[Found!] SB torque plate
- Thread starter Maistrelli
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Depending on your area, it may be easier and cheaper to take a head gasket to a fabrication shop and have one made from 1 inch mild steel. Doesn’t hurt to price it anyway.
We made them out of 2 1/2 billet aluminum. My son used 2, One on each side on small blocks. I don't know the reason why but he does it on all race motors. He gets the material at a machine and metal recycle yard.You pay for material by weight. They were about $70 each You can get two out of each block of aluminum block.
He bought 10 to have them on hand. He is doing a subaru motor. He said he only needs one for that motor because its a split engine block while honed. we got lucky and they had the blocks cut in 28 x 14 x 2 1/2.
He just did a bore check on the mill and you can see the high spots at every head stud/bolt on a motor done without one. .004 to clean it up.
I will take some pics of the one tomorrow. He is setting feed rate for this new machine. He puts dye on the wall and it shows the high spots on a skim cut. Wait until you see these pics you will never hone a cylinder without plates again
Some shops have hot coolant going through the block while honing.
He bought 10 to have them on hand. He is doing a subaru motor. He said he only needs one for that motor because its a split engine block while honed. we got lucky and they had the blocks cut in 28 x 14 x 2 1/2.
He just did a bore check on the mill and you can see the high spots at every head stud/bolt on a motor done without one. .004 to clean it up.
I will take some pics of the one tomorrow. He is setting feed rate for this new machine. He puts dye on the wall and it shows the high spots on a skim cut. Wait until you see these pics you will never hone a cylinder without plates again
Some shops have hot coolant going through the block while honing.
I walked to the garage and he is cutting torque plates today. I was wrong about the Subarus. He uses two with the block halves bolted together.
What are your heads made of?
You want two with the mains torqued in place and both torqued in place when you are honing the cylinders, at a minimum. The superstock racers go to great extremes with this and will bolt everything else to a block and then map the cylinders from underneath with the heads torqued on and try to duplicate the mapped measurements by adjusting the bolts on the torque plates. Running hot water through the block during honing was mentioned by OldManMopar, those are the guys that do that sort of thing.
Would you use these plates when boring the block also?
Most of the time the last .010 are what's removed during the honing so it's usually not necessary to, although cylinder preparation is almost more art than an exact science, so opinions are going to vary there. When racers go to extremes, they are going after the last two or three percent of the 85 to 95 percent available power of the hypothetical hundred percent available power. Frictional loss, harmonics, etc. prevent getting the last 5 or more percent.
Maistrelli
Well-Known Member
$300 ea. from Summit.
Maistrelli
Well-Known Member
Cast iron.
I've always heard, Iron torque plate for iron heads, aluminum torque plate for aluminum heads. I would not build an engine without using a torque plate. I have a stash for almost every Mopar engine and small block Ford. BHJ sells them, BHJ Products . Really nice work. I have also had some made for odd ball engines that were nonexistent or too expensive, like my Desoto Hemi. Don't forget to have the mains torqued also, when boring and honing.
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I never heard of the iron Vs. aluminum.. I was always understanding that the bolts being torqued in their holes was to simulate the distortion they make while pulling the threads. I know when studding an aluminum block the threads should be stepped at the base so not to push out the cylinders.
This should be done on every stud on all motors. Even a bottoming tap does not square the hole at the base of the threads. All studs on a aluminum top fuel or methanol motors are stepped when purchased. If the studs purchased for a motor you are building are not stepped have it done.
We had a SBC come here that was studded in the car after the build by a speed shop. It destroyed the rings from five high spots in the cylinders at all the studs. The fix was re-bore the cylinders for the next size piston. Here is a link to a Hemi build. Watch the Tin man he knows from experience. There are many more build videos. But who wants to watch one starring a SBC.
Don't forget if you are using studs on a SBM. Mill the stud that feeds the rockers or you will starve the valve train. Some aftermarket bolts do not have the taper for this. So use studs or OEM bolts. Or at least make sure the bolts are tapered for oil flow.
here is how we get enough oil to the rockers with studs. On some builds sprayers are built into the valve covers on SBM's .
We index the studs before being machined
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BHJ Products
You should see how out of round the bottom of the bores are if you don't torque the mains. SBC blocks distort the most from my limited experience.
Yes, mains should be torqued for any machine work.
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