Valve relief question

[Tommy-T]

Cool!

Post some pics of what you find. I'm curious now!

[Heo]

Did you have the valve att TDC when you punched?

[ksquared]

You mean the piston? Yep TDC.

[FErocious]

  The method I have learned is to first have a good degree wheel mounted to the crankshaft and then indicate TDC for the cylinder/piston being tested. Rotate the crankshaft to 10 degrees BTDC and lightly punch the exhaust side. Continuing to the intake side, rotate the crankshaft to 10 degrees ATDC, and lightly punch the intake side. This is the point at which the valves are generally at their closest point to the piston. Then, simply use these marks as center-points and scribe out the valve OD.

  Another thing to check , in some applications,  is that the valve relief is cut at the same angle as the valve angle. Sometimes the relief needs to be corrected.

[FErocious]

  I had another look at the poster's piston, and I agree with Tom Gahman. The pierce points look to be on the wrong side of the piston centerline?

  Edit:   I performed a quick and dirty mockup with my own piston and head here and it appears that all is not well.  Man, those TRW's had an odd relief placement though, didn't they? It was quite similar on my FelPro 2291's. I did not have to relieve much in my case as there was a mile of room to the valves vertically.  If I remember correctly, only the exhaust side needed to be moved a bit.

[ksquared]

Well I guess I earned the Dumb Ass award.  I had the pistons in the block upside down. I can't believe I did that. Tom Gahman you were right. I won't make that mistake again (this month). And yes when I flipped the piston, I reversed the rods. Things now look a little better and now I can get down to checking real valve relief. Once that's done, it's clean up and assembly time. Sorry to waste everyone's time. FWIW I measured the valve centers on the FElony heads at 2.2125" and the factory CJ's at 2.1825. Only .030 difference. The iron heads weigh 97.5lbs and the FElony heads are 56lbs for the pair. With all of the aluminum I'm using, I've saved 129lbs on the long block. If anyone is interested, I have a spreadsheet of stock vs diet parts weights.

[blykins]

Ha, I just thought the picture was taken upside down. 

[My427stang]

So, I have built a bunch of FEs but still say the same thing with each piston.  "Eyes right" 

As a military guy, it's a term you use when you are doing a military parade, the formation commander says "eyes right", everyone looks at the podium and at the same time, the commander salutes the senior officiating.

The reason this rambling makes sense, is if you install your piston with it looking like "eyes" on top, and verify the rod chamfer on the right as you slip it down the hole, you can't mess up.  Needless to say the valve relief location is apparent, but it also helps you make sure you didn't accidentally put a rod on backwards.

Now, I don't bark it out loud like I used to in formation, but as a habit, I think it to myself with every piston as I hang the rods and double check as I stab the piston

[cjshaker]

Well I guess I earned the Dumb Ass award.  I had the pistons in the block upside down. I can't believe I did that.

If we started a "brain fart" thread, believe me, there would be a thousand stories along side yours..lol
Mike Finnegan JUST put out his latest Finnegans Garage video yesterday. He proceeded to put an expensive, multi-piece clutch on an engine he's got for his C10 truck. He gets it entirely done before his cameraman asks him how long it's going to take to realize his mistake. It took about 5 seconds for him to realize he forgot to put the mid-plate in. Back apart it came

[gdaddy01]

yes , I agree with that , I say the only way not to make a mistake , is don't do anything . thanks to all for posting . still learning .

[Barry_R]

Valve spacing is identical to Edelbrock.
Not sure what up - but that centerline position looks way off somehow

[ksquared]

I think I have a way to remember which way the pistons go in...

[gt350hr]

   ksquared,
      You aren't the first nor will you be the last to do that. Some real losers RAN the engine with the pistons in that way. Fine if you have a 4.6 or 5.4 Modular Ford V8 because that IS the valve pocket location on them.
    The L2245 pistons had a problem with exhaust valve clearance forever. Depth was OK but they "clipped" the outside edge ( toward the cylinder wall) and I had to correct them when I went to a cam with 246*s @ .050.
    Randy

[FElony]

..... If anyone is interested, I have a spreadsheet of stock vs diet parts weights.

I'm interested. Glad you got your situation figured out.   

[machoneman]

Hey, it can happen! Long ago, my bro told me a pal had assembled his SBC but could not turn it over. Told him to have the pal take off the heads to see if it turned. Sure enough, it did. On first Gen, SBC's, the valves were e-ii-ee-ii-e. Told to look at the pistons, he had  swapped a few pistons onto the wrong rods and didn't have vlave clearance with his new hot cam. Switched around, all was fine.