My 331... she's alive !!!!

RIO5.0

RIO5.0

15 Year Member
Feb 16, 2001
6,892
7
128
N.H.
#1
After 1.5 yrs she came to life today...... gotta admit as usual I was freaking out at that first twist of the key and bam she sputtered a tad and jump right to life and into a nice idle.... damn nice sound.... hate it when the dizzy is out and you gotta mess around....:(

brought it up to full temp and then shut it down and set the timing...running about 15 degs advanced and its plenty stout.... thing run the balls....oil pressures bout 50 psi at anything above idle and with the new CR/Visteon radiator she never even hit 180. I set the idle around 800 and she's got a nice sound and responsive right from idle. FTI did a sweet job on the cam as I told him i wanted low/mid power and its right there.

Combo
8.9 comp,all forged, balanced, girdled, SRP pistons, Scat crank, AFR 185s warmed over by FTI with FTI cam, Scorp 1.6s, Eddy RPM, Accu 75, 1 5/8 ceramic LTs, 24s, 373s

pics & idle vid...

Cantonoilpan_1_1.jpg


dipstick1.jpg


Lift_1_1.jpg


http://s246.photobucket.com/albums/gg87/fanuche/?action=view&current=331idle.mp4
 

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#3
Thats awesome andy, sounds really nice! At least you still have a little time to drive it before winter sets in. Glad you finally got it up and running. Get it over to pete and see what it puts down
 
#6
Thanks guys... Now I know why you dont want low gears and boost....even with 373s the thing is way touchy... having the Fox swap doesn't help as that touchy in itself. Still getting used to it as the powerband is way different from the old motor.
So far the puter seems to be doing all right... had a time or 2 where it died at a light outta nowhere. Not really sure I have the rockers set right as it seems a tad loud, but yet quiet too ??? getting the preload correct with new lifters first time is a mofo to me. I soaked em a few days and primed the chit outta it before it set em. An adjust means taking these VCs off & requires the upper to be removed... not exactly looking forward to that.

Im curious on the temp to...with the new radiator it never even gets to 180...i always ran a 192 before. fuel mileage so far is sweet so i'm thinking its not stuck in closed loop?? something tells me i should be running it warmer but everyone seems to run 180s so i gave it a shot???

going by my gage on the cowl I thinks she needs more fuel to.... i'm at 38 and should really fatten it up some.. I'll play with it some and see what goes. Not really sure I'm gonna get up to dyno before it goes away for the Winter. Think i'll put some miles on it and see if a chip is in order. I can swap in my 30s and save a re-cal on the MAF to boot when i chip it. Have yet to pull a plug yet for a look/see... If she's all White.... :jaw:
 
#7
Nice to see Andy!

Getting into Closed loop is a function of time, not ECT. It takes the O2's 0.5 - 2 minutes to light-off and provide meaningful feedback.

As long as your temps are right around 180*, you should be ok in terms of trim. Is it a balanced t-stat? If so, they tend to start to open about 8* before their rating in my experience.

Enjoy brah!
 
#9
You don't need to pull the lower to readjust your rockers. Should be able to do it with just the valve covers off. You can usually get a good feel just turning the pushrod with your fingers.

Kurt
 
#11
Hissin...its a +/- 2 deg stat... I see what your saying on the 180 but in the weather we have this time of year it was 155 cruising 55 or so...thats why I thought it was maybe to cold??

I had my LTs ceramic coated in/out so as to help with the O/2s getting a nice reading.

Kurt.... I didn't run any spacers on this intake, which sucked for about 4 different things I needed the room for....cant yank the drivers cover without the upper only being removed. Can rollers be set up just by having the motor running and do the old, back off til they clack and then dial them in?? you never hear people doing them like that... is it just roller motors that do the zero lash thing?
I was gonna cut the tops off my stock VCs and bolt them on and adjust them old school to see what gives...

nmcgrawj... thanks man... i love listening to the idle.... thats even my OEM stock mufflers on there and it sounds sweet.

Check out another clearance issue.... had to remove the stock brace, you can see the holes, but was able to keep the Steeda bar I had... bar has to be removed for an oil chg and then the bolt ground. I had oil in the motor on the stand to prime so i caught that to late....its actually rubbing.:mad:
Front sump is ok but the front stabilizer cleared by a 1/4"

cantonpan2_1_1.jpg
 
#12
I assume you have hydraulic rollers. Hydro rollers aren't generally adjusted old school, although it is possible. You just have to preload them. When you said remove the intake, I was assuming the lower. I don't even think about the upper anymore, it's such a routine procedure. I can pull mine in 6 minutes. I had my old roomate time me at 5min 43sec. With my new engine setup, I'm hoping to get it under 5 minutes.

Anyway. If you have the valve covers off. Make sure you are on the backside of the cam, and slowly turn the pushrod with your fingers while tightening the rockers. When you can't turn the pushrod easily with your fingers, give the rocker half a turn, and then lock the polylock. Then lock it down with the wrench for good measure. There is actually a good range of adjustment on the lifter, so it doesn't have to be perfect, just within that range.

Kurt
 
#13
ya I went zero lash, just the slightest drag then 1/2 turn and another 1/4 with the allen/wrench to set the polylock... i think for me doing em now would be better as there all pumped for sure.

Most of my lifters had some spring to em, push the plunger and you could feel the preload...few where rock solid. I felt those would set-up different. i'll tear back into someday when bored and have a look.
 
#16
Richard, it is an EEC-IV thing. As you know, I don't know much about AEM (and I forget you have that. I know I've posted EEC-IV stuff on your threads :bang: ).

I can't imagine that OEM's would want to wait till a car reaches any preset temp because emissions would not be nearly as fine-tuned as possible until that temp is reached. That could be 15 minutes of idling in the winter without O2 feedback/utilization. That said, I think it's neat to be able to do what you do. :)


Andy, the stat should stay closed till the coolant heats enough to open it. Some of them don't seal very well or bypass too much...... I guess you could shroud part of the radiator if you need to get things heated up a bit.
 
#19
Thanks for the props guys.....

I don't have any AFR numbers yet. Just got over 75 miles on it and seems I have a lean pop... I'm thinking more towards fuel than ignition ??? I was upping the idle a tad tonite and rev'd it up to 3500 or so a few times quickly and "pow" she popped pretty decent... my wife heard it in the house and asked if I blew it up ....:D
 
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