Plus, you get less friction - goes faster that way
Bearings and rings for a novice builder
- Thread starter BigTater
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Supercharged111
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Plus, you get less friction - goes faster that way
Apparently so, I had to drop a couple restrictor sizes! But that's probably more to do with the crankcase breathing as it should.
Hipster
I'm Awesome
Read an article this morning, and it's been known in drag racing for at least multiple decades, the effects of crank windage and oil levels. So if he starts with a full load of oil and is down a couple of quarts by the finishing laps the engine's making quite a few extra ponies. Albeit, it might be at a slightly unstable oil pressure.Plus, you get less friction - goes faster that way
On the LS they were messing with it was about 50+ hp difference on an engine dyno. Didn't get into the engine build detail, wanted to see the results. They were presenting it like they just figured out running a quart low makes more power.
Yeah,it's easier to pump foam.Read an article this morning, and it's been known in drag racing for at least multiple decades, the effects of crank windage and oil levels. So if he starts with a full load of oil and is down a couple of quarts by the finishing laps the engine's making quite a few extra ponies. Albeit, it might be at a slightly unstable oil pressure.
On the LS they were messing with it was about 50+ hp difference on an engine dyno. Didn't get into the engine build detail, wanted to see the results. They were presenting it like they just figured out running a quart low makes more power.
I ain't buyin' 50hp,there was something else going on there besides draining a quart of oil.
GM engineers are pretty darned good at what they do. Those OE rod & main bearings aka inserts have a very good record of durability & reliability. Used to be Delco-Moraine 400 (look at back of backing).
OP BigTater: It's a near certainty your '94 5.7L delivered with Bi-metal (alum-faced) inserts in both rods & mains.
Clevite aka Mahle AND King AND Sealed Power aka Federal Mogul offers them in both Bi-metal & Tri-metal.
I can't recommend that a novice should install his own cam bearings in either sbc or BBC or LS ... requires special tool most don't have. Instead of DIY, have local auto machine shop install cam bearings.
Bi-Metal means Two metals; First a Steel Backing that's faced with a Second metal (usually an aluminum alloy).
Tri-Metal means Three metals; First a Steel Backing that has a Second layer followed by a Third Facing.
As for rings, the 800 lb Gorilla in the room (that's not mentioned so far) is ring width. More modern piston designs require thin, metric ringpaks; L35, L30 & L31 all do.
OP BigTater: It's a near certainty your '94 5.7L delivered with Bi-metal (alum-faced) inserts in both rods & mains.
Clevite aka Mahle AND King AND Sealed Power aka Federal Mogul offers them in both Bi-metal & Tri-metal.
I can't recommend that a novice should install his own cam bearings in either sbc or BBC or LS ... requires special tool most don't have. Instead of DIY, have local auto machine shop install cam bearings.
Bi-Metal means Two metals; First a Steel Backing that's faced with a Second metal (usually an aluminum alloy).
Tri-Metal means Three metals; First a Steel Backing that has a Second layer followed by a Third Facing.
As for rings, the 800 lb Gorilla in the room (that's not mentioned so far) is ring width. More modern piston designs require thin, metric ringpaks; L35, L30 & L31 all do.
I have entertained the idea of making my own bearing inserts out of 6061-T6 Al. I made a clutch actuator out of it for my lathe thinking I would probably need to make another within a few months. 28yrs later it's still in there and working as good as the day I made it.
I remember seeing something like that on Engine Masters. They not only played with oil quantity, they played with different styles of oil pans.
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Hipster
I'm Awesome
yeah maybe , just an article I read on the web, there's some gain to be had. Drag racers swear by it. 7qt. pan with 5 in it has been going on forever. Still more than a stock 4 qt pan +1 for filter. Windage trays are louvered or mesh so not totally effective and most everybody that switched to dry sump claim improvements getting the oil almost completely out. 50hp on a 300 hp engine is a different percentage on 600 hp. Ls takes 7-8? stock? not an ls guy
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We used to run just a pint of oil in the 5hp Briggs racing engines to reduce drag. Those were splash oiled and the oil created drag on the dipper,enough to tear the dipper off the rod cap and of course hold the motor back till it broke and the motor seized up. The early dippers were stamped and tempered steel that were held to the rod cap by the bolts. Then someone came out with a plastic dipper that was supposed to be stronger. Yeah,that cost me an engine the first time I tried one. Briggs came out with the Raptor line of racing parts that had a thinned dipper cast as part of the rod cap. No more oiling problems after that. It worked so well Briggs started putting them in all their horizontal engines.
There's a reason pretty much every real race car has a dry sump engine.
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