You'd need a micrometer to discover that the valves aren't stock. The intake valve is the same diameter as stock-2.19 inches, but the exhaust is 1.81 inches, up from the stock spec of 1.725. Toki says a bigger intake valve wouldn't help-it would be shrouded even more in the combustion chamber. In a cool piece of trickery, he did use Manley stainless steel valves with thinner stems. Stock 396s are machined for 3/8-inch valve stems (as are most big-block Chevys). These valve stems measure 11/32 inch. "I really don't know that it will make a difference at all, but they intrude into the port less. It couldn't hurt," Toki says. In addition to fitting the guides to the thinner-stem valves and adding hardened exhaust seats, Toki cut the spring pockets for bigger-diameter valvesprings and machined the guides to fit positive-style valve seals. Except for some minor hand blending to the exhaust port, no porting was done to the heads. Toki told us how difficult it was to find long-slot stamped rockers-roller rockers are so popular...Toki told us how difficult it was to find long-slot stamped rockers-roller rockers are so ..., it's hard to find anything else. You need a longer slot in which the arm pivots on the stud when valve lift is more than 0.500 inch. Mike Knowles at Competition Products unearthed this set for Toki...., it's hard to find anything else. You need a longer slot in which the arm pivots on th Toki ordered a custom-ground Isky cam with 275/284 duration and 0.552/0.587-inch lift. The lobe-separation angle is 112, "so it will idle like stock," Toki says. There is no reason to have a lot of intake valve lift, again because of the valve-shrouding problem.Toki ordered a custom-ground Isky cam with 275/284 duration and 0.552/0.587-inch lift. The Toki also warned us about the oiling needs for '65 to '66 only 396 big-blocks. Oil to the rear main bearing cap passes around this slot in the rear journal on the cam. When replacing the stock cam, be sure to buy one with this groove or have the journal machined. Most cam bearings will have a slot machined into them, but you still need the slot in the cam to provide sufficient oil flow to the main bearing.Toki also warned us about the oiling needs for '65 to '66 only 396 big-blocks. Oil to the The last oddity to note about early big-block Chevys is the canister-style oil filter. The disposable filter element fits inside the canister, which fits into an O-ringed slot in the boss on the block. "If you ever replaced that O-ring, the filter would almost always leak," Toki says. Spin-on oil filters didn't show up until around 1968 or 1969.The last oddity to note about early big-block Chevys is the canister-style oil filter. The A stock-looking PerTronix distributor finished off the build before Toki reinstalled the stock Quadrajet on the original iron intake. Though we didn't have time to run the engine before our deadline, Toki expects it to make about 425 hp and 500 lb-ft. Not bad for a 396.A stock-looking PerTronix distributor finished off the build before Toki reinstalled the s PARTS LIST DESCRIPTION PN SOURCE PRICE Assembly lube ACXAC-9900 Ackerly & Childs $8.99 Piston rings 1/16 Ackerly & Childs 138.00 Cam bearings FH615F Competition Products 29.99 Core plugs P102 Competition Products 7.99 Distributor driveshaft 8151 Competition Products 11.99 Fuel pump drive CCA4616 Competition Products 13.99 Funky parts kit FKC-3 Competition Products 7.95 Gasket set RB-31170 Competition Products 39.99 Long steel rockers N/A Competition Products 80.00 Oil pump N77 Competition Products 36.99 Hydraulic roller 396275/284 Isky 335.95 Hydraulic lifters 3970HYRT Isky 645.95 Timing chain set 73142 Manley 94.50 Distributor D100700 PerTronix 275.09 Wires 808290 PerTronix 60.87 Bearings 829KDSS Pro Comp 69.95 4.155 piston N/A Ross 917.00 4.250-inch crankshaft QT425 RPM 260.00 I-beam rod CBC6385-I RPM 525.00 Champion spark plugs NY8 Westside Performance 31.60 Intake valves 11872-8 Manley 150.48 Exhaust valves 11381-8 Manley 150.40 7-degree valve locks 13084-16 Manley 51.20 Springs 22408-16 Manley 161.60 Retainers 23645-16 Manley 52.00 Spring cups 42126-16 Manley 67.20 SOURCES Akerly And Childs 24907 Ave Tibbitts #A Valencia CA 91355 661-702-1999 www.akerlychilds.com Isky Racing Cams Gardena CA 323-770-0930 www.iskycams.com Westside Performance Los Angeles CA 310-820-4718 www.westsideperformance.org RPM Cerritos CA 800-981-0776 www.rpmmaxx.com Manley Performance Products 1960 Swarthmore Avenue Lakewood NJ 08701 732-905-3366 www.manleyperformance.com Competition Products Oshkosh WI 800-233-0199 www.competitionproducts.com Ross Racing Pistons 625 S. Douglas Street El Segundo CA 90245 800-392-7677 www.rosspistons.com « | 1 | 2 | View Full Article By John McGann Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
