Well, I can't really bring myself to hit the "Like" button on this one. The ups and downs of a racer I guess. Hang in there. Again, this is a super interesting and very informative thread. Thanks for taking the time to let us follow along, cheering when things go well and sharing the grief when they don't. Pretty sure you'll get this all sorted out!
It will be interesting to get the engine apart for a look inside. I dont think its been cracked that bad for very long. I did have water in it mid september during drag week. I think i made a good call to remove the water for the fall out race. We will be back next season stronger and faster. As far as a evaluation of the season goes there were many highs and only a few lows. We rebounded well from the byron mishap winning the yahoo cup. The time invested into specing out a trailer to fit our needs is paying off big time. The chassis setup is working great on gas and nitro street or strip. We try something new everytime the car moves under its own power and it has paid off. The amount of small details that goes into this operation is crazy. There is so much that does not get posted here. We have shown the world you can dream big and with hard work make them come true. The car is getting more reliable as time goes on. Its fun to tweak the combination now to make it the best it can be.The 2018 season began this morning. All in all i think we did pretty good. Thanks everyone for following along stay tuned in there is alot more to come. Special thanks go out to several supporters of this project. Each one plays a special role in our success. We couldnt do the things we do without them. Hot heads research and racing R and j performance Chassis service Missle enterprises Cometic gasket Hilborn fuel injection Hedman headers Pete and jakes Stephans fabrication Brunos Dynamic converter Buy right auto parts
It's been and absolute pleasure to tag along on your adventure. Good luck with it all for 2018 ... hope to see you at the Meltdown and Fall Out events Beer was great... thanks
Thanks our paths will cross again soon . I think our goverments could learn a thing or two from our international trade agreement.
You have about the best attitude anyone could possibly have. Because you are so positive it has been a blast following this detail by detail. The “ups” are great and the “downs” are more of an opportunity to make things better. I absolutely love the in depth updates and everything in this. I also look forward to the next page in this evolving book! Great stuff! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Hi Brian.Wishing you the best in the coming season.Looks like the"Big Boss"upstairs is looking out for you real well. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
That is called the Hemi early warning system. All early models had that system when they left the factory. You just have to pay attention! Brian was paying attention .
The kokanee is from canada. Saxxton brought it for me. The yuengling is brewed out east. It has recently made it into indiana. The richardsons live there. They brought some to the fall out for me. So i did some trading. If anyone wants to trade some beers let me know before the event. Now if i could only get someone to bring me some of my all time favorite saltzberg beer from europe. When i was there i had some. I was told the beer in europe is the best. They were not kidding.
My head is giving me signals that the yesterdays local brew was tasty. There are plenty of good beers awail from all over europe in my hometown too for my enjoyment, and some US brands too. Actually this small brewery experimental stuff is a rising trend here and people are leaning towards specialities instead of bulk lager which is nice. That crack looks like it may be a result of a stress from all the external equipment running there in the front, rather than just the power of nitro? Or is that location common for old hemis with dynamite to go south? Not that any of this matters really but I was just thinking the possible reasoning. Let the Donovan quide your herd into season 2018 and we shall follow
Isn't old cracked Nitro Hemis the reason they invented JB Weld? Just put a big motor plate across the front of the block and run it! These two statements are in fact attempts at bench racing humor. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The accesories are not causing the problem. The block may have had a core shift or internal rust issue. There might have been a little water in it that froze. After its out and apart we will inspect everything. I will sonic test it in several areas for clues. If i cant afford the donovan this winter i will try to find a standard bore block. I will rock block it half way up. Look up rock block its a epoxy unlike the cement. We might also drop the compression more. Im currently running hot heads steel caps on the center three mains. I might step up and get the other two. All of these things will help. I have been beating on this block for several years.
Your block reminds me of my 455 Pontiac that was leaking oil out the rear main. I pulled the engine for a new main seal, when I unbolted the main caps, three of them came off in pieces and the block was cracked from the crank to the cam on two journals. I was bracket racing it the night before and it was running just as good as it ever did. One more pass might have really killed it, but it made it home without blowing it's guts on the track or most importantly, in front of other racers!
Yes i have. It was ready to lay one down. I got lucky. Anything could have happened. None of it would have been good.
lippy there has to be a story to go along with that pic. im interested in hearing it because that's hard to do.
it will be a nice break to only have to deal with the engine everything else looks good. hard block is like cement. look at lippys pic. the product adds strength stiffening the cylinders in the block making it solid. its poured into the water jackets. the rock block is a epoxy. it flows into the areas better. as it cures it expands slightly compressing the bore. it needs to be added prior to any machining. a race block is usually filled to the deck. mine being a street car will be filled to the frost plugs. I need some room for water. if I do get a Donovan billet block we will measure two inches down from the deck and two inches up from the register at the bottom. everything in between will be removed.
Brian, that is what happens when a helper thinks he is putting alcohol in the warmup tank and in reality it is 104% nitro.He took the tank into the trailer. my brother had the gas bottle in his hand. I was in the car. The helper set the tank on the hat and plugged it in. We cranked it not knowing it was straight nitro in the tank, it was running on the gas bottle and my brother turned the valve on the tank on. The engine stuttered and died. We turned the tank off and xcratched our heads and figured it was just cold as it was cool that morning. So we didn't back it down. BIG MISTAKE. Nitro had puddled in the cyls. It rolled over I hit the mag, My brother never even had a chance to hit it with gas. We never dreamed that was straight nitro in the warmup tank. It banged real hard. One crank, one block, two heads and a bent frame tube. I asked our helper, Didn't that tank seem awful heavy? He said uh...yes it did. When a nitro engine is running they are safe. Not so when they are just sitting there. I called Henry Velasco and said, I'm gonna send out another crank. He said....you banged it didn't you? I said nevermind Henry. He said, did I tell you about the time I was standing in the staging lanes and someone banged one starting it in the lanes? I got a free ride to the ambulance. Someone said HENRY your bleeding he said, WTF? Schrapnel.
A real good friend of mine is a nitro guru. He says, there's a thousand ways to skin a cat and the cat he don't like none of em. When in doubt, BACK IT DOWN!!
i have seen some real disasters from guys not backing down a engine. the hemi guys have it easy. roll it over and done. everyone else has to pull plugs first. i have seen some guys get hurt backing a engine up without the mag disconnected. the bar came around and almost took the head off a guy another was lucky to only break a arm. the weight lippy is talking about is the weight of the fuel in the tank. a jug of nitro weighs about twice as much as a jug of alcohol. there should be no mistaking what you just picked up.
I got the engine taken apart this weekend. To my surprise i found all of the small side bolts missing from the main caps on the passenger side only. One of the nuts was almost off of the stud. One cap was lifted off the block. I couldnt turn the engine over until i first removed five pistons. Number 1 and 3 i cant get out. They made it as far as the deck i also had to remove three caps and loosen the other two just to get the crank to turn. With the pistons out i could see the main webs. They are all severely cracked. Everytime the pan comes off we check bearings and torque. This thing was a bomb waiting to go off. Nitro can be a rough deal. Anyone out there that has a block 392 or 354 im in need. I have checked all my sources and came up with nothing.
The Jalopy Journal
