"The Fire In The Monster" Powerplant Chapter Two, Engine Top End And Leakdown

Apr. 01, 2000 By Mr. Dune


Our project takes shape!

    

May 2000 Update: Due to Relocating our Workshop, We have postponed the next chapter in our project 'till June 2000. Thanks for your paitience and Interest


  As always we have a ton to cover, so I'm once again gonna stick to the tips and tricks that will save you time and aggravation. If I haven't mentioned it enough times already... You should have your trusty manual close at hand to refer to! Engine reassembly is nowhere near as complex as you might think but you MUST have the proper tools and reference materials!

   We sent the barrel out to Tudor's Performance  in Corona, CA to be ported, and polished. Jeff  Tudor recommends a mild level of porting ,as do we for a reliable powerplant. LT500's produce enormous power as it is, and unless you want to be overhauling your top end every weekend you should stay away from the wild port jobs.

    Here's a look at Jeff Tudors work.

Intake port.

Intake side of sleeve.

Polished exhaust port.

   Time for the exhaust power valve... Proper exhaust valve maintenance is a must to ensure good high rpm performance. The Exhaust valve activates at approximately 5,000 rpm and effectively changes the height of the exhaust port during operation. This gives you the best of both worlds, huge low range torque, combined with awesome high rev scream for a big single.

You should always use new bearings when servicing the valve.

Installing the bearing^
Installing on the valve>

^Assemble the valve, always use a new O-ring!
<Install the left side bearing

Assembled exhaust valve will look like this. Note the proper position for the spring. Always use a new clip when reassembling.


     With the exhaust valve assembled we are ready to pop it in!

Click Here for Page Two!


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