Inliners International Forums General Discussion Builds Return of the 153 build

I?ve been out of the forum and off my feet for the last couple of years, so I figured I?d catch up and report in too!

I had collected most of what I needed to build a spicy little four cylinder with some more modern hardware and a considerable boost in performance. My 153 block has been bored 0.030? and the deck trued, all of it cleaned and magnafluxed, new expansion plugs, cam bearings, and oil galley plugs installed.

The head has been similarly cleaned and checked with ported and polished intake and exhaust runners, fresh valve job with all new valves, larger intakes, three angle valve seats, perfect circle seals, new valves springs with enlarged spring pockets, hardened shims to set the correct spring height, 7/16? rocker arm studs, port lumps, and guide plates installed.

After an extensive search, I recently found a used roller camshaft that needed some repair. I sent it to Oregon Cam Grinder and they repaired a damaged lobe, checked it for straightness, and reground it to a hot, streetable, hydraulic profile. With it back in hand, I picked up a Cloyes straight cut timing gear set, a set of Comp Cams Ultra Pro Magnum roller rockers, and a stud girdle and poly locks all for support of the new cam grind.

NOW! Just in the last month, I have recovered from an extended series of surgeries to repair a badly damaged left foot along with a big fight with infection that sidelined me, allowing me to finally get back into the shop. With help from my son, I?m working on mocking everything up and doing final assemblies of the various subassemblies.

The reciprocating assembly has been static and dynamic balanced using an offset ground 181 crank, new ?H-beam? 6? rods, forged Racetech pistons, and Total Seal rings.

Over the weekend, I got the camshaft, lifters, and assembled head mocked up to determine the pushrod length and check the rocker geometry. Wonder of wonders, the pushrod length is standard, so I ordered new chrome moly pushrods and since I?ve gone this far, I ordered a new set of ARP head studs.

I have all of the gaskets, bearings, pumps, seals, and sealers to begin assembly and as soon as the pushrods and head studs arrive, I will be doing the final cleaning, finish cylinder honing, ring filing and fitting, and final assembly.

I?m reasonably certain that there will be questions that will come up and I?d appreciate any suggestions or advice as I go along. Those final pieces are scheduled to arrive next Monday and I?ll get started then.

Y?ALL STAY TUNED!!

I am surprised that the pushrod length will be standard.
Glad to hear you are back doing what you want to do.
What distributor do you plan to use?

I promise you, you?re no more surprised than I am!! I figured that the required length would be shorter, given that I?m using the roller lifters I got from you. I suspect that the base circle on the camshaft is smaller than stock, although I don?t have a stock one to compare it with.

I?m using a fully preped single point distributor. I had a local machinist friend set it up for me. He has one of the SUN distributor machines and does many of the distributors for the local racers. We put new bushings in it and redid the weights, springs, and vacuum advance. You sent me a new gear for it when I bought the lifters.

It?s been a tough stretch with the health issues. This is good therapy! I spent a lot of time sitting around, searching for all the little things that you end up scrambling around for at the last minute to get a build like this completed. I?d bet a whole betcha? that there?s STILL something that I?ll not have when the time comes for it!!

Any more progress? Pictures?

Got the lifter galley squared away early last week, but I came down with a nasty cold the middle of the week and I haven?t done much since. I DID track down the last piece I needed for the valve train and the pushrods and head studs came in. All I need to get now are a few random fasteners!

I have appointments with doctors three days this week, so I?m only going to be able to do some prep work ?til Friday!

I ran into something new to me today while assembling my new rod and piston combination. I?m using RaceTech forged pistons with floating pins. I have used spirolock pin retainers and Tru arc retainers, but I had never encountered the spring wire clips that RaceTech supplied and recommended.

It took a bit of a learning curve to get them assembled and the limited dexterity in my neuropathic hands didn?t help, but by the time I got to the third piston, I had it figured out.

That?s one more subassembly preped and ready. Progress!!!

Teaching old hands new tricks can be tough. I'm re-teaching mine to play the guitar again. Better than a couple of years ago when I couldn't do it at all.

Keep at it! That 4 will be fun.

One of the problems with installing a high performance valve train in the 153 head is clearance for roller rockers and stud girdles. Even the Mercruiser aluminum rocker cover doesn?t offer enough room!

I?m using Comp Cams 175:1 roller rocker arms and a small block Chevy stud girdle. An aluminum small block valve cover will accommodate the extra width and length of the rockers and the girdle, but it?s not tall enough.

