Projects Austin Somerset Gasser Build (DragNasty)

Not Gene Winfield but Ed. Gene makes them look good, Ed made them fast with cams, heads and carbs.

Roo

 

I predict a competition license and chassis cert in your near future.

 

Sorry rooman...you are correct, I wasn't paying attention to my typing. He spent a lot of time at Ed Windfield's Shop and he was a good friend and inspiration to him.

 

He had a great story about Smokey though...he said after Ed had made a bit of a name for himself, Smokey sent him some cam specs. After looking at them and what it was going in, they called Smokey and questioned whether or not his numbers were correct etc. Smokey said I will send you the specs, you just grind them.

 

Dragnasty. Just sent you a message

 

Okay a quick update on the engine rebuild etc. To be honest we have so many irons in the fire here it is hard to know where to start. So to begin with, the block and crank work are complete (again). However this time I actually hung out in the shop and helped (actually probably just got in the way but I will be damned if anything leaves my sight for very long this time around).

The block was lined bored, the crank turned down a bit and correct Clevite bearings installed. We dropped off the flywheel and dampener this past week so it can all be re-balanced. We also got the replacement JE Piston and Eagle Rod in this past week and the shop has both making sure they are balanced as well. This shop actually did all the balance work the first time around so they have all the information on file etc.

AND...the big new is my cam designer finally shot me his specs and valve train recomendations that we are going to follow religiously!

ISKY - Custom Grind Race Roller Tappet
Intake .793 - Exhaust .800 - 4/7 Swap - 115 lobe separation - 278 duration.

HOWARDS - Pacaloy Mechanical Roller Springs - 275 lbs seat and 805 lbs open
HOWARDS - Mechanical Roller Bushed Lifters .300 tall - Pressure Pin Oiling (good through .800 lift)
Note: The Original ISKY lifters we looked at would not work with our lift. However my guy really likes these Howards
and they are a bushed bearing as well.
HOWARDS - Titanium Spring Retainers and Machined Steel 10 Degree Valve Locks

MANLEY - Severe Duty Valves

We will retain our Comp Cam Magnum Rocker arms, push rods and girdles and I ordered a set of ARP Rocker studs for it as well. So hopefully it won't be too long before we start putting her all back together again...

 

Sounds like you got it figured out


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I hope.

 

So I was reading this weekend about ProForm HP Electric Water Pumps. I had thought about putting one on the Austin during the original build but for what ever reason moved on with out it. The amp draw on this unit caught my eye though, 6 amps. I guess I always thought that one would pull a bunch more than that and with several cooling fans and the big fuel pump already pulling their fair share it just didn't seem practical.

It pushes the exact same amount as the HP belt driven unit it is going to replace AND...I am thinking a huge advantage of it will be I can wire it to my switch panel and flip it on along with fuel and fire before start up. Then if I want, after I turn off the motor, I can leave the pump and the cooling fans running for a bit. Win, Win...

 

They do make controllers that will cycle the fan and pump. It runs the pump to move the hot water out of the engine into radiator then it will run the fan.

 

This just may be my ignorance but are electric water pumps robust enough for street use?

As soon as I got a race car, I never saw another hundred dollar bill.

 

Well sort of a bummer, I just got word the Hilborn fuel injection unit is not going to be ready to ship until at least the 2nd or 3rd week of February.

 

I agree,, but good things are worth waiting for! How ever it is hard for all of us. Gary

 

Well wrestling season is over so my 17 year daughter is finished whipping up on the area 106 pound high school boys. It also means maybe a Saturday or two back in the shop. This morning we spent some time at the machine shop and assisted with the crank install. All the tolerances were checked with a micrometer and I am very happy with all the numbers.




After we got it home we installed all new freeze and block plugs etc. Then since the final piece for the heads arrived yesterday, we decided to install the Manley valves and Howard Roller Springs.


Since I don't trust anyone anymore, I bought this handy dandy little tool to confirm I have the correct springs. After double checking the cam card and contacting Howard to confirm the part number and recommended height etc., they were dead on where my cam designer said they would be.




After dropping in the Comp Cam spring locaters which allow for the larger spring diameter we installed the teflon valve guide seals. Then right on schedule, we had an issue. A good friend loaned me his air powered valve spring compressor. It appeared to be the bees knees for the job, however it was not powerful enough to compress the heavy duty springs. It would get close but came up about 1/2" short of getting the keepers in place. After several attempts and modifications to the compressor we finally went this direction which to be honest was perfect.


We put the air powered tool on and let it do its thing firmly holding the spring in place and 80 percent plus compressed. Then from the other side, we installed the standard hand pull compressor and easily finished the compression and installation of the keepers. Then slowly released the hand tool and then the air tool and poof, springs installed.

