'69 Chevelle 502 Build

Hey, welcome again to the horsepower shop lately. We've been up to our ears in high tech horsepower with stuff like my 96 Mustang project nightmare and more recently that 98 Camaro Ls Gun.

Well, guess what, today we're gonna get down and make some horsepower, the good old fashioned way,

you know, cam, compression

and cubic inches. This blowing 40 for here is a good example of what we're talking about

a few weeks ago. I showed you my 69 Pro Street Chevelle here

and if you were paying attention, well, you probably remember. It's got a single four barrel 454 under the hood

that used to be a lot of cubic inches. But today, well, you can get a crate engine with 500 cubic inches or more. So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna retire that old rat there

and we're gonna replace it with this 502 short block that we got from GM performance parts.

Then we're gonna screw in a hotter cam, both on a set of big port heads and,

well, you're just gonna have to stick around to see what else we got in store.

Here's what we've got in store for the bottom end to make it fit in the Chevelle chassis. The front of the 502 pan has an extended sump that won't let it clear the front cross member. So we're swapping it out for this one from Mylod Don. Now, besides giving us the extra clearance around the sump, it also holds an additional two quarts of oil without depth and that's very critical when it comes to a lower Pro Streeter like the Cheville,

we can't swap out anything until we get rid of the old engine and trans

to make the job easier. The turbo 400 needs to come out first.

Yeah. Well, we're gonna swap out that transmission later on anyway, but first check this out. Now we told you that we had some big power plans for this 502. So what we're gonna do is swap out the cam shaft for this roller set up from

IKI. Now, this thing has an advertised duration of 296 on the intake 306 on the exhaust and the lift specs out

at 6 36 45 respectively.

Once the cam is installed and the old pans out of the way,

we can reinforce the bottom end with main studs from a RP,

then bolt up the oil pump with a new pickup

and finally the new winded tray,

Milo don also send this cool one piece oil pan gasket it's a lot easier to deal with in the old four piece set up. Plus it'll be a lot less likely to leak and it even comes with compression stops. So you don't over tighten the pan. Now, all I need to do is drop the pan into place and tighten her down.

Of course, while those guys were playing with those clean new parts,

I was getting the old big block almost ready to pull out.

I don't guess I get any help around here.

Hey, no problem there, Ford Boy, you probably lost his last year's Easter egg. Anyway.

Well, I'm gonna give you a hand here. Keep you from having to break out that three pound Ford Wrench. That's a good idea.

The secrets to making big power are the cam shaft and cylinder heads. Now, for cylinder heads, we're going with a set of these performer RPM s from Edelbrock with these massive rectangular ports and 118 cc combustion chambers. Now, these big chambers keep the valves unshod for better breathing. By the way, these valves measure 219 on the intake 188 on the exhaust site. Oh, here's something else. That's pretty cool. Check this instead of a net lash rocker,

they use a RP

studs. Now, these will allow us to mount up a set of adjustable roller rockers.

So we've been talking about our big power plants all day long here and you know, without totally revealing our hand. Well, let's just say that we're gonna add a little bit of artificial atmosphere to these combustion chambers later on.

That's why we're gonna clamp our cylinder heads using these A RP studs that I've just installed and then to make sure all that pressure stays put in the combustion chambers, we're gonna seal things up with these fell pro head gaskets.

Now, we both up these heads, you know, we haven't had a chance to really explain why we chose this short block for our project. But

as my friend just hinted, we are gonna put some pressure to this motor and we gotta have a good solid foundation for that. Now, this thing is practically bulletproof with those four bolt mains and that forged steel crank and don't forget, this thing also uses heavy duty rods that swing a set of forged aluminum pistons, plus the block has an extra thick deck here to help promote good cylinder ceiling. Now, those pistons use 100 thousands dome there and

well, when used with those 118 cc combustion chambers, we're gonna end up with a compression ratio of about eight and three quarter to one and that's just about perfect for what we have in mind. But more on that later,

for the rest of the valve train, there's no reason to get risky because we're sticking with this key. Now, the push rods are one piece chrome Molly design that are 100 thousands longer than stock. And here's why

they need to match the 1000 longer valve in the

rock head and that'll maintain the proper valve chain geometry.

The rockers are aluminum rollers with an extra large Trion and a roller. I tip. Now together they'll reduce valve train friction and give us a few more horsepower.

