TA Alluminum block pros and cons?
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PRO: Weight savings:smile:
CON: Price!
to many pros to list. only con is the price like posted above.
unboostedV6
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- May 25, 2001
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Already welded up an owner stupidity induced crack with my 110v mig welder...seems to be a "pro" GB
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Yeah, and I have heard that pigs can fly??????
Why don't you state real info that include facts instead of just an off the wall comment? Can you even define what "mains moving around" means. You talking about bearings, the 6 bolt caps, main webs or ??????
We have done many TA blocks and freshened some that have run real hard and never seen a main problem yet.
i guess your memory is failing you. im not interested in getting into an arguement with you since you have financial interests in this. but since you asked.
block #1 was a block for sale in bowling green because the owner was tired of trying to make it work. he said he was having problems with main bearings
Block #2 was a friend of mine who has since decided to go with an iron block since he repeatedly had unusual wear on his main bearings.
Block #3 a car from this area that was done and redone by you.
i guess pigs do fly in arizona.
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First of all, I do not have any finiancial interest in TA, just sell their products because they are the best available.
No debate, just put out ALL the info.
Block #1 the guy tried to put this block together in his garage, and had no idea what it takes to build an alum motor.
Block #2 "unusual" wear happens on ALL race blocks.
Block #3 ???????????????? The one car I did from there with a TA engine was for a guy that had no clue, thrashed the hell out of it, and had incompetents tuning it. [And still owes $$$ on it]
Again, no facts, just comments that have no substance and not all the information about the situations.
that is all the info i have to offer...hence my initial post was a question.
so now that you are done talking about flying pigs and CLAIMING that you have NEVER heard of such things lets get back to my original question.
has anyone had problems with main bearings in a TA motor?
was the cause determined?
how was it corrected?
is there anything that a first time TA motor builder should know that is different in regards to conventional buick v6 buildups?
sixgun86gn
six offender
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Yes,a first time builder with a $3900 block should get a professional to machine and assemble it.
I mean honestly,if you can spend almost 4K on a block,you SHOULD be able to afford it.
Really anyone who bitches about the cost of building a high quality motor needs to find another game to get into.
Why the hell would anyone risk high $$$ parts to their own inexperience?
beats the crap out of me,but most GN owners are cheapskates and thats the kind of stuff they do and then they blame anybody but themselves.
Everything is always this costs too much,or how cheap can I do this....
then go buy a freaking mustang if you want cheap.
When has ANYONE built a cheap stage 2? Iron or otherwise. This is the stage 2 section right?
ok...let me rephrase things for you.
i never said anyone was building a TA motor as their first engine.
money was never discussed.
what i DID ask was
IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT BUILDING A TA BLOCK COMPARED TO AN IRON BLOCK SUCH AS TOLERANCES TORQUE VALUE ETC.
it is very honorable of you to defend your engine builder. but try to keep things relevant.
sixgun86gn
six offender
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Of course tolerances are different,Aluminum and Iron expand at different rates.
Bolt torque specs should have already been determined by TA and probably could be found out by a phone call.
There is an actual instruction sheet that comes with the block for the machinist,I believe it can be found on TA's website and it has probably also been revised as the block has had some minor changes made. Mine is from the first run.
As far as main caps moving around,I have not heard of such.I have heard of one guy taking his block to a machinist local to him and they didn't clean out the casting sand from the block and had overheating issues. Also heard of a spun main bearing,which was most likely due to faulty machine work or assembly.
Doesn't Dave Fiscus run a TA block in the 8's? I would imagine if these problems were block related he would have them too?
Anybody know much about his motor?
I defend Nick because he wouldn't hide anything that could cost his customers alot of $$$ to repair. He has always been up front and honest about anything I needed to know.
FWIW I did ask a local machinist to me about his experience with aluminum block work and he did say that he has done Dart blocks and such in aluminum and they all require a little different treatment from Iron.
He was going to do my machine work,but after some researcha dn thought,I asked Nick to do it as he has worked closely with TA during the development of the block. He has also run his own TA motor and proven it to handle the power I am looking to make.
GNBRETT
Pelennor Fields
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Tony Gomes runs a TA block as well. And he too is in the 8's.
I dont think the question was meant to be so offensive but one could not help but think of anything but negative things about the TA block when reading the post I guess. If I had the money I'd buy one in a second! And yes, I do agree if you dont know exactly what ur doing when building a motor leave it to those who make a living doing it.
BTW, will the TA block withstand more, less or equal HP compared to an iron block? And what HP would that be? Thanx....
I dont think the question was meant to be so offensive but one could not help but think of anything but negative things about the TA block when reading the post I guess. If I had the money I'd buy one in a second! And yes, I do agree if you dont know exactly what ur doing when building a motor leave it to those who make a living doing it.
BTW, will the TA block withstand more, less or equal HP compared to an iron block? And what HP would that be? Thanx....
The bearing problem has nothing to do with a TA block. Anyone that has a high HP has gone to a Turbo 400 trans. This where the bearing problem comes in. If the trans cooler line pressure is too high, it will take out the thrust. This has been documented in SBC & BBC motors under a constant load, ie: HD truck, motorhomes, racing.
One needs to test his trans cooler line pressure once the motor is up and running.
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/tr...bearing.html?highlight=cooler+pressure+ijames
First time builders, clean, clean. clean. clean & check, check, check and re-check. I am building a TA block. My machinist has built aluminum motors and
just recently a 632cu in Merlin
. The aluminum block is a different animal. He won't go into detail but the block can not be assembled in a garage without proper machining. Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com
unboostedV6
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- May 25, 2001
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Don, The ST has outlasted 2 Th-350's, one built locally, one TCI competition full manual. I had 2 laying around...turbo spline, no adapters..... GB
I'm not surprised. Compared to the PG, it has some strong looking components. Good for you.
Back to TA blocks. I've had to go back into mine because of a cam thrust problem not related to the block and the bearings looked beautiful. I even debated reuseing them, but since there was metal contamination, I changed them as a safe guard. Everything went great with the rebuild and no surprises were encountered. The mains were straight. Don't know what this main shifting rumour is all about. Someone doesn't know how to read a mic or was too quick with taking reading? Maybe a bad match with oil viscosity to bearing clearances? Too bad real data doesn't come with these rumours.
Back to TA blocks. I've had to go back into mine because of a cam thrust problem not related to the block and the bearings looked beautiful. I even debated reuseing them, but since there was metal contamination, I changed them as a safe guard. Everything went great with the rebuild and no surprises were encountered. The mains were straight. Don't know what this main shifting rumour is all about. Someone doesn't know how to read a mic or was too quick with taking reading? Maybe a bad match with oil viscosity to bearing clearances? Too bad real data doesn't come with these rumours.
I built my TA block several years ago and Kenny D found that the rear main was too tight. He discussed the problem with TA and they agreed on a fix which required a line hone (TA absorbed the cost). About six months ago I had a fuel delivery problem and the engine leaned out, so I decided to pull it apart. The mains looked great and cam bearings had a little wear. The rod bearings showed minor signs oil starvation which was caused by the heavy radius on the crank and not quite enough chamfering. After all the problems I have had with Stage 1 and 2 blocks cracking; this block has been great and the weight reduction is a side benefit.
Jeff
Jeff
Pre-heat the engine before starting. Hot Head Heater - Competition Engine Heater comes to mind.
Proper clearances when hot mean tight clearances when cold (different expansion rates, al vs steel) - so pre-heat both the engine and the oil before even thinking of cranking.
Proper clearances when hot mean tight clearances when cold (different expansion rates, al vs steel) - so pre-heat both the engine and the oil before even thinking of cranking.
