 
     |
| Northstar rebuild: Will style (Page 11/119) |
|
Nashco
|
APR 20, 11:18 PM
|
|
|
Any update? That sounds like a pretty nice weight reduction, would go along well with an aluminum flywheel. I wonder what the stock balance specs are on the northstar. Bryce
88 GT
|
|
|
|
Will
|
APR 21, 08:41 PM
|
|
|
Sorry... I've been swamped with end of semester stuff here... two programming classes and a class and lab on embedded microprocessors and working a semi-real job... Nothing more's going to happen until after the end of May, however. ------------------
'87 Fiero GT: Low, Sleek, Fast, and Loud
'90 Pontiac 6000 SE AWD: None of the AboveLuck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future [This message has been edited by Will (edited 04-21-2004).]
|
|
|
|
Nashco
|
JUN 16, 08:59 PM
|
|
|
So there I was, in the middle of June, and it had been weeks since my last visit to PFF....I wondered to myself, "I wonder how Will's engine is going?" Bryce
88 GT
|
|
|
|
bushroot
|
JUN 16, 09:31 PM
|
|
|
Will, any news on the aluminum flywheel?
|
|
|
|
Will
|
JUN 17, 01:23 PM
|
|
|
Oops... I haven't posted any info here in quite a while have I? http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/037130-2.html
Aluminum flywheel info at the bottom of that page. Bobby's got the potato(e) for now.
What I had thought were early pistons were in fact late pistons. So my rings didn't fit. However, now that I've torn the engine that was in the car down, I have a set of '95 pistons to be coated and used in the reassembly.
When I pulled the engine apart, it had no ridge at the tops of the bores. That's with 100K on the engine an the last 20K pretty brutal. It DID however have a crack all the way down the outer wall of cylinder #1. Went through the aluminum and the iron. I had lots of coolant in the oil, but the engine hadn't been run long enough to do any damage, so everything should be ok. I cleaned everything out and WD40'd it all and it's ready to go back together... except for the pistons.
So once I get those '95 pistons coated I'll put it back together along with the 3.94 transmission and run a 12.5 timeslip just for you guys. No that I have a block with a cracked cylinder... I wonder what Golden Eagle would charge for a custom set of eight sleeves.... ------------------
'87 Fiero GT: Low, Sleek, Fast, and Loud
'90 Pontiac 6000 SE AWD: None of the AboveLuck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future
|
|
|
|
Will
|
JUN 17, 02:51 PM
|
|
|
Some pics of the conrods... Stock rod and Eagle rod:
 Stock rod cracked cap:
 Edge of the H beam rod:
 Piston pin lube hole for full floating pins:
 ------------------
'87 Fiero GT: Low, Sleek, Fast, and Loud
'90 Pontiac 6000 SE AWD: None of the AboveLuck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future
|
|
|
|
Will
|
JUN 17, 03:04 PM
|
|
|
I've been corresponding with Allen Cline, who's an engineer with GM HPVO and has done a lot of work on the Northstar. He's of the opinion that for flat tappet cams are the best for an overhead cam engine. He said that GM OHC engines use roller followers ONLY for gas mileage purposes, and even then they're only worth a fraction of one mpg. ALL GM OHC engines now use the same roller follower setup as the Y2K Northstars: Ecotec, Vortec 4200, High Feature V6...
He said that grinding a roller cam can sometimes lead to having to hollow grind the lobe (curvature of the lobe becomes locally concave rather than convex) which is difficult and expensive. He also mentioned that there's a Kawasaki solid lifter that should fit the Northstar and reduce valvetrain mass. Cast iron bar stock IS available... so I may start looking into cutting cam blanks for the early engines. http://www.geartechnology.com/copage/dura.htm
http://www.dura-bar.com/ ------------------
'87 Fiero GT: Low, Sleek, Fast, and Loud
'90 Pontiac 6000 SE AWD: None of the AboveLuck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future [This message has been edited by Will (edited 06-17-2004).]
|
|
|
|
Nashco
|
AUG 10, 09:31 PM
|
|
|
|
|
Will
|
AUG 10, 09:46 PM
|
|
|
Daggonit Nash, stop replying while I'm typing. The material for the original Northstar cams is Proferal-55. 55 stands for the Rockwell hardness of the finished product. It is a proprietary material that's fairly finicky to cast and comes from just one or two foundrys. I'm talking with people at one of these foundrys to see if they can get me some bar stock. They don't think that a company that specializes in bar stock can handle pro-55 without a lot of oversight. I got my pistons back from Swain last week.
I just spent a while with liquid wrench and a nylond brush getting the last carbon deposits out of my piston ring grooves. The pistons are soaking in WD-40 right now and I shouldn't have any trouble with the last bits of carbon tomorrow.
After I clean out the last bits of carbon, I'm going to wash and dry the pistons, then match weight them and wash them again to get all the chips off. After that I'll assemble the rings and rods and should be able to put the shortblock together either tomorrow afternoon or Thursday afternoon. I'll probably bolt the heads on the same day, although the timing drive and the rest of the front of the engine might take another day or two. After that I have a bunch of wiring to work on, but maybe I can get the car into the garage and get started on re-installing the engine late this weekend. I'm going to be continuing to use the 3.61 transmission until I can get the 3.94 box an ultrasonic treatment. In the mean time, I have several things I'd like to try, including bigger exhaust, a new chip, WRX brake rotors and the Street Dreams knuckles.
------------------
'87 Fiero GT: Low, Sleek, Fast, and Loud
'90 Pontiac 6000 SE AWD: None of the AboveLuck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future
|
|
|
|
jstricker
|
AUG 10, 10:47 PM
|
|
|
On the carbon cleaning on the pistons........Next time soak them overnight in carb cleaner. Take them out, wash them with soap and water, they'll look like they just came from the factory. Honest. John Stricker
| quote | | Originally posted by Will: Daggonit Nash, stop replying while I'm typing. The material for the original Northstar cams is Proferal-55. 55 stands for the Rockwell hardness of the finished product. It is a proprietary material that's fairly finicky to cast and comes from just one or two foundrys. I'm talking with people at one of these foundrys to see if they can get me some bar stock. They don't think that a company that specializes in bar stock can handle pro-55 without a lot of oversight. I got my pistons back from Swain last week.
I just spent a while with liquid wrench and a nylond brush getting the last carbon deposits out of my piston ring grooves. The pistons are soaking in WD-40 right now and I shouldn't have any trouble with the last bits of carbon tomorrow.
After I clean out the last bits of carbon, I'm going to wash and dry the pistons, then match weight them and wash them again to get all the chips off. After that I'll assemble the rings and rods and should be able to put the shortblock together either tomorrow afternoon or Thursday afternoon. I'll probably bolt the heads on the same day, although the timing drive and the rest of the front of the engine might take another day or two. After that I have a bunch of wiring to work on, but maybe I can get the car into the garage and get started on re-installing the engine late this weekend. I'm going to be continuing to use the 3.61 transmission until I can get the 3.94 box an ultrasonic treatment. In the mean time, I have several things I'd like to try, including bigger exhaust, a new chip, WRX brake rotors and the Street Dreams knuckles.
|
|
|
|
|
|