96 Beretta Project

[3400-95-Modified]

Did a bunch of measuring last night on the crank, and mains as well as piston bores and pistons. On the mains I came up with .0025 clearance with my measuring tools and the plastigauge says .003 so I'm fine with that. Rather be just a bit loose with what I plan to do with this engine.



Hope to measure and spec the rod bearings and journals tonight but we'll see... Parents house is leaking from ice dams so from 2:30 till 6:00 yesterday I was on a ladder with a hammer and chisel making an ice sculpture... gotta go back today and get rid of as much as possible.

[3400-95-Modified]

Grind what down? I deburred the drain holes but you don't have to mess with any other part of the surface.

[Heartbeat1991]

It was already clean so it wasn't that much work granted yes you need to completely strip the block to do it but during a build like this it's one of the easy parts lol.

You didn't grind it down at all?

[3400-95-Modified]

It was already clean so it wasn't that much work granted yes you need to completely strip the block to do it but during a build like this it's one of the easy parts lol.

[Heartbeat1991]

Well this is my first time using it. Machine shop I brought my parts to knew it by name and said they've used it quite often and like it. There really isn't any way to see how useful it is unless I just pour oil over it to see how it sheds off

I know that, but it's a lot of prep work. I'm not sure if it's worth it. I might just do it anyway.

[3400-95-Modified]

Well this is my first time using it. Machine shop I brought my parts to knew it by name and said they've used it quite often and like it. There really isn't any way to see how useful it is unless I just pour oil over it to see how it sheds off

[Heartbeat1991]

How do you like that stuff? I've heard of it, but I've never heard from anyone with experience with it. I am about to put my 3400 back together. Now is a good time to do this if it's worth doing. $50 isn't cheap for something that I can't seem to get any decent reviews on.

[3400-95-Modified]

Finished up the second coat of Glyptal tonight and did some measuring of the crank.

[3400-95-Modified]

Well then... That took a bit of time but I got my bottom end back yesterday. I hope to have it up on the stand tonight and going through some cleaning then test assembly to measure some things.

Was told I should have the heads by the end of the week if all goes well.

Your cam is very similar to mine (I think we're running the same intake lobe) but you have a bit more lift on the exhaust as well as some more exhaust duration.
Looks like your cam also has 4 degrees of advance ground in (hence the 109ICL). Should work nicely.

I know my old cam was the 1280 intake lobe and 1331 exhaust (Old WOT-Tech regrind numbers) and this one is a bit different since it's Comp Cam's XFI lobes. At least that's the understanding I have seeing how the cam is now produced from a blank vs the old style where it was reground from a stock one.

[3400-95-Modified]

Those springs were first choice but they are discontinued.... 1218s are the same specs just not coated.

[mfuller]

Everything looks great, Jon.
Especially like the block prep work.
Your cam is very similar to mine (I think we're running the same intake lobe) but you have a bit more lift on the exhaust as well as some more exhaust duration.
Looks like your cam also has 4 degrees of advance ground in (hence the 109ICL). Should work nicely.
Curious - why the PAC 1218 and not the 1518?
Regardless, good to see you still showing Pinky some love!

[3400-95-Modified]

Always going to keep this setup an auto. As far as strength, it's more of the benefits of having larger spider gears to give more surface area against the pin and they spin a bit slower. Also the larger spider gears give me the ability to bore them out and install some sealed needle bearings to almost eliminate the issue entirely.

[young gun]

Going with the consistent times of the auto? Any guarantee on the strength of the upgrade kit?

[3400-95-Modified]

I might as well update this even though the forum is a crawl lately... I just purchased a 4t60e HD upgrade kit from Jeff at EP so that will be an interesting experiment this year... as well as I am going to install my Raybestos Z-Pak that I've been holding onto for a few years now. I will also be doing some other tricks I've learned with the trans lately, if they are endorsed by Jeff of course.

[3400-95-Modified]

Made some progress on it this weekend... Ac system all back in and it holds a vacuum so that's good. Then moved on to installing the fresh air vent cover that they stopped using in the 92+ models... Not sure why it keeps water out of the cabin. I also got some of the engine bay stuff back in.