 

Sounds stout.

 

The Springs or my daughter?

 

Looks like we are assembling the beast....(again)....this weekend. I just got this handy dandy degree wheel kit today. I know the entire upper end is basically blue printed but I still want to know everything is as it is supposed to be etc. etc. etc. You should always double check things. Now where I have I heard that before?....

 

...And another set of these Hell Fire Rings...If you remember this is my third set! Round one Dad knocked the edge off two sets of them installing the pistons. We could not find individual replacements so had pony up another full set. I thought about just leaving the current ones in there but when you are this far down anyway, no since in in taking a chance (if there is one thing I hate nearly as bad as bodywork, it is gaping rings!)

 

I don't know how I've missed this thread ! Fantastic feat you've accomplished . Hope I get to see it in action this year at Rogersville nostalgia drags, think they've got 2 scheduled so far. Flux

 

That looks pretty fancy.
Make sure you check it on the spring retainer and just as well check them all.

 

I found out this past week that Cometic tri-metal head gaskets are not reusable (although everyone does it). I thought that was a selling point for those crazy things but not so much. Then it all became a moot point when I discovered the ones I had wouldn't work with the new Brodix heads anyway. So...."scope creep, scope creep, scope creep"... I ordered a new set of head gaskets.


Then while degreeing the cam Sunday we discovered we are 4 degrees off the Cam Card's center line number. I am not a big fan of drilling out the cam gear and going with the bushing remedy so I ordered a new timing chain set with a 9 key way crank gear....


It is just as well I suppose, as I don't even remember where I got the original one. I know it was new but I am pretty sure it was a stock style kit. This Cloyes has the 9 keyway crank gear for easy adjustment, the gears are both precision induction hardened billet steel and the chain comes from Switzerland (how about that)...

Not sure if it will run like a Swiss time piece or not but we should be good for more torque and higher RPMs...etc.

 

And by the way, that JEGS degree wheel kit sucks (you get what you pay for I suppose)! I sent it back Monday morning. It was simply a pain in the back side to use. It did not have continuous numbering 180 degrees from TDC. After about 70 degrees either way you would just have to count marks etc. Not to mention it was only an 11 inch wheel and the kit came with no way to turn the engine from the front after it was mounted.

I used to have a big blue Moroso wheel and front crank mounting socket that allowed you to turn the crank while the wheel was in place. I am not sure what happened to it as apparently in the last move it disappeared. So I ordered another one of them along with a proper front crank mount socket and while I was at it, I snagged a cam check tool that slides in the lifter bore so you can measure lift without having the extra pain of the lifter and trying to align the crazy tinker toy style apparatus to hold the dial indicator in line.

 

Larger diameter wheel is certainly easier to read on the engine stand, but I think that it is too large if you are trying to degree the cam with the engine still in the car. I used a 11" Moroso wheel with a CompCams turning socket on my SBC

 

I also made a decision to up grade to an aluminum timing cover. I had fabricated a spacer block that bolted behind the factory style water pump and butted up against the original chrome cover to prevent cam deflection but that water pump is obviously gone. The problem with many of the aluminum two piece covers is water pump and dampner clearance issues. The only one I could find that I knew for sure would work without issues was this Comp Cams unit. I also like it because you can check end play adjustment through a dial indicator access hole.

 

Deuced, just a question; any reason your not using shaft rocker arms like a T&D or Jessel? Great read and build, I admire your patience and skills.

 

Shhhhhh....you are jumping too far ahead. Spoiler alert!!!

 

Big news today. Mike from Alkydigger called this afternoon. The Hilborn Four Port EFI unit is on the way!

 

DRAGNASTY photo from MOKAN website this week advertising Sunday Fun Drags. Those boys were scheduled to be open every Sunday in February (weather permitting)...and they have been racing! Thanks for the photo op Carl!

 

Well we got the big blue wheel attached this morning after some trepidation (Par for the course). That is a nice way of saying I dropped the crank socket right out of the box and perfectly jacked up the threads. After some careful grinding and file work by Dad, we finally got everything to work as advertised.


We made quick work of exact top dead center as our guess was absolutely dead on the first try. I am usually pretty close but I don't think I have ever hit it dead perfect (probably never a gain)...but it was a welcome advance after our slow start.


So here is our cam card. Obviously with a 115.0 intake center line and 115.0 lobe separation, it tells us there was no advance built into the grind. Many cams have 4 degrees added to them but since those two numbers are the same we do not etc.

