Man I swear you come up with some of the WILDEST SOLUTIONS😝😝 but they for the most part, they work. Most people would have tossed that old block out & gotten a new one. Hey if it works then it works. One question, don’t you ever get flustered?? You Nvr have a down attitude no matter what’s going on & you always smiling💯🇺🇸🇺🇸💯
You are getting it done. When you get done and sinch the caps, if you feel the parting lines between the caps and the block if you can't feel misalignment it will hold the bearings. I'm like you, make it work.
I have heard of people doing dowel pins on the mains before cool to see you walk through it. If you were able to get that to work you would have got a DIY Emmy award.
You know what they say, if you don't succeed the first time, try try again. I love your attitude and willingness to try and do just about anything to make it work before throwing in the towel. Great job John and a great video as well.😎👍💯
Thanks, my mentality is that I don't have lots of money for racecars, but I have time, so I can put extra time in to try to make it work before I can just throw bucks at it.
Hey brother do you want to put those small dowels in your block just put the bearing caps in place and drill all the way through them into the block and you’ll have a perfectly aligned hole for the small dowels
No disrespect, but plz don’t do that! You will lose all the cap strength. Drilling into a block is one thing, drilling into a 2 lb main cap is another! I understand what you saying but I assure you, that will weaken the main cap too much and it will break. Not maybe, it will! My dumb ass thought the same thing, I put solid 8mm dowels in mine and drilled all the way thru it bc I couldn’t get the dowels to match up, this was a Little M , billet, splayed caps with studs, cracked all 3 center caps. I have a video of it ill be happy to share. Only thing different, was my block only had 1 season on it. I was going to a total of 700hp shot of dope set up progressively. So I did the worst thing I could do, I thought that I could make it stronger instead of leaving it the heck alone
I have used carrillo rod cap locating sleeves to position main caps,... (stock & aftermarket),... on the inner bolt's for year's,... they stop the walk,..... forever.......
You are cold as hell John! I wish there were as savage of machinists on KC as there are in your area. You bring motivation for us DIY people. Anyways god bless and thanks.
Man I think you did a great job I had to do a similar fix with my block last year . I also bought new studs and they seemed to tighten the caps up a little more
Will work like a freakin champ !!! Will get even tighter when torqued! They line bore with them torqued!! People this balling on a budget not everyone can just buy all new stuff every time ! I no plenty of people that can’t go mid 4s with endless funds TJ to tha front !!!!!!!
It's not every day that I get to see a worn out block. You damn sure are going to get your moneys worth aren't you 🤣 I'm going to do my part and help out via ordering some merch. Thanks John.
Cap walk and chattering wear those things down. Too much power and cap movement create those issues. I have used sleeves over studs with knurled machining over sleeves but the dowel pin method is superior long term. Hope all your effort works out! DIY POWER ALL THE WAY!
There are purpose sized reamers available in just about any size you want John....Google this: " Interstate 0.514" High Speed Steel 8 Flute Chucking Reamer Straight Flute, Straight Shank " That would be one way, other way would be to make a jig off the main caps to their existing dowel holes.... sit a cap on piece of 1/4 bar stock, use center 2 holes to drill holes in bar stock, drill that bar stock at apr location of dowels oversized for dowel, then use 2nd piece of bar stock exact size of dowel and weld it to 1st piece of bar stock while the separate pieces of bar stock aligned to cap bolt holes and dowel hole... would then use alignment pins to align bolt holes to block bolt holes.... well, you should get the idea from that "jerry rigged" description...
Your cap are bent Bolt down caps and check housings roundness Remember when engine running your trying to push a crankshaft out the bottom so u will egg shape the housing of the caps
I think you should go for a girdle. Probably could make one with no issues. Edit i looked and they're available for sbc's for not too much at all. I would go that route
TKM and Dart help this man out with a new block and some world class machine work!!! I don't know of a grass roots racer that deserves it more! So come on guys help a brother out!!! Thanks for your videos and all you do!!! Keep it up brother!!!