Well, you're gonna have to hold your horses while we take a short break, but we'll be back with our big block build up right after this.

Hey, glad to see you stuck around for more of the big block. Chevy build up here for my 69 Chevelle Pro Streeter. Now, in case you just joined us, well, we started out with a GM performance parts 502 short block. Then we added a full Iy

roller valve train

and a set of these Elbroch performer RPM heads. Now, I believe that we're just about ready for that. Didn't take track. Yep. And here it is

for an intake manifold. You can't go wrong with a performer RPM air gap and ours is gonna mount this 850 CFM Speed demon car.

This thing's a double pumper with annular discharge nozzles for good fuel atomization.

It's easy to dial in and plenty big to feed a big hungry rat.

Ok. Maybe you were expecting to see a big blower here, but here's the deal we're gonna break in our 502 naturally aspirated and show you what a potent power combination we've got without the help of a blower.

Before bolting up the intake, we laid some Mr gasket ultra seals in place

and laid some silicone

on the end rails.

Then with the intake manifold in place, you can tighten the bolts in a crisscross manner starting from the center

and working your way out.

We chose our ignition set up with an eye towards the future. Now with additional cylinder pressure, we need a hotter stronger spark to fire off the mixture. So we went with Mallory's high fire six system that comes with this controller box and this Promaster E coil. Now the box is a multi spark digital set up that comes with a built in rev limiter. Plus it's easy to upgrade for nitrous and turbo applications.

We're gonna send that high energy spark to the cylinders using this a

LDF I dual sync distributor. Now the reason that they call it that is because it actually sends two signals, one to the ignition and one that acts as a crank position sensor to sync up things like fuel injection.

And hey, that could also be a part of our future plans. Now for plug wires, we're using these extreme nine thousands. Also from Excel

before installing the distributor, go ahead and mark the cap and the body for the number one spark plug location,

then rotate the engine to bring number one cylinder to top dead center

and we can drop in the distributor

and line up the rotor

with the mark on the body.

And finally you can install the cap and the spark plug wires.

I guess about now. We ought to show our head and go ahead and tell you we got plans to bolt up a big B DS blower to this 502, hopefully next week.

And when you do that, you gotta lose the long water pump in favor of a short one like this aluminum piece from GM.

Oh. Also install this March accessory drive system that's got the brackets and pull as you need to relocate everything from the alternator to the power steering pump. Yeah. Well, speaking of that, March also offers this optional mini power steering pump that really helps keep things cleaned up under the hood.

There you go. Now it uses the remote reservoir here that we're gonna mount under the hood. Once we get that engine bolted back up.

The alternator that Joe was talking about earlier is a 140 amp, one wire unit that comes from power master. Hey, this thing ought to have more than enough juice to power that high energy ignition system we're using.

And it'll probably have enough left over for the electric fans, the electric fuel pump and,

hey, maybe even a big stereo. Hey, why don't you get your big rear and gear and help me finish it? So we drop this thing in. All right, you got me

while they're doing that. Let me tell you about the headers we're using. Now with the big blower cramming in all that extra air and fuel into the engine, we need a good escape path to let it all out.

So we went with hooker super comps that come with two and an eight inch primaries and dump into a 3.5 inch collector. Now, these big tubes mean it's gonna get tight in the engine compartment. So each side has a detachable tube that wraps around the frame and ties in back near the collector.

I have to do a little trimming down here on the inner fender. Well, to make way for that detachable piece,

then we can fit everything into place and we're ready for the new motor. Meanwhile, keep your place in the easy chair. We'll be right back after this to finish up.

Well, we're back from the break. The 502 is in the Chevelle

and now it needs a transmission.

The one we pulled out was a pretty tired turbo 400 long in the tooth, but good choice for our combination.

So we're gonna back the new big block with this TCI Street Fighter turbo 400.

It's filled with all kinds of new parts like high performance clutches and bands

and it's got greater line pressure. Now, what that's gonna mean is firmer shifts with greater torque capacity and reduce slippage.

Well, every one of their transmissions is factory blueprinted and

dyno tested before it's shipped out.

Now, the converter that we're gonna use is TCI S breakaway converter. Now, this thing is gonna give us a stall of about 2800 RPM and on the inside it uses a bulletproof sprag

furnace brace, fins, and Torrington bearings.

When you install your converter, make sure it's engaged with that front pump.