So before I got mad and shipped the stupid JEGS degree wheel back we did ascertain (if our hash mark counting was correct) that at standard install, cam dot to crank dot we were just over 4 degrees away from the cam card center line number. As I said earlier that is why we snagged the new Cloyes 9 keyway crank gear. However before we pulled the old timing chain and gear off, we popped the big blue wheel on to double check our original findings. After doing the math from the wheel, our numbers still stand, we needed to retard the cam by about 4 degrees.


So we removed the original cam gear and timing chain and then pulled the crank gear off. Then we installed the new 9 keyway gear with the keyway in the slot marked R4 (4 degrees retard). Then we rotated the crank around to the point where the cam gear was also marked R4 between the teeth (that becomes our new timing dot). Then just like normal we install the crank gear with its dot pointing to the R4.


After the Cam gear was tightened down we we popped the big blue wheel back on and quickly rotated it around to our top dead center guess and installed our home made piston stop. Backed it off 20 degrees, set the piston stop and went around one time the opposite direction. We were close but not as good as round one. After a couple of wheel adjustments we had exact top dead center again.


Then with our lifter gauge tool in place, we rotated the engine forward watching the dial indicator until we found max lift on the intake (number one cylinder). Then we zeroed out the indicator and rotated the motor backwards from 0 back all the way around to 0 again. Then we rotated the crank forward until the indicator read .050.


At that point we recorded the number on the wheel (above photo) 35.5. Then we continued forward, the indicator will go back to zero and then needle will reverse as we go down the back side of the lobe. Back to .050 again (and recorded the number) it was 194.5. To find the crank center line, we added those two numbers together 35.5 + 194.5 = 230 and divide it by 2 to get 115.0 Intake Center Line (DEAD NUTS PERFECT)!

While we were at it we decided to make sure the rest of the numbers on the card match the cam it is attached to as well. We checked valve opening. At .050 the cam card said intake should be 24 degrees before TDC....BING!


All the other numbers were nearly dead on as well. Then since we had the dial indicator in place we checked the lobe lift. We rotated the crank forward until just before the intake started to lift. Then we set the dial at zero again. We continued rotating forward watching the dial. It went around 4 times and wound up here:


Cam card says .467...Doesn't get any closer than that! NOW we are ready to finish the build with confidence!

 

Sounds like it went pretty smooth right? You want the real story or should I just leave it be?

So originally with the small JEGS wheel and our counting we needed around 4 degrees retarded to hit the cam card center line number. When I put the big blue wheel on (before changing the gears) our math came out to 6 degrees. So trusting the new wheel over the other, we popped the new crank gear on in the keyway marked R6 and installed the cam gear with its dot pointing to the R6 keyway thinking that was obviously our new Crank center mark. Then we found exact top dead center again and then did the moves and math to confirm center line. Not even close. So we did it all again and same crazy number. On the third try, when we set top dead center I noticed the cam gear dot was not pointing up, it was down at about 8 p.m. So we triple checked that we were on the right stroke and we were but the cam dot was still at 8 p.m.

We scratched our heads for a while. The only thing that had changed positions was the cam gear so I took a good look at it. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it had faint writing between a few of the gear teeth. Just very tiny stampings that read R8, R6, R4, R2, Space, A2, A4, A6, A8. Since the cam gear came with no instructions we were a bit lost. But it suddenly became clear that if you wanted R6, you have to install the crank sprocket using the R6 keyway but then for alignment you have to rotate the crank around to the R6 teeth and then align the cam dot with it etc. We both felt pretty stupid.

So we installed the piston stop and found exact top dead again. We ran our numbers but they were still way off, albeit different from the cam gear debacle readings. Dad is turning the crank this time so I said lets do it again. So we went back found ETDC again and then followed the steps, same set of messed up numbers. So third time is the charm, we find our guess for TDC, install the piston stop, Dad runs it forward about 20 degrees, I set the stop and he runs it backwards back around and we are close. We make a small wheel adjustment and just like we have done a ton of times today, he sends it back around forward again and check and then backwards one more time and check. Bing. I take the piston stop off for the (I have now lost count of how many times) and I notice he just continues the backward direction 20 or so degrees until the pointer is right on TDC. Instead of rolling it all the way back around forward to where we started, so we are on the wrong stroke.

We correct that procedure and boom we have good numbers again, however they are saying we are two degrees or so too far. We double checked it and it was the same. So off comes the cam gear again and we go to R4 and align it properly etc. etc. When we ran the numbers the final time they equal 230 on the dot which divided by 2 is our 115 Cam Card Centerline on the nose. We double checked it and bing, we are in. I laughed and told Dad, we have to be the only idiots in the country that wore out the cylinder hone just trying to install the stupid cam!