Yama-Bro's MK4 Build Thread - #9158 (Index in Post #1)

[Yama-Bro]

Nice find on the Thermo-Tec 13585, I would have used that if I'd known about it. The Thermo-Tec I used added 40 pounds total to the car and I would have been interested in cutting that down. Better yet, the lack of the annoying branding printed all over the mat. I know most of it it gets covered up, but it still gets me how they insist on plastering their name all over our cars. Yours looks nice and clean.

I never really thought of the branding part of it, but I do like how this is plain. You could have it exposed and it wouldn't look out of place.

[Yama-Bro]

Nice simple solution. My ignition switch rotates and I want to find a way to fix that, but my car is complete. I'm going to see if I can find an appropriate sized lock washer to slip in behind it.

Depending on how closed in the bottom of your dash is and what other features are in the proximity of the key switch, I think what I did could easily be added to a finished car. Then again a oversized lock washer might be a lot easier.

[Yama-Bro]

I have the next part of my drivetrain in my garage...the transmission! I picked up this bad boy Tremec TKO-600 from BluePrint Engines. This tranny is good for 600ftlb of torque and has three different locations the shifter can be mounted. Mine is mounted in the rear position to replicate the original car's shifter location. All Tremec TKOs are 5 speeds, but they have different options for the 5th gear ratio. I went with the .82 ratio 5th gear, which makes the transmission more of a close ratio vs an over drive. This works better for road course racing, but not as good for cruising down the interstate. If you need an engine and tranny combo, give BluePrint a call. BluePrint Engines sells these mated to an engine of your choice. We will be transitioning from the TKO to the new TKX soon. Just contact our sales team at 800-483-4263 to get hooked up. Or check out the link below for more info...
https://factoryfiveengines.com/?fbcl...RbFgCV8Eg7ZU5o


After bringing mine home l decided to have some upgrades done to it, so I sent it to Liberty's Gears in Michigan. They specialize in hot-rodding transmissions. They have several tricks up their sleeves to make the TKO even better than it already is. I called them and discussed my plans for my car and they gave me their suggestions on what would work best for my situation. TKOs are known to be notchy when shifting and under hard acceleration can be difficult to get into 3rd and 4th gear. Of course, Liberty has a fix for that too. Here's what they did to mine:
-Carbon Fiber blocking Rings
-Bronze shift fork pads
-Top cover linkage upgrade
-Main shift finger upgrade
-Shot peened the gear set
-Surface enhanced the gear set

And now I'm waiting for the engine...which is coming soon. It's been a long wait, but I promise you a story to go along with it that only a few people in the world could ever tell.

[460.465USMC]

Congrats, Yama-Bro! I recently received my TKO600, but from Forte. I'm swapping the rear shift cover 180 deg., and adding a "bent" shift handle (also from Forte) that moves it forward another couple inches, making it pretty close to the mid-shift position.

Looking forward to hearing your engine story! You've been waiting a long time for it. Still following your build. Thanks!

[Yama-Bro]

Congrats, Yama-Bro! I recently received my TKO600, but from Forte. I'm swapping the rear shift cover 180 deg., and adding a "bent" shift handle (also from Forte) that moves it forward another couple inches, making it pretty close to the mid-shift position.

Nice! I have one of the shift shafts that bend forward that has the mock brake lockout. I should've dug out for the picture.

[Yama-Bro]

This was a nice Christmas gift from my parents. Its a billet aluminum bezel to finish off the hole in the dash for the steering shaft. This came from Michael Everson at replicaparts.com. This pressed right into the hole and stays in place. It's a nice fit with the vinyl sandwiched between the dash and the bezel. Easiest upgrade yet.

[Yama-Bro]

Back in the saddle again...Connected the dash wiring harness to the dash.



It was starting to look like a rats nest about halfway thru. I opted to solder all the butt connection joints vs the crimp on connectors.


The end product. It doesn't look as clean as some of them I've seen on here, but it's not the worst either. I think it'll work.

[John Ibele]

Hey, great to see you back at it, Frank. Your dash wiring looks nice and neat. I just got done with my first round of dash wiring and got to hook it up to to the main harness and see the dash lights go on over the weekend. Very rewarding. I'll need to do a second pass to clean things up as well as yours.

[BadAsp427]

That dash looks really nice. Just a tip that I found needed to be done. Try to leave enough wire that you can reach up behind the dash, unscrew the gauge ring and pull the gauge out, disconnect it at the connection plugs and then put it back in. This way, when it goes bad, you can send it back to speed hut and replace it easily. If you do this, you will never have a gauge go bad and never have to use it. But, if you don't, you will be replacing them all the time and cutting wire ties blind is not fun.

