Projects Plan II - 62 Chevy II Drag Car

Oh man !
The Eddie Hill team,,,,,what a group .
I always pulled for that old Texan,,,,,,,he and his guys were great,,,,,,they always made the NHRA look good too,,,,,(professional,,,,but regular guys .)
He was tough as nails !

Tommy

 

Hey Jim ,
Post some pics of your engine work,,,,,that always keeps my attention.
You never know,,,,those bearings may still be in fine shape ,,,,but it’s a good idea to check .

Tommy

 

I took a picture of one rod bearing when I pulled the engine out in 2016, 10k miles on it then.

 

I was excited to find that Drag Week has been rerouted to include my home track, Byron, on Wednesday.

Hope to see you there.

 

I hope to be there, too! It's always fun racing there, I think this will be the 5th time with this car

 

I got the engine out and pulled the heads, and I think I'm finished working for today. The bores look nice. Head gaskets never got too hot. I'll drop the pan tomorrow and look inside the bottom end, and take the heads apart also.

 

Looks like it aint even broke in !!

 

Nice cherry picker.

 

I built the hoist almost 40 years ago.

 

Domed pistons with a blower? Are those L88 open chamber heads? Static C/R? Just curious.

 

Yes, and what heads are those?

 

Look at those internals,,,,,,,that’s a testament to good engine assembly.
Those good blue Felpros held up very well,,,,,,looks like they were still sealing good .
The cross hatch in the cylinders still looks great,,,,,,,rings sealing very well I’m sure .
I’m willing to bet the bearings will turn out fairly well too,,,,,although I know the top shell has seen the load from the boost,,,,and are probably showing some age .
I believe with some judicious cleaning,,,,,and a few replacement parts,,,,it will be good to go .
Check the heads for any warping,,,,,and lap the valves,,,,,,,maybe grind them if needed .
Jim is on top of this .

How many miles has that blower got on it,,,,it’s probably due for seals as well .

Tommy

 

The blower is definitely due for an overhaul, I hope I can find someone to work on it this month.

The compression ratio is about 8.5:1, and boost is usually only 6 psi, maybe up to 8 in good air. The pistons are stock replacement forged 427. It does fine on pump gas, with as much timing as I want to put in it (36 to 40 total)

The heads have huge chambers. They're the 074 2nd design L-88/ZL-1 open chamber, round exhaust port. Cast in 1970, so they're old, but were sold over the counter, I think.

 

I thought so. A true testament to the factory racing effort back then. You've got some happy parts there!

 

Always dug this one, neat to see this thread pop up

 

Jim,
Those heads look good,,,,,should be almost perfectly flat,,,,,,look at the area between chambers .
There isn’t any sign of pressure leakage between them !
A good healthy cleaning and I think the castings are good .

I am a little concerned about the burn pattern on the exhaust valves,,,,,,,not bad,,,,,,but definitely needs some attention . They are not as tan color as I would like .
Of course,,,,,,,they really look good considering the amount of hours and the type of service they have endured.
Great job on your engine building,,,,,,it shows !

I would be pleased to help with your supercharger,,,,,,but it would cost a fortune to ship it here and back,,,,,LoL.
As smart as you are,,,,,you could easily do it yourself !
I promise,,,,,they are not as difficult as people think .

Tommy

 

I went through the blower in 2014, drove it several thousand miles with no problem, and then drove to St Louis for Drag Week 2015. As I was leaving the track, the blower locked up. Tricky Steve was nearby, and rescued me, he went through the blower quickly and we got back on the road several hours later. But it's got another 20k or so miles since then, and he put used bearings in it....I'm just a bit leery of it.

I can afford to ship it. I even have the right box for it.

The chambers get full of all kinds of crap when I drive a lot, that doesn't worry me...and I never play with jetting on the carbs, either. I live at 4500 ft, so it's always a bit rich here, then when I race it's usually anywhere from near sea level, to 3000 ft elevation, so it probably leans out a bit just due to the elevation change. It doesn't foul plugs.

I pulled one head apart. The valves look like they were mostly seating ok. I'll check to see how loose the guides are, and might just lap them. The heads have been milled down to the seats, so I don't know if they can be milled again. I'll just leave the deck surface alone, since it's working. These heads are over 50 years old, and I'm working them pretty hard, even though they're precious these days to the restorer crowd. I have a new set of springs for it already.

I flipped the engine over, and pulled #2 rod cap. The lower half looks almost new, but there's a bit of wear on the upper half. I had half a set of old stock (1998) bearings, and I just ordered 6 more on ebay for twenty bucks! so that should fix the lower end, I hope. I do need to pull more and see how they look, of course.

