Marvin mcafee mce engines

An adjustable ring compressor will work for your home shop. John bathes the piston rings and cylinder walls in engine oil. With two thumbs, he pushes the slug in the bore, taking extra care to protect the cylinder wall and crankshaft journal below. With all eight pistons installed, John checks connecting rod side clearances. Clearances should be. Cap-screw rod bolts are torqued to specs. Then, John checks the torque again. A Melling high-volume oil pump is installed and clearanced.

The pump has to clear the girdle and the crankshaft counterweight. This is where you need the expertise of a good machine shop. Expect the oil pump to interfere with the girdle, which will involve milling in places. Sometimes, the pump has to be carefully milled to clear the crankshaft counterweight. Next, the Crane dual-roller timing set is installed to tie things together. Take note of the proper location of the timing marks.

Using a TDC indicator, John determines true top dead center. Then, using a dial-indicator tied to the 1 cylinder lifters, he checks cam-timing events. Would you believe he discovered we had the wrong camshaft? Valve timing events did not match the cam card. This is why you must always check cam-timing events with a degree wheel. Because we are using a new 5.

We can do one of two things. The vintage reproduction timing cover from California Pony Cars can be drilled to accept the dowel pins, or the dowel pins may removed. Guess what John decided to do, using Channel Locks? Above and Below: John drives in a new crankshaft seal. Remember, the lip and spring always go toward the inside. After installing the gasket from SCE, John positions the timing cover in place.

We suggest the use of a thin film of silicone sealer around the coolant passages. Before you install the timing cover, make sure the dipstick tube hole has been drilled. It is also designed not to leak. Lay it in place, using silicone sealer at the trouble spots in the corners of the pan rails.

Because this is a front-sump arrangement for older Mustangs, Falcons, and Fairlanes, it gets the short pick-up shown. A new front-sump pan from JMC Motorsports is installed next. John snugs the corners first, then snugs all of the bolts in a crisscross fashion and does not over tighten them. John is opting for the AFR cylinder head for his stroker build-up. D-shaped exhaust ports provide a smoother exit for hot gasses. Good bang for the buck going on here.

ARP head studs have been installed. John opted for studs because he wants to supercharge this engine eventually. SCE has provided the gaskets for this build-up. After checking the deck and cylinder head surfaces for scoring or debris, John is ready for the AFR heads. John lays down the AFR cylinder head. When John received these heads from Air Flow Research, he tore them down and did some port and bowl work. We will be interested to see what this does for power.

Valve adjustment is straightforward with hydraulic roller tappets. This allows for lifter float at high revs while keeping things friendly. SCE intake manifold gaskets are employed here.

In this instance, John decided to try those cork gaskets at the end rails. John sets the Edelbrock Air Gap in place. This is a new dual-plane manifold from Edelbrock that provides a cooler air charge. John likes the Race Demon cfm carburetor, although it is unclear whether or not he will actually use this one.

The cfm Holley is an alternative. You have choices when it comes to water pumps. This is a highflow water pump from JMC Motorsports. You may also use an Edelbrock water pump. The crowning touch is a harmonic balancer from Ford Racing Performance Parts. One issue with this balancer, and some others, is its weight. Excessive weight with some aftermarket balancers can actually break the crankshaft. Do your homework before purchasing an aftermarket balancer. Cobra valve covers from Scott Drake Reproductions are a nice touch for a vintage Ford.

Unfortunately, at press time, Ford has ordered Scott Drake Reproductions to halt production of these striking valve covers. Availability is unknown. One of the most well-known names in the stroker business is Coast High Performance.

The Street Fighter is a great bang-for-the-buck engine kit because you get a whole lot of kit for the money. For a few extra bucks, Coast High Performance will assemble your engine kit into a completed, ready-to-fire engine package. Think of the Street Fighter as a crate engine without the stigma of a crate engine.

These folks build solid reliability into each of their engines. This makes the Street Fighter an excellent value. We have a stock 5. The cylinder bores have been notched at the bottoms to clear the connecting rods and journals. Coast High Performance has done a nice job of block prep. Included is a cast steel crankshaft with a 3. These pistons shown at left are dished to control compression.

Stock, press-in oil galley plugs have been replaced with screw-in plugs for oiling system security. The Clevite main bearings have been installed. The nice thing about a late-model 5. The crankshaft is installed as shown. Mains have been lubricated. The mains are torqued to specs as shown. Crankshaft end play will be checked next. Main bearing studs and a girdle will stiffen up the bottom end and provide stability.

Fitting the piston pins proves challenging. To achieve a perfect fit, we are honing the small end of the connecting rods. This is where you have to be something of a machinist to get the job done. Ring gaps are checked first at each bore, then ground to fit, then their rough edges filed smooth. If we could have done anything differently we would have opted for ARP studs and rod bolts. Marvin has his own system of torquing fasteners. He generously lubes bolt threads with weight engine oil and hand snugs the fasteners, then, torques them in one-third values to total.

