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Riddler

Project EH-Body
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Well today I was going through the 2 hemi's I have. One is a truck motor and the other is a car motor. I bought the truck motor from a running rollover. Went to take the harmonic balancer off and broke a bolt in the crank. I've even had a machine shop work on the crank and it will need to come out for any other work.

The car motor I was told overheated a few times. Well nitrous will do that. One piston is melted away and it took the block and head with it. However I think the crank is ok.

With this all said and done....where do I go from now? Just clean the block, install the car crank into the truck motor and make a 5.7L motor to get the car running and afterwards build a motor.

OR?

Build a 5.7L stroker motor and save for a 6.1L? Money is tight however with a new baby at home.

I wish one of the motors had a decent bottom end.

Riddler
 
Lots of things are hard on a budget.... but your gonna want something nice for this car. Building a 5.7 stroker and saving for a 6.1 is gonna be expensive! The best thing I can say is is take the time to build what you want and how you want it one time.

If you want to go the 5.7 route I have a already machined block with arp main and head studs pm me and we can talk.
 
I think it's safe to assume the car motor is toast. If it took out the block and the heads, the chances of the crank surviving are slim. But, since taking the motor apart is free, take it apart and check it out, if its good set it aside, along with any other salvageable parts.

It's hard to tell from your post, but did the machine shop extract the bolt? If they did all is probably good.

Here are some possible options:

1. Tear down and inspect the truck motor, if it looks good, buy a set of rings, hone the block, put a re-ground hughes cam in it, re-use the non reusable bolts, throw a set of headers on it and tune it and you'll be at 450-475 HP and run it until it blows up, or wears out. It'll probably last until your infant is 8-10 Years old, maybe longer.

2. Tear down and inspect the truck motor. Buy a used 6.1 Hemi forged crank off of Craigslist for $250.00, buy a set of the stronger (though still powdered metal) 6.1 Rods. Throw in a set of aftermarket forged pistons, bumping the compression to 10.5:1. Clean up the stock heads yourself, little gasket match and pocket porting, it's ridiculously easy to get 5.7 heads to flow 300 CFM. Put in a big cam with just under .600 lift. Finally throw a 150 Shot of NOS. Naturally aspirated 525-550 to 650-675 with the NOS.

3. Build a stroker. Get out your wallet. Finish sometime after the kid finishes college.

I have a 6 and 9 year old. I had more free cash spending money in college working part-time and living at home than I do now. The key to moving projects forward is to develop a well thought out plan and then stick to it.
I know it's really hard, my motor has been sitting on an engine stand for two years because of a lack of money. This summer I was finally able to build the ECM and hope to have it running on a stand by the end of winter.

Regards,

Joe Dokes
 
I'm working on option 2 (w/ upgraded rods).

I've got a 5.7 block, 6.1 crank, k1 rods, and wiseco 11:1 pistons. Ported 5.7 heads that flow ~360. I need a forged bottom end, because I will road race this car.

I personally think a factory parts 5.7 is the best deal going. I actually had a 5.7 with a spun rod bearing, and a good 5.7 crank to swap in. I knew I would eventually need a forged motor (to road race), and I decided I only wanted to do it once. I have a few 6.1 cranks, so it made sense to stick to stock stroke for me.

My K1 rods and wiseco pistons with bearings, pins, rings, etc were ~$1200? I think it's ~$2000 for the stroker assembly.

The factory 5.7 short block can stand up to some power; there are a number of stock 5.7 short blocks that have run in the mid to high 11's in 4000 lb LX cars. Those guys usually upgrade to a forged motor mainly for better pistons (they'll break pieces off above the rings).

What all will you do with the car? Street mostly? If that's what you're doing, I'd swap that crank and go.
 
KARBELT in pickering ont has a 6.1 carbed hemi 09 crate for sale arounf 6grand needs accessory pullies and controller is about 150 already to go . hope this helps
 
Well I've been checking out both motors. The truck motor crank is done. Machine shop said drilling it would cost more than replacing it. Forged crank and hardened bolt. The car motor crank looks ok. I think I got lucky and it only melted a piston and the head. The crank looks mint.

I think I'm going to work on option 2. I have the bad car block to use for mock up while I build the truck block. Gonna use car intake and front accessories.

I'm thinking since I'll be building it I'd like to go bigger. Would using the 6.1 crank with 6.1 rods/pistons make the 5.7 into a 6.1? I'm thinking a stock 6.1 crank with aftermarket pistons and rods.

I've been searching on lxforums but can't find much about this topic.

Riddler
 
No, the 6.1 and 5.7 have the same stroke, the difference in displacement comes from a a larger bore.

The 5.7 has 3.920" bore while the 6.1 has a 4.055" bore.

