Didn't get much done as I'm waiting on the piston ring grinder to arrive...but I did get all the oil rings and retainers on.

Hey those rod beams look familiar. Did you polish them yourself?

Wow...they do look very similar. But no, I didn't polish them, they came that way with the stress ridges already polished out and ARP bolts.

Didn't get much accomplished today but I did get the ring-grinder delivered. Also found out that the custom cam I have has completely changed the 351W's firing order (thanks to Viper for the reminder:)) I watched the section of the engine building video on piston installation and realized that since the new rods have ARP bolts, I need to pickup some ARP Ultra-Torque lube as none came in the kit. Called all around and no one had it but O'Riley was able to order it in for pickup tomorrow.

Correction: Firing order is the same......I'm learning....slowly I tell you;)

Anyone ever show you the trick on where to place the oil control rings? An old timer building race cars showed me where you position the gaps on the oil rings away from the splash/sling. I had never thought about it but once you see it it'll make complete sense.

that is correct on the ring gaps. Start with the oil control rings.

When the crank rotates it has oil on it. It picks up oil from the pan. It is called windage. When its rotating it slings this oil all over the place. when placing the rings position them so the passenger side ring gaps are on the top side on the pistons(towards the lifter valley). The drivers side needs to be opposite. so oil rings have the gap on the bottom side. Just look at the rotation of the engine when running. picture where the oil is going. you want it away from the gap.

Ah, I got it. Now I see the benefit of a windage tray also. Thanks.

Got 4 of the pistons assembled with rings. So far every single ring has needed the gap widened. That ring grinder works fast! One ring had zero gap and it only took a few turns of the wheel to get to .020. I plan on finishing the other 4 tomorrow and then installing them.

For anyone interested in what type of data a Cam Data Card contains...When I talked to Cam Research, I told them I wanted lots of low end torque with power right away.

Get a coffee can and poor some fresh oil in it. Drop the whole piston In it before you put it in the cylinder. Remember no such thing as too much oil/lube during assembly. Get a oil pump primer. Prime it when you are ready to fire it up.

More documentation and instructions for your reading pleasure....

I finished sizing each of the rings and installed them on the pistons. Then I pulled the caps off each, installed the bearings, cleaned and lubed them up and inserted all the pistons into the block. Each one got a little easier but it was messy with the oil and lube. I decided to use a small oil can pump to coat each piston.

Now for the bad news.....after I got the whole thing together I gave it a few turns and found that at certain points, a cap nut will come in contact with the camshaft...ish! I talked to the machine shop and also Cam Research and found that this is fairly common with the big strokers. The two options are to go to a smaller base-circle cam (which compromises it's strength) or try and shave a bit off the cap nuts to see if I can gain clearance. I'm hoping the latter works.

It's pretty slick to see all those pistons moving up and down.

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More pics...

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For those interested...I've started a thread on sbftech.com regarding cam clearance.

Talked with CHP today. Turns out that this kit requires the use of a small circle base cam. Since I already had a custom cam made, they are going to swap out my connecting rods for H beam rods that have better clearance. Main catch is that I'll have to have everything rebalanced. Not a huge deal but will require complete disassembly.

Talked with CHP and my machine shop again today. We've decided to try and shave down the sides of the connecting rods a bit. From what CHP tells me...this is a very common practice with this kit and also the Cheby 383.

I disassembled the block today and pulled out all the pistons...a depressing project. Cleaned up all the grease and removed the bearings. Boxed them up and will take them up to SpitFire tomorrow and they'll grind them while I wait (hint....use a machine shop near your house...driving to north Denver from Castle Pines sux). If all goes right, once I re-install them they'll clear the cam.

For "fun" I attempted to mock-up the timing chain install. Turns out the cam gear hits the cam thrust plate mounting bolts. A call to CamResearch and Scott let me know that there should have been new bolts in the kit and also that I have to counter sink them into the thrust plate. So I need to go pickup a couple bolts and get that project going.

One more pic...

Hit up the Ace Hardware stainless isle yet again. Took me a few minutes but I was able to find exactly the right bolt. Counter sunk the holes and they fit perfectly. Tested the cam gear and it slid right on...no interference.

Stainless bolts are not particularly strong. The ones you are replacing are grade 8.

A &A-another ace on south broadway has by far the best selection of fastners I have found on this ends of towm. They will have the grade 8 you need.

In my opinion

Cool.....the one in Highlands Ranch that I go to has a huge selection but they didn't have the right thread for this bolt.

Found this...2nd paragraph talks about the clearance issue....but the article is incorrect stating that the rods come clearanced.

http://books.google.com/books?id=dc7z5W ... CCwQ6AEwCA

Took the shop about 10 minutes to grind down each rod and apply some green dye. If they still hit the cam, the dye will let me see exactly where.