building a mild 4.0l need some help

[skyway0018746]

hi there guys i am new to the forum but not new to rangers i was/am a member of ranger-forums.com but there forum got slow and it seemed you only got a response if you where buddy buddy with the other guys.
so i hope this forum is better and yealds more great info.
that said i am building a 4.0l motor for my 97 2wd auto i picked up a junk yard motor with over 200k on it but still ran fine, and while taking it apart it really didnt show 200k of wear but who know.
first off i am going to do the comp cam 422 port and polish the heads.
along with the typical rebuilding of boring it out and all that good stuff.
so any one who has used the 422 cam any info from the leingth of pushrods to hp improvement would be helpfull.
i am looking for the best in sound/performance for exaust from header to tip.
i havent found a full exaust system yet , dont know if anyone evean makes one.
also any other info such as gasket selection to anything else.
this isn't my first rebuid i have rebuilt the jeep 4.0l and so far this motor looks just as simple.
i am not going to be running an egr system and most likly no mechanical fan. along with underdog pullys... if they are still around, stuffforyourranger.com was down the other day when i tried.
thanks in andavnce for the help.

 

[bobbywalter]

well, i would invest in a moates 1/4 horse setup for tuning or contact a big place like sct and ask for suggestions if you are way out in the sticks.

if you really clean up the induction/exhaust paths and crank the compression a bit and are willing to live with premium fuel you can get some power out of these...but careful selection of parts with the machine shop, cam manufacturer and tuner will yield the least amount of issues and great power.

if there is a dyno tuning facility near you i strongly suggest a trip to them and discuss your goals first, that will aid with shortening time with the cam guy, and likely dyno guy can do your machine and balancing work as well....and offer pay for their consulting time if it helps. maybe refund it towards tuning time when it has to happen.

 

[skyway0018746]

well, i would invest in a moates 1/4 horse setup for tuning or contact a big place like sct and ask for suggestions if you are way out in the sticks.

if you really clean up the induction/exhaust paths and crank the compression a bit and are willing to live with premium fuel you can get some power out of these...but careful selection of parts with the machine shop, cam manufacturer and tuner will yield the least amount of issues and great power.

sorry forgot at say something easrlier i do my own tuning via sct advangatage so tuning it is no problem i curently an running 89 octane and getting 17-18 mpg city and 21mpg highway.
i guess the reasion for building it is my milage is getting up ther 160k and i just cant see getting rid of the truck if the motor is no good. i alreadt did the trans and rebuilt the rerarend.
And is ther something wrong with compcam's, cam's?
ive never heard of any problems wirth them

 

[kman]

just put a supercharge on it and get a sct programmer everyone say if you get the programmer set up right they work great do away with that auto go manual

 

[skyway0018746]

thought about going the turbo rout but its my dd and dont really wanna deal with all that. and if the supercharger wasent so expensive then i would do that.

 

[skyway0018746]

hello again anyone know anything about where to get roller rockers? or where to get good aftermarket one?

 

[Bird]

thought about going the turbo rout but its my dd and dont really wanna deal with all that. and if the supercharger wasent so expensive then i would do that.

define 'expensive'...........................


Roller rockers aren't available - used to be some made many years ago, but they had problems. Your pretty much stuck with factory or rebuilts from Deltacams. With the Comp cams, you will run pushrods between 5.525 and 5.550, depending on deck thickness and rockers. Total plunger travel in the lifter is about .075 and you want to preload that about .035 - too much and you'll hear clatter and too little, you'll hear clatter. You can get a pushrod length checker from Smith Brothers to get the proper length nailed down.

The intake path on these things actually flows fairly well, the exhaust is where there's power to be made with decent porting (bowl work, light short turn radius cleanup and port roof - don't touch the port floor except to clean up any casting garbage). Headers of any kind will help the flow nicely.

Tuning your own with the Advantage software presents some good possibilities - mine has more than paid for itself many times over.

Bird

 

[skyway0018746]

define 'expensive'...........................


Roller rockers aren't available - used to be some made many years ago, but they had problems. Your pretty much stuck with factory or rebuilts from Deltacams. With the Comp cams, you will run pushrods between 5.525 and 5.550, depending on deck thickness and rockers. Total plunger travel in the lifter is about .075 and you want to preload that about .035 - too much and you'll hear clatter and too little, you'll hear clatter. You can get a pushrod length checker from Smith Brothers to get the proper length nailed down.

The intake path on these things actually flows fairly well, the exhaust is where there's power to be made with decent porting (bowl work, light short turn radius cleanup and port roof - don't touch the port floor except to clean up any casting garbage). Headers of any kind will help the flow nicely.

Tuning your own with the Advantage software presents some good possibilities - mine has more than paid for itself many times over.

Bird

yeah i will have to figure out pushrod leingths dont know if ill have to plain the heads so ill have to wait on that. when you say plunger preload are you talking about the rockers? and how do you set this.
i was told about running dual springs and the problem of finding retainers so ill eather have to make some new ones or modify the stock ones( i am a machinest at one of the best shops in my state so dont think ill be using an angle grinder to modify things )
and i cant say enough about the sct sofware it already paid for its self in the short time i have had it. i had the hand held tuner programed by some one else about 3-4 years ago before buying the saftware this year and i have already gotten better mpg and shiftpoints then the previous tunes.

 

[Bird]

Preload of the lifters means finding zero lash and then taking that length and adding .035" to it. With non-adjustable rockers, you have to get the right length pushrod to do this.

As I've said in my PM to you, there is a very good possibility that factory LS-1 retainers / springs would work for this application - I never got a chance to check for coil bind - would still have to trim the step out of the valve seat, but that would be necessary for the dual springs also.


Bird

 

[skyway0018746]

Preload of the lifters means finding zero lash and then taking that length and adding .035" to it. With non-adjustable rockers, you have to get the right length pushrod to do this.

ok two things the preload... i believe the hydraulic lifter would soak up the preload, hence the name hydraulic lifters.

would still have to trim the step out of the valve seat, but that would be necessary for the dual springs also

and when you say machine the valve seat... your talking about where the springs sit not the combustion chamber side rite?

i found ls1 valve springs and the coil bind is 1.080" for these perticular ones.
thats .08" less then the 988 compcam springs
dont know if thats going to be a problem but i may try that rout if the coil bind will be ok.
whats the maximim coil bind height i can safly have?
http://www.crower.com/valve-springs-ls1-hp-ovate-beehive-1-290-le-od-650-sm-id.html

 

[Will]

Why mess with the pushrod motor? The reason the SOHC 4.0 exists is because the pushrod motor wasn't making it with the advertising guys. The pushrod 4.0 was built for trucks, and is tuned for trucks, and is a great truck motor. It's good for 150hp and it makes it all below 4000rpm. Don't try to make it into something it isn't.

The SOHC 4.0 is a motor with real power potential. You can stick your hand through the intake ports and out the exhaust ports just about. It is meant to breathe. It's meant to move air, which is really good for a motor. It's what you are trying to get the pushrod 4.0 to do, and it already has it all. You can't get 50 more horsepower out of a pushrod motor--but a stock SOHC 4.0 alrady has 50 more. If you need a heated iron stamped on your forehead that says "SOHC 4.0" let me know. You are wasting you time and screwing up a good truck motor trying to make a hotrod out of it.

The SOHC 4.0 was a good enough hotrod motor that they moved it into the Mustang. A 210hp, 240ft# pushrod 4.0 would be astounding. That's higher than the BBK supercharger kits claimed. That's any SOHC 4.0 from '97 on, too.

Give that pushrod motor back to us truck people and find a cammer 4.0.