@@TurboJohnRacing haha 😂 yeh, I guess it was just my ocd kicking in a bit. Being a hobby machinist and knowing the tolerances that are needed, if I were in your shoes, I might have asked your machinist to put the dowels in while he had it.
@@danmyers9372 then you wait or take it somewhere else. It’s not worth knocking the crank out on the top end to save a little time and little money. I’m a tight wad but there is a time to replace parts or have it done correctly. I love what John is doing and support him no matter what. I would tell my best friend the same thing or pay for the machine work myself if he couldn’t.
Where the registers on the main caps are I've seen a guy take a prick punch in peen the surface and it raises some steel and then he takes a file and dial bore gauge and goes to work I watched it hold up on Old 60s Bel Air drag car with a 350 shot and 427 high compression piston and cylinder heads decked and everything gone through
I wonder if you could have flipped the cap over, stuck a drill bit in the small dowel pin hole that was already in the cap and then drill it all the way through, then bolt the cap back on the block and then use the newly drilled small hole as a template/guide to drill precisely in to the block and then use the small dowel pins. But I'm sure you already thought of that and there are reasons it won't work. Anyways I like what you ended up doing. Good work.
The best thing to do is set those caps up in a drill press and drill the hole all the way through for the dowel pin, then put the caps back on the Block and then use that hole as your guide to drill and Ream the block At this point you will need to step up on the dowel pin size as well
For sure should have had the machine shop fit the dowels and the register. Yes I know its more money but in the long run I think it would have some out to be cheaper. some you cant do a precision fit with a hand drill and a punch lol. Now the ends or registers could have been fit but not with a belt sander lol
John i like your style, I'm like you and have had cap fretting in all my small blocks. And I have a gm racing block in corner of shop with all same issues...lol If you went back to your dowel around the stud could you put a slice down the length of the dowel to let it compensate for the 0.015 press?
I usually don't leave comments. But I may be of some help in this case I have a bridgeport at my home garage and I have a boring head to get this done. And I'm not to far away I'm about 15 minutes before wilmington nc in castle hayne. I know randy from cannons collision where I work in wilmington. He used to come by and do supplements every now and then but I haven't seen him sense the whole covid thing tho.
Hey big guy great vid again! One question tho! Your obviously getn better with the tig why don't you have them line bore it like you said then right night to the cap on the side weld a tiny bead on both sides of the caps to prevent any further side to side play? You fixed the register part but on the tiny area next to the cap right before you go down In the cylinder run some more small beads kinda like your gonna weld the sides of the caps to the block but not actually weld them there! U get what I'm saying? Basically create side registers kinda since you fixed the back sides of the main caps now do this sides and eliminate any chance of side to side movement! Just a thought! Your motor your decision obviously just thought it might be worth a try or maybe even converse with Brian and randy! Who knows maybe it will work just trying to help! Have a good one buddy
@@TurboJohnRacing with the HP what did u use ur only 4 inputs and outputs for? What was most important to you for the racing u do? I ask because I have an HP and now rethinking I need a dominator
I'll be surprised if this thing has main bearings after a dozen passes. This is precision work, not something that can be done on a drill press or by hand.
Did not you used to be able to get offset dowel pins? I know you can in a more general machining sense, not sure about automotive for this purpose. Stud girdle?
Ive seen a lot worse things done on a budget to make it another year on a block only to use it 3 more years lol, if it works it works regardless if its done in that shop or a machine shop......
As a hp machinist i cringe at the cobbled up mess your trying to use. Your methods are one reason you keep blowing the thing up! If you have 400 mains use a crank with 400 mains. Spacer bearings might be ok with a NA build but for turbo or heavy nitrous are a definite no no. The money you keep spending to polish a turd could buy you a good setup. Oh well hotrodders seldom have good sense!