[Blitzboy54]

That dash looks really nice. Just a tip that I found needed to be done. Try to leave enough wire that you can reach up behind the dash, unscrew the gauge ring and pull the gauge out, disconnect it at the connection plugs and then put it back in. This way, when it goes bad, you can send it back to speed hut and replace it easily. If you do this, you will never have a gauge go bad and never have to use it. But, if you don't, you will be replacing them all the time and cutting wire ties blind is not fun.

This made me chuckle

[Yama-Bro]

This made me chuckle

Haha, Me too, but he's probably 100% right.

[Yama-Bro]

A little behind on my posts. I've been working on some tedious tasks on my car. Just gotta muscle thru these. I planned out and routed the heater controls thru the firewall, routed and installed the defrost and heat ducts and mounted the switches for the seat heaters. All l know is I've installed and uninstalled this dash so many times, you'd think I'd get faster at it at some point. I also got a start on the emergency brake cables.

Passenger side ducting...


Driver's side ducting. It's really starting to get tight behind the dash...


Seat heater switches. I had holes for these already, unfortunately the holes were too small, so I had to enlarge them.

[Mark Eaton]

Looking good Frank, hang in there !

[Yama-Bro]

The cobra now has a working parking brake system! There was a lot of customization to this step. To start, since I used Wilwood rear brakes, I had to come up with a cable system since the OEM Ford stuff doesn't work with it. I went for the Wilwood universal e-brake cables. Those cables perfectly attach to the drum style ebrakes of my Wilwoods. Another bit of customizing was with the cable routing. Factory Five routes the cable under the frame. I didn't like that because it leaves the cables exposed to damage from road debris, or maybe even speed bumps. I followed along with the popular modification to change the routing to go over the frame using some pulleys from McMaster Carr. Finally, my braking lever mechanism was rubbing on the mounting hardware, so I extended the arm to avoid that.

Here's the cable attached to the Wilwoods. The Wilwood brakes are discs, but they utilize an internal drum parking brake.


The non painted straps of steel are my extensions of the brake lever. I just used some fasteners I had to prove the design. I will tear it back apart and replace the fasteners with proper parts and paint the extensions.


These are the McMaster Carr pulleys and fasteners I used to get the cable routed over the frame. It took some careful placement to miss the passenger side floor, but it works perfect once in place.


The is looking up from underneath the car into the tranny tunnel, towards the passenger side of the car. You can see the bottom of the brake lever, pulley, cables, where the cables attach to the frame and enter the sleeving. Note how the bottom of the lever is still tucked up nicely above the bottom of the frame, even with the extension. Also, note how the cable connection points (gold parts) clear the fastening hardware for the lever, that is directly above them. I know some builders let these parts rub without issues, but I just felt better making sure they didn't touch. It may have worked fine, but with my luck I'd be the first person that had a nasty vibration related noise from letting the rub.

[460.465USMC]

Good idea on the extension of the brake lever. I see it provides nice clearance. Looking good.

[Yama-Bro]

This post has been in the making for a long time, and I am thrilled to finally get to share it. I promised a one-of-a-kind engine story awhile back, so I hope this delivers…





The story began a few years back at BluePrint Engines. It was becoming a challenge to obtain a steady supply of quality seasoned OEM Ford 302 blocks. The source of decent used blocks was drying up and we were experiencing shortages. This is not a big deal as an individual or a small shop building one or two engines, but when you build as many engines per day as BluePrint does, you need a constant resource to keep up with the demand. We looked at sourcing blocks from reputable performance block manufacturers, like Ford Performance, Dart Machinery, and World. While they all make decent products, it was cost prohibitive for us to go that route. The best way to keep our costs low is to design and source our own components, so we decided to do just that and create our own version of the small block Ford block, just like we have already done with the small and big block Chevy blocks. This, as you can imagine, was no small undertaking. It would require an investment of close to $1 million dollars in tooling and would take over a year of time to develop. If you do not already know, I am one of the design engineers at BluePrint Engines. Being that I was in process of building my own Factory Five Roadster, I was more than willing to take on this project. As the project was ramping up, Norris, the owner of BluePrint, stuck his head in my office and made me an offer that really stepped up the game…he told me that I could have the very first of the new blocks to put in my car. How cool is that? If there is a better way to challenge an engineer to get it right the first time, I have yet to hear it!