Stock stroke of both motors is
3.578" Stroke for 5.7L and 6.1L
3.795" Stroke for the factory 392 or 6.4L
4.050" Stroke for the Manley Crank
4.080" Stroke for the K1 Technologies Crank

I'd feel comfortable running the cast crank to around 550 HP in a street car that is going to be flogged for some Saturday night drag racing. The 6.1 stuff is good to around 700 HP. Though if I were like Uhcoog1 and going to road race the motor, I'd also upgrade to forged rods.

Regards,

Joe Dokes
 
You can't use the 6.1 pistons because there to big, the 6.1 crank is a great choice because its forged and has the same 3.580" stroke as the 5.7. For pistons you have a few options like probe Mahle weisco cp bullet series. I think one of those company's has a factory size piston, but you should have the cylinder measured to make sure there is no out of round or tapped before spending any money. You may need to have it torque plate honed to the next size. The rotating assembly needs to be ballanced and make sure to have the main journals measured and machined if needed. The stock cranks can be pretty good as long as there is no boost or nitrous being used, the stock rods and crank are junk. If your going to tear it down for new pistons you would be better to find a good used 6.1 crank and stock length rods you will have a forged engine that will withstand some nitrouse if you so choose to use it when your ready to go a little faster.
 
Why are the 6.1 pistons too large? Are the 6.1 blocks sleeved? I'm thinking of getting the 6.1 crank with forged rods and maybe some good 9.5 or 10:1 pistons.

Anyone have suggestions....
 
For all intents and purposes you cannot bore the 5.7L block from 3.920" to 4.055" (Some claim that about 1/1000 blocks can be bored that much, but the chances of your block allowing that amount of overbore are well, 1/1000.)

The most common sizes of aftermarket pistons are standard bore and .020 over.

Here's Wisco's list of 5.7 Pistons:

http://www.wiseco.com/PDFs/Wiseco-Chrysler-Hemi-Pistons.pdf

Here's both:

http://www.wiseco.com/Catalogs/Automotive/Chrysler.pdf

Note: I am not endorsing wiseco pistons, I am simply trying to show you what is available.

Regards,

Joe Dokes
 
If you want to go bigger than a shelf piston you can get some costom pistons but that would defeat the purpose of a budget build. performance werks racing has taken the 5.7 to as big as 4.030" several times. The 5.7 block has thicker cylinder walls and less core shift than the 6.1 block.
 
If you want to go bigger than a shelf piston you can get some costom pistons but that would defeat the purpose of a budget build. performance werks racing has taken the 5.7 to as big as 4.030" several times. The 5.7 block has thicker cylinder walls and less core shift than the 6.1 block.

man... ponty sounds like you've done some research:blob:
 
You could say that, I've had this block a long time and I want to do it right thee first time. I'm also a technichian and I've worked at a couple performance machine shops.
 
I looked at the options, and I felt wiseco and k1 were a good deal for off the shelf. A lot of the aftermarket hemi rods are not factory length or factory pin diameter - so keep this in mind when you're shopping. Not a big deal, just means you need to match the rod and piston. BTW- a lot of stroker combo's use 6.125" rods with 2.000 or 2.100 crank journals

Pistons:
Wiseco, Ross, and Diamond I've all heard good things about. I don't know what is off the shelf and what is custom for Ross and Diamond.

Rods:
K1, manley, and scat I have heard good things about. I only have the data on the K1.

Factory Rod:
length - 6.243"
pin diam - (don't remember - someone help me out here?)
Journal - 6.125"

K1 rods:
length - 6.243"
pin diam - .927" (fits with wiseco pistons)
Journal - 6.125" (same as factory)

For me, the ease of buying the rods and pistons straight from Wiseco, knowing that I didn't have to grind the crank journals or anything, that's what made up my mind. I priced things out at campbell enterprises and flatlander racing, but ended up going through a buddy. All were close in price.
 
I'm thinking since I'm building and hoping for 500hp I'm thinking a 6.1 crank with K1 rods and Wisco pistons.

Uhcoog1 do you have part numbers for these parts? Do they sell a package with bearings, rings and pins?

Riddler
 
Stock rod journal on the 5.7 / 6.1 is 2.100" Though K-1 makes a 2.000 Chevy LS sized rod if you want to offset ground the crank, though that would require custom pistons.

Regards,

Joe Dokes
 
The k1 rods allong with the weisco pistons and a 6.1 crank is a good combo. You will have a forged rotating assembly that will handle what you want. If you call k1 they could recommend the correct rod bearing.
 
5.7 pistons, .020 over, 11:1 compression (with 85cc head)
Piston Kit: K467X2 (has pistons, pins, rings)
Bottom one on the page:
http://www.campbellenterprises.com/parts.php?type=subcomponent&id=145&cid=35&mid=2

Rods: DH6243ANLB8-A
http://www.campbellenterprises.com/parts.php?type=search&query=K1dh6243anlb8a

I didn't get rod bearings I guess. I'd make sure you get upgraded to arp2000 rod bolts (standard from Campbell). I would also make sure that the pistons come with the rings, I'm guessing that they don't from Campbell (think I paid extra for that).
 
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