You can't eliminate cap walk, you can only minimize it. Fixing the register is fine, but it WILL do the same thing. Setting the dowels up needs to be precise, and can be done on a bridgeport. Those oil pump dowels are not big enough anyway, so whatever you misaligned while drilling can be fixed with a bigger, stronger dowel, which would be the right way to do it and help minimize cap walk much better for what you are doing. This is even more critical when using bearing spacers. I know you are trying to be cost effective, but there is a time and place to do what is needed. Just sayin.
I am afraid you have ruined those main caps, by welding on them. I understand the cost concerns, but have you thought of the safety aspects of this engine letting go on the big end?
We will see how it works out. I did not overheat the cap at all. I run a diaper for disasters, which happens quite frequently for me. LOL... But you can see why.
I get not having Street Outlaws kind of money but at the same time and money and missed races etc that you have spent on making it last longer than it's life expectancy of that block, wouldn't you be better off getting a new block? I'm just asking because idk.
Gotta be honest TJ, you really should buy a new block or at least a better block. You are running so fast now and blowing up doing a mid 7 pass could get you killed. Budget or life....you're a good guy.....just get a new block.
Man I swear you come up with some of the WILDEST SOLUTIONS😝😝 but they for the most part, they work. Most people would have tossed that old block out & gotten a new one. Hey if it works then it works. One question, don’t you ever get flustered?? You Nvr have a down attitude no matter what’s going on & you always smiling💯🇺🇸🇺🇸💯
Excellent job of Tig welding TJ!
Put dowels on main caps
Let a machine shop do it,Accuracy is everything
You are getting it done. When you get done and sinch the caps, if you feel the parting lines between the caps and the block if you can't feel misalignment it will hold the bearings. I'm like you, make it work.
You will be alright
I have heard of people doing dowel pins on the mains before cool to see you walk through it. If you were able to get that to work you would have got a DIY Emmy award.
You know what they say, if you don't succeed the first time, try try again. I love your attitude and willingness to try and do just about anything to make it work before throwing in the towel. Great job John and a great video as well.😎👍💯
Thanks, my mentality is that I don't have lots of money for racecars, but I have time, so I can put extra time in to try to make it work before I can just throw bucks at it.
Hey brother do you want to put those small dowels in your block just put the bearing caps in place and drill all the way through them into the block and you’ll have a perfectly aligned hole for the small dowels
No disrespect, but plz don’t do that! You will lose all the cap strength. Drilling into a block is one thing, drilling into a 2 lb main cap is another! I understand what you saying but I assure you, that will weaken the main cap too much and it will break. Not maybe, it will! My dumb ass thought the same thing, I put solid 8mm dowels in mine and drilled all the way thru it bc I couldn’t get the dowels to match up, this was a Little M , billet, splayed caps with studs, cracked all 3 center caps. I have a video of it ill be happy to share. Only thing different, was my block only had 1 season on it. I was going to a total of 700hp shot of dope set up progressively. So I did the worst thing I could do, I thought that I could make it stronger instead of leaving it the heck alone
Id stake them too and then take to machine shop.
Well i learned something from this vid thats the best part of it nice work saving a bundle
The things you do impresses me. :) Never give up attitude.
Throwing another idea , maybe Weld tabs on caps ? 🧐👁️
Hard blockit to bottom of freeze plugs
I have used carrillo rod cap locating sleeves to position main caps,... (stock & aftermarket),... on the inner bolt's for year's,... they stop the walk,..... forever.......
Nice, where you can you get those? They look very thin wall which is nice
You are cold as hell John! I wish there were as savage of machinists on KC as there are in your area. You bring motivation for us DIY people. Anyways god bless and thanks.
Once my machine shop flattens the cap and line bores it, I hope it works out
@@TurboJohnRacing i never knew you ran a conventional small block my god are you pushing that poor engine, what cubic inch is it
Man I think you did a great job I had to do a similar fix with my block last year . I also bought new studs and they seemed to tighten the caps up a little more
you mad man. love it. if it works, it aint stupid
It's a sight better than it was. Good fix. It'll be fine.