My solution was to take a second Mercruiser cover that had been damaged on the top and an inexpensive cast aluminum small block Chevy
valve cover and cut the gasket rails off of them. I grafted the two rail sections together with the aid of a TiG welder and a guy who really knows how to use it. I took the two pieces and set them up on my head with the rockers and girdle installed and made sure that there was clearance and proper alignment and marked the positions and stuck them together with Gorilla Tape. Then I placed the other small block cover on the upturned rail of mocked up assembly and checked everything again! It can all be removed or installed without any other parts requiring movement.

I can access the girdle and rockers for adjustment as well as the pushrods and valve springs by simply removing the small block cover. It?s clean and neat and looks great!

If I can figure out how to post photos, I?ll try to put up a few shots of the process.

I hope you can figure out how to post pictures. There are instructions here somewhere. I'd like to see your valve cover and other parts of your engine. I just bought one of 12 Bolt Tom's valve covers and side covers. I think it has enough room.

I had another setback with the damaged foot and I?ve been sidelined for a couple of months again! After I got the rod/piston assemblies done, I haven?t accomplished much of anything.

I got discharged from treatment last Friday and I aim to get back into the shop this morning. I?ve decided to take the camshaft to my local machinist to have the fuel pump lobe turned down so that it will clear the #2 rod since it will now interfere with the lengthened stroke of the crank. I could grind it down myself, but I want it to be clean and symmetrical and I want it polished so that any stress risers are removed.

With that done, I can start on the final cleanup and when I finish hone the cylinders and gap the rings, I can get started on the assembly!

I?m going to be taking it slowly because it?s miserable hot and I have no reason to hurry. I have several fans and I will stay cool and comfortable!

Sounds good, any progress is good. I'm making a lot of progress but none of it is on my roadster.

I've been cutting back willows & brush so I can repair one of my 2,500 gallon water tanks & cleaning out springs to the water running int o the tanks. Hooking up hoses she the water in the tanks can be used to fight fire if needed. Also filling a 35,000 gallon pond for fun & fire fighting. Working on a broken Kubota and finally working on getting the stuck Ford tractor off a side hill without rolling it. All the time working on the needed defensible space so the rest will work. It never ends and rarely leaves roadster time.

I took the camshaft to the machine shop this week to have the fuel pump lobe turned down to it?s base circle. He was busy, so it may be a week before he gets to it.

I have my grandson and one of my friends coming over tomorrow to help shuffle things around in the shop. My Model T project is spread out over three stalls and there are a number of items that need to be disposed of. When that?s done, I?ll have room to move the rat rod out and start preparing for the new engine installation.

Got my camshaft back from the machine shop yesterday. Done better than I could have done! I got the new retainer plate, bolts, and ring a week or so ago, so I am now ready to assemble that part of the build.

I borrowed a ring gap grinder to set the gaps on the rings. I have always done this with a fine file in the past, so this will be a new experience!

Outside of a few fasteners, I think I have everything I need to put it all together. I just have to harness the energy to do it and get on with the program!!

You have energy to harness? I have been working on a broken steering box on my tractor where it broke in a field for a couple of weeks. I finally got it back together today. I have no energy left.

I wish you would post some pictures of your engine build. Mine is ready to assemble too if I can find it in the mess.

I?m trying to figure out how to put my photos on this forum. The prompts take me to my photos, but when I try to download them, it tells me that it can?t post them.

I found a new Rat Rod forum/website that welcomes all my stuff and I CAN post my pics there. I?ll send you a personal message tomorrow with that info.

I can't remember how to post pictures here anymore. There is a thread that explains how to do it. It seems like you have to be given permission by someone.

OK, To do that I moved a picture from my photos to my desk top. I then clicked the box "Use Full Editor" Below the Icons under "Post Options" choose "Attachment Manager" Then you can slide your pictures into the box. You won't see it in your post until you post it But you will see how many you have in the (Total Files)

Oh, I checked out the rat rod site. I'm not really interested in another distraction but I''ll spend some more time there before I decide.

Test

I kinda got it to work. I?ll figure it out a little better, later.

Tap the link and it?ll give you the other view of the adapter I made to put the small block valve cover on the 153 head.

Here?s some pics of the head and related parts.

I'm only seeing one picture? I was able to load 4 but I deleted them because it had nothing to do with your post. I just kept dragging them to the spot from my desktop.

The first post has the one picture showing and a link above that picture gives another view. The next post just has the one picture showing.

When I get back to the house tomorrow, I?ll try to send some more.

Just a few of the parts I bought and some that I made.

