Livernois Motorsports Powerstorm 3.5L Race Series Engine Build!

[SHOdded]

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly do these sleeves do?  And do you have pics of them prior to being put in place.  TIA.

 

[glock-coma]

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly do these sleeves do?  And do you have pics of them prior to being put in place.  TIA.

Post #35 has the sleeve exposed.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly do these sleeves do?  And do you have pics of them prior to being put in place.  TIA.

There are a few reasons why we choose to sleeve a block. The sleeves themselves will increase the bore strength which is key when more power is added. They are much stronger than the stock bore and will last for a much longer period with no shifting during load.

They also maintain the bores geometry for higher performance goals, improving ring seal and strength when you are adding massive amounts of hp and tq.

There is a photo in post #34 of the sleeve itself before it goes into the block.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

We're back to the CNC machines this morning to deck of the extra bit of sleeve sticking from the top of the block. We want to ensure a flush fit between the deck, gasket, and head for a perfect fit.

 

[TopherSho]

Assuming the exhaust was re-worked to handle it.  What is the comfortable redline on these remanned blocks?

 

[SHOdded]

So the sleeves would also "save" the original block, and could simply be replaced when it came time to "rebuild" the block.  How long do you believe the sleeves will last under the ginormouse power of bpd's build, for example?  Have you set the outer limits of this setup yet?

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Assuming the exhaust was re-worked to handle it.  What is the comfortable redline on these remanned blocks?

This motor will probably spin into the 6,700rpm range with the stock cams in it but we have not really seen any EcoBoost motors spin over 7,000rpm and make any power.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

So the sleeves would also "save" the original block, and could simply be replaced when it came time to "rebuild" the block.  How long do you believe the sleeves will last under the ginormouse power of bpd's build, for example?  Have you set the outer limits of this setup yet?

Save the original block? - Yes this sleeving process can save the original block if the walls of the cylinder are damaged. In that event, we would grind it down to a fresh/undamaged surface and replace with one of our sleeves. It can also be used as an upgrade for newer blocks, as in this 3.5L.

Sleeves replaced during rebuild? - Yes these can be replaced during a rebuild. The process starts over again buy cutting the existing sleeves out and sliding in new ones with our heated and cooled process.

How long will sleeves last under intense power? - As long as nothing fails these should last for hundreds of thousands of miles under larger power numbers and heavy use. We have used similar engines for drag racing, desert racing (where this block is going) and road racing. We typically don't see these applications on the street but we have had great success with them lasting for a long time.

Outer limits? - This will be a unique setup so we don't know exactly how it will end up. This will be built as a long block and shipped to the customer where they will add turbos and other power adders so we won't see this going into a car at our facility. However, when we have built short blocks similar to this (deck braces, sleeves, etc) we haven't come close to the limit with the short comings in the fuel system. We will typically see 500-600whp easily with no harm to the motor. This is why we are developing our Firestorm High Pressure Fuel Pump to bring more fuel and power to these ecobeasts!

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Next step in the process, line honing the block.

Here, we set the main bearing clearing by lightly shaving down the metals to fit perfectly. We also ensure that the bearing crush clearance.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Were taking a break from the machine work to get familiar with the Powerstorm pistons and rods vs. the stock pistons and rods.

As you can see, there are many differences between the two. Thickness, design, and material are a few of the things you can spot. What's not in plain sight, the years of R&D that has gone into developing the Powerstorm pistons and rods.

Rods

-Material Differences (Our connecting rods are made of vacuum degassed 4340, as opposed to the much weaker powdered metal stock rods)
-Design Differences (Our connecting rods are designed with significant increases in cross sectional thickness. The beam design, bore design, cap arrangement and pin end all are substantially stronger than the stock design)
-Rod Bolts (Much higher quality ARP2000 rod bolts are used in our connecting rods)

Pistons

-Material Differences (Our pistons are made from 2618 aluminum alloy, much stronger, and considerably more durable under boosted applications than the stock piston material)
-Design Differences (Our pistons are designed from scratch using our own exclusive forging, with thicker skirts, crowns, strutting, ringlands and more. Features include better pin oiling, improved ringland supports, and more)
-Wristpins (Much higher quality material wristpin material, and increased wall thickness)

The stock example we are using shows normal wear and carbon build up.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Off to the cylinder honing machine to finish the cylinder wall wit the new sleeves in. Here we bore for the piston to wall clearance and finish for the rings.

We will putting the rings and pistons in soon!

(Not pictured - deck plate)

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Putting the piston rings in the cylinder to set the proper ring end gap before the assembly is dropped in. A few more final details before the piston/rod assemble is placed.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Rings are ground to fit, rods are attached to the pistons and everything has made it in! On the home stretch!

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

With the short block coming together, we turn our attention to the cylinder head department.

First steps in taking these stock 3.5L heads to the next level is a proper cleaning and inspection. We must ensure that there are no imperfections, cracks, or issues that could cause harm to the motor down the road.

A few photos in the cleaning bay before they are moved into the Cylinder Head room for final inspection and assembly.

 

[TopherSho]

Putting the piston rings in the cylinder to set the proper ring end gap before the assembly is dropped in. A few more final details before the piston/rod assemble is placed.

What is your gap on the rings?  These little monsters get hot, was curious if you gaped them out more?

 

[SHOdded]

First time I have noticed the casting on the heads.  It has that webbed/ribbed look.  Is that on purpose, heat dissipation, for example like they do on the oil pan?

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Putting the piston rings in the cylinder to set the proper ring end gap before the assembly is dropped in. A few more final details before the piston/rod assemble is placed.

What is your gap on the rings?  These little monsters get hot, was curious if you gaped them out more?

We cannot release too specific of numbers when it comes to the gaping but these are gaped specifically for a larger boost application. Each Interval of power has a corresponding gap to fit the exact tolerances of each build.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

First time I have noticed the casting on the heads.  It has that webbed/ribbed look.  Is that on purpose, heat dissipation, for example like they do on the oil pan?

Yes it is! It is done primarily for strength, rigidity,and stiffness. There is added cooling benefits but not nearly as close to the oil pan example.

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

The heads have made it into the climate controlled cylinder head department! Everything is laid out nicely before the assembly process starts.

After the thorough cleaning, the valves are lubed and dropped into place followed by the valve stems. The springs are compressed using one of our hydraulic bench presses and the retainers are added. Buckets will be followed by the cams and topped off with the caps where everything is torqued to spec!

After re-assembly, we move the heads to the engine build department where they should be putting the head studs in now!

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

A few more photos..