Machining

    My parts just got back from the machine shop, lets look at the bill...

-  Supply/install guides                      115.00
-  Surface to spec                                 45.00
-  Grind valves/3angle                        115.00
-  Deck block to spec                          115.00
-  Bore and fit pistons                         110.00
-  Install pistons                                    30.00
-  Resize rods                                      60.00

Total                                                   590.00


Now our parts for the longblock were               647.00
Machining the longblock                                     590.00
Custom camshaft                                               199.00

Now if you don't have a bunch of goodies
built up like I do (paint, assembly, lube,
plastiguage, etc.) you've probly spent                 50.00

Total long block to date                                     1486.00

It's time to assemble...starting tonight

Zag

dude, this is a cool thread.  i have heard people talk about doing write ups like this but it never gets done.  this is sweet, and going into the favorites folder.

stu

     OK while you're waiting for me to get off work and start assembling you need to do some work.
- Dry assemble the crank in the block and plastiguage
 to check clearances
- Dry check thrust clearance
- Install rods and plastiguage to check clearances

In short re-check all the clearances we checked as we were taking it apart.

Go over all the parts you have cleaned, painted and sorted, make sure they are ready to go back together.

    A short note on painting colors......

It's all a matter of personal taste, but....
    I prefer light colors overall, makes it easier to spot leaks and the engine bay isn't such a dark hole when you are trying to work on it.

    This engine will be Yellow block and head, Black pan and valve cover. Cleaned up aluminum intake and I haven't bought a header yet so I don't know what color there. Should look cool and be easy to work on.

    The one clearance we have not talked about is piston ring end gap, but we will cover that as we assemble the engine and I can take some pics.

Zag

Sno_falls
    I agree in this day and age street driven vehicles need to keep their FI to stay legal, so going past what this build up is intended to do you would have to find ways to reprogram (I'm checking in to having custom ECU's built right now)...no agruement.
    But for strictly off road use at the higher power levels carb's have their place too....
    If I was going all out for max power (150-160hp) I would pitch the FI and go to Weber DCOE's, but that would not be a street driven vehicles.
    Every engine is a series of compromises,EFI and Carb's both have their place depending on the application and what you are willing to live with.

Good point to bring up though

Zag

zag,

Keeping the EFI isnt to stay legal, it's that it will function at wierd angles. A carb bowl may run outta fuel when it's pitched sideways 45 degrees (or rearward 80 degrees). When you have your rig in those sorta angles you don't wanna hear a cough/sputter!

     I agree that the FI has it's advantages. I can't ever imagine wanting to be in any ground bound vehicle at those angles.
    By the way though, my airplane banks at over 60 degrees and climbs out at some preety vicious angles and I don't have any carb problems.
    This is one of those wonderful cases where I think we are both right FI and carbs have their place.

    You point out some good advantages though.

Thanks

Zag

Watch the Moab videos , would suck to sputer and fall off the edge or start rolling backwards.

That where the 4X4 experience you guys have greatly outweighs mine.
    Remember what I keep saying "every engine is a compromise". I can't imagine those angles on the ground.
    But your experience here makes your choices different than mine.

Good points and comments though

Zag

Alright Gang

    We have all our parts back, everything is cleaned, checked, catolouged and painted ready to assemble.
    You work diligently last night like I did and re-checked all your clearances dry and it all turned out

                        "on the money"

    You still have to check ring end gap, but we will have those pics this afternoon.

    So start assembling, reverse all the previous proceedures and follow your manual.

                    "Key points to remember"

- Be careful, don't rush...more mistakes happen when
 you rush and don't double check.

-  Soak everything liberally in pre-lube, smokes like
  crazy when you start up but who cares, it protects all
  your hard work.

-  Soak the piston, ring, rod assemblies in oil before you
  install, I leave them in a can of oil about 10 min.

- Torque wrench on everything and be exact.

    You're almost there, just think a little more work and you will have built your first custom engine.

    This afternoon...checking those ring end gaps

Zag

I've never had my rig too extreme for long periods (30 roll, 50 pitch) but I've seen samurais starve out at those angles (I think with the stock carb and perhpas the weber is better?).

