Eddie "FourFather" Hill Atom II Ecotec Performance Upgrades

[FourFather]

Here's my scratch-built alternator pulley with eight, instead of the standard six, grooves. I shredded a couple of the stock six-rib belts, bumping against the rev-limiter, but haven't hurt a belt since going to the 8-rib.



Eddie

[FourFather]

I used ARP studs, bolts, nuts, and washers in my top fuel project, with never a problem, and here are the head studs, nuts, and washers for my Ecotec. For comparison, there is a one-use, torque-to-yield stock head bolt on the left. Also shown are a couple of the ARP flywheel bolts. NICE PARTS, ARP!!



Eddie

[FourFather]

Here is one of the adjustable camshaft drive sprockets/gears



The CNC porting of my cylinder head has been finished by M2Race in New Jersey, and the head has been sent to Diamond Pistons in Michigan, so they can 3-D scan it and design the piston domes for the actual combustion chamber and the actual oversize Supertech valves it now has. When the custom made pistons are finished, they will be sent to M2Race so they can do the final torque-plate honing of the big and heavy-duty Darton sleeves, while they have the actual finished pistons in hand.

[FourFather]

My CNC-ported head, by M2Race, is back here now, and it is NICE!







Supertech Stainless oversize intake valves, Nitrided/undercut; and oversize exhaust valves of Inconel


Dual valve spring kit, 94 pounds@ 34.6 mm. and titanium retainers, Viton valve seals, also from Supertech.

Very nice work, M2Race, and very nice parts, Supertech!

Eddie

[Radowick]

Curious, what are all the red dots on the head's mating surface?

[quote="FourFather"]




[/quote] 

[FourFather]

The head was CNC-ported by M2 Race Systems in New Jersey, and they also installed the oversize Supertech valves. Then Diamond Racing Products in Michigan wanted the modified head so they could scan the combustion chamber with the new valves, and check the volume of the combustion chamber--all so they could design the Diamond piston domes to accommodate the valves and arrive at the compression ratio I specified. They did not explain the dots, but I'm sure they are part of the computer-scanning process.

Eddie

[FourFather]

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My Ecotec project is running, finally, and offers great promise, but learning to tune it with the LSJ ECU and all the upgrades I've done is proving a real challenge. I spent all last winter studying a $250.00 tuning CD from Greg Banish, along with studying three different tuning books. Tuning my top fuel cars was easy, compared to this project.

The good news is that the engine is powerful and responsive enough to hit 11,018 RPM at the end of the longest straight at Eagles Canyon Raceway, when a clutch rated at 350 HP suddenly quit holding.




But the even better news is that the engine survived with no damage, and I have run another track day since without having to do anything to the engine. We took the clutch out and DOUBLED the plate load by putting an additional diaphragm in it. Yes, TWO diaphragms. It holds just fine now.

Eddie 

[speedmachine]

11k revs

[NormLarson]

[quote="FourFather"]
They did not explain the dots, but I'm sure they are part of the computer-scanning process.
[/quote]

In order to index different scans together you have to create digital vertices in the scan data.  You have to take multiple scans to see all of the shadow areas.  It is my understanding that some manufacturers equipment can use these dots for that indexing purpose.  Kind of tells the color of the laser they were using too.  I use ping pong balls and 0.5' dia spheres, but, my scanners are not small part scanners and the red and green lasers see different colors better than others.

[FourFather]

Here is a shot of the finished engine ready to go back in the car.



Eddie

[FourFather]

My Ecotec is back together and running good, but I am still working on the intercooler issue, trying to keep the air temperature between the supercharger and the engine, IAT2, down to acceptable levels.

[img width=1024 height=768]http://imgtree.net/files/o8dnc6pb4qtzmkoevb07.jpg[/img]

It has run my fastest speed ever, at Eagles Canyon Raceway near Decatur, Texas, while working on this issue and working toward the final tuneup, so it is showing promise. 

Eddie