I'm gong to try to avoid a long preamble. The short story is that for about two years I accumulated parts to build up my 2.6 more than I already had. Then last year I decided that I really wanted a V8, and no matter how much I put into the V6 it would never be as quick or fun as any V8. As is common with those of us on a budget I decided to do a 4.9. If you've read the 4.9 cam profile thread you'll know that I somehow managed to allow myself to be drawn into the baigger/faster/more mindset and started to try and make this motor into something it really isn't. So now that I have my wits about me and have come back to Earth, I'm going to start actually putting the thing together. That's not to say I'm just gonna slap it together, I still intend to give it some go-fast goodies and try a couple of new things, but overall it'll probably just be a normal 4.9 build. I'm using the 4T60E that came with the engine, as well as the ECM , all of which are out of a 91 DeVille.

Aside from the swap, I have other pretty big plans for the car. I have the interior stripped and am in the deep thought stage of doing a completely custom interior with a hand-fabbed fiberglass dash and console. I have a complete set of instrumentation for Glow-Shift. Yeah, they're pretty inexpensive, but given this isn't a track car, but something I'll only drive in the summer for fun I was willing to compromise a little in order to get the functionality and look that I wanted. mainly, I was looking for 270 degree sweep, and all electric. I didn't want mechanical anything for the gauges. I also wanted some gauges that are a bit less common, and I wanted them to all match. Glow Shift had exactly what I was looking for and the price was decent enough, so I have a 7 gauge panel. I did go a slightly different direction on the tach and speedo, and picked up a nice set of SW gauges from a forum member at a decent price.

Aside from the interior and engine, I'm giving the suspension and brakes a complete once-over as well. I'm sandblasting and powder-coating all the rusty old parts, replacing the calipers, and doing vented rotors on the back with metallic pads, and non-vented with carbon pads on the front. The car had already been lowered, and had Koni's all the way around, and some kind of aftermarket sawy bars. I'm just going to clean those parts up and reuse them as they're all still in great shape.
For the time being, since my progress will be a bit slow I'm just putting pictures on my FB page, you can see the latest here: http://www.facebook.com/alb...3577729&l=7086060033

I'm always open to comments or suggestions. Especially any idea on the dash and console. The only real decision I've made so far with regard to those is that I want to keep them simple. I will be integrating a 7" touch screen with a car pc, probably running Centrafuse for my front end.

Stay tuned

quote Originally posted by Taijiguy: I'm gong to try to avoid a long preamble. The short story is that for about two years I accumulated parts to build up my 2.6 more than I already had. Then last year I decided that I really wanted a V8, and no matter how much I put into the V6 it would never be as quick or fun as any V8. As is common with those of us on a budget I decided to do a 4.9. If you've read the 4.9 cam profile thread you'll know that I somehow managed to allow myself to be drawn into the baigger/faster/more mindset and started to try and make this motor into something it really isn't. So now that I have my wits about me and have come back to Earth, I'm going to start actually putting the thing together. That's not to say I'm just gonna slap it together, I still intend to give it some go-fast goodies and try a couple of new things, but overall it'll probably just be a normal 4.9 build. I'm using the 4T60E that came with the engine, as well as the ECM , all of which are out of a 91 DeVille. Aside from the swap, I have other pretty big plans for the car. I have the interior stripped and am in the deep thought stage of doing a completely custom interior with a hand-fabbed fiberglass dash and console. I have a complete set of instrumentation for Glow-Shift. Yeah, they're pretty inexpensive, but given this isn't a track car, but something I'll only drive in the summer for fun I was willing to compromise a little in order to get the functionality and look that I wanted. mainly, I was looking for 270 degree sweep, and all electric. I didn't want mechanical anything for the gauges. I also wanted some gauges that are a bit less common, and I wanted them to all match. Glow Shift had exactly what I was looking for and the price was decent enough, so I have a 7 gauge panel. I did go a slightly different direction on the tach and speedo, and picked up a nice set of SW gauges from a forum member at a decent price. Aside from the interior and engine, I'm giving the suspension and brakes a complete once-over as well. I'm sandblasting and powder-coating all the rusty old parts, replacing the calipers, and doing vented rotors on the back with metallic pads, and non-vented with carbon pads on the front. The car had already been lowered, and had Koni's all the way around, and some kind of aftermarket sawy bars. I'm just going to clean those parts up and reuse them as they're all still in great shape. For the time being, since my progress will be a bit slow I'm just putting pictures on my FB page, you can see the latest here: http://www.facebook.com/alb...3577729&l=7086060033 I'm always open to comments or suggestions. Especially any idea on the dash and console. The only real decision I've made so far with regard to those is that I want to keep them simple. I will be integrating a 7" touch screen with a car pc, probably running Centrafuse for my front end. Stay tuned

