motorcraft TA-31 and installed cap. Then, I stuffed more in until it squeezed out the rear. No gaskets on the pan rail, silicone also. Timing cover got silicone, too.




The oil pump got a special treatment also





I had to grind slightly on the vertical casting rib on the back of the timing cover to clear the ARP bolts I installed in the cam gear. Small detail, I drilled and tapped the upper 4 timing cover bolts to 3/8" also. Never understood why they made them smaller.

[Nightmist66]

Crower HIPPO lifters and Victor 3389 head gaskets installed.

[Nightmist66]

This step was obviously performed before the last post. Intake got some work. Pushrod holes opened and elongated. Port matching to heads and plenum modification. Plenum mods are covered, sorry. Also removed all Edelbrock logos, part#, and casting lumps on top of ports.




After this step, I went to Harbor Freight and bought a cheap needle scaler. I rounded the ends of the needles and re-textured the whole intake, so it loos like a solid clean casting.

[Nightmist66]

While the block was bare this time, I decided to tap for screw-in core plugs. I got these from DSC. .650" thick. I used two taps, one cut about a quarter inch shorter for a "bottoming" tap.

[falcongeorge]

The bumpstick. Solid roller. I don't want to give the specs. Lift somewhere between .6-.800", duration between 260-280. Lobe separation is 110, 106 centerline.

at .050??!! GADZOOKS!

[Nightmist66]

Rockers are a new set of Erson's. I used DSC heavy duty shafts. Upgraded thread inserts in the head. I didn't like the geometry with the stock stands. They needed to be raised .030" to be perfect. Sweep came in at just under .050". I also didn't care for the sloppy bolt holes in the Erson stands. I had the guy who made the main caps whip up some new stands. Material is 7075 aluminum. .030" taller, flat base( I clearanced for head studs), and finish reamed the holes to 3/8". It is as precise a fit as you can get. I install the rockers with the studs already in the stands, and drop in place and carefully start them all. The rocker studs are ARP. I also got new ones and had the oiling one necked down. I left the shoulder low, so it registers in the top of the stand and about halfway through the shaft, so it still oils fine. I also gave a generous chamfer to the bottom of the oil feed hole in the stand.






The adjuster screws are another nit pick of mine. I compared the ball end screw adjusters from Erson, Harland Sharp, and Crane. The Harland Sharps are the nicest, IMO. the ball has a nice radius and is the closest dimensionally to the 3/8" size. You can feel the difference moving them in the pushrods cup. Harland Sharp has a precision fit. Picture is HS left, Crane right:

[Nightmist66]

I will have to find a pic of the rockers and pushrods, finish installed

[Nightmist66]

The bumpstick. Solid roller. I don't want to give the specs. Lift somewhere between .6-.800", duration between 260-280. Lobe separation is 110, 106 centerline.

at .050??!! GADZOOKS!

I wouldn't run something that small, advertised. 

[jayb]

Beautiful work Jared, your attention to detail really shows.  I'm sure it will all pay off with a very strong engine.  Do you plan to dyno this one?  Street and strip, or strip only?