Well as it stands with a .040" head gasket the comp ratio is 9.4:1, but going on the basis that every .010" increase in gasket thickness reduces the comp ratio by about .25 then a .060" gasket should get me down around 8.9:1 and a .090" would be down around 8.0:1...



I got the powdercoater from Summit here's the link with prices etc.
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Of course this thing runs off 120v so to get it to work here you'll need a stepdown transformer as well.

This is the flyer they sent me:



I also found that a normal sized oven was not big enough to fit the sump in.. as you can see here I nearly doubled the length by cutting off the back and adding a new section of steel sheet. Unfortunately it's still not big enough to fit a 17" rim in..

you could also powder coat other peoples parts for $$$ once your finished the project?

What temp does the powdercoating cure at? You might be able to use a solar oven.

Yeah thats a possibility (or for a few Jimmy's) but I wouldn't mind finding a place locally to get the powdercoat media from..
I'm also going to replace my ugly brown coolant tank with an alloy one, so making the first one always takes the longest but once I have the templates then I'm sure I can make a few extra for a lot less than the $370 I've seen them advertised..




It seems to work best at around 240degC so I guess anything you can get up to that temp will work.

nfghia i take my hat off to u (if i was wearing one) that is some sensational fabrication there.. cant wait to see the finished product

I agree........NFGhia your the man mate, I love seeing what you come up with next......Keep up the primo work mate.

Time for a few more updates:

I haven't started on the engine assembly yet as I thought I'd better sort out all the other bits that bolt onto it so that I can assemble it all at once to the point where no foreign debris can find its way inside.

So looking at the rocker covers I intend to fill one hole with a PCV valve and run that to the TB. But the other one I needed to convert to an oil filler, I've seen the aftermarket ones but they just push into the grommit and I don't exactly like that idea so I thought bugger it and just turned up my own one.



And here it is all polished up..



Now I'm going with a bit of a Black and Blue decoration under the bonnet with not a lot of chrome so I pulled out the powdercoater and after I pressed in the oil filler I hit them with a coat of Transparent Blue.
I tell ya it looks phat!!! The CVR water pump I got is anodised blue but anodised alum has a satin type finish to it wheras these keep their nice shine underneath.
They look heaps better to the eye than this pic:



I also still had to make an intake from the TB to the S/C so I started on that. I was thinking of machining the inlet to the S/C so that the inlet could enter from the rear to keep it as low as possible.
I let that idea go and just started on one to bolt straight down and then curve down and around so that the TB ends up in roughly the same place as it is stock so I don't have to worry to much about altering cruise and throttle cables.
So after much cardboard and Al sheet cutting here's what I ended coming up with:




And it should sit something like this.



As you can also see in that pic I started on the polishing of the S/C but I ended giving up on that one (no wonder they charge $500 more for a polished one). I went with the easier option and just painted it.
Going with the Blue theme, I took the blue anodised water inlet down to the local auto paint shop and got the guy to mix us up something close to that color.
Here's what it looks like:



So right at the moment I've started on the heads.
I was just going to smooth out the CNC marks in the ports but now that i've poped the valves out I think I might smooth out a few area's mainly around the valve stem area.
As you can see here she's a bit rough.



But before I get in there I went down on the combustion chamber.
As you can see in that pic the chamber is pretty rough so I hit it first with some 180 grit emery to smooth out the ridges then went over them again with some 800 wet/dry then hit them with the polishing buff.
Here's one done and one raw:



And the first head all done..



So I shall keep on going, more fun to follow !!!!

damn that it looking bloody fantastic...

*lines up for a powdercoater gun*

Thats sweet mate.

Ya know???.....if I was gay, I'd probably be hitting on you right now!!! *drools*
What a legend!

Beautiful polishing job on the head. Reminds me of a doco I watched on the ferrari factory... such attention to detail mmmmmmm

that is insane... definetly need to get some engine bay fitting photos up

Well I thought I'd better make another post before I run out mem in the camera .
So where was I up to, Ahh yes HEADS...

Looking at the ports and the area around the valve guide I reckon they could of made a finer cut with the old CNC machine, as you can see there's a nice ridge around the inlet valve stem which when picked with my fingernail removed a few small pieces of Al. Not what I want entering the combustion chamber me thinks...



So going VERY gently with the die grinder I whizzed over all the CNC grooves and smoothed down the area around the valve stems.




And while going over the head from top to bottom I found nice little ridges around the water jacket holes. Don't know if you can see it here:



Back to a bit of powdercoating and I hit the lower inlet manifold and the timing cover with some wrinkle black (does a good job of hiding my not so supoib welds )




I also put a coat of paint over the upper inlet the same as the s/c.



With those major parts made, most of the other little bits I need to make with the motor assembled so I laid it all out.



Now while I was giving everything a good clean and inspection I found one of the pistons didn't have any drain holes in the oil control ring gap.
Needless to say I made sure to double and triple check every little bit..



So after drilling a few holes it's assembly time !!!
First up of course is the bump stick cause I can get my hands in there to guide it through the bearings nicely..
Then in with the crank and all tied together with the girdle and ARP studs.



Next up the pistons, and after looking for a while I found my old (spring steel ratchet type) compressor but water had got to it and it was badly rusted.
On a slightly different note, earlier last year I went to a liquidators auction at a tool and die factory as I was looking around for a lathe but I ended up buying all the steel offcuts and other bits for $100. It must have come to around 2 ton of s**t.
So I just happen to find a nice ring of steel which I turned up to do the job.



After checking crank and big end clearances (all good there) it was time to dial in the cam and see if Wade got the regrind right.
All checked out ok there, if anything maybe 1/2 to 1deg advance which is fine. It should be interesting to see how this cam is as its apparently a 250Kw Tickford grind. I'd say it's the one that was put into the stroked TS50's.



And on go the heads....



Now it's on to the accessories and all the other bits I need to merge this motor with the Lane. So I popped the bits together to see how much space I've got to play with.



Probably gonna be a little tight at the back but should fit in there, and thats where I'm up to for now..

Pete, you make it look so easy and I am pretty impressed!

But thats only cause I'm not posting up all the little f**k-ups and bits I throw out along the way.. Hehehe