[GT4T]

Ron,

Thanks for the reply, my engine machinist tends to agree with you re: factory bearings. In this case, I am not sure that will be possible since crank's rod journals and rod big ends are Chevy size not Ford. (2.100 vs 2.123) He will be doing the machine work on the new R302 and blue printing the parts to ensure proper fit, valve to piston clearance, dynamic compression ratios, etc. I will probably do the final assembly though. I will also be using new ARP fasteners throughout the engine; just ordered stud sets for heads & mains, full bolt set (although I will only get to use about 1/2 of it since ARP doesn't make a late model engine bolt kit.) This will include upgraded rod bolts since this, it seems to me, is as important as the choice of rod type. I would have rather used I-Beam, but couldn't afford the ones I would have had to use, so I compromised with the H-Beams.

I have a fairly stock 5.0L in the car now and have pretty well worked out the air evacuation issue. You are right though: there are lots of guys having heating issues which is directly attributable to not getting and KEEPING the air out of the system. I have bleeds at both high points for the fill process and a swirl pot set up to trap and expel vapor on an ongoing basis (this includes a separate line from the top of the radiator.) The swirl pot overflows to the bottom of a capture tank that releases vapor to the atmosphere, but pulls liquid back in during cool down. I have idled the car statically for several hours with the AC running with the temp being rock solid within the range of the thermostatically controlled radiator (Griffin) fans.

Regards,
Lynn