What is needed to put a 153 (on center) engine into a TR?

[steve hughes]

Pushrods being at a slight angle while not idea are not as much of a problem as you would think. I've worked on a lot of pretty serious BBC and SBC with severe pushrod angles that would scare you that don't have issues.
On another note you CAN run a stock intake on an on center . I did it when i first started running TSE at Bowling Green . You had to run a stock intake at the time. The bolt holes have to be enlarged and you can't get the ports lined up perfectly. They will be off about 3/32" unless you do a little welding on the outside of the intake ports and do some creative porting. It won't be pefect but it will work. My car ran 9.40's with the stock intake . After TA/ Champinion came out with there race intake and they changed rules to allow it i swithed to it. Car went a best of 9.27 with the TA intake. This was a max effort class legal car at 3600 pounds.

 

[JayC]

You can slightly slot the holes on a stock intake and get it to bolt on to a on center block. Eric Rankin used to do it all the time.

 

[Mike T]

I've had a stock intake set up on mine and see how this would work. Ideally the China rail area would need a little tig work to change the angles to match the block. Extra RVT would probably be fine as well

 

[Chuck Leeper]

You can slightly slot the holes on a stock intake and get it to bolt on to a on center block. Eric Rankin used to do it all the time.

What I did with mine, too.

 

[kraus]

I have a 153 on center in my street car with ta si production Heads, ta rockers for si heads also, and champion race ported intake. Been in my street car for 5 years now. Cruz headers on it and all ac and powere steering still on it.

Any questions reach out

 

[BEATAV8]

I have a 153 on center in my street car with ta si production Heads, ta rockers for si heads also, and champion race ported intake. Been in my street car for 5 years now. Cruz headers on it and all ac and powere steering still on it.

Any questions reach out

Thank you sir!
What style lifter & pushrod diameter did you use, and how much fuss was it to clearance the pushrod holes in the cylinder heads?

From what I understand, anything larger than a 5/16” pushrod could be a real challenge especially with a hydraulic lifter with a centered plunger.

 

[kraus]

I used the TA SI heads with this setup which the pushrod is off set for the head already. Ran 5/16 push rod with short travel johnson lifters billet roller custom ground cam. Very lil head clearance at all to push rod holes. Cam is like 225 230 so like 560 ish and i run a 1.55 roller rocker again TA's because are there heads.

On 16 psi on a hankook kinergy tire car goes 11.00 flat 130mph and that spinning pretty good. On good tire it goes 10.4 same boost off foot brake. Ths is 100 percent street car, spare tire ,a/c cruise full interior. No cage

 

[turbobuick]

Thank you sir!
What style lifter & pushrod diameter did you use, and how much fuss was it to clearance the pushrod holes in the cylinder heads?

From what I understand, anything larger than a 5/16” pushrod could be a real challenge especially with a hydraulic lifter with a centered plunger.

I honestly don't know why anyone would mess with a hyd roller cam and not just run solid. There is really nothing better about a hyd IMO with no real downside to solid, at least IME.

I have a set of off-set needle bearing Comp ,842 solid lifters for an on-center if anyone is looking. The comp offset I think is .150 and used 3 left and 3 right and 6 straight. I took them out of my motor and replaced them with Isky red-zone lifters which a bushing style vs needle bearing. The isky and the unobtainium Morel Black Mamba lifters are about the best you can get $$$ for lifters. The bushing style is safer to run vs the needle bearing do to if it fails it stays together and doesn't drop needle bearings ans shit all through the motor.

Push rod clearance is a really big deal, I have 3/8 pushrods in my TA heads you simply can't do that with a Champion and it takes some work to do with a TA too but is totally doable

I hope to be driving all over Florida in a few weeks with my on-center TA head motor attempting to do some epic shit!

 

[BEATAV8]

Thanks for that post @turbobuick
I do have a valvetrain combo on my off center motor which is working out OK for me, it's hydraulic and uses beehives and 5/16" push rods (street car stuff). I'm considering using this same combo with minor changes for an on center, but also considering going solid roller with offset lifters and 3/8" push rods and considerably more spring. Mike @ TA also mentioned to me that champion heads wouldn't have nearly as much pushrod room as the TA-"B" heads. Lol I'm sitting on a few sets of champion heads and their associated T&D rockers. It figures!

I think I can use the champion heads if I stay with the lighter duty valvetrain setup, but going with the solid roller with a heavier duty setup will mean using TA heads.

 

[turbobuick]

My car is definitely a street car!!!

There is nothing wrong with Champion heads I have been mid 170's and bottom 8s with them, running all the same valvetrain I have on my TA heads now. They just won't live at that level. They simply don't have enough material but that is not a valvetrain issue. A bare casting TA head is at least 5 pounds heavier than a fully assembled Champion. If you have Champions, even the older castings I would run them they are nice heads. My Ttype has Champion head casting #53 on it and they have never cracked and were originally on Manny Eker's car. I run them on a 14-bolt Stage 2 off center block in my Ttype. The newer castings are definitely better and even on an 8 sec car should give you a lot of life. If thave good set of heads I would run them and see if you have a problem first, not ALL champion heads have issues.

To solve the issue with pushrods on the Champion heads I ran Smith Brothers 3/8 to 5/16 .120 wall tapered pushrods with solid roller cam Champion T&D's etc. Not a cheap pushrod but they are worth it. FYI pushrod strength especially on the exhaust port is exceedingly important on a turbo car. The amount of pressure it takes to open the exhuast valve with 30psi of backpressure @6k rpm is astronomical. Again another reason I am not a fan of hyd lifters

I am not saying hyd cams don't work either, there are plenty of people who successfully run them they are just not ideal IMO.

IME, if you want to avoid breaking parts and cracking cylinder heads run the best valvetrain possible and put a cam in it. RPM makes more power and is SAFER and EASIER on parts with the right valvetrain. With an on-center you can't hurt the block if it is built right. An even fire billet crank will fail long before the block will. Another non-conventional Buick thought, a 240+ degree duration cam in a motor with a 4" bore, 3 5/8 stroke 9.5" deck and head that flows 260cfm is NOT a large cam! Doing it with 2 less cylinders does make tq conv, turbine wheel and gearing selection way more critical and I am actually sorting through that on my car as we speak.

FWIW I just tore the motor down in the pic above after a little mis-hap testing at MIR and to be ready for Sick Week. Everything in the valvetrain was mint after 900+ street miles. Theses were mostly highway miles with hours and hours of run time in the 2600-3000 rpm range. Plus multiple 8 sec passes at 5 different tracks and testing beforehand. The heads were just cleaned and reassembled and are back on the motor and we will see how Sick Week goes in a few weeks.