So, the design process began. We wanted our block to have everything that the OEM Ford block has, plus a ton of upgrades to make it stronger, more robust, and more feature laden than anything else out there. We started by 3D scanning and probing every nook and cranny of an OEM ford block using our Faro arm. This gave us a starting point for locations of features such as mounting holes, machined faces, cast bosses, oil galleries, clearance notches, etc. We wanted to make sure all the mounting points are where they are supposed to be for compatibility with OEM and aftermarket parts.

Scanning the OEM Ford 302...


Complete 3D scanned block...


We looked at Ford aftermarket blocks and modern production blocks from other vehicles to determine what enhancements would be useful to our customers. Along with common block improvements, we also devised several original changes of our own to make our block the best of them all. Some of the changes include…
-Greatly increased main webbing
-Thicker deck
-General increase in cast wall thickness to handle over 500hp
-Extra ribs to strengthen bell housing area
-Option for Siamese and wet water jackets
-Large max bore of 4.20” in the Siamese block
-Splayed bolt inner main caps
-Upsized main cap bolts
-Clearance for stroker cranks
-Ability to machine for ½” head bolts
-Blind head bolt holes
-Provisions to machine for LS style piston oilers if we would desire to add this in the future
-Head bolts bosses tie in with superstructure of block (much like GM’s LS design). With this we can, if desired, machine for long “anchored” head bolts (also like the LS and many modern blocks)
-Clearance for aftermarket motor mounts (does not require grinding block or mounts to fit properly)
-Machined to accept double roller timing chains

[Yama-Bro]

After doing a bunch of research and solidifying our design criteria, I got to work creating a 3D model using our 3D design software, SolidWorks. Using the data we gathered from the 3D scanned and probed block files, I was able to recreate all OEM features along with all of our improvements. This process was spread out over a period of several months. The following screen shots capture the progress....

The humble beginnings of the block model. Starting with the crank centerline, cylinder bores, and water jacket...


Adding lifter bosses, pan rails, and more structure...


Added the timing face area, bellhousing, and oil filter feature...


Added lots of little details here...


All machined features added to the model (colored orange)...


Section view of finished model thru center of block...
Check out that beefy main webbing! This won't be cracking in half like an OEM Ford does with over 500 HP!


Section view of finished model water jacket...
Notice the head bolt bosses run all the way thru the water jackets down to the main webs of the block, much like an LS block

[nucjd19]

What an amazing story!!!!! I am sort of sad my BPE 347 stroker is pre BPE engine block. I have followed your build before my rig was even delivered and has always been informative and fun. Thank you for sharing and I can't wait to here it fire up!

[Yama-Bro]

What an amazing story!!!!! I am sort of sad my BPE 347 stroker is pre BPE engine block. I have followed your build before my rig was even delivered and has always been informative and fun. Thank you for sharing and I can't wait to here it fire up!

Thanks! You'll hear it running soon, I have a bunch more to post up on this story, so stay tuned!

[Yama-Bro]

Once the 3D modeling wrapped up, it was time to prove that it was accurate. The best way to do this is with a physical prototype, and the most cost-effective way is with our in-house 3D printer. The only problem is our 3D printer is not big enough to do the whole block at once. To overcome this, we split the block CAD model into four separate pieces before sending the files to the printer. The 3D printing process took a total of 21 days (24 hours a day) for all four parts. Once completed, we doweled and epoxied the quadrants to make the block a solid unit. To finish it off, we tapped all the holes by hand.

A portion of the block in the 3D Printer...


The 3D printed quadrants...


Clamping and epoxy 3/4...


Clamping and epoxy full block...
Disregard the greenish colored quadrant. I let it sit in the solvent tank over the weekend, which was a little too long.

[Yama-Bro]

At this point, the block is ready for the prototype verification process. I turned the block over to one of our long time Quality Control team members, Brian. This guy has forgotten more about engines then I’ll ever know. His task in this project is to use the 3D printed block to double check my work and make sure we catch any problems before we purchase the expensive sand-casting tooling. The process is much like any other engine build, except the block is made of plastic. There was a lot of tearing down and rebuilding of different combinations of engine parts to make sure every single variation of small block Ford that we build will go together as anticipated. In the end, he found a handful of minor corrections that had to be made in the block, but for the most part we did very good for something so involved. Here are a few pictures of the prototype engine build…







We had to prove the engine mounting bosses were in the correct place, so I took the prototype engine home and dropped it in my Factory Five. It fit like a glove...

