How much power can the Ecotec short block take (at what RPM), with the following combination:
- Stock block, girdle, and studs size (aftermarket studs if available).
- Stock crank
- Aftermarket steel rods
- Aftermarket forged pistons (at least 12 to 1)
- One power adder (either supercharger, turbo, or nitrous)
I know a steel crank is available, but it's very pricey. Is the crank the weak link?
Are oversize girdle studs necessary at a certain power level?
Are there any other weak links in the motor? Valve train? Oiling system? Etc.?
Thanks for any feedback in advance.
12:1 with turbo? dude, you will blow it up with that high compression!
try 9:1 pistons. after that, who knows what you can get. GM did it and is in their ecotec engine manual. it has alot of informative info like you request.
good luck
Thank you both for the information, I appreciate it.
Regards from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
where can you get the ecotec hand book, I can't find it. Buddies of mine are trying to look for it also. I would really appriciate it if someone could tell me. thanks
The gm/chevy/pontiac/saturn/olds dealership.
The dealerships said that they don't have any to sell. Maybe they are just full of you know what. But, thanks for the obvious info.
Sorry, that was a little scarcasm at the end.
I know it may sound funny, but have you looked on ebay? I just did, and there is the book. The book contains ALOT of tech info. Great for anyone wanting to build a full race ecotec engine.
get the book from the dealer itll be much cheaper <br>
take this number to the dealer and have them order it, they dont know they sell it. But with a part number they can look it up. 88958646
Thanks for the link TB
I've been looking around for that site for a while now. Lost the link when I re-fromatted my HD
Among the winners, there is no room for the weak
the stock crank can handle all the the nitrous you can throw at it i heard that from a very important person and the only really week link is the rods
caviefreak: Ya know what I like about winter. Ya can get a bunch of beer out of the fridge and put it in the window sill so ya dont have to make as many trips out to the fridge
The stock powered rods suck a fat one, the pisons like to break off chunks by the ring lands at high HP levels, if you want to go 12:1 compression with bosst your retard, if you 12:1 compression on a street driver 4 cylinder your a reatrd, compresion ratios that high the head will get hot spots, you will go through minimum alot of head gaskets, worst case scenario but very likely you warp the head. If your doing nitrous engine build up thats gonna be street driver go with 10.5:1 forged pistons and forged rods, if nitrous is your weapon of choice the crank will hold up as much as the engine will handle... read as spray 125 shot with no problems except fuel puddling if its a single fogger nozzle, obviously yopu'd need a fuel pump to keepup with it, also if your looking for a brand new never used Nitrous express direct port kit let me know. The stock vlave train will hold up to 9K+ rpm but not on a daily basis. Supercharger, I'd stay away from unless yout gonna spray on top of it, boost like mentioned aove go to 9:1 compression all forged.
Under any circumstances if your tearing into the engine for a build up, get the rotating assembly balanced that was you can go with nuetral balance shafts to free up some power and it'll be safe to jump up the revs past the stock limiter, plus the obvious have them hone the block ect, do not have them mill the head or block in atempt to raise compression, on a DOHC setup it will throw off cam timing and the there may be to much slack for the tensioner to make up for. Add ARP hardwear everywhere its available, there no after market bearings for the eco available so you need to sick with stock replacements but definetely replace them.
Thats all I can think to say off the top of my head
Well... you *could* run a 12:1 compression ratio and a turbo or a supercharger, but don't plan using the car anywhere but the race track. To prevent pre-detonation, you would have to run at least leaded aviation fuel and remove your cat. That's if you're lucky. More then likely though you would have to run methanol. This would mean all new methanol friendly fuel components and expect to spend many many hours rebuilding everything after every race. (methanol is very corrosive and hygroscopic!)
I'd agree with sticking to something in the range of 7.5 - 9.5 to 1 for a turbo or supercharger. It really depends on where you want your power to be - low CR, the more boost and more top end, but less torque and poor low end; high CR, more low end torque, but less boost and less HP.
Screw the nitrous. if you're putting in all this time and money, get a turbo. You'll make just as much power and you'll be happier when its always there. Choose a well sized Garret GT series turbo and you won't even have to worry about turbo lag.
From what I have heard, the rods shouldn't be trusted for more then 250hp, and the crank somewhere above 400hp. A major topic usually ignored is how durable they are at these power ratings. Sure a crank can take a few dyno runs and a couple laps running at 400 hp, but how will it handle for a few hundred or few thousand runs?
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