Thread: Dirt Road Build 402

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I am doin what I call a dirt road build. Absolute budget build. Block needs boring. Screw that. Ain't got the money. Honed with a dingleberry. Scored really good 70 350 HP 402 pistons on Ebay. 50 bucks, still have the oil grooves in the skirts. Only machine shop time any of it will see is pressin pistons on rods, installin rod bolts and resizin rods.

Crank is std on the high side. Guess what? It's gettin a polish in the backyard shop with P'Blaster and 320 grit emery cloth. Good to go.

High volume oil pump, Comp high tech timin set, biggest Comp Mutha Thumpr hydraulic flat cam. 063 heads with bowls home blended, stock valve sizes. Low tension oil rings.

My measured SCR is 9.4. Gonna run the old twisted top Torker 2-0 intake and probably a 750 double pumper.

Goal is to sound WAY nastier than it is while makin an honest 400-425 HP. I think it will do it fallin outta bed with the right cam timing and ignition curve.

All this and I ain't got nuthin to put it in yet. Lookin for a 65 El Camino roller. Pictures comin soon if yall are interested.

We're always interested in pics of builds!

So don't hesitate sharing them.

See if this works.

A couple more. Just a two bolt, 402.

Minor setback. Discovered tonight my rings are .065 over file fit, instead of standard. Oh well. Anybody need some good file fit low tension rings? lol

See you got the picture deal figured out! Shame about the rings tho,

It is what it is. Seems all I can find are file fit in a low tension ring. So that is that. I will run standard tension rings. Should be here by the end of the week. NONE of the big three around here have 4.125 rings in stock. Who'da ever thunk that day wouldda ever come?

Anyway, I got the block slam ready to assemble. Did a last dingle berry hone on the cylinders and also on the lifter bores. Sprayed the inside down with purple stuff, let it sit and pressure washed it all good and clean. Hosed it down with WD40 and she sits and waits.

Ooooh, I can hear them cringing from here.

You left out the part of cutting the cylinder ridges with a pocket knife.

I like the high vol oil pump. It will compensate for the larger clearances.

Many engines have built this way and sometimes they will surprise you how good they run and how long they hold together. I'm a big believer in the Northern Auto Parts "everything in one box for $300 kits"

Don't be surprised if every thing is rusty after spraying down with WD-40.

times 2 on the WD-40. I've had better success with diesel fuel.

Lookin' forward to see you slappin' it together.

Nice valve covers and intake clean up! The rest looks nice too. I've done quite a few dingleball rebuilds like this too with good results. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do or set and save up for a couple years.

Got the correct rings in today. Will be polishing the crank and assembling the short block soon. Pictures to follow.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

Don't be surprised if every thing is rusty after spraying down with WD-40.

Yeah, I use it like it's designed. As a water displacer. I pressure washed the heads after blasting. Rather than fight with an air blower and miss some water, I soaked them with WD40 to remove water, just as it's intended. Although a lot of people think so, WD40 is not a lubricant. It is simply made to remove water and it works very well for that. Once the water is removed, I come back with a soaking of PBlaster.

Got some progress done tonight. Got the crankshaft installed and the new rings installed. Will probably assemble the rest of the short block sometime on the 4th.

Well, two steps forward, one step back. Discovered some of my pistons are not pressed on correctly. The bearing lock tangs on Chevy engines always assembles facing the outside of the engine. On the big block, at least those with the factory shaped domed piston, the pistons are left bank and right bank. Normally, on HP replacement pistons, this really wouldn't matter. However, since the factory pistons use an offset piston pin, it does. You would think with a big "L" and "R" stamped right on the piston tops, that would be a clue. I have to handle this carefully, because this is the only machine shop left in this area. I am sure it was a simple mistake, as they probably don't press many stock style pistons. Still though, it's an inconvenience for me.