Thoughts On 4.1 Liter Based Builds?

[TexasT]

I went ahead and bought a torque plate. Just bolt the heads on if you don't have one. That is what you do with the one torque plate, bolt a head on the other side. Also torque the mains on there. I think on a street car I would do a half fill up to the freeze plug holes in the side so there is some cooling going on in the block.

 Another thing I Saw recently on a different brand was a pretty thick "strap" that was bolted on top of the stock looking main instead of a full on girdle. I thought I might look into doing something like that with a forged chinesium crank. I don't know how much clearance there is in the pan but if a girdle fits I don't see why these wouldn't if you made them thin enough. I guess with the forged crank and the replacement middle main caps it would be plenty for a street car.

[Cool Guy]

I'd like to avoid using a girdle. Looks like it would add more complexity & costs than I really need.


I have seen a picture of an engine that had the mains strapped together before, but no information on the straps. Seems simple enough. Would require a certain type of material, perfectly flat surfaces & longer studs I suspect. Don't know what the best material would be. Aircraft grade aluminum? Steel?


What are the typical weaknesses or failures on the turbo Buick V6?


How much MAP is typical? 24-30 psi?

[earlbrown]

What are the typical weaknesses or failures on the turbo Buick V6?

The owner.

[Forzfed]

What are the typical weaknesses or failures on the turbo Buick V6?

The owner.

He knows what he speaks!

[Cool Guy]

Let's remove operator error from the equation for now.

[earlbrown]

In that case, there are no weaknesses.


Still need to replace the timing chain, valve springs, and vacuum hoses though.

[Forzfed]

I went north of 30psi accidentally on my 4.1 when a vac hose went.  Surprisingly it held up well.  I did tweek the headgasket but it still held up and I did another 7 1/4 mile passes.  My major problem was the billet cam wearing into the front of the block and the crap taking out my thrust bearing.

[Scoobum]

Bison has shoved several minutes of 9 second power through the stock short block in his blue car. I run 7 flat all day long in my own car with the stock short block. Durability depends on ones tuning ability.

[Cool Guy]

Bison has shoved several minutes of 9 second power through the stock short block in his blue car. I run 7 flat all day long in my own car with the stock short block. Durability depends on ones tuning ability.

How many miles are on these engines?

[earlbrown]

By this time..    Somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000+

[Cool Guy]

Mine just turned 136K.

Third owner, adult owned, mostly original. I've improved fuel supply (Hot-wire/Walbro 255/Adj.FPR), cooling, braking & other supporting systems. Engine internals untouched. Trans is original with dealer installed upgrades during the first few years. Scanmaster, TT 91-93 octane street chip.

PS. P/O replaced injectors. Make & size unknown at this time.

[Scoobum]

Remove Erics chip and he'll have the particulars written on it including injector size. Part number is on the side of the injector...it'll tell you the brand. Chart is below.

http://users.erols.com/srweiss/tableifc.htm

[Scoobum]

A quote from Jim Ruggles. 'Once you pass 600 FWHP you can expect the webbing to be the first to let go. Girdles are okay for girls, but won't do much for the block other than delay the cracking.'

Keep in mind once you hit 11.5 you'll require safety equipment.

[Scoobum]

Jim and Rich here on the board can step in and fill you in on the parts and mods to keep the 200's alive deep into the 10's. They build their own. You have to overbuild them from what your ET goal is. I have more money tied up in this 200 than what my house is worth.

[Cool Guy]

Who's the best trans builder in the Southwest?