opel kadett gasser amc engine build

ok some of you have seen my car run or have heard about it.the 360 amc motor gave up on me two weeks ago at thompson.im not mad and it doesnt owe me anything!!!!!it has about 300 passes on it and i have about $800 in it.a guy is building a stroker 360 with some crazy shit in it and he wants to put it in my car{cOOOOOOOL},BUT its not done,CRAP!!!!!i started a 401 build short block for a back up motor.its a short block with alot of money{for me}in it.i dont want to take the old parts out of my engine{heads,cam lifters,springs}and run it in the new 401.SOOOOOOOO i bought a 390.its at the machine shop now getting checked.i told him to just clean and hone it out.i have little money in it so im not affraid to through the used parts in it.its going to be pretty radical with 13+compression venolia forged pistons in it!!!!they have a huge pop up on them so im going with a smaller cc head and some cometic head gaskets{.060}with some 68cc heads thet are 13-1 and all i have are 58cc.im hopeing with the heads and gaskets it will last and not be too crazy but im sure it will be way different than the old 360.ill put up some pics of the build as i go. these are some pics. of the 401.ill get some of the 390 soon.

 

heres some pics. of some of the{better}rod bearrings out of the 360.

 

Ouch!

 

Did all AMC 390's come with a steel crankshaft??? Also, you did a pretty cool job polishing the beams on those connecting rods..

 

Didn`t realize the little beast had AMC power. Always thought it had a sbc (for some reason) The AMC adds some serious "cool" points in my book. The 390 should be a lot of fun. The 401 even more so...

 

thanks.yeah i figured since i had acouple of 360's laying around i would use them.i did set it up to run a sbc-glide also.i figured if i ever wanted to sell it or is scared the shit out of me it would be easyer to sell it.now it will never happen!!!im thinking the 390 will have more hp than the 401.the 401 has 12.5-1 pistons while the 390 should be 13+.im going to the shop this morning and take some pics.of the cylinders.

 

Yes, all amc 390 and 401 motors are steel crank and rods. The blocks are all the same size but the 390 and 401 have thicker webs. Martin's car is gonna fly!

 

Love that AMC power! Please post more specs on what you put in it.

 

I always like the way you can finger am AMC engine under the motor mount and know how big she is.

I'm a proud owner of many AMC V8's, 304, 343, 360, 401. a 290 and 390 are on my to get list.
I've also got 287 and a couple 327's which are steel crank & rod motors too.

Jeff

 

There's a little more work for your sign painter.

"Space Kadett...Powered by Kelvinator!"

 

Kudos to you and Don for keeping the AMC freak flag flying! BTW Don,care to share on recent rear axle woes?

 

Damn its really gonna stand on its end with a stroker motor, might have to put some ballest up front

 

heres acouple of the 360.im still not sure why the wrist pins all moved.the two pistons i pulled out are in great shape with no damage to the rings.the rods are really tight though.

 

heres acouple of the 401.it has weisco 12.5-1 forged flat-tops.neutral ballance crank,and stage 3 oil mods.i really should be putting it in the car but for this engine i want all new stuff in it,rollercam,new cover,oil pump,heads,etc.sooooooo maybe next year.i dont have any pics.of the 390 due to it want straight to the machine shop for a quick hone and polish.

 

pulling it out today...

 

THAT's a badass looking short block! Just a word of caution though,if you decide to go with a roller cam. Pay very close attention to the oil galley
feed in the lifter bore and that the roller lifters don't uncover the galley,
if that makes sense...

 

thanks ramblur.yeah with the 401 if i go with a roller cam ill put the small plug in the front and drill a 1/8'' hole in it to restrict the oil.im not sure what im doing with it yet so im just leaving them out.

 

Now you know, if you alchol in that beast instead of gas, those psitons will look like that at the end of the race season too!

 

the only alcohol im going to be running is miller high-life.with the new motor i might need some extra liquid courage!!!

 

well i guess the crank is done and he said he was honing the block.it sucks because he said it would have been done last week,and he left yesterday to race and wont be back till monday.i really hope i didnt spend a bunch of money and not get to race at marion for the nast.race.i was also hopeing to get to thompson to make acouple of shake-down passes.i did get the engine cart done so i can pull and replace the engine from underneath the car.i took some pics.but forgot the camera at the shop.

 

well i got the engine back last night.as usuall i forgot the camera.i'm hopeing to get the short block together today but we shall see.heres acouple of pics.of the cart and how im going to put the engine in from the bottom.

 

so far everything looks good.bearing,cam,valve clearances look good.i was alittle scared because of how far the pistons stuck out of the hole so i put some clay on top of it too make sure.i also put the spark-plug in and with some old .042 gasket nothing hit.im not worried now since im putting some.060 cometic head gaskets in it.man are they expencive but from what i have heard its worth it,we shall see.im hopeing to finish today with the pistons and put the valve springs back on the "new"heads.

 

i had plenty of valve clearance.WHATS THERE TO BE SCARED OF!!!!!!

 

got alot done yesterday thanks to don moyer{rebel reaper}.i forgot i didnt have a rear main seal,he let me use his tapered piston sleave,then i had to go back because i was acouple of head bolts short.i aslo found one of the valve keepers were broke and he didnt have the right one so he gave me a stock one.i stopped at the engine shop and he gave me acouple. i thought the rings would work without fileing them but no luck!!!they were at .015-.017.so i got all the 2nd rings at .022 and the top ones at .020.that took along time.i should have the rest of it together today and hopefully the machine shop can have my flexplate drilled so i can put it in tuesday.

 

What are the chances the you and or Don will be at Cordova for the
Vintage Torque run whatcha brung on augest 6th?

http://www.runwhatchabrung.com/

Jeff

 

This car always makes me smile... at least partly because of the combination of an Opel body and an AMC engine. And then there's that whole "wheels up" attitude.

Good to see the care you're takng in assembling this new engine. But I got a little extra chuckle out of this batch of pictures. The shot of the yellow clay on top of the piston, especially in the thumbnail pic, it looks like an omelet or a big plate of scrambled eggs! Guess a feller's got to eat when he's building an engine though.

 

i was thinking about going.im not sure about don.i have missed acouple of races this year and im going to try to make them up.the new engine hurt the pocketbook but we will see.

 

thanks.when i put the piston in and seen how far it was sticking out i got REAL SCARED!!!i planed on cheaking the valve pockets because i usually have to open them up some because of the cam but this time i figured i should make sure the head would fit LOL!!!its going to be alot different than the old 360.

 

as usuall didnt get as much done as i wanted to.i found the head bolts that i needed in the garage,figured out what front cover and oil pump i wanted to use.sanded the oil pump plate for about 1 1/2 hours to get the scraches out of it.got the head on and ajusted the valves.went to put the waterpump on and seen it had leaked out of the weep hole,so i stopped and figured i would finish today.the machine shop said the flexplate should be done today but im not holding my breath.

 

well work got in the way today.got the front cover on,oil pan,and ballancer.it took me about 4 hours last night to get the balancer on.the press fit was to tight and i had to sand the inside alittle at a time to get it right.i called the manufacture and they said depending on the crank some times it is too tight.they said to send it back and they would hone it for me but i didnt want to loose acouple more days.after i got it on i primed the motor and there is alittle oil leaking out of the oilpump so it looks like i have to take it off and put anouther gasket on it.it was a .010 one and im hopeing i have anouther one.hopefully i can get it fixed and put the intake on today.