K-Code engine rebuild done - 330HP

Stephan_old · October 8, 2009 at 10:06 PM

Richmond Engines ( http://www.richmondengines.com ) just finished my K motor, the stock Rods were mismatched but in decent overall shape, so I kept them but decided not to run them, went with a eagle I-beam rod and Mahle pistons, about 300 grams lighter then stock per hole...

The heads had been worked in the 70's when the engine was last rebuilt, but they had done a pretty bad job by todays standards. Fortunately the guys at Richmond Engines were able to fix most of the damage.

For the cam we went with Comp Cams nostalgic K-Code grind, lunati solid lifters with offset oil hole, true roller rockers for heat reduction, and for now, until I can get the stock distributor looked at, I am running a MSD ready to run, distributor. The stock dist with pertronix made 260hp peak, plotting the graphs over each other, pertronix starts to die around 5000rpm.

The motor makes peak power at over 6000 rpm but has a nice flat torque band from about 3500 rpm and up... ( approx 300ftlbs )

At the sacrifice of some power, we elected to go 9.5:1 compression due to the poor quality of gasoline these days... had we run some dome top pistons at around 11:1 it would have been a beast...

Peak power was 330hp in the 6000-6400rpm range...

The K-code autolite 4100 made 318HP, and a new holley 600 made 330HP, we are sending CFM/AF ratio charts to a holley shop to rebuild my 66 shelby 715 holley for the car...

If anyone wants to know more, shoot me a message, I will post some video/audio once the engine is in the car with the somewhat incorrect Arvinode exhaust...

Edited by - Stephan on 10/08/2009 22:10:12

Stephan_old · October 15, 2009 at 1:03 PM

Some Pics

Gonna be cheap and keep the old chrome valve covers for a bit then buy the sand cast open letter cobra ones.

[Blocked Image: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_gBuGyULNXIE/Stdh7oGuRkI/AAAAAAAABEM/h3b-AxO4eyc/s640/004.JPG]

[Blocked Image: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_gBuGyULNXIE/Stdh775sNSI/AAAAAAAABEQ/iP3kfpzaqLE/s640/005.JPG]

Need a battery... and a proper airfilter

[Blocked Image: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_gBuGyULNXIE/Stdh8K8-7vI/AAAAAAAABEU/aLpxFaSvxx8/s640/008.JPG]

[Blocked Image: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_gBuGyULNXIE/Stdh7U2LxpI/AAAAAAAABEI/8GByENYQzr0/s640/002.JPG]

Edited by - Stephan on 10/15/2009 13:05:15

dunc289_old · October 15, 2009 at 1:47 PM

318 HP with a "flat top" 4100 autolite is very respectable, considering 9.5 to 1, and just so we know, was the header system stock or tri-y's, or??? very nice pic's, get an action video if you can...<img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

66gtk · October 15, 2009 at 3:27 PM

What kind of intake manifold are you using? Are you planning to Chassis dyno it as well?

Stephan_old · October 15, 2009 at 3:51 PM

The engine dyno had 1 3/4" headers... so I guess I might encounter some losses with the stock exhaust... I am just not that keen on headers at this point in my life.

I dont think I will chassis dyno it, but I might very well 1/4 mile it at the nostalgic drags

dunc289_old · October 15, 2009 at 10:29 PM

Intake looks like the Cobra/Shelby/Ford aluminum hi rise......<img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Stephan_old · October 15, 2009 at 10:59 PM

Ya when I bought the car it had tri-y headers, shelby intake, and the shelby holley 715 carb installed, with the ford cast intake, autolite 4100 k carb, and cast exhaust headers in a box in the trunk.

dunc289_old · October 16, 2009 at 9:21 AM

It is always interesting to ponder the what if's in power vs configuration. The set up making 330 hp had shelby parts, i.e., aluminum hi rise intake, tri-y's, big Holly... put the Autolite 4100 on with the rest of the Shelby bits, and you get his 318 hp. without the tri-y's and intake, you are very close to hipo configuration, and probably making the numbers advertised, 271 hp, sounds attainable, and the benchmark. The heads are the key... how are the castings different from hipo?<img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Stephan_old · October 17, 2009 at 4:07 PM

Heads are K-Code with pocket porting, chevy valves, and a good valve grind ( builder claims 20HP is gained or lost in a bad valve job )

dunc289_old · October 18, 2009 at 10:08 AM

That may be a most reveiling tip..... I must check into that, thanks...<img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Stephan_old · October 18, 2009 at 12:41 PM

http://www.hensonracingengines.com/Cylinder_Heads_Valve_Job.html

Gives a decent explanation. So much so that I see several sites have plagerized this text, and I am not really sure who originally wrote it lol

SixT5HiPo · October 19, 2009 at 12:24 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

http://www.hensonracingengines.com/Cylinder_Heads_Valve_Job.html

...I see several sites have plagerized this text, and I am not really sure who originally wrote it...<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana" size=2 id=quote>

Seems that happens a lot on the Internet.

BMaloof_old · October 28, 2009 at 8:38 AM

That article is just enough to get a novice in trouble. There is simply just not really any usable info for it to be of any use. There is much more that just 60/45/30 seats, and different heads require different valve jobs. The article is kind of generic.

I will add this though, that air will not stay on any surface past a 15* angle. That is the difference between the 60/45/30 valve job. So a 4th angle below the 60 would be a 75 leading into the bowl. And then you have combustion chamber design to contend with for the critical top angle which is not always 30, and almost never in a race head.

I hope this helps, I have been building high performance engines for over 25 years now.....so I hope I got it right.

dunc289_old · October 28, 2009 at 8:51 AM

Thanks for your insightful comments....would you comment on the potential for the HP289 heads? Csn you get the angles optimized, or are the heads problematic.....which has lead to the evolution of the DART and others.....Optimizing what we have would be the GOLD goal .... can we expect the ultimate tweak coming from a valve job?

Thanks in advance.<img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

BMaloof_old · October 28, 2009 at 6:21 PM

Well, the hipo (and std 289 heads as well) benefit from larger valves. I usually put a 1.900/1.500-1.540(depending) in them. It allows a multi angle valve job that will just not happen on the factory seats. Ford for some stupid reason undercuts their seats right below the 45,which is horrible from a performace standpoint, but made the valve job last longer as the seats did not tend to get beat out as quickly.

I also have special radius cutters that I unshroud the combustion chambers with that reshape the entry/exit into the chamber. The 289 heads have a reverse angle next to the exhaust valve that really hurts the low lift flow numbers (the numbers that really count in a street engine). I do unshroud both intake and exhaust though. I may still have some pictures somewhere that I can dig up from a 65 shelby that I used to own.

dunc289_old · October 29, 2009 at 1:07 PM

How did your efforts with the Shelby turn out? I take it you used all of the "tricks" you've mentioned here ? <img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Participate now!