iron head pistons in a 3400 w/cam

[jackal2000]

i asked a similar question on gagt.com but im sure i will get more info here. Ben stated that i can use the iron head pistons but i want to make sure that they will clear the valves because i have a milzy stage 2 cam. the heads are already cleared for safe lifts to .560 and the cam lifts to .556/.559. to me that doesnt leave a whole lot of room to play with. if they wont fit right now, is there anything that can be done to create more clearance???

[Superdave]

I'm doing the exact same thing.. but with 3500 heads.

you can have valve reliefs cut into the pistons but i don't think you'll have clearance issues. I know of a guy running a 600+ lift cam in a 3400. He's got custom pistons tho...


Make sure you use the 3400 head gasket, that'll help out a little...

[jackal2000]

ok thanks, i guess thats that. lol

[bu01]

hey jaclal. where did you get the heads from andd for hw much

[jackal2000]

milzy stage 2, $1200

[jackal2000]

i have another question. with this setup do i need adjustable roller rockers or what have you? the guy i am ordering the pistons from (A.R.I. racing) is trying to sell me on them but im kinda skeptical.

[SappySE107]

How much do they want for the pistons? You don't need adjustable roller rockers. I don't even know how he is trying to sell you on them either cause they don't make any higher ratio aftermarket rockers for these engines and the crane gold race rockers have been on backorder forever now.

[jackal2000]

i think he said $150 for the set. he thinks i will need the adjustability since the geometry will be different. he explained it to me but me being noobish on internals didnt comprehend some of what he said. blah blah intake valve stuck open was what i understood lol

this is the link to the company http://www.gmv6.com/

[SappySE107]

What the shit are they talking about? Custom length pushrods would be cheaper and easier than adjustable rocker arms.

[jackal2000]

thats true. if comes down to that it will suck cause i already bought a set of MMS chromemoly ones. when i talk to him tomorrow i'll give him the thumbs down on the arms. thanks ben!!!

jon

[SappySE107]

I don't think the pushrods are going to work out since the stage 2 cam base lobe is quite a bit smaller than stock. I bought the cam and pushrods off ebay but the block isn't put together.

[jackal2000]

wtf, why would mike sell me something that isnt going to work together?? i will certainly send them back with a nasty gram if they dont fit.

[geoffinbc]

The cam has to use a smaller base circle. If it used the same base as a stock one and had high lift then that would mean the lobe tips would be larger than the bearing journals and it would not slide into the block. So your forced to use a smaller base circle.

So to make it all work increase the pushrod size by the difference in the RADIUS (Radius = 1/2 Diameter <-Very important) of the stock cam vs the milzy cam lobes

[Superdave]

I'm pretty sure Moonwell used the stock pushrods with his stage 2...

[jackal2000]

after reading and thinking about this some more, how are the pushrods directly related to the cam? connecting rods on the other hand....may be the issue. i have never heard of anyone having issues with the pushrods with the milzy setup. bear in mind that i dont claim to be a subject matter expert and have limited engine internal knowledge.