I think it is no worse for sure, lol
Dude love that your always stoked and smiling even when everything is f*ked 🤘 right on yah
Will work like a freakin champ !!! Will get even tighter when torqued! They line bore with them torqued!! People this balling on a budget not everyone can just buy all new stuff every time ! I no plenty of people that can’t go mid 4s with endless funds TJ to tha front !!!!!!!
It's not every day that I get to see a worn out block. You damn sure are going to get your moneys worth aren't you 🤣 I'm going to do my part and help out via ordering some merch. Thanks John.
Yes sir dart blocks ain’t cheap 😅😢
Kevin Luck you are exactly right
Whats causing all the carnage
Cap walk and chattering wear those things down. Too much power and cap movement create those issues. I have used sleeves over studs with knurled machining over sleeves but the dowel pin method is superior long term. Hope all your effort works out!
DIY POWER ALL THE WAY!
I dig it
if the caps are beat to death, the legs essentially get closer together making them loose in the registers. can you get new caps for it?
They have some generic ones available, but Richard was able to get these right. Hope to get a new block next year
There are purpose sized reamers available in just about any size you want John....Google this: " Interstate
0.514" High Speed Steel 8 Flute Chucking Reamer Straight Flute, Straight Shank " That would be one way, other way would be to make a jig off the main caps to their existing dowel holes.... sit a cap on piece of 1/4 bar stock, use center 2 holes to drill holes in bar stock, drill that bar stock at apr location of dowels oversized for dowel, then use 2nd piece of bar stock exact size of dowel and weld it to 1st piece of bar stock while the separate pieces of bar stock aligned to cap bolt holes and dowel hole... would then use alignment pins to align bolt holes to block bolt holes.... well, you should get the idea from that "jerry rigged" description...
John i have the identical block to that of make you a deal on.
Send me more info, turbotbirds@aol.com Thanks
Sent you an email!
Root cause IMO is the non-CCW crank...Howard’s Cams has a new line for sbc 2021 that are reasonable and CCW
I think you are right
Your cap are bent
Bolt down caps and check housings roundness
Remember when engine running your trying to push a crankshaft out the bottom so u will egg shape the housing of the caps
Curious to see how this holds up
do they make girdles for V8's i use one in my boosted inline 6
I would have to make one custom
This was good entertainment... alot like a dumpster fire but alot more entertaining.
I think you should go for a girdle. Probably could make one with no issues.
Edit i looked and they're available for sbc's for not too much at all. I would go that route
Wish i had a line up on a good block
Music sounds like a massage parlor in Chinatown 😄
lol
I was wondering wtf is he listening too
time for that LS Swap.
This
Keep talking like that and you're going to get coal in your stocking for Christmas, young man!
Na,needs to do a coyote for that Ford. 👈😁
Order a new set of billet main caps for the center 3
TKM and Dart help this man out with a new block and some world class machine work!!! I don't know of a grass roots racer that deserves it more! So come on guys help a brother out!!! Thanks for your videos and all you do!!! Keep it up brother!!!
how about a main girtle
Girdle only supports the studs really in this case, unless you welded the caps to it
That block is beat to shit, I like your style! Still gonna send it
this comment had me rolling, those middle caps just loose af, notches of cast iron missing hahaha
that was some damn nice machine work. I probably would have just welded them in place. Just make it work. great job
I was cringing through all of that.
sorry bubba, with your user name as ultimate accuracy I bet that was rough.....LOL This was more like horseshoes, getting it close.
@@TurboJohnRacing haha 😂 yeh, I guess it was just my ocd kicking in a bit. Being a hobby machinist and knowing the tolerances that are needed, if I were in your shoes, I might have asked your machinist to put the dowels in while he had it.
Dude!!! Just get the machine shop to pin the caps. Should be cheap.
I got the impression that his machine shop is way backed up.