[JohnK]

You should totally put it on the dyno once you have it fully assembled! That would get a few million YouTube views, for sure.

[Yama-Bro]

Now that we were comfortable with the design, I created a set of detailed 2D drawings. These drawings communicate to our vendors the precise tolerances required for casting and machining the blocks. We also finished the design stage of the project with a big design review meeting to cover all the details with stakeholders throughout our company.



The next stage was quoting, selecting a vendor, and ordering production samples. When we source these types of components, our preference is to work with OEM tier 1 suppliers. So, for this block, we were looking for a large reputable foundry that was already making iron blocks for Ford, GM, etc. This step seemed like it took forever for me. Largely, because I wasn’t involved in a lot of it, but also because there were several lengthy delays…such as Covid and a crazy shipping debacle. I almost gave up waiting and bought one of our standard 347 builds, but I was encouraged by many to stick it out. Eventually, pictures of raw cast blocks started to trickle into my email inbox and proved the wait was worthwhile.

Our long-term goal is to fully machine all our production Ford blocks in our facility from raw cast to finish machined. We are currently doing this with our small block Chevy blocks. Doing all the machining in house allows us to keep a closer eye on quality and enables us make changes on the fly, if the need arises. Since we did not have the new machining centers setup yet, the first few prototype/sample blocks went to a long-time machining partner of ours in Michigan. After some back and forth between their machinist and myself, they were sending me pictures of fully machined blocks. At this point, the excitement level was starting to ramp up!

The first machined block...






As a pallet of the machined blocks finally arrived at our doorstep, we quickly got to work verifying them to our drawings on our CMM and Faro 3D scanner. To confirm the block was made as intended, we did a rotating assembly mockup along with various tests, such as water jacket pressure testing, oil leak testing, and rotating assembly / valve train simulation testing.

[Yama-Bro]

You should totally put it on the dyno once you have it fully assembled! That would get a few million YouTube views, for sure.

LOL, you are talking about the plastic block? We've had a lot of requests for that, especially with a little I4 we did that received some you tube publicity. I think it would be cool to do it in slow motion as it explodes. Haha. Maybe some day! I'd be all about that.

Here's the video where we talk about running the I4 and a bunch of other cool engineering and R&D stuff...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncQ-cftYvSE&t=987s

[Yama-Bro]

After the block was proved to match the design, we gathered all the parts to do a complete build intended to run on one of our dynos, and ultimately, go in my FFR. Let the engine building commence! I did not want a ridiculous amount of horsepower, so I stayed close to BluePrint Engines’ standard 347 build, but with a slightly wilder camshaft to give it that extra exhaust lope sound and a few more ponies.

[Yama-Bro]

While wrapping up the build, we scheduled time to squeeze the engine in one of our busy R&D engine dynos. If you do not know, an engine dyno (short for dynamometer) is a machine to measure the power and torque of an engine. I worked with Alex, one of BluePrint’s R&D engineers to get the engine on a cart and connect it to the dyno. Alex is a Holley trained fuel injection wizard, which worked out nicely for me because I used a Holley Sniper system on my engine. The connections and sensors you see in the pictures of the dyno booth allow the dyno operator to monitor all the vital statistics of the engine directly from the computer screen. We subjected the engine to several dyno pulls to confirm that it ran like it should. By studying the results of the pulls, Alex was able to tweak the fuel injection system to get maximum performance right off the bat. The results…a maximum of 432.0 horsepower and 396.1 ft lbs of torque. It should be plenty to motivate the 2200lb car! I am confident the block can handle a lot more power than this, if someone wanted to build something radical. I know there are bigger things instore for this block at BluePrint, but you will have to wait and see! Until then, we will do additional testing on other sample blocks before we start building full engines with production blocks. It may be around the end of the year before they are available to customers in an engine package. It’s currently not known when and if we’ll be selling individual blocks to customers who want to build their own engine.



Video of the dyno pull. Click to watch. Turn it up!
32 - Engine Dyno Pull - 20220304_173804 by Frank Hromadka



After the successful dyno runs, we did a few more checks and inspections before I packed it up and hauled it to my garage so it can find its home between the frame rails of my Factory Five Roadster. That concludes the first chapter of my engine story. I hope it was worth the wait for you. I know it was for me. I want to say a big ‘Thank You’ to Norris Marshall, the owner of BluePrint, for presenting me with this challenge and generously giving me the first block for my project. It has truly been a highlight of my engineering career and an extremely rewarding project. I do not suspect many people in the world can claim they designed the engine block that powers their hot rod!

