rebuilding after the crash

It may not look like much but this is two full days of work. The new pieces went together just fine until i tried to put the mag in. Everything had to come apart. The blocks that the fittings screwed into were removed. The fittings were welded on without the blocks. This gave me a half inch. The passenger side of the ideler bracket was re shaped. The fittings on that side were re positioned. It was alot of fitting then machining and repeating it over and over. Once a decision to cut something is made its very hard to go back and start over like nothing happened. The five pounds of crap now fits in a one pound bag. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

 

That's a cool piece Brian, you can't buy that at Jegs!

 

WOW

 

I spent the whole weekend hooking things up. The radiator is in with new 16 lines. There were alot of possible routing options for the coolant lines. With a large selection of different angled fittings getting the right fit was possible. Now im just waiting on rods. Everything else is done. I ordered them last October.

 

I have done all that i can do until the rods show up. Im moving on to the barn find 57 vette; the Chevelle floor and getting the trailer ready for this season.

 

The crew shirts showed up. If we are going to crash cars and have fires we should look good doing it. They match the car perfectly. My camera takes poor pictures.

 

Hey, Brian;
1st class crew shirts.
Marcus...

 

Now THAT'S Friggin' Cool!!!

 

Finally the rods that i ordered last October have shown up. Like my rods in the past they are GRP rods. They are cut from aluminum plate. They are .100 longer than a stock hemi rod to move the piston up away from the cranks counter weights. I use a block with the cam in the stock location. All big show fuel cars move the cam up in the block. The reason for this is the exhaust lobe will hit the rod when the cam gets in the .700 lift range. To fix this the rods are ordered cam cut. The big end gets machined for cam clearance on one side of the rod. The big stroker cranks and big aluminum rods can create all kinds of clearance issues. I almost forgot to mention last years price was 1250.00 this year its 1450.00 dollars. The big hemi will get finished this weekend. You might hear the thunder.

 

Those look amazing!

 

Its time to build a nitro hemi. The bottom end is done. The top end goes on tomorrow. Hopefully a fire up Tuesday.

 

I lowered the piston height .100 This dropped the compression from 7.5 to 6.8. This will hammer the bottom end less when i set the timing at 50 degrees of lead.
I put a pin in the new piston and the old one to show the difference. The rings are in the same location. If i like this new set up i can put all of the old pistons in the lathe and cut them down to match.

 

I'd like to see a better picture of your piston/rod organizer/holder.

Something you made?

 

I will get you a pic. Its from wizzards warehouse. It holds the the rod assembly and bearings. There are holes for the rod bolts and caps. Its plastic coated so it wont scratch the rods. A nice high quality piece.

 

Brian. How do you think the lower compression will effect how she runs on gas? Or will it not really matter with your program? Everything looks fantastic for this season.

 

It hit over a thousand horsepower at the tire on the dyno. I dont race it on the street so i dont think it will matter much. The engine on the gas side would really like more compression. Its a big trade off. If it isnt to my liking then i will put in the .034 head gaskets.

 

That piston rack IS nice. Thanx!

 

@racer-x Brian, what do you figure it makes for horsepower at the wheels on Nitro?

 

At nitro im thinking 2500-3000. Theres alot of variables on the nitro tune up. Most guys think more nitro equals more power. While that is true more gain can be achieved with more timing lead. The engine sounds great at 40. Now give the mag a twist and put 50 in it. It sounds completely different and bad ass. When the throttle is blipped it goes boom. Put 55 in it and it wants to jump off the car stands. Adding timing leans the engine out.
I usually run between 75 and 80 percent nitro. Putting more in things get crazy. I dont have the time and money to do that very often.
Any of these tuning adjustments for more power require a increase in fuel volume.

 

Time for lunch.

 

Thanks, I’m an engine guy, I’ve built lots but nothing even close to this caliber, I’m fascinated by it and truly appreciate you walking us through it.

 

Brian, I remember reading an article about the surfers nitro team. They said that they're secret to speed and reliability was to use 100% nitro but back off on the timing. What's your take on that?

 

Good question Joel. I think it was Tom Jobe who said that.

 

There are many ways to run nitro.
Big nitro load big timing
Big nitro load soft timing
The nostalgia guys have pump limits so some run high compression. Keep in mind the surfers were using iron blocks and 50 year old technology. They didnt have the pumps or the mags we have today. As good as they were back then they only ran in the mid 8s. That would have won indy in 65.

 

The more lead and nitro you put in the hp will go up thats for sure. It also results in smashed upper bearing shells; cracked cranks; pinched ring lands; spark plug porcelain bits on the valve seats etc. Its a pay to play kind of thing. A man has to know his limits. Those limits include your time; money and fire suit.

 

Im done for tonight. The silicone on the heads needs to dry. On my day off i will put oil in and prelube it. I will also put water in it. The only other thing i need to do is set the timing then its ready to fire. View attachment 5396145 View attachment 5396146 View attachment 5396145 View attachment 5396146

 

That’s one Bad Bad Boy,,,,!
No matter what anyone thinks,,,,there is nothing like the Mighty Chrysler Hemi !

Recognized and respected,,,,around the world !

Tommy

 

Hey, Brian;
If you get a few minutes sometime, would you mind explaining how advancing the timing leans the motor out? A nitro thing?
TIA.
Marcus...

 

I’d say a 1000 HP on pump gas agrees with ya