BBC Added Head Studs...

I am building a twin turbo 427 and my block has no provisions for the 4 extra head studs that are commonly installed in boosted engines. I purchased AFR heads that have the tapped holes for them and I would like to run them to possibly eliminate head gasket failure.

Does anyone have any information on a company in Orange County, California that installs these bosses or any pictures and tips on doing it myself. I work with many talented fabricators/ welders that are capable of welding cast iron. I would like to see how other people have accomplished this modification successfully to give me an idea of how to install them. But, If there is a local machine shop that does the modification for a reasonable price, I would prefer to have it done by somebody that has experience with these installations.

Thank You For any Info.

Earle  

hmm....   i seem to recall several really good engine shops in the orange county area..    i wonder how thick the block is in that area..?????  perhaps if you had a CNC machine to machine a smooth surface there.. with grooves to lock the CNC machined brackets... made out of steel...  one could mount them with a few small bolts as the under the intake bolts are not torqued too tight.. only enough to keep the head from lifting...

i wonder if you milled slots in the ends of the intake valley ... you could slide in a long rev kit.. and put your hidden bolts through that..


i seem to recall somewhere in my distant memory.. that there was a way to drill through the top of the intake ports.  tap them for a tapered plug. just large enough to put the allen wrench through.... and put in flat head screws through the bottom of the intake runner and into the block to stop the  head from lifting there... the screws get held by your fingers sticking them through the open intake ports where the intake manifold will be ...

there might be another problem that has probably been solved.. decades ago.. my auto shop teacher...  ( A 200mph club member)   had a twin turbo 427 in his stream liner..   the boost was a little too much and it blew the head gasket out hard enough to dent the top of the frame rail...  this means the copper head gasket came out along the bottom of the head.. not the top...  this was before ARP studs... i do know the heads and deck were O ringed.  

perhaps... the gasket manufacturers have done a multilayer steel with the rubber coating for these motors now..   they do call for a thin coating of hylomar on the MLS head gaskets on imported turbo motors to make them live..   same combo.. aluminum head .. cast iron block..  lots of boost..    a turret punch at a welding/ fab shop could be used to add the additional holes for the in port extra bolts  in the MLS gaskets without much distortion.....


how are you going to use the motor.. drag racing???   there was a group here in so cal.. putting 4 turbos on a big block...
   i tried to get in touch with them... about running pop off valves  on the turbo outlet... but routed back to the turbo inlet duct... when staging.. when the motor comes up.. the turbos can freewheel the compressed air back through the turbo again and again until the foot drops to the floor totally.. then they snap shut do to the change in vacuum signal and the turbos are at full speed when the tree comes down..  

think about staging...  you bring the motor up.. there is still some intake manifold vacuum..  this vacuum holds the blow off valves open..  when you drop the pedal.. the intake manifold vacuum drops to almost 0 .. this is enough for the blow off valves to shut...  if you have to lift for tire shake... when the throttle closes part way.   they snap open allowing the turbos to continue their speed instead of building up a bunch of pressure and stalling them ...  so you can get right back to full power without any turbo lag.   it will probably take 3/4 inch hose to each blow off valve actuator to get the signal fast enough to move the blow off valves without lag...  perhaps... by blowing against the end of the blow off piston.. instead of the side... you could have your vacuum actuation and still have waste gates on the inlet side..     the vacuum pulls the piston up..    to dump flow...   but when the piston is closed.. the pressure on the piston would push against the spring in the actuator... until the blow off valve pushed open... to limit boost..  hmm...  but what to do about the boost pushing the actuator closed.. hmm...    



just thinking.. yes i know it really late..  but a second set or a dual control could be done..  so when the boost comes up ... it also blows back into the inlet..

just late night thoughts...  so ignore them...    maybe i am in RPM sleep instead of REM sleep...

wayne..   forward thinker...  

Thank You for all the good ideas and info.

I am using the engine in a V-Drive boat. I going to run about 15 psi boost and hope to get 850 HP.  I am using the old Gale Banks exhaust logs and after cooler but I ditched the carb boxes that came with the set up and am going to run it EFI.

I found a picture of what needs to be accomplished and I am going to water jet out the parts and have a welder from work weld them in. I found a local machine shop that does the modification but want $400 to do it. My welder friend at work is confident he can preform the mod.

PIC:

http://www.usaperform.com/images/CenterStud_BigM.jpg

Pics of boat/ engine project:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22295748@N02/

Thanks Again,


Earle  

thats a nice boat...  

do you know about Hylomar????    it is used for head gaskets... and other places...  HF sells it in most of their tool stores...  i have used it for years.. without failure.. even when severely overheated...

i have always thought about something for speed boats..    once up on a plane.. there is less engine power needed...

my thought was to somehow work a single Lenco section into the system...   so you run at reduction getting out of the hole.. then go to direct when up to speed... this will reduce the engine rpms but still keep you in the power band...  there were some salt flats guys who got lenco to flip the internals around.. to make overdrive units...  i don't know how it worked out...  that would be what i would think is better unless there are enough gear ratios available for the V drive..


yes.. i know it's morning.. but these are just ideas...  except for the hylomar...   4 bucks for a tube is inexpensive insurance for head gaskets....


anybody else used hylomar????  

Thank You,

It has been a HUGE project but hopefully it will pay off in the end.

No,

Never heard of hylomar. I will look it up.


Some drag boats actually use a Lenco. There has been one on E-Bay for some time now.

My boat has a powerglide that was modified by TCI for boating purposes. I plan to run high gears (48%) in the V-Drive and a lot of pitch in the prop. Launch the boat in 1st until boost comes on and shift into drive. The powerglide also gives you reverse.

Thanks for the info,

Earle  

i just thought of one more thing...

a few years back... when i worked on a 104' wooden boat...  i did a lot of reading on hull designs...

there is a new hump / inverted ramp with the end just past the prop...  this compresses the water around the prop to reduce cavitation..   the ramp locally increases water pressure  right at the prop...   they were even trying it on high speed naval vessels.  

there was one design that even used a 1/8th tube above the prop in a funnel shape.. i don't know what came of that design...

again .. this was just a thought...   and moving a section of the trim tabs to a location in just the right place above the prop...  i have always hated to see the rooster tail just fly up in the air.. when it should be used to push the boat forward...

hmm....  with a stainless steel plate duct assembly.. one could catch the rooster tail as it comes off the prop and convert it/divert it, into forward thrust...



oh... and you can see the 104 footer on google maps...     zoom in to the santa barbara city cemetery . so cal .. straight off shore you will see a bunch of boats anchored...   bright white ones... and one fuzzy one.. thats not on the surface... the fuzzy one was my friends ....   it's been there a bunch of years...  anchored to the bottom...