Hey, you know, when it comes to spinning over a big block, especially one that's got a blower attached to it. Well, you gotta have a stout starter. So we picked up this ultra torque starter from Power Master. Now, don't let the small size fool you. This thing cranks out 250 ft pounds of torque.

Here's a tip while Chuck installs that starter, it's always a good idea to check your old flex plate for cracks, especially around the mounting hole area

and for warm teeth around the starter ring. Of course, we won't have to worry about that. Our 502 came with this new one.

There it is.

Yeah, I'll just check out the drive shaft we're using. After sending measurements to the drive line shop, they sent us back this 3.5 inch diameter piece that's fitted up with heavy duty 1350 U joins.

Now before we drop the car back down, here's another little tip for you after installing transmission, make sure you tore it down the pan boats to 13 ft pounds.

That'll make doubly sure that you don't have any leaks.

You know, nothing will kill a transmission quicker than excessive heat. So, we're gonna upgrade to this high efficiency cooler from TCI.

Now, this thing is made out of aluminum, so it's lightweight and it's gonna give us good heat transfer. We'll mount it right up here

in front of the radiator. So it'll get plenty of good air flow and then we're gonna connect it in series with a cooler that's already up inside that radiator tank.

Of course, a trick transmission won't do you any good unless you have a good way to control it.

So we stepped up to one of her pistol grip quarter sticks. Now it has a positive reverse lockout that won't let you go into neutral or reverse once you're in a drive gear, little extra insurance. Plus it's got a button up top you can use for Nitrous, a line lock or even a trans brake

stay where you are, Mike. We're just about ready to fire this thing up.

Now, I did have to swap out that dual sink distributor for an he I, because when I started wiring it up, well, I came to figure out that you need a computer to make it work.

We will make it work next week though when we bolt up that blower and that fuel injection. But right now

it's time to hit it,

man. That is one vicious rat. Of course. Now we gotta break the thing in before next week's blower build up. Meanwhile, you stick where you are. We got more show ahead.

Yeah. But before we take that break, I want to hear this bad ass bull type one more time.

Horsepower T V's Quick Tech is brought to you by

Wyotech.

Looks like somebody's building a killer stereo system for this project. 56 Ford.

But I want you to check something out. The front speakers ought to go in these kick panels here. But

what are you gonna do? Cut a hole in the metal?

No, like Ford used to say

Dwayne

Tegel has a better idea.

It's a blind here. Well,

we'll bring it over here, place it over top of our kick panel

and we'll stretch it and we'll staple it.

Ok. The next step is to cut off the excess polyester fleets

and then take a brush and apply it to the polyester fabric.

Now, we're gonna saturate that with resin.

Hell

is set to dry with.

It's got dry for about three or four hours depending on the temperature we're in here.

So we'll have to let it sit before we can actually sand it.

Ok. That's a nice smooth finish.

So now we can cover it with vinyl.

Yeah, we're gonna take this contact cement, spray it onto our kick panel and apply our vinyl good.

Ok. Now, go right over the top of that and we're gonna stretch this right over the top of it.

Go excellent.

Now, what we're gonna do is flip this over and trim it about an inch from the edge.

Last, but not least the speaker. Go ahead and place that in here and put a couple of screws in here and then place the grill

right over top.

Let's see how it looks.

Couple screws, a little bit of wire. We're ready to go. You bet. Just think with the right materials and a little work, you could have your own kicker panel speakers custom made by you.

You know, if you wanna get ahead today, well, it takes a lot of drive

and if you want to impress your buddies, well, nothing will quite get their attention like a cool serpentine drive system like this Futura setup from March performance. Now, they've engineered kits to fit all the popular applications. And besides the billet bracketry, well, they designed their own exclusive alternator

and this unique power steering pump. Plus, if you want to be really cool, they even offer a matching air conditioning compressor

and you can top off the whole system with these carbon fiber trim, top plates, air cleaner and valve covers.

What's the cost for all this coolness? Well, prices start at about 2400 bucks.

Well, there's nothing cool about this hot part. In fact, it literally sucks. Ed every shop could use one. It's a wet, dry back from craftsman with an impressive 6.5 horse motor, powerful enough to clean up any mess you can make.

It has a detachable 265 mile an hour blower

seven storage locations.

And this 25 ft power cord,

that low profile makes it pretty stable. And the low price, 100 $20 makes it pretty affordable. Well, that thing might suck, but next week's show is going to blow you away, make sure you come back and see us.