He goes back and checks every fastener. Here, Marvin checks each main cap for proper resistance to rotational resistance. Camshaft endplay is checked much as Marvin does with the crank. Endplay should be. Marvin considered stud-mounted rocker arms and guide plates. Most engine failures happen due to valvetrain failure. With this big mechanical roller from Comp Cams, Marvin believes peak torque should roll in around rpm, with horsepower topping out around rpm. Keeping with the same lobe centers as the original cam he had planned, Marvin has chosen to increase both lift and duration to maximize breathing efficiency at high rpm.

Marvin blueprints every component, including valve springs, keepers and retainers. He massages away the rough edges to reduce any wear potential. He also coats the springs and related parts with his own assembly lube, which reduces frictional issues during initial fire up and break-in. Valve spring pressure and installed height are handled at this time during cylinder head assembly. Marvin has done his own multi angle valve job along with the installation of Ferrea stainless valves.

Ferrea manufactures hardcore racing engine valves and components for various types of engines. Installed height is 1. Marvin has wrapped up the short-block and is ready to tackle final assembly. This is a nice piece, and these are approaches you can apply to your Ford Series big-block. Marvin coats all internal iron and aluminum surfaces with GE Glyptol, which seals the cast surfaces and improves oil return flow.

The screen keeps any stray debris out of the oil pan where it could become lodged in the pick-up and oil pump. Teflon tape or sealer on all screw-in block plugs gets the job done. Deck surfaces must be wiped down with a tack cloth and checked for irregularities before the gaskets and heads go on. The Right Stuff is applied lightly around cooling passages and at the intake manifold. Marvin has studded the heads for exceptional security.

Marvin wipes down head deck surfaces to remove any debris, then, checks surfaces with his fingertips to feel for any debris. These Ford Racing Sportsman heads yield Holland Tunnel-sized intake ports and compact chambers with great quench.

These heads sport bolts versus 10 on a stock block. Marvin does initial valve adjustment cold, allowing for. Intake valve lash is. Exhaust is. Bolts are safety-wired as an added measure of security. The only intake to go with was this single-plane Ford Racing high-riser designed specifically for the Dominator.

Marvin opted for the Holley Dominator cfm carburetor with the only modification being optional jet extenders. Jet extenders keep fuel around the jets in drag racing and hard acceleration. This is the one-inch Wilson CNC carburetor spacer PN engineered to improve velocity, which increases horsepower and torque. Marvin has blueprinted and curved the MSD billet distributor.

Fear we will blow the darned thing up. For Marvin, who was understandably nervous, there were challenges. We conducted three pulls and left with mixed feelings about our numbers. We needed more dyno time—at least two or three days of extensive testing and tuning. Marvin is in poor health these days and is no longer building engines. No one had them on the shelf. Custom Performance had to go with a 4. Pull 1. Holley 1,cfm Dominator PN Jetting: 0. Valve lift with the Ultra Pro Magnum 1.

Duration at 0. Advertised duration on both valves is degrees. All components must be thoroughly washed and chased to ensure any debris has been removed. Marvin chases the oil galleys, cooling passages, and machined surfaces. All area above the piston has to be figured into compression ratio including area above the top ring and the valve reliefs. Make sure crank counterweights clear piston skirts and the block. The mock-up is best done without the piston rings.

Some builders like to roll rings on. Others, like Marvin, prefer a piston ring expander. Whatever you do, do not distort the ring.

Busier shops use billet ring compressors. Endplay should be 0. Marvin fabricated his own degree wheel and puts it to work on every build to ascertain actual cam specifications. Rarely is a camshaft per the cam card. Before degreeing a cam, check 1 piston for true top-dead-center. Look at the recommended torque and apply in one-thirds. If total torque is 75 ft. Threads must be clean and lubricated.

The best range is 0. Somewhere in the middle is best. Check all clearances along with pressure relief valve function. Note Marvin has safety-wired the bolts for security.

A good thread locker works just as well. This is the pedestal mount. You can also have your bolt-fulcrum heads modified for screw-in studs and adjustable rocker arms.

On the left is the open low-compression C chamber. On the right is the smaller high-quench chamber you want for your C. You may use this head on the M and Just watch compression ratio with the and its longer stroke. What makes the C different is a dry intake manifold void of cooling passages. He installs screw-in oil galley plugs, drill a small 0. Full roller rocker arms, low friction piston rings, a dual roller timing set, and roller bearings where possible greatly reduces friction and power loss.

These low-friction needle bearings go between the cam sprocket and block to reduce friction. Marvin has tried a number of carb spacers and settled on this one-inch spacer, which yielded better low to mid-range torque. All you need to do is to install the distributor and connect three wires and the coil. The trick with any Ford V-8 is getting the distributor to seat properly, which takes patience. A maintenance-free magnetic pickup accurately triggers this ignition with increased output from the amplifier.

A dual throttle spring minimizes the risk of a runaway engine.