I'm planning on getting one of fieroguru's flywheels as soon as he can get me one made. I'm cutting the bell housing and making a pad for mounting the starter in the correct position for the LS4, yes.
Well, doublec4 is doing another set of headlights, so I've got dibs on a pair of those. Will be nice to replace the old pop-ups with a decent set of projectors that have a decent fit with the Fiero's body lines.
Steel bell-housing for safety? Seriously if that blew up it would kill you. Or send it out for testing to 9000 rpms, as it is machined from a single piece of aluminum I would guess it will be fine, but it is not something I would want to gamble with either.
I am still undecided on the SFI 1.1 certification. It will be around $1000-1500 to get it certified assuming it passes on the first try. And any design change requires re-certification, so any additional application beyond the LS4 (60 degree V6, N*, 3800) would require another $1000 - 1500 each to be certified as well. Then there is the every 2 year requirement for re-certification to make sure components in the mfg of the flywheel haven't changed... so the SFI certification costs never end.
When the likely market is 10 flywheels every 2 years... it becomes a very significant cost and I am still debating if it is worth it. Once I get settled into the new place (which I haven't found yet), I might just build a test fixture and do the test myself for proof of concept.
My plan was get the flywheels certified for 7500 rpm, but that does not address the flywheel components and normally clutches are the components that frag, not the flywheels (unless its an old cast iron one).
FWIW, the SFI 1.1 rotational integrity test spins the flywheel at 150% of rated speed for 1 continuous hour. So to be rated at 7500 rpm, it will need to maintain 11,250 rpm for 1 hr w/o coming apart. The ring gear is likely the weakest link. It is press fit with a welded seam and positioned at the extreme OD of the flywheel, so it will see the highest loading. It will also be held in place with 3 tabs that are welded to the ring gear and bolted to the flywheel.
Back in my drag racing days they made scatter shields for exploding flywheels. That was with the engine in front. I would think that with the flywheel being where it is in our transverse cars it would be even more prudent to install one. Especially with the rpms you guys are talking about.
I am still undecided on the SFI 1.1 certification. It will be around $1000-1500 to get it certified assuming it passes on the first try. And any design change requires re-certification, so any additional application beyond the LS4 (60 degree V6, N*, 3800) would require another $1000 - 1500 each to be certified as well. Then there is the every 2 year requirement for re-certification to make sure components in the mfg of the flywheel haven't changed... so the SFI certification costs never end.
Getting one certified and then just plan on letting the certification expire sounds like a potential winner to me.
FWIW, the SFI 1.1 rotational integrity test spins the flywheel at 150% of rated speed for 1 continuous hour. So to be rated at 7500 rpm, it will need to maintain 11,250 rpm for 1 hr w/o coming apart. The ring gear is likely the weakest link. It is press fit with a welded seam and positioned at the extreme OD of the flywheel, so it will see the highest loading. It will also be held in place with 3 tabs that are welded to the ring gear and bolted to the flywheel.
That's kinda silly... It doesn't matter how long it spins--that's only ONE stress cycle. They could spin it for ten seconds and accomplish the same result. Spinning up and back down repeatedly is what will add stress cycles to the unit.
Unless you build the clutch, it isn't your responsibility to certify it
is it the light mess'n with me, or are those iron heads???
------------------ "I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
you could make your own thread chaser out of an old bolt; take a dremel-type tool and the finest (thinnest) steel cut off disc you can get and put 3 or 4 longitudinal slots in the threads of the bolt. Be fussy; you don't want burrs where you cut, so go very slowly as you move up the threads. You may have to touch it up with a fine needle file to ensure no burrs. Done it with lots of bolts for different purposes. The bolts you are talking about are 'sort of' coarse thread so that helps; it is easier to get in between the individual threads if you have to clean anything up with a file. Then run it down with oil and then clean out the holes with brake cleaner and compressed air; obviously you want to be sure you get any chips!!!! Turning your engine over can help when you do it; so the bolt holes are open to gravity. It can be surprising (a really lousy surprise) how chips and crap can resist compressed air in a blind hole.... Just an idea for you. GP
[This message has been edited by 85-308 (edited 06-28-2015).]
you could make your own thread chaser out of an old bolt; take a dremel-type tool and the finest (thinnest) steel cut off disc you can get and put 3 or 4 longitudinal slots in the threads of the bolt. Be fussy; you don't want burrs where you cut, so go very slowly as you move up the threads. You may have to touch it up with a fine needle file to ensure no burrs. Done it with lots of bolts for different purposes. The bolts you are talking about are 'sort of' coarse thread so that helps; it is easier to get in between the individual threads if you have to clean anything up with a file. Then run it down with oil and then clean out the holes with brake cleaner and compressed air; obviously you want to be sure you get any chips!!!! Turning your engine over can help when you do it; so the bolt holes are open to gravity. It can be surprising (a really lousy surprise) how chips and crap can resist compressed air in a blind hole.... Just an idea for you. GP
Yeah, most people use an old bolt and grind two sides flat, or cut a few slots. I don't have a usable bench with a vise at the moment, so I just opted to fill the holes with brake clean, let it soak for a while, turned the block to drain most of it out, then used compressed air to blow the rest out and get them dried. Then I ran an unmodified bolt down each hole a few times, to clean out anything left sticking. The bolts all turned pretty freely in the threads after that, so I think I got it good enough.
Definitely the poor lighting. I don't think iron heads even exist for the Gen III or newer engines.
Some of the early gen III truck heads are iron.
------------------ "I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
Originally posted by ericjon262: Some of the early gen III truck heads are iron.
Ah. Apparently only 2000 model year 2500 trucks with 6.0 had them. Never even heard of/seen them before, but managed to actually find a picture of iron cathedral port heads.
No way would I be putting those things on an LS4. The heads would weigh more than the block at that point.
Ah. Apparently only 2000 model year 2500 trucks with 6.0 had them. Never even heard of/seen them before, but managed to actually find a picture of iron cathedral port heads.
No way would I be putting those things on an LS4. The heads would weigh more than the block at that point.
Hopefully you can get it all put back together, but I am expecting to see some videos in the future of the beast. I am very curious on what kind of HP/Torque it has. Plus a quarter mile time. Keep up the good work!
Well, Carillo was too expensive, and it would have been about $350 per rod. I managed to find a set of Lunati forged I-beams in the right length, but they are for an 0.927" pin, so I'm going to have to get the piston ends bored out and re-bushed for the 0.945" pins the pistons need. They're close to stock rod weight, and with the bore and rebalancing, should lose a few grams each. I'm having trouble finding replacement bushing options for stock rods though. Hopefully I can get them bored and balanced in the next couple weeks, so I can figure out the final bob weight, and get Callies to go ahead and do the finish balance on the crank too, so I won't have to do as much work on it when I finally get it.
It's the stock diameter, yeah. The Wiseco pistons I went with are designed as "drop-in" replacements to up the compression on stock 4.8/5.3 truck motors. 0.927 is the other common size for most race pistons/rods that are designed for nitrous/boost applications, and typically pistons with the smaller diameter pins have a lower compression height as well.