Some basic assemblies.

That is going to ne a nice package when it is all done.
I had to download each one to see them.

Houston! We have a problem!!

The shop that bored my block screwed it up entirely!! It was supposed to have been bored 0.030? to give me a 3.905? bore. Instead, it mics out at 3.914?!! It aint .040 and it?s way too big to be .030! I discovered it when I went to gap the compression rings. I wont be going back to them again!

I took the block to the shop that I normally use on Monday and the machinist there, who is a trusted old racing buddy, is going to sleeve it back to 3.905. We decided that this was the way to go because the pistons, rings, block prep, and balancing are already here, done, and paid for. Swapping parts is out of the question because it?s all custom, special order!

So now I?m held up for another couple of weeks at least! 😡

Auto machine shops are not as easy to find as they used to be. The 3 I used here are all gone.

My head guy has finally retired. He?s 87 years old and until last year, he was still running a ?67 Corvette in the upper classes of NHRA Super Stock.

The shop that I have used for forty plus years is a race shop that?s second generation and does work for other racers and custom car guys to finance their own racing operation. When I first sent this block out, they were backed up several months, so I took it to another guy who was supposed to be reliable and known to do good work.

LIVE ?N? LEARN!!

That was terrible news. So sleeving all 4 cylinders? That is a lot of work. And will be expensive. Have you thought about getting a different block?

I have another block. It?s in the car that I?m building this engine for. BUT! I would have to pull it, tear it down, have it bored , (if it?s worth saving) have the cam bearings and expansion plugs replaced, do the work involved in clearancing for the roller lifters, and all of the other little details that have already been done to this block.

Add to that the fact that I don?t know how square that block is or if it?s core shifted and that all of that would come out to over half of what I?ll spend having this one sleeved. And then there?s the extra labor and time involved in getting it all done!

Yeah! I sat up a couple of nights, thinking about all of that! I can easily sell the other one as a complete assembly to offset more of the expense as well.

When I?m done with this one, it?ll be about as bulletproof as I can make one! Talk about blueprinted!!

It would be easier & cheaper to take the bore out to 0.040 And get new pistons. tlowe sold me forged pistons for a 250 that fit perfectly except they are 0.020 tall. The top is plenty thick enough shave that off. Mine is a 40 over 153 with a 181 crank still a pile of parts. Stock 181 rods. It was when fitting these pistons that I learned I screwed up and forgot to hated the block decked and thus a big part of my stalled engine build.

I thought about it, but another set of pistons and another set of rings and then another balance job, plus waiting for the pistons to be custom made, (these are ?one off? slugs that were custom made for me) just seemed like more than I wanted to go through. Boring is going for $100.00 a hole. Rings and pistons would be another $300.00 and another $100.00 to balance it again and I?ll have spent more than what the sleeve job costs.

I should be picking up the block later this week and as soon as the weather breaks and it cools off some, I?ll be back on the engine stand and putting things together!

I wonder if 4 sleeves will weaken the block? I don't really know how strong these little blocks are. I know people have blown the sixes to pieces.

Tom, don't forget that with inlines, once the crank is balanced, it won't affect the balance if you change pistons. The rods are balanced separately as are the pistons. As long as the 4 pistons themselves all weigh within a few grams of each other, you won't have to do anything. As closely matched to weight as this new stuff is out of the box you wouldn't have to do anything balance related....

Thanks, Dude!! I kinda? thought that would be true. The set I have were all within a gram or so. It still comes out to about the same money. The balance work would have been the cheapest part of the deal.

It?s a done deal now anyway.

I was going to say that but I was not sure everyone thinks of it like I do. These things are two up and two down with lots of bearing surface. They are not extremely balance sensitive and will shake no matter what. Not as smooth as a six.I swapped in another set of 307 SBC pistons just to check deck height. Balance was fine with pistons and pins out of the box.

I did a little research on sleeving all four holes. The 153 blocks are plenty thick and have free standing cylinders. This prevents cylinder to cylinder distortion and promotes proper cooling.

The recommendation is to use ductile iron or centrifugal cast sleeves, which is all my machinist uses for both strength and wear purposes. It?s a race shop.

Thanks for double checking behind me on this. I?m sure that I can?t think of everything and several experienced heads are better than one!

That is good information for all of us. Thanks. I know that the whole series of sixes our fours were derived from were designed to be lighter with thinner walls. It is good to know they are tough too. I know 0.060 is our safe limit but I have a 250 that has been bored 0.080. and has been used. I don't know anything about it.