[JohnK]

What a great story! It must be pretty gratifying to see something you designed come to life like that. And to have that engine in your personal roadster build is a special touch. Thanks for sharing.

And yes, I want to see that plastic block run on the dyno.

[John Ibele]

Hey Frank ... and here I was going to write you a PM at some point asking how things were going and encouraging you to get back to your build when the time was right. Thanks for the detailed update, and congrats on a great work project and special engine for the Roadster!

[Yama-Bro]

What a great story! It must be pretty gratifying to see something you designed come to life like that. And to have that engine in your personal roadster build is a special touch. Thanks for sharing.

And yes, I want to see that plastic block run on the dyno.

Thanks! It has been a very rewarding project. You'll know when we post a video of the plastic block running...that will be the day the internet breaks. Haha

[Yama-Bro]

Hey Frank ... and here I was going to write you a PM at some point asking how things were going and encouraging you to get back to your build when the time was right. Thanks for the detailed update, and congrats on a great work project and special engine for the Roadster!

Great timing then! Thanks for thinking of me. The last year of my life has been insane. Much busier than I like it to be. Between kid's activities, helping my 17 year old son with his project truck (did an engine swap then a tranny swap), buying a new (to us) house, selling our old house ourselves, fixing the new house (still ongoing), a big vacation, and a few business trips, my time for the FFR has been almost completely sucked up. The good part is, the main reason we moved is because I wanted a bigger garage. So you may notice some new surroundings in the new pics. I went from 2.5 car stalls to 5.5 stalls. Much more room to spread out. It'll be nice once I get back to the project. Hoping to go kart it sooner than later. Keep on me!

[egchewy79]

this is amazing. engineering at it's finest.

[Higgybulin]

Ghesh Frank! Work much? Great job, I'm sure that is very rewarding!!!
Higgy

[BadAsp427]

very cool... thanks for sharing. I've never really thought about how all that is accomplished.... Cool.....

[460.465USMC]

Very, very cool, Frank! Pretty sure not many of us can say we designed our own engine block. Wow! Sounds like a very rewarding project, and to have it in your own Roadster is really something. You must be over the moon! Congrats!

P.S. welcome back! Looking forward to hearing the BPE rumble to life in your Roadster.

[JohnK]

Just curious - any plans for BPE to cast an aluminum version of that block, and could you even use the same mold for that or would it be an entirely different design with more reinforcement?

[WIS89]

Frank-

What a great story, and a terrific job on this new line of business for you! I really appreciate you telling the story! What a fantastic experience for you and the team.

I look forward to seeing her running in your car!

Regards,

Steve

[Yama-Bro]

this is amazing. engineering at it's finest.

Thank you, sir!

Ghesh Frank! Work much? Great job, I'm sure that is very rewarding!!!
Higgy

Thanks! It was a very rewarding project! One of my favorites. Now I need to take off a few months and finish my car!

Very, very cool, Frank! Pretty sure not many of us can say we designed our own engine block. Wow! Sounds like a very rewarding project, and to have it in your own Roadster is really something. You must be over the moon! Congrats!

P.S. welcome back! Looking forward to hearing the BPE rumble to life in your Roadster.

Me too! Thanks!

Just curious - any plans for BPE to cast an aluminum version of that block, and could you even use the same mold for that or would it be an entirely different design with more reinforcement?

That's a good question, that I actually don't know the answer for. I'm beginning to work on another block now, that has potential to be aluminum and cast iron. We will find out more when we get into the details a little farther. At the moment none of our suppliers cast in iron and aluminum in the same facility, so for that simple reason, we'd need to have two different mold tools.

Frank-

What a great story, and a terrific job on this new line of business for you! I really appreciate you telling the story! What a fantastic experience for you and the team.

I look forward to seeing her running in your car!

Regards,

Steve

Thank you!

[Yama-Bro]

'Ooh wee, you good lookin!' *say that in your best Travolta voice*

Got the BluePrint front drive system installed. Water pump, power steering pump, alternator, pulleys and brackets.

Before those of you in the know say anything, I left the beauty caps off the pulleys for less of the bling factor.

[BadAsp427]

Very NICE

[ggunter]

Very Very Very cool video. I love the behind the scenes look into R&D of products. Not many people realize how much time and money goes into products to get them to market. We are all pretty much spoiled to just get on the computer and punch a couple buttons and shazam! It's sitting on our front door. Thanks so much for that video. And keep up the good work.