Building a 1.6

[divine]

Hey guys I figured I'd ask the people here who race these Chevettes. I'm going to build a 1.6 for my 83 Chevette. The car use to have an automatic but I've swapped it over to a 4 speed. This will only be a street car. Putting the engine together myself will not be a problem but I'm not sure what all parts I want to look for to build a good street engine. I've been reading about different cams, intakes, carbs, and heads. I currently have a 1.6 from a 77 Vette and a 1.6 from an 83 and I'm looking at buying another 1.6 soon. What parts do I want to use to build a little screamer of a 1.6 strictly for the street? What would you build?

[DOCTOR FIELDS]

32/36mm Weber carb.
2 barrel intake
Any head from 1976 - 1980 (casting numbers 151, 343, 395, or 678)
Basic port match, bowl blending, and short side radius blending
Multi-angle valve job
Milled .050"
268 - 278 duration cam
Degreed in to 102*
Good header with consistant bends (Custom Craft is a good one)
.030 - .040" over block
Flat top pistons
Zero - .003" in the hole
Total Seal rings
Reconditioned rods
Clevite bearings
Mildly knife edged crank
Light flywheel

That would be plenty for the street!

[divine]

Thanks Fields I appreciate the help. You guys have definately done your homework. Is custom craft the name of a company that sells the header? I'm also looking at switching over to a 5 speed but I'm just now finding out that some Chevettes came from the factory with a 5 speed. Are these 5 speeds hard to find? Seems like all the vette parts are hard to find. What year vettes came equipped with the 5 speed trans?

[rad15E]

the 5 speeds started about 1980 i think,it shouldn't be real hard to find one ,they weight a lot more than the 4 speed so we don't use them,one thing tho be shure and get the crossmember because it's different than the 4 speed,one other thing fields has given you a good baseline but when you shave the block and head you timing marks are histery remark your bottom pully with your degree wheel

[carracer]

With that much material being removed on the block and head, can the stock tensioner take up that much slack? The guy I bought my car from claims he used a shorter timing belt after zero decking the block because the tensioner was maxed out.

Also, will that combination of parts require race gas? If the car is a street car he might want to run premium.

Here's the ink to the headers: www.customcraftheaders.com/www/html/pinto.html

[rad15E]

THE 1.6 MOTORS HAVE 100 TOOTH BELT WHILE THE 1.4 HAS A 99,REALLY WHAT YOUR DOING IS BRINGING A 1.6 DOWN TO 1.4 MEASUREMENTS BUT GAINING BORE SIZE AND COMPRESSION,I'M SURE DOC.FIELDS WOULD AGREE THAT WE ALWAYS TURN OUR CRANKS 10/10 AND RESIZE THE RODS TO MAKE THE BOTTOM END A LOT MORE BULLITT PROOF

[DOCTOR FIELDS]

Alot of the time the 1.4 (99 tooth) belt is just too tight unless you remove alot of material from the head and block. You can have a sleeve machined and pressed on the stock tensioner to increase the diameter. That should take up enough slack unless you remove over .100" total from the block and head. The 1.4 block was approx. .180" shorter than the 1.6.

I agree Mr. Radford! Always recondition and resize the rods. Anytime i use stock rods in a build, i have them cleaned, shot peened, resized, and new 200,000 psi rod bolts installed. If rules allow, before the reconditioning process, we will remove any unwanted weight from the pin end and cap, remove the stress risers along the sides and polish them. Also dont forget to balance them after the lightening process.

In most cases a standard crank will need to be turned 10/10 in order to be able to set the clearances to our specs. I've had a few that we were able to polish and have proper specs.

[divine]

Thanks for the help guys. I was looking at my 2 barrel intake and I was thinking about blocking off the coolant passage that runs along the intake for the heater hose. I was thinking about cutting out a piece of aluminum and welding it in the passage if I can get the aluminum cleaned up inside good enough to weld it or just using loctite silicone and letting the silicone seal it off with the aluminum plate. I know somebody on here mentioned an intake on here before that was blocked off, I just didn't know how they did it so I thought I'd come up with my own way. I will definately also switch over to a 5 speed if I can find one. My car was so wrapped up in RPMs on the street and I think it's because my car may possibly be one that was equipped with the 4.11 gears so I'm looking for that overdrive.