 

Those intakes are crapped up pretty good. Looks like oil through guides. So much for detergent in pump gas. I don't know WTF is in the fuel were getting. I recently had a drain pan 1/2 full with fuel and thought I'll just let it evaporate. Not so much. Ended up with some thick green oil like liquid that clearly was not going to evaporate.

 

It's been going 3k miles or so on a quart of oil....best big block I've ever had, in that regard.

I'm not worried about the carbon, it seems to be a part of life.

 

Jim ,
That bearing looks pretty decent considering the amount of hours it has on it .
The wear mark coincides with the lead of the hole in the crank pin ,,,,you’ve had good oil pressure seems like .

The intake valves look normal,,,,,they show a good sealing band around the perimeter,,,,,,still sealing very well,,,,,,the funk build up on the stem and back face is normal for a fairly high mileage street /race engine,,,,,running pump gas .
There are a lot of impurities in pump gas,,,,,some is really dirty !

Do you have a better pic of the exhaust valves back face,,,,sealing band ?
From what I can see,,,,,these need attention .
I would check my valve guide clearance on all of them,,,,but especially the exhaust.

The castings should be good,,,,, no reason to mill them .
Those heads should be in top notch shape with a little work .

Tommy

 

The seats are a bit easier to see. Thanks

 

Yeah,,,,,you can see the areas that are not sealing well .
The exhaust seats there have areas that are shiny,,,,,and some are black .
If a seat is sealing good,,,,,there will be a shiny ring ,,all the way around,,,,,even in exhaust valves.
I don’t see how they last as good as they do,,,,,all the fire and heat involved.
You can lap them,,,,,,but it would be much better to have the seats ground .
Simply because of the amount of miles you put on them,,,,,and the durability of a fresh seat .

Do you air test your heads after engine assembly,,,,,,to test how good the valves are sealing before fire up ?
That will tell a big difference in engine power if they are sealing 100%,,,,,trust me .

Tommy

 

No, I don't get that involved. I did notice the ET falling off last year, it was running a couple tenths slow. There are lots of things that can cause that, though

I lapped one exhaust, it cleans up OK, but far from perfect. I can see some wear on the valve, there is a ridge.

I need to decide how long I want it to last, and also what my machinist friends in town are up to. I expect if I were to poke a bore gauge in the guides, they'd have a few thousandths wear at the ends, at least. They don't feel tight. OTOH, I've run them a lot looser in other cars I've driven way too far

Thanks for the input

 

Jim ,
Consult with your friends about the seats and guides,,,they should know .
I’m afraid they will never clean up good enough.

About the blower .
Since you said you had went through the blower yourself before,,,,,,you can do it again .
If you will replace the bearings and seals,,,,,that’s about it,,,,,as long as nothing has gone hay wire .
Most people don’t realize,,,,, nothing touches inside the case,,,,,as long as no issues have occurred .
The rotors never touch,,,,,each other or the case,,,,,they simply spin in their orbits .
As long as a bearing hasn’t gotten bad and had so much clearance that something came together,,,,or a severe backfire ,,,,you’re good .
And the clearance has already been set,,,,,mark everything with a paint marker,,and remove the gears,,,,,,,clean and reassemble.
The end plates are doweled,,,,,,they can’t move .
I have the torque specs if you need them ,,,it’s easy man,,,,I have complete confidence in your ability.

Tommy

 

Best way to check them nowadays is pump them down with a vacuum pump to 25 in/hg. or so. After break in, regular leak down tests are also a good idea to get a base line and monitor the health of your racing engine.

Put some new bearings in that blower, check clearances, and go. That's easy money for a cat like you. Street blowers don't have rotor seals.

 

Well,,,I always do it the easy way,,,,I use an air chuck screwed into the plug hole .
I put about 150 psi on it,,,,,,,then hold a tissue over the intake port and exhaust port for that cylinder.
No flutter equals a perfect seal,,,,,,,it’s always good to find this out before fire up.
Before those hot gases can scorch a seat a little .

Tommy

 

By the way Jim ,
Looking at the witness marks on those head gaskets,,,,,what kind of coolant do you use ?
Looks like some iron residue on the water passages .

Tommy

 

I use water, I try to get some rust inhibitor in it every year but sometimes I miss. They dont like anti freeze at the drag strip, and I park it inside and it doesn't freeze very often around here.

I rinsed out the radiator, a lot of brown came out of it. there's more in the block.

It really could use a valve job, although it'll go another 10k miles without one, I think.

 

Jim do you have access to a lathe,,,,or a good steady rest to hold a good electric drill ?
You could chuck those exhaust valves up and spin them against a whet stone .
Once you have trued the surface somewhat,,,,they will lap 10 times better and give a better seal,,,,just to get by .

Tommy

 

I've done that on a couple other engines that got "quickie" valve jobs.

I'm still thinking about what I want to do with it...I don't know how many long drives I have left in me, it might not need to last more than 10k miles