rebuilding after the crash

Pulled the heads. Restrictors are not plugged. Passages in the head are clear. Gasket is good. Digging deeper. I think I will pull the mag. I can stick the pre oiling shaft in the pump and spin it. There will be a mess but I will know if it's a cam bearing issue.

 

Brian,,,,sorry man !
Those KB blocks oil from the cam bearing but they run oil through hoses to the deck right ?
Or does it use passages in the block like the old Mopars did ?
It’s been so long since I’ve seen one up close .

Or do you still use a KB block ?

Tommy

 

I have a kb. The main oil passage runs down the drivers side. There are intersecting passages that feed the mains and cam. The number four cam bearing sends oil upstairs like a stock 426.
With the heads off I'm going to pull the mag. I will use the priming shaft to see if oil comes out of the deck. No oil it's a cam bearing issue. Hard to believe because it's pinned. If I get oil then it's a rocker shaft issue. I don't remember taking them apart this off season. They are intake and exhaust specific. They can also go in 180 out. Then the oil through the stand wouldn't match up to the hole in the shaft. More to look at tomorrow. I have a plan. I just need another person here to hold the rags while I try to pre oil it. If oil comes out its blasting out. It would be a big mess.

 

The screw diver points to the hole in the deck where the oil comes out. It also points to the hole in the gasket. The hole in the head that lines up is shown. Lastly the hole in the stand and rocker shaft. They all need to line up.

 

This happened at Bonneville SpeedWeek 2016!

The chunk of block missing took a guys baseball cap off his head when it hit the brim, and then that piece of cast iron went thru a windshield 100’ away! Nitro!

 

Man,,,I wasn’t expecting that,,,,when I saw it I literally said ,,,,”goodness gracious “ .

Man,,,look how thick the iron is in the cylinders .
I bet that thing is heavy with all that hard block in it,,,,and the concrete really helps the life of the block for sure .

Yep,,,Nitro is unforgiving !

Tommy

 

Alot of verifying today. The head gaskets are double drilled so they can't go on backwards. The oil hole lines up with the hole in the block. The gasket was put on the head and the holes line up with the head. A wire was put through the heads to make sure the holes were drilled all the way through. A drill was used with the priming shaft to verify oil to the decks. The stands were checked out verifying the holes lined up. So far no explanation found.
For tomorrow's fun. I drained the oil. The pan is coming off. The number four main bearing will be pulled. Air will be blown in from the side; top and bottom. Just in case there is a chip causing a restriction. The rod bearings will get checked to. The filter will get cleaned. It will be reassembled to try again.

 

Okay,,,

Is that green oil I see ?

Tommy

 

So that's all the oil that came out of the deck? Same on both banks? I remember he checked the main passage after pinning the cam bearings so.. humm strange.

Maybe a chip from drilling holes for the bearing pins?

 

The pins were put in years ago. I'm thinking a chip from decking over the winter. More investigating is needed. Because we have start up procedures that we follow this was found before big damage occurred. Think stuck valves being hit by pistons etc. Good thing it wasn't rolled over to the nitro side.

 

Green Joe Gibbs oil 70 weight. There was a steady ooze coming out. I had to keep wiping it away.

 

Demons be gone it's cured. I pulled number four main cap and upper bearing. With high pressure air I blew it down the holes in the deck. While this was going on I was rotating the engine to line up the holes in the cam bearing and the deck. A noticeable tone change happens when they line up. Both sides were done several times. I didn't find any junk that flew out. I reassembled the engine. I used my 5/8 drill this time for more power running the pump. The 1/2 inch drill can stall. I usually don't like a oily mess on the floor but this time I'm OK with it. Oil is pouring out of the rockers. I will put the pushrods back in and reset the timing. We will try again this weekend with a nitro fire up

 

I hate it when 'issues' mysteriously disappear without a found cause... Seems like more often than not they come back and bite me. But I'm not known for my good luck...

 

I had to have blown something out. there was a noticeable change in the sound of the air blowing through. The flow of oil now is great. I really don't want to pull the engine apart. It's all good now so we will monitor it very closely.

 

Success. Video coming later tonight. Good flames. Sounds incredible. It sounded good the last few years but nothing like now.

 

To quote....well, I forget who but..........

This should be good!

 

#4 main feeds #6 & #7 rods ,,,hopefully anything that blew out cleared the crank and is gone !
(I’m assuming a KB feeds just like a normal Mopar that is .)

Tommy

 

Ok the videos are loaded to Facebook my site. Like usual and I have tried I can't get them to the hamb. I think it's beyond my phones or my ability. If anyone knows how and can forward it to the hamb I would appreciate it. There are two videos. Jerry Newman is helping out. He is known as the nitro helper. He has over 50 years of experience with nitro. He set the tune up like a nostalgia funny car. He has several tune ups. It's all done by pressure and temp with a blank jet in the barrel valve. All of the cylinders at idle are close. Next step a 300 foot hit.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/6koD_JhyZmM

https://youtube.com/shorts/RMiL0YsXsBA

 

Thank you Justin. For those out there that don't know Justin was part of the Dale Suhr top fuel dragster team. This heavy hitting dragster was a dominant car in its day. I also crewed on it several times. It's something how all the crew guys have stayed together like brothers.
When the car is running there's alot going on. We are checking timing; looking for leaks etc that's why the videos are so short.

 

Desoto hemi it oil similarly yet different. The main oil feed runns down the drivers side of the block right off the oil pump. From there oil goes right to the mains. On number four main the oil goes up to the cam. From there to the deck. The cam part is like a stock hemi. When a rod is kicked and the drivers side of the block is damaged it adds a extra level of difficulty to repair if the damage involves the oil passage.

 

Yeah,,,I knew the main oil galley is on the side of the block,,,,I was assuming the rest oiled the same way .
I remember that they put all the oil to the mains first,,,then secondary concerns after that .
Great job you’re doing !

Tommy

 

WOW JUST WOW!

 

Good gawd!!!

 

Gives me goosebumps.

 

Fantastic! I can almost smell the Nitro.

 

this weekends fun will include another nitro fire up. i installed a small motorcycle battery to run the tach; bruno; and grid. activating the bruno will drop the rpm. the bruno pressure needs to be at 150 lbs. the idle around 1750 rpms bruno engaged. the high and low side fuel pressure will be checked again. the final check will be with the bruno engaged and the throttle hit. nozzle changes along with timing might happen. as you can see you just dont rush out to the track and make a hit. everything must work perfectly before it ever goes into the trailer. between each fire up there are alot of adjustments; servicing and refining. then there is the trailer. the generator would hardly run. it turned out to be a clogged fuel filter. new plugs; oil and filter its never run better. a brake inspection is next.

 

Video is coming. It was all nitro today. On the first fire up the Bruno pressure was checked along with timing and cylinder temps. Adjustments were made several times running the engine. After all the cylinders were even a barrel valve change was made. Two flats got the temp were it needed to be. We added a small shim to the low side for a few more pounds of fuel pressure. On the last fire up the Bruno was engaged to check the rpm. With a load on the engine the rpm drops a little. The throttle was blipped with a perfect response. Pump pressure and blower pressure were perfect. It's basically ready for a 300 foot hit.

 

If you can't wait for the video it's on my Facebook.