@@danmyers9372 then you wait or take it somewhere else. It’s not worth knocking the crank out on the top end to save a little time and little money. I’m a tight wad but there is a time to replace parts or have it done correctly. I love what John is doing and support him no matter what. I would tell my best friend the same thing or pay for the machine work myself if he couldn’t.
@@Jkpservices yep you been there huh bud
Put those inserts on a bolt loose and lightly spin it on the belt sander and remove the .15 thousands
33/64 is a .515 drill bit.
Yes, I could not find one local.
Hell yea John! Common sense goes a long way. I say it’s gonna work 99.9%
Where the registers on the main caps are I've seen a guy take a prick punch in peen the surface and it raises some steel and then he takes a file and dial bore gauge and goes to work I watched it hold up on Old 60s Bel Air drag car with a 350 shot and 427 high compression piston and cylinder heads decked and everything gone through
Do you run a windage tray and girdle?
no
@@TurboJohnRacing if you did it probably help with your main caps and your bearings wouldn't Flex as much
I wonder if you could have flipped the cap over, stuck a drill bit in the small dowel pin hole that was already in the cap and then drill it all the way through, then bolt the cap back on the block and then use the newly drilled small hole as a template/guide to drill precisely in to the block and then use the small dowel pins. But I'm sure you already thought of that and there are reasons it won't work. Anyways I like what you ended up doing. Good work.
The best thing to do is set those caps up in a drill press and drill the hole all the way through for the dowel pin, then put the caps back on the Block and then use that hole as your guide to drill and Ream the block
At this point you will need to step up on the dowel pin size as well
For sure should have had the machine shop fit the dowels and the register. Yes I know its more money but in the long run I think it would have some out to be cheaper. some you cant do a precision fit with a hand drill and a punch lol. Now the ends or registers could have been fit but not with a belt sander lol
John i like your style, I'm like you and have had cap fretting in all my small blocks. And I have a gm racing block in corner of shop with all same issues...lol
If you went back to your dowel around the stud could you put a slice down the length of the dowel to let it compensate for the 0.015 press?
I usually don't leave comments. But I may be of some help in this case I have a bridgeport at my home garage and I have a boring head to get this done. And I'm not to far away I'm about 15 minutes before wilmington nc in castle hayne. I know randy from cannons collision where I work in wilmington. He used to come by and do supplements every now and then but I haven't seen him sense the whole covid thing tho.
Hi John, I suspect its the registers and nothing to do with the bearing spacers.
The cap walk issue IS the registers. The bearing spacers just make it worse.
John, just curious, what is your day job?
LOL, my real job is a health inspector. We been racing since way back, great hobby for sure.
Doesn't that anneal the hardened areas of the block?
Lay a straight edge across the cap face first, sometimes they are actually bent. Heavy steel table and heavy hammer to flatten them back out
Looks good from here....
John.....Your in over your head on this one.
Please, please look for seriously talented professional help for this repair.
Hope it works out I know new car is coming budget is probably already shot to hell but believe may be time for new block and caps but good luck TJ
Hey big guy great vid again! One question tho! Your obviously getn better with the tig why don't you have them line bore it like you said then right night to the cap on the side weld a tiny bead on both sides of the caps to prevent any further side to side play? You fixed the register part but on the tiny area next to the cap right before you go down In the cylinder run some more small beads kinda like your gonna weld the sides of the caps to the block but not actually weld them there! U get what I'm saying? Basically create side registers kinda since you fixed the back sides of the main caps now do this sides and eliminate any chance of side to side movement! Just a thought! Your motor your decision obviously just thought it might be worth a try or maybe even converse with Brian and randy! Who knows maybe it will work just trying to help! Have a good one buddy
Put block filler in it and for more slives and run aluminum rods and That will save your block
You couldn't find a different source for the size dowel that would actually work in the main stud holes
Ohhh.........
Boy
You could of split the dowels down the middle so they would collapse when pressed in.