I can do that chip for you when the time comes Taiji....email me at stickpony@gmail.com

Yep, I'ma gonna need it.

quote Originally posted by Taijiguy: Yep, I'ma gonna need it.

so itemize the engine mods for us Taiji... if i remember correctly, you had the .455 lift cam with the longer duration, somewhere around 215 duration at .050 lift, right? you doing an allante intake or any headwork/valvetrain work?

quote Originally posted by stickpony: so itemize the engine mods for us Taiji... if i remember correctly, you had the .455 lift cam with the longer duration, somewhere around 215 duration at .050 lift, right? you doing an allante intake or any headwork/valvetrain work?

Engine is getting a full rebuild.

Delta cam, which has the 215 degree duration, at .498 lift (see rocker specs to see how I got that lift number)
Angus Racing 1.73:1 full roller rockers
Stock valves, but I'll unshroud them
.050" off the heads to give it about 10.5:1 CR
Probably heavier push rods if I need to replace them due to length issues
Ported and gasket matched
Allante Intake
Custom short tube headers, and fully custom true dual exhaust system

That's about it. Think you can build a chip for that?

quote Originally posted by Taijiguy: Engine is getting a full rebuild. Delta cam, which has the 215 degree duration, at .498 lift (see rocker specs to see how I got that lift number) Angus Racing 1.73:1 full roller rockers Stock valves, but I'll unshroud them .050" off the heads to give it about 10.5:1 CR Probably heavier push rods if I need to replace them due to length issues Ported and gasket matched Allante Intake Custom short tube headers, and fully custom true dual exhaust system That's about it. Think you can build a chip for that?

yep...you really should also to the intake valves while you are at it. look at GT's thread (rick stewart). 1.94" sbc intake valves can be used instead of the stock 1.77", definately a substantial flow increase to go along with that higher-lift cam/rocker arm setup. do those rockers have an adjustable pushrod pedestal? if so, then you wont need new pushrods.

Eh, I don't think I'm gong to replace the valves, I think the cam and rockers will probably lift the valve far enough that it would outflow the intake port as it is. Giving it bigger valves probably won't gain me anywhere near the benefits in relation to the cost. New valves, and having the heads machined for the new valves. I just don't see it helping that much. I don't even know if the 1.73 rockers are going to be worth the cost, but I really wanted a full roller setup anyway. If I saw hard numbers comparing the benefits of the valves I would consider it.

And no, they don't make those rockers with the adjustable rod seats any more.

quote Originally posted by Taijiguy: Eh, I don't think I'm gong to replace the valves, I think the cam and rockers will probably lift the valve far enough that it would outflow the intake port as it is. Giving it bigger valves probably won't gain me anywhere near the benefits in relation to the cost. New valves, and having the heads machined for the new valves. I just don't see it helping that much. I don't even know if the 1.73 rockers are going to be worth the cost, but I really wanted a full roller setup anyway. If I saw hard numbers comparing the benefits of the valves I would consider it. And no, they don't make those rockers with the adjustable rod seats any more.

you wont get hard numbers, but in an untuned state, with a stock ecm, rick put down around 280 crank HP and 380 ft lbs of TQ, and that was merely with the drop-in .480 lift/ 205 duration cam from delta, LS1 springs, stock 1.6L ratio rockers, and the larger intake valves. i think if you are going this far, you might as well go the rest of the way. the cost to put larger valves in can be somewhat circumvented by combining it with the port and polish, and roller rocker mounting job...

hehehe, i am not encouraging you to spend more money(ok, maybe i am), it just seems to me you are doing EVERYTHING else to make this thing perform, short of turbo charging it, you might as well go the full distance and just get the larger intake valves, just for posterity's sake


anyways, either way, it will be one hell of a 4.9L