Grinding your motor free of marks.

I read a magazine article about a cool looking .060 312 Yblock. 3x2 intake, Offy valve covers. Block and heads grinded smooth whole thing painted olds gold and white. I read another story in R&C about a rod that had a ford Mill that was dressed with Thunderbird valve covers. They had grinded the block and heads smooth too.

I liked the smooth look and thought it would look good on the 283 I'm trying to put together.
Does anyone have any expierence with this? Any pics of SBC that have been "smoothed" out? I especially like the idea of angering SBC purists by grinding off the "double humps".LOL

 

ONLY took me about 40 hours to get my SBC smooth.

 

Yeah, but think of all that power you gained!

 

The article on the Yblock said it took them around 40 hours.

 

Here is the Yblock from the article. Its been posted on here before by NATAS
http://www.streetmachineclub.com/uploadedImages/Y-Not_Photo.jpg

I love the way this looks.

 

Wow!!!!!

 

Ditto.. i hope my 292 looks half as good when i'm done with it.. and i'm glad i'm not crazy.. i was just out in the shop yesterday staring at my heads wondering what they would look like smoothed out..

 

40 Hrs is nothing. Try polishing an aluminum block. Pain in the ***!

 

Holy smokes! That is beautiful. I think B*** smoothed out his 283? 327? for his roadster project? Check his threads.

 

My buddy is doing his early olds now, he is using those little 2" sanding disc's..........see how long it takes for him to finish it

 

I think I just came a little

 

THAT IS HOT!!!

 

Did it to my BBC. Yeah, it took a long time, but looks really good. I think some engines lend themselves to this treatment. I kinda wish I had used a different color than Chevy orange, to make it "pop" a little more. Gold or yellow? Air angle grinder with the co**** 3M green discs and burr bits for the nooks & crannies. Get some headphones, it's tedious!

 

That is bad ***.

 

I did a how-to on this..lots of pics...when I prepped and painted the engine in the Kopper Kart. Search for "painting an engine the show car way".

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...highlight=painting+an+engine+the+show+car+way

 

Thats about one of the best looking Y blocks I have ever seen. Back in the 50's I bought a 34 coup from Barris and it had an olds motor that had been polished and chromed. That was the first chrome motor I had ever seen and always wondered how many hours did it take to get it that smooth? This post indicates about 40 hours and no doubt thats seems very close to actual labor hours. Thanks for posting.

 

Smoothing the engine does look great and that Y-block testifies to that. Polishing an aluminum block takes it to a whole new level of insanity cause you get the joy of polishing over and over again!
I've never worried about what I would consider "show car details" like smoothing the block but that Y-block does have me thinking about it now. Considering I spend damn near that much time smoothing the interior of block when machining and painting valleys.....really not that crazy an idea.

 

I spend a couple of hours on my engine builds grinding away casting flash. But I don't see the need to do a full polish. It is a workmanship issue for me.

 

Hate to be contrary (okay,not really) but I don't really care for the smooth look. Grinding away casting flash is one thing, and I guess if you're building a show car that look would be fine. But, IMO, if you're building a working engine, it should look like an engine.

But, it's your motor,if you like it, it's cool.

 

Why would I want to spend that much time on pretty on something i'm probably going to break anyway?

 

We ground the block,trans and the rear end. **** load of work

 

I've had more than one set of heads go through my hands that had 40+ hours of grinding on them but I usually concentrate on the inside.

If you look through the jalopy journal archives Ryan did an article on a roadster way back in the '90s I'm guess that had a ground smooth SBC.

They look pretty slick smoothed out. Too much work for me but I just don't have the dicipline to build a show car qaulity car.

 

That's a little too engine-covery for my taste. But then again I'm a foundryman and like to see castings as castings. But it is very pretty in a car-as-sculpture kinda way

I wonder how the paint fares against oil and heat without the normal amount of tooth to bite in?

The few I've seen in person had major issues with adhesion over time, but I think those guys also shortcut the prep with a ton of high-fill primer.

 

Maybe on a full out show rod that the block was to be painted white,gold, etc, but I really don't know if it looks all that great. Maybe knock down the marks a bit but I am just not sold on the completely smoothed out look.

Now if you were painting it candy it might be a bit more necessary.

 

B*** did it to the small block for his roadster. Looks like alot of work, but really nice when it's done.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263380&highlight=b***&page=14

 

i did the block for this hunka**** car, it was an insane amount of time and materials. burnt up a dremel in the process. nooks and crannies ****.

http://www.creationsbyrodtech.com/images/PICT0028.JPG

 

I spent the biggest part of my spare time one winter grinding, sanding, and rubbing on the heads, intake, and little parts on this engine. I wouldn't have done it if the casting on the Brodix heads hadn't been so ****py. Once you get started, there's no place to stop.
Larry T

 

ART! Any pics of a flatty smoothed?

 

Don't forget, the steering box too right??......Sure looks good!!

I'm grinding "most" of the flash and smoothing out most of the big bumps on my SBC....prepping for nice paint. Still got a ways to go yet....