Thread: About to begin my rebuild. Input needed

Here's the situation. I Blew my car up (not quite sure how yet), but I will tell once I take the heads off and get into the engine. I had a track day less than a week ago, and my I/C pump was being very difficult to say the least. Once again, not sure. Could be a beat out rod bearing, failed oil pump, or anything else. The car had 193,398 miles, and ran a 13 flat in 96 degrees earlier that day without the participation of the intercooler.

Anywho, I'm looking for suggestions on the new build.

Here are my plans for the build I'm gonna be working on.

I plan to keep my vs cam or maybe go XP if I can find a good used one and sell my VS.

I want to get a good reconditioning and port job on my old stock heads if they aren't damaged.

I found an AMAZING deal on an L26 long block with no intake, throttle body, fuel rails and coils. (that I don't need anyways) And the engine only has 2600 miles.

High compression will be my main focus now that I am on e85. I want .52 MLS gaskets, and head studs, + heads milled down .020 for an overall compression ratio of about 9.75:1

My intercooler pump will be replaced and I plan to continue running the I/C with e85.

Not sure what pulley is going to entertain this build as only tuning will tell.

This will no longer be a daily driver, more of a track/show car (If I ever get the body back up to show quality) I plan to make it as fast as it will go on an M90 blower. Don't plan on going turbo because I just don't have the money for it.

I keep hearing crap about the l26 engine not being able to handle boost? Whats up wit that? Any L26 or L36 guys here been top swapped for some time with no issues? All input is appreciated. What can I expect out of a higher compression e85 build.

Originally Posted by OrangeL67

Here are my plans for the build I'm gonna be working on.

I plan to keep my vs cam or maybe go XP if I can find a good used one and sell my VS. sure, whatever you want.

I want to get a good reconditioning and port job on my old stock heads if they aren't damaged. ported heads on a cam meant for stock heads? why?

I found an AMAZING deal on an L26 long block with no intake, throttle body, fuel rails and coils. (that I don't need anyways) And the engine only has 2600 miles. just be aware that it's easier to kill a high compression block...

High compression will be my main focus now that I am on e85. I want .52 MLS gaskets, and head studs, + heads milled down .020 for an overall compression ratio of about 9.75:1 you dont want MLS gaskets unless you want to disassemble them and put them back together to get them not to leak. stick with felpro or stock head gaskets, seriously. the higher compression thing, whatever...i dont see a need for it..

My intercooler pump will be replaced and I plan to continue running the I/C with e85. hopefully you buy a nicer pump.

Not sure what pulley is going to entertain this build as only tuning will tell. statement of win

This will no longer be a daily driver, more of a track/show car (If I ever get the body back up to show quality) I plan to make it as fast as it will go on an M90 blower. Don't plan on going turbo because I just don't have the money for it. you'd have money for a turbo setup if you stopped breaking your m90 setup.

I keep hearing crap about the l26 engine not being able to handle boost? Whats up wit that? Any L26 or L36 guys here been top swapped for some time with no issues? All input is appreciated. What can I expect out of a higher compression e85 build. the reason we say this is because of a few things:

a) the rods are smaller, they are easier to break. still hard, but easier
b) the high compression does not like lots of boost, which is what you've been doing on your build. i've watched you say you ran a 2.6 pulley which is way out of line with any build. the smallest pulley anyone should ever need is a 2.8. run less boost and run more timing.

see above.

honestly, the reason you don't see lots of guys running an e85 m90 setup to this extreme is because it's pointless. you grow past the point where the m90 becomes effective and you literally can't make more power. in your case i would stick with a lower compression bottom end and get a bigger cam with done up heads. then make use of the m90 and run less boost with more timing as said above. i realize you're running e85 so you can probably throw a balls ton of timing at it and the car won't even care, but it's really the best way to go about it. get it dialed in with 25* of timing or so and then switch pulleys all day until you figure out which runs the best, and it won't be a 2.6 i promise you that.

and the guy that said build it for meth? really? please explain why methanol would be a better alternative to e85 with some sort of conviction and maybe ill buy it. however, per this application e85 is a much, much better choice.

You dont need forged pistons.

Hypereutectic is good enough.

