Overheated!

[Nick Micale]

Well, if you have any recommendations in NE GA, I'm all ears.

Shop is Autoworks in Flowery Branch. Internals will be forged. .........

Chuck's post with his questions should be answered before you give anyone a check.

Your $4100 quote is bogus for a forged short block, much less R&R, head work, gaskets and many other required parts.

Recently I have sold 2 109 short blocks for $5500 with forged internals. Unfortunately an increase in parts prices and the limited availability of forged cranks make it impossible to hold that price. IF I could locate a forged, stock stroke crank, the current price will increase at least $500.

 

[chuckross1957]

I overheated an engine driving at highway speed in rural Canada one time... I didn't go in to the red, but close to it. I pulled over and discovered I had an exhaust restriction, the muffler broke loose internally and was blocking the exhaust flow. There happened to be a board on the side of the road. I used to beat on the muffler until I removed the restriction. I suspect overheating the engine warped the head as I pulled it later and had to have it shaved. I agree, It is a good idea to find why you overheated at highway speeds.

 

[lyonsd]

Here's an update.

The radiator has a leak. I don't know of it's the cause of the overheating, or a symptom of it. Probably the cause.

I have a stock radiator and the RamChargers dual fans. One of the fans stopped working a while ago. It was a hot day. The leak was also in an area over the non-working fan.

Now I wouldn't think fans matter at highways speeds. But when I first installed those fans, on a hot day, even while going down the highway, they would come on at 180 degrees. And the temp would drop down to 160.

I order a GN1 stroker kit from Sal in Florida. It has been delivered.

The machine shop is "Brad's" in Gainesville, GA. The block and parts will go there in the middle of October.

I'm going to need a radiator. And I was thinking of a bigger oil pan. And a block girdle.

The girdle is probably unnecessary. But eventually, I'l like to get a bigger turbo and get down to the 11s or maybe even 10s.

Now, I'm thinking the stroker will put me into the mid to low 13s. I'm still running a stock turbo. And ran high 13s recently with stock boost levels and a lot of knock. The alcohol injection kit eliminated the knock. So maybe I could pick up a couple tenths there.

 

[Grumpy]

You do know this is turning into a LOT more than $4k right ?? You better go water the $$$$ trees ya have growing out in the back yard. Your goin to need them really bad. a "BUDGET" can't be in the same sentence on what your doin .

 

[TurboTnZ06]

Brad's machine shop, unless they routinely build 9 and 10 second Turbo Buick engines, its not going to end well. You could mail order a long block built right from the vendors or racing guys like Don Cruz who know what they are doing. I'd take a look at sending it to Weber for a rebuild before I went to any machine shop out of the yellow pages.

 

[turbo nasty]

As Grumpy says

Cheap, Fast, reliable.....pick 2

Hes Right!!!

 

[lyonsd]

You do know this is turning into a LOT more than $4k right ?? You better go water the $$$$ trees ya have growing out in the back yard. Your goin to need them really bad. a "BUDGET" can't be in the same sentence on what your doin .

Yeah, I know. The overbore and balance has added significantly to the cost.

 

[lyonsd]

As Grumpy says

Cheap, Fast, reliable.....pick 2

Hes Right!!!

You can scratch off "cheap".

 

[charlief1]

You can scratch off "cheap".

Not if Dan's involved.:biggrin:

 

[Rafs-T-Type]

Here's an update.

The radiator has a leak. I don't know of it's the cause of the overheating, or a symptom of it. Probably the cause.

Well where was the coolant at? Was it way low? How much had to go in to top it off? If you only plan on running 13's for now just buy a used stock block for $1500 and wait for a sweet azz deal on a good build from a known builder....Or keep the used engine in there and run 10's and hope for the best. Many stock GN engines have survived many many 10 second passes.

 

[chops]

Id check the fins on the water pump make sure they did not rot away no fins no cooling especially while driving!!!!

 

[Grumpy]

Not if Dan's involved.:biggrin:

hey Melissa's 9 sec street car was done CHEAP !! BUT I had all the parts USED except for the BIG $$$$ TURBO.

