Block is finished and hot tanked. Next will be freeze plugs and then primer application.

In the meantime figuring alternating masses to see where the mass error is in relation to the balancing.

Pistons on the scale, then all the pins. Just an average for the piston pin locks. Also just an average for the piston rings.

Some views of that part of work


Top rings. Barrel face chrome. The "N" is the marking which should be upwards.

2nd rings are napier rings with a scraper hook. For better oil control in the low rpm application. The top ring is upside down. The dimple has to be "up"

 

Balancing error will be 0.6 % and if we cut down the lower piston skirt the error will be 0.4%. That means instead of accounting for 50% of the alternating masses (pistons, pins, locks, rings and small end of rod) I will have a 49.6% balancing job. This will in no way affect the overall balancing. Depending on the engine builder we have seen figures from 40 to 70 % for the alternating masses. When cutting the skirts we'll at the same time weight match the pistons to 0.5 grams.

Then as if my old engine would become jealous - it has developed a lifter tick. I can't believe that! Bugger!

If time permits I'll see if I can make a nice video with proper sound. Time to do some video taping and using my H2 stereo recorder to see if we can get a decent video with proper sound.

 

After pressing (actually hammering - medium plastic hammer) the cam bearings into the bores and setting the freeze plugs, the block is ready for paint. Last night applied the primer and a glossy black paint.

 

Filing the rings. Easy at the machine shop with an electrical grinding wheel and possibility to advance 1/100 mm. (less than 1/1000")

Once the machine is calibrated one can use the dial indicator and an advance screw to file fit the rings.



As it is my very first set of rings that I file-fit I had some 3/100 mm difference. Hence my rings are now kind of individualized for the respective bores. The 2nd ring should have 0.05 mm more gap than the top ring.




Aluminium ring to set the ring depth for measuring - works on several engine types.

 

And if somebody was wondering about the metric system...

... a little lecture on the metrics and why we Europeans think it's beautiful.


The "METER" is the base length and compares roughly to 1 yard.
Everything fits into the next measurement usually by a factor of 10. I'll give you the measurements that are actually used. Despite there being these intermediates nobody uses them in daily life. We use "CENTIMETERS", "METERS", "MILLIMETERS", "KILOMETERS". (not in any order!)

Volumes we use also fit into the length's therefore you can simply "cube" them and get an equivalent volume.
I've put the meter in the middle. Above it is larger, below smaller measurements. The steps are usually x10 or /10 up and down.

1 km = 1000 m = kilometer now that is our equivalent to the mile. (we use that for large distances and speed limits.)
1 hm = 100 m = hectometer obviously 10x more (nobody uses that either!)
1 dam = 10 m = decameter roughly 30+ feet (nobody uses that!)

1 m = meter which is 1.09361 yard (the equivalent of using feet for shorter distances)

1 dm = 0.1 m = decimeter which is 1/10 of a meter needs a bit more than 3 dm for one foot. (nobody uses that)
1 cm = 0.01 m = centimeter which is 1/100 of a meter and roughly the width of a large hand pinky or a slender hand index finger.
1 mm = 0.001 m = millimeter which is 1/1000 of a meter (the cardboard of a corn flakes box is about 0.5 mm, take it double for roughly 1 mm)
The next step is no longer /10 but 10(-3) to 10(-6).
1 my = 0.000001 m = micrometer which is 1/1000000 of a meter (one millionth) or as we reference it 1/1000 of a millimeter. The tool to measure is a micrometer. We are down to the thickness of a fine hair.
And then would follow nanometer and such which we cannot usually measure in a normal household.

The beauty of it is that it also fits into volumes and volumes into known liquids and those into known masses.

1 m2 = obviously 1 square meter (roughly 9 sqft)
1 m3 = 1 cubic meter

1 dm3 = 1 decimeter cubed

1 cm3 = 1 centimeter cubed which is 1 ccm (seen that somewhere for engines?)

Now: 1 dm has 10 centimeters, we square it and get 100 cm2 now we multiply by the third axis x10 and get 1000 cm3 or (1000 ccm) which is 1 liter (volume) a bit more than a "quart"

We don't use the dm (decimeter) but when doing the same with 1 m we get 1x1x1 = 1 m3 (cubic meter) and fill it with water at sea level and AFAIK 20 °C and the mass is 1 ton.
Let's use that dm for once and see how many fit into that cube... So 1 m = 10 dm. That means that 10x10x10 = 1000 dm3. And from the previous we know that 1 dm3 is 1 liter. Therefore 1 m3 contains 1000 liters.

Beautiful isn't it.?

 

Building the short block. Some things to check beforehand.


Block on the stand. Parts layout to check if all is complete.

Quickly put the heads on to check the ARP bolts.

New bolts are shortly longer than OEM. Don't want surprises later on.

 

Coming along nicely! Dont you just love our measuring system? Lol

 

DonL - oh, yes. Maybe a tad complicated but has been working for centuries.

 

Rings on the pistons, pistons in the block. Now the camshaft and drive, but probably only tomorrow.


And then comes all the doubts...
... have I put all the rings in the correct side up?

 

Camshaft is in. 30 min. and I have nearly a short block. Boss of the machine shop had to fumble with a clutch and crankshaft which gave me some more time and I fitted the camshaft, balance shaft drive and all the retainers as well. All torqued to specs, ready to check the timing.