A N/A SBC typically runs 34 degrees.

So I'm not sure how that applies to this application.

that link is general meth injection talk. it's good for turbo cars, not so much for supercharged cars. especially if you can't inject it in the lower intake or straight into the cylinders. pushing it through the blower just doesnt prove to be a good use of it.

trust me, i ran meth for 6 months and my car ran better without it. it did cover up knock, but it had hidden side effects that most likely slowed me down.

You want an all out build with a baby cam like a VS? you are going to have the heads off, port them yourself or have a shop do it if you can. Then get them machined for more lift and get a valve job. Then get a big a$$ cam. And a gen V. And a Tuner.

OR sell intercooler and ported SC, 1/3 of the way to turbo.

If I could sell off enough crap to go turbo, I would... with a lower compression block. I just feel a little weary about going turbo with an l26.

I want to make the car fast as hell (for an M90 build). However, I do not plan on racing it much at all, or even driving it that often. Maybe 2-3 track days to see what type of PB's I can pull. Would upgrading the pistons still be necessary?

Screw the big extravagant build. Stuff has popped up that will change my plans.

I'm going XP or S1x/ Leaning toward XP. I've got a 2500 Mile L26, I'm reconditioning the heads, no milling "maybe slightly" to resurface them. And I'm gonna dial the E85 tune in and be done. (Shouldn't need an intercooler with a good tune) The VS cam and the intercooler are sold and are helping fund the rebuild.

I figure the XP fights KR better than the VS, so without an intercooler...Yeah. Plus I will get a little more top end out of it than the VS.

Anyhow, Everyone love carnage SO HERE'S THE BIG BOOM!!!.





My Engine died. I was sad






New block looking all purrty



No pictures of the chunky piston soup in the oil pan, but I'm sure you guys get the picture. I should be able to make a little more horsepower with the new plan. It will have to do for now. If everything goes smooth, I should be done by the end of this week. Just need to try to find a used cam, or suck it up and buy a new one. Also need one cylinder head because I found out that The big boom cracked my other head

I will update as this unfolds.

ClubGP Message Forum troubleshooting

Originally Posted by JoRoW99

ClubGP Message Forum troubleshooting

Awesome link Thanks!

Originally Posted by pushrod4life

the max you can get out of iron heads in most applications is around 11:1 .I've shatter 5 hyper pistons b4 from a bad linkage to the secondary butterflys on the carb b4

I've got a 13:1 iron-headed 460 in a 83 cougar that runs just fine. Plenty of people run more than 11:1 with iron heads. It's called race gas. And please explain how a bad secondary linkage caused your pistons to shatter.

Originally Posted by OrangeL67

Any L26 or L36 guys here been top swapped for some time with no issues? All input is appreciated. What can I expect out of a higher compression e85 build.

I've been running a L36 short block for a couple years now. All mods in my sig. Daily driven, 33 mpg on the highway. I have a dual nozzle water/meth setup. Both sides of lower intake drilled and tapped for the nozzles. Works for me. 3.3 is the pulley I drive around on, sometimes switch to 3.2 at the track. I would love to switch to e85. But I don't want to do any more work on the motor until I build a trans. No problems so far but I feel like it's a ticking time bomb. All stock except for external cooler and shift kit. Has run a PB of 8.01@85 mph 1/8 mile.

Just got my cam ordered, and I will be running the S1X. I found it for a good deal so the XP is out the picture. These cams are a little bigger than the VS, and the performance is nearly the same with basic tuning, But with a GOOD TUNE the XP and S1X should out-perform the VS noticeably (especially in the high end). The heads are almost finished. Got a good valve job and they will be very lightly ported. I decided to mill them down .020 for an overall compression ratio of 9.73:1. I like the thought of higher compression with Lower boost. This should be better for throttle response and gas mileage. I also like the thought of not spinning the blower and creating a ton of extra heat to get power.

While waiting for all the parts to get finished, I had the LIM hot tanked & lightly polished the ports on it. Then I prepped and painted it. I also Cleaned, primed and painted my valve covers, Blower, fuel rails, Throttle body, and TB adapter.

Early this coming week, She should be re-assembled and running again