It will be there. Just not before memorial day. I wont run a fast car there before then. The track is never right and have seen too many cars crash in the early spring. Same with after labor day.
I finished up stripping the block. Im glad thats over. I also indexed the bruno bellhousing. It came out within .003 thats good enough. I always scribe around the bellhousing in case it needs to come off outside of the shop. I can then get it real close. Its crucial to get a bruno dialed in correctly. On the 65 i had it dialed in then changed cranks. The registering hole was drilled .070 off center on the new crank. The result was oil pushing past the seal. It ran onto the spinning converter then flung onto the hot headers. Its amazing how atf can burst into flames. It was no fun being on fire at 190 mph with smoke so thick you cant see your hands on the wheel. Not to mention expensive having to replace fire bottles aint cheap.I could see the flames blowing into the car through the window area. It would have been kind of cool if it wasnt so dangerous. Fires are crazy. I dont need any more than i have already had. I will put the flex plate on and check the converter clearance. There needs to be .100-.125 forward and back movement. Its good practice to check this stuff now so there are no surprises later.
The mock up continues. After a night of work i got the bruno and converter together. The flex plate had 7/16 bolt holes in it. I wanted 1/2. I sheared the converter bolts off once in columbus ohio during a burnout with the 65 dodge. A bolt skipped off the track and flew into the crowd. A guy was sitting in the top row of the stands with a camera hanging from his neck. The bolt went through the camera lens and out the back. The bolt then hit his leg and burned him. When i got back to the pits there were several golf carts with track officials waiting for me. Nothing came of it as the bellhousing was sfi approved. I gave the guy some free stuff and it was all ok. It never happened again after i upsized the bolts. it could have been much worse with someone really hurt or killed. I also checked the converter clearance. It came out at .125 so im good. The paint mess got cleared up. The guy at the paint store has been mixing paint for 30 years. He couldnt get a match in single stage by computer so he played around and came up with his own. He will put it into two spray cans when i want it. The short block goes together this weekend now that i know it will all fit together. View attachment 3161007
on the dodge we upped the bolt size to 5/8. the dodge had a late model with another 125 cubes and way more power. i think I'm safe at 1/2 inch. the week before my bolts sheared my friend with a blown hemi in a 63 dodge also sheared the converter bolts. thats why I'm being careful. not only could someone get hurt i could get stranded somewhere out on the road if they broke off track.
Hot heads has come through again. Finding a drive spud was proving impossible. The drive is unique to the early hemi. Its similiar to a big block mopar but different. There is first the spacer. This bolts directly to the cam. The slot in the gear drive hub needs a key driven into it. I had to machine the end of the cam a little to make a 3/16 key fit. This key goes into a slot in the back of the spacer and keeps the spacer from spinning. The center bolt isnt enough to do the job alone. This bolt is hidden once the spud is put on. This setup drives the fuel pump and magneto. The parts are very well made with nice tight tolerances. nothing was needed to make them fit perfectly. These parts look simple and dont have the wow factor of a blower but without hot heads coming through the car goes no where on nitro. over the weekend the body made it back to illinois. I started on the engine assemble. I got the crank in along with six pistons so far. The cam is degreed and tdc confirmed on the new timing cover. the short block will be finished tomorrow
What could be more fun than watching paint dry? Posting pictures of it drying. View attachment 3163980 View attachment 3163980
30 minutes later presto a painted short block. I think the pa int fumes are getting to me. I have to get out of here.
That color green and chrome looks great together! Hurry up and get that thing together already. You're killing me with all of these teasers.
thanks guys. I hope to be there again. bg is a event I really enjoy. I plan on putting everything I can on the engine minus the heads before the trip to the chassis shop. it will go in with the Bruno connected. the weather outlook is dry for Saturday so that's the plan. jim is there until noon but said I can stay as long as I like if I turn off the lights when im done. so I plan on putting in a long day. when I leave it will be ready to start. it just wont be wired or plumbed.
where will you be staying during the reunion? We will be camping in the campground again this year Same spot again
i booked the same hotel i was at last year. its by the freeway. i didn't wake up itching so i reserved it when i checked out.
I got a little more done on the green monster. I dont want to go over each step of the assemble. Most of us have built a engine before. I will touch on a few things that are a little different to this build. Due to the severe duty this engine has to live through it is used as a poduct development piece for several companies. The roller lifters are from hot heads. Two years ago we locked up a roller lifter. The lifters were sent back to the manufacture. Bob myself and the lifter company president all got together to come up with a better product. The lifters i have are a experimental set. They have holes drilled into the bodies to pressure lube the axles. So far so good. There have been no more axle failures. To set the timing tdc true tdc needs to be established. We use a piston stop and a degree wheel. The hot heads timing cover has a adjustable pointer making the job easy. The timing on the car is