Olds 358 build

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Oct 14, 2008
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So my piston ring filer will be here shortly. I measured one of the file fit rings, only .006" gap! I need .020" or may another .003" top for future boost options and .0025" second and .010" minimum on the oil rails. I measured a couple of crank journals and used a snap gauge and micrometer with the bearings torqued in the main housing and rod. I found .0026" rods and .0028" mains for clearance. I asked for .0022 to .0025" rods and .0025" to .0028", those were Mark's recommendations. They are close enough. The balance shop micro polished the crank after the other shop cut it.
 
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bracketchev1221

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So my piston ring filer will be here shortly. I measured one of the file fit rings, only .006" gap! I need .020" or may another .003" top for future boost options and .0025" second and .010" minimum on the oil rails. I measured a couple of crank journals and used a snap gauge and micrometer with the bearings torqued in the main housing and rod. I found .0026" rods and .0028" mains for clearance. I asked for .0022 to .0025" rods and .0025" to .0028", those were Mark's recommendations. They are close enough. The balance shop micro polished the crank after the other shop cut it.
Loose is better than tight. Sometimes they make the thrust bearing a little looser to add extra oil to it than the other mains.
 
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Oct 14, 2008
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The Olds 350 is much more tolerant for tighter clearances than the 455 but Mark's specs are conservative. Bill Travato would want at least .0035 on both. I like the idea of running any old 10W30 oil off the shelf with the roller cam and have plenty of oil pressure. Mark just sent the cam button, Scat balancer, Melling high volume oil pump and AEM wideband. That just leaves push rods, MLS head gaskets, thinking of .045" with the pistons .003 above deck and the new Edelbrock heads.
 
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rogue_ryder

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Oct 27, 2017
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The Olds 350 is much more tolerant for tighter clearances than the 455 but Mark's specs are conservative. Bill Travato would want at least .0035 on both. I like the idea of running any old 10W30 oil off the shelf with the roller cam and have plenty of oil pressure. Mark just sent the cam button, Scat balancer, Melling high volume oil pump and AEM wideband. That just leaves push rods, MLS head gaskets, thinking of .045" with the pistons .003 above deck and the new Edelbrock heads.

Speaking of Travato this is an old video series but he's got a 10 part series on YouTube building a turbo DX.

In part 4 he talks about bearing clearances and he briefly talks about a pretty wide range from .002-.005 thou bearing clearance:
If I remember correctly from his book it's pretty much a blanket bearing clearance for both big and small blocks with that .0035 recommendation, but I wonder if on moderate power builds with the small blocks he sticks to the more common muscle car/hot rod bearing clearance of .002 on the rod .0025 on the mains, yet omits that from the book for some reason. Maybe on the "MAX POWER" 800hp builds the .0035 is necessary.

I can't wait to see what your build puts down for power!
edit: meant those vids to be links but somehow they automatically showed up as embedded.
 
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The last of my parts arrived from Cutlassefi for my short block. The Scat balancer, cam button and the Melling high volume oil pump. So that just leaves MLS head gaskets, push rods and heads left to buy when the Edelbrock heads become available. The AEM Wideband will go on when the 5 fr snow bank disappears from around the 1970.
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Oct 14, 2008
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Been plenty of non Oldsmobile activities eating up my time, my Dakota, more of the same for next weekend, my Daughter's Edge, so only minor progress. One more cylinder the rings are filed, debured and ready to install.
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64nailhead

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How do you feel about ring filing?

Curious minds want to know.
 
Oct 14, 2008
8,806
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Melville,Saskatchewan
It isn't as hard to do as I thought it would be. It is can be a challenge to hold them square and cut them square but I have .017" to .019" of filling to get it right. The new little pack of files simplifies removing the burrs. Mahle says measure the rings 1" down in the bore. The instructions also say the opposite of what Mark and other sources say, more top ring than second ring gap. I could still flip flop the rings.
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Oct 14, 2008
8,806
7,746
113
Melville,Saskatchewan
Most of the day was wasted working on my Daughter's Edge. I went out at 10 pm to do this, #5 rings are filed!
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