 

[TurboBuRick]

I tried to move this to engine tech but I'm not authorized.

 

[charlief1]

hey Melissa's 9 sec street car was done CHEAP !! BUT I had all the parts USED except for the BIG $$$$ TURBO.

LOL That was my point Dan.:biggrin:

 

[Squid4life]

Here's an update.

The radiator has a leak. I don't know of it's the cause of the overheating, or a symptom of it. Probably the cause.

I have a stock radiator and the RamChargers dual fans. One of the fans stopped working a while ago. It was a hot day. The leak was also in an area over the non-working fan.

Now I wouldn't think fans matter at highways speeds. But when I first installed those fans, on a hot day, even while going down the highway, they would come on at 180 degrees. And the temp would drop down to 160.

I order a GN1 stroker kit from Sal in Florida. It has been delivered.

The machine shop is "Brad's" in Gainesville, GA. The block and parts will go there in the middle of October.

I'm going to need a radiator. And I was thinking of a bigger oil pan. And a block girdle.

The girdle is probably unnecessary. But eventually, I'l like to get a bigger turbo and get down to the 11s or maybe even 10s.

Now, I'm thinking the stroker will put me into the mid to low 13s. I'm still running a stock turbo. And ran high 13s recently with stock boost levels and a lot of knock. The alcohol injection kit eliminated the knock. So maybe I could pick up a couple tenths there.

1. Get new fans. The Ramchargers are basically Dodge Intrepid fans.
2. Get a new rad. Everyone is having great luck with ALRADCO's.
3. Do not reuse the water pump or tstat. (I know, this should be a given...)
4. Get deep oil pan from RJC.
5. If you go girdle, or even caps, you MUST have a reputable BUICK machinist do the work. IF you go to any regular engine shop, even one well versed in most every engine, builds 8 sec cars, etc, the Buick V6 is a different beast. Clearances are more critical, machining parts so you don't weaken them or break parks of the cap registers off, mchining them correctly for steel caps or a girdle is not a super simple task. I would take the advice here and get a short block from someone like Weber or Nick Micale, etc. Someone who knows their sh#$. Otherwise, we may see another thread in a few weeks or months that something is jacked up... It happens often on here.
6. Congrats on the decision to go stroker. Even going stroker there are variables that need to be taken into account, and the builder/machinist needs to be a Buick guru. I have seen where "drop in" cranks are FAR from drop in. Bent, out of round, needing to go .010 over, etc. Use a Buick guru. Period.


I wish you luck on your project!

 

[oldsracer]

Chuck's post with his questions should be answered before you give anyone a check.

Your $4100 quote is bogus for a forged short block, much less R&R, head work, gaskets and many other required parts.

Recently I have sold 2 109 short blocks for $5500 with forged internals. Unfortunately an increase in parts prices and the limited availability of forged cranks make it impossible to hold that price. IF I could locate a forged, stock stroke crank, the current price will increase at least $500.

I would have to agree. I got my short block disassembled, cleaned, machined, and rebuilt for about $4500...But I included the majority of my parts with the builder.

 

[TurboTnZ06]

A stroker done on a budget with the right goodies, you can easily spend $15-30K. I went 12.0's on pump gas only on my stroker at 3650#'s weight.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Garry Grimes has done MANY V-sicks engines. He was one of the better builders w/ the IMSA series engines. He's done several of mine.. Done right. Has ALL the tools for line hone, deck plates, etc.
770-475-5272

 

[Grumpy]

Garry Grimes has done MANY V-sicks engines. He was one of the better builders w/ the IMSA series engines. He's done several of mine.. Done right. Has ALL the tools for line hone, deck plates, etc.
770-475-5272

there ya go !!! right from the horses mouth !! Local to

 

[Razor]

I'm jumping into this thread late.

I would do a stockish rebuild using a set ot forged speedpro(trw) and a good set of plasma moly rings, turn the stock crank 10/10, and spend the stroker money on a nice roller cam setup. If there is extra money, do a set of heads like champion irons. No caps, girdle, etc.. this will run in the 11's forever with a little boost.

Pandoras money box is something else. Careful what you ask for..