rebuilding after the crash

Can you send a link to the puzzle site? I want to order one. My wife and I do alot of puzzles.

 

Mohr hp have you laid a straight edge across the decks of the block and heads? The sleeves can't be above the deck. Another area of concern is the receiver grooves. Are they in alignment with the wire? Is the groove deep and wide enough for the wire? A close inspection of the gasket might give some clues. The dowel pins should be measured for height. If they are too long they will hold the head off the deck.

 

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=3a7968768dbe
This is that puzzle that you play online, I don't know if you can order any puzzles from them. You can search to find all sorts of puzzles under the heading "explore" such as 57 Corvette also
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2293c0b7273a

 

Hey Brian ,
There used to be a place where they would make a puzzle of any pic you sent them .
It’s been a while,,,I can’t remember where .

Tommy

 

13.42 minutes I suck at puzzles. Thanks for the link.

 

Steve Morris does this with his SMX series, he designed it for drag and drive with huge power numbers so he needed to get the water away from the deck. Lots of extra work to get water were it needs to be with machined passages and hoses. Pretty cool if you haven't seen it.

 

I have not seen it. I got mine figured out.

 

Today the heads went back together. They go together much easier with the right tools.
The cam has .750 lift. The big intake valve with blower pressure on the back side require some stiff springs. I run Manley green stripe double springs. It's important to know what the pressure is at installed height. On a combination like this I need 340 lbs on the intake and 320 lbs on the exhaust at 1.950 installed. If it's not right bad things happen and things go boom.
So how do you do that. First is a spring checker. The height is set at the edge of the spring not the top of the retainer. If the spring is good then it's time to install a valve. The various retainer heights do to ground valves and seats can alter a installed height. Next tool up a height micrometer. A valve is set up with the mic in place of the spring. A measurement is made. Shims make up the difference to dial it in. So what does this all mean.
Having the proper room under the reatainer is everything. The proper height is set so the spring won't stack up causing major damage. The valves will be controlled and won't clip each other at high rpm. When a engine has new properly set up springs the engine sounds very crisp. It's noticeable. This obviously requires maintenance. After a pass the spring pressures are checked with a on head checker. Any springs that have gone away are easily replaced with tools to do the job with the head on the engine.
With all this spring pressure several things are done to prevent a disaster.
The keepers are titanium along with the retainers. This saves about 25 grams and is stronger. The dowels in the heads that locate the stands have been upgraded to .312 Hardened steel inserts are at each stud hole. Without these the aluminum gets pushed onto the threads making it near impossible to get the heads off. Lash caps are the final piece to go on. These caps keep the end of the valve from getting a groove worn into them. They also tip the rocker back so it doesn't hit the spring. Having the proper pressure at all engine rpm ranges prevents damage to the cam and lifters. Without good springs the lifters start to bounce on the cam causing damage to both. The devil is in the details. If you don't pay attention to them you might get a chance to try out your fire suit.

 

The on head spring checker. The hook grabs the fixed shaft. The handle is pressed just enough to move the valve off the seat. I bounce it back and forth. When the valve hits the seat it can be felt. Watching the gauge tell you all you need to know. The spring removal tool looks similar without the gauge and a longer handle.

 

heh...just saw this announcement today....

"Tucson Dragway

Attention in the pits!
The Nitro Sideshow at Tucson Dragway March 17th and 18th has been postponed due to a lack of available engine components! The new date is to be determined and largely dependent on parts availability. Keep an eye on the schedule and facebook for updates on the Nitro Sideshow."

 

What is the Tucson nitro sideshow? I have not heard of this.

 

The final piece of the puzzle is done. The block is honed. I will pick it up Saturday morning. I could get it after work today but we had three bad emergency cases last night. I have been up for 36 hrs. I need some sleep.

 

I should mention the hone is computer controlled. The size is entered in and it's automatic after that. It's constantly measuring the bore on the fly. If it senses a area that's small it will stop going up and down to concentrate on that area. The bore size will be perfect top to bottom.
The days of honing then stopping to measure are over

 

Hmmmm, .750 is 3/4 ... it seems you are in possession of a legitimate, rarely seen/often spoken of ... 3/4 race cam

I need one for my Zed-Ah-28 1978 Camaro

 

Yep,,,,a CNC hone,,,,,they are dead on !