It isn't just the carb either. oil pickup can be an issue. Every full aerobatic aircraft I've seen had EFI and usually some external oil tank (with revolving pickup). Thankfully 4x4 rigs won't need to be running when they are inverted

Actually
    Until recently most aerobatic aircraft were carburated. You are right though in that virtually all serious aerobats have a dry sump oil system.
    That said I'll repeat what I said on the IFS thread...

" I've done 9 sec in a drag car, 185mph road racing, seen the dark side of 50,000 feet and had the privledge of back seat over the speed of sound. Done all kinds of aerobatics.....but after looking at the videos Mythose and you recommended...You guys are nuts , those angles scared **** outta me"

    I bow to your experience on this one

Thanks

Zag

I am also a fan of EFI, but I will also say that the stock zuk carb setup is really good (at least on my rig).

I have been on the same steep obstacles in Moab, where sometimes only your front or rear tires have any weight on them and the stock carb has not missed a beat.

If I didn't know better by looking under the hood I would have thought it was FI.

zag et al ...
didn't mean for the carb vs efi to hijak ...  

This is an awesome thread!!! and probably should offline the fuel delivery discussion.

Snofalls
    I don't think anyone has hijacked this thread. This is the kind of discussion I was hoping we would get so that all possible information could be out there for people that are interested. Besides I don't know everything as I admitted after watching those videos.

    My goal here is to show to the best of my ability a real world/real cost engine build and how to get a little more performance at a tolerable cost and get info out there on other options.

    I want to thank everyone that has contributed to this thread and the onformation they have provided.
Open frank discussion is a great teacher, **** even I have learned something new and my wife thought that was impossible.

Keep it coming

Thanks

Zag

More pics

     Ok while we are waiting for me to get off my duff and take some pictures lets review.

- We have gone through a complete tear down of your
  run of the mill 1.6/8v, with all the tips I have to offer
  to make it easy.
- We have covered measuring and inspection
- We have ordered and gotten our parts based on our
  measuring.
- Hard parts have gone out and been machined to spec.
- We have matched and cleaned up the ports.

    Short of installing the pistons (cause I haven't taken the pics for ring end gap yet) you have custom built a pretty bullet proof Suzuki 1.6/8v.

    The little engine you and I have built should go just as long as a factory engine plus have a titch more power from the increased compression/port matching, clean up and is superior to a production line overhaul because all parts are hand fitted and matched, no short cuts.

    For more power we have discussed....

- On vehicle exhaust design and selection.
- Header selection for our application.
- Air Filter improvements.
- Camshaft selection.
- Improved the intake.

    So whats left...........Ignition system

    For our level of build up there is not alot to do to make any big gains, but there is a lot to do wrong

1) Get good plug wires, not cheap crap (I like NGK wires)
2) Get good plugs, not generic junk
   (Again I vote for NGK)
3) Set everything to factory spec then power tune it.
   (Set timing by driving)

-  The only place where you can make some minor
  improvement here is on the coil.
        The more spark the better. There are some good aftermarket coils out there, but I prefer a stock GM HEI coil from any of the remote applications (S-10 etc.). Loads of spark, cheap to buy.

    So what have we spent.....

- Parts for rebuild        647.00
- Machining                  590.00
- Performance cam      199.00
- Header*                   179.00 est (*haven't bought yet)
- K&N Cone airfilter       50.00
- GM HEI coil                  15.00 (used)
- Shop supplies             50.00 (plastiguage, paint etc)

Total (engine only)      1730.00  

- On vehicle exhaust     200.00

Total project               1930.00

    Now I haven't counted tune up stuff etc as I feel it is regular maintaince.

    Now what have we got....
- A great little engine that will last like a new one.
- Some real world power gains ie:

 Stock horse power                               80hp
 c/r increase, port work                           2hp
 Header and exhaust improvements       7hp  
 Airfilter and intake improvements           2hp
 Camshaft                                                3hp

 Total hp, inc improvements (est.)          94hp  

    Now bear in mind individual improvements will not deliver the same results, if you do the exhaust but not the intake you will not get as much of a gain.

Remember....Think of the engine as a system

  So now it's your turn....was this build up a good deal?

- A freshly rebuilt custom engine
- 17.5% more horsepower
- Call it $2000.00 inc the on vehicle exhaust

    Has the information you've gotten been helpful?
    What did I miss?
    What do you think I did wrong?

PLEASE...questions, comments, feed back

Thanks

Zag