E
Man i hope this works out for you!!! Might be time for some new merch designs to help offset the cost of that monster!!!
Go to our website, we just got something new up there.
@@TurboJohnRacing will do thanks!
John: Hmm.. I cut it twice and it's still to short!...
If you dont mind me asking, what EFI system do you use on your car?
Holley, I have the Dominator now but ran the HP forever
He has been a Holley EFI guy for a while and was given a Dominator back at the end of September. Not sure if it's in the car or not, though.
@@TurboJohnRacing with the HP what did u use ur only 4 inputs and outputs for? What was most important to you for the racing u do? I ask because I have an HP and now rethinking I need a dominator
I'll be surprised if this thing has main bearings after a dozen passes. This is precision work, not something that can be done on a drill press or by hand.
Precision guess work over here, lol The good news, is I moved my oil pressure data log to the first screen on my data logs
@@TurboJohnRacing well, I guess that's one way to look at it. Good luck with it, may the force be with you!
They gonna line hone it...it will work
Milidon or Pro-Gram caps , 1 piece thick wall bearings. 33/64 drill!!!! That,s the size you need.
But it should be fine the way you done it after you torque them down
Did not you used to be able to get offset dowel pins? I know you can in a more general machining sense, not sure about automotive for this purpose.
Stud girdle?
If you hadn't welded they might would have moved back and forth enough to line the small tabs up
If you stay with the non radial racing then you should probably just switch over to LS engines. Then you can keep a back up engine.
Come on man order new caps.
If you would ever a-temp this you should be using tool steel filler rod.
Yeah, a drill bit would work!
Ive seen a lot worse things done on a budget to make it another year on a block only to use it 3 more years lol, if it works it works regardless if its done in that shop or a machine shop......
matt @ sloppy mechanics...... watch and learn!
It was hard to watch all this to be honest.
Get you a ford like your friend
Never Chevy power or no power!!
LS time
As a hp machinist i cringe at the cobbled up mess your trying to use. Your methods are one reason you keep blowing the thing up! If you have 400 mains use a crank with 400 mains. Spacer bearings might be ok with a NA build but for turbo or heavy nitrous are a definite no no. The money you keep spending to polish a turd could buy you a good setup. Oh well hotrodders seldom have good sense!
You can't eliminate cap walk, you can only minimize it. Fixing the register is fine, but it WILL do the same thing. Setting the dowels up needs to be precise, and can be done on a bridgeport. Those oil pump dowels are not big enough anyway, so whatever you misaligned while drilling can be fixed with a bigger, stronger dowel, which would be the right way to do it and help minimize cap walk much better for what you are doing. This is even more critical when using bearing spacers. I know you are trying to be cost effective, but there is a time and place to do what is needed. Just sayin.
Time is my issue, like always. We will see how this works out.
@@TurboJohnRacing Time is ALWAYS the limiting factor lol.
I am afraid you have ruined those main caps, by welding on them. I understand the cost concerns, but have you thought of the safety aspects of this engine letting go on the big end?
We will see how it works out. I did not overheat the cap at all. I run a diaper for disasters, which happens quite frequently for me. LOL... But you can see why.
I get not having Street Outlaws kind of money but at the same time and money and missed races etc that you have spent on making it last longer than it's life expectancy of that block, wouldn't you be better off getting a new block? I'm just asking because idk.
Gotta be honest TJ, you really should buy a new block or at least a better block. You are running so fast now and blowing up doing a mid 7 pass could get you killed. Budget or life....you're a good guy.....just get a new block.
wish I had the 4 grand to get one, maybe next year
@@TurboJohnRacing how about a fully sleeved 400 block? Or a used sprint car block ( WOA )?
Just buy new caps or you could always put a Ford back in😁
Never!! Chevy power or no power
why not just buy new caps and have it machined? seems like thats the right way and it wouldnt cost a arm and leg.
It’s time to ditch the small block .
1st!!!!