Tommy

 

I'am shopping for a new valve spring compressor, yours looks very sturdy, is it easy to use with the crank handle? I don't need spring pressures anywhere near yours!

 

I don't promote many things here but every now and then I do. This is by far the best valve spring compressor out there. It's so easy to change springs. It's made with bearings taking all of the effort out of the job. It's rebuildable if it's ever worn out. I won't ever need that. It's available from summit. It's a LSM tool. Not cheap but so worth it. If you can't find it let me know I have the guys card.

 

I just picked up the block. Let's build a hemi.

 

https://lsmproducts.com/collections/valve-spring-compressors

 

First things first my mom would always say. So first up is pinning the cam bearings. The slight press on a cam bearing will go away do to block growth when it gets hot. The chances of it spinning are slim yet it happened to me a few years back. It was a expensive lesson to learn. Now they are pinned every time.
A drill of the proper size needs to go down the mains to open up the bearing hole. When the bearings are pressed in the holes are always off a touch. The holes need to be aligned so the pin doesn't smash the edge of the bearing. The pins as bought are too long. They are cut down to the proper size. Why you ask because a KB blocks oil galley runs down the outside of the block feeding the mains. Pressing in too long of a pin would cover up the mains feed hole. A double check on the oil galley holes is done before the plugs go back in.These pins need to go in before the crank is fit. The cam goes in next to make sure the bearing didn't get slightly distorted while driving in the pins.
The devil is in the details.

 

Damn! Do you do the same with rod/main bearings as well?

 

Rods yes. Mains no. The rods come with a brass dowel already in them. The bearings are bought in sleeves of 28 with holes already in them.

 

Why not the mains? Dang I’m just curious George here. Because they are located for rotational force vs rotational and reciprocating force like rod bearings are?

 

I would guess because the mains are steel. That's not going anywhere. The aluminum rods can grow just like the cam bore. I would also think with all the pressure on the rod bearing it gives the tang some help.

 

The crank is in. The end play is checked after the crank is smacked a few times in each direction to seat the thrust bearing. I'm looking for .008- .012 clearance. A pry bar does the work. The crank spins nice and free by hand. The blocks come with the block number and torque specs. The block number should match the caps. I use arp lube on everything that's torqued. The rods tech sheet specifically mentions using it. Depending on the lube used the measured torque value can change. I'm looking for consistency.

 

I had a slight set back. When I put a rod in and turned over the engine the rod and sleeve don't have enough clearance. I pulled the crank out and removed some more of the bottom of the sleeve. All eight were checked for rotation. Today I had a few hours so I put the cam in. TDC was found with a piston stop. The crank was set at 30 degrees btdc. The cam was set at .050 lift on the intake. Cam centerline is 110.5 perfect. The cam was shimmed to .012 against the front cover. Shims come in a variety pack to make it easy. The studs were put in. The hub was checked to make sure it's not 180 out. I set the timing and lash off of it. The marks are filed in every 90 degrees for lash and tdc 40; 50 for timing.
Rods and pistons tomorrow. The rings have been filed for .042 end gap.

 

Brian,
Have you ever had any scary moments with the 3 point engine stand? I had a BBC try to tip over on me. So, I put a cross bar with casters on the front. Really stabilizes the whole mess, and decreases the pucker factor.

 

I have. My four point is buried in the back of the shop behind cars in storage. The four point is much safer. I don't put the heads on the engine while it's on the stand. That helps alot in preventing it from tipping over.

 

The short block is complete. I'm going to try to get it in the car Saturday. I have to get the car out of the trailer first. It's been in there all winter. It will be nice to see it in the shop again. The frame up front needs to be cleaned before it goes in.

 

The engine is in place. Before I put the heads on I clean the deck with solvent
The gaskets are heated with a torch. This burns any left over sealant away and it returns them to dead soft. The copper turns all kinds of strange colors when it's ready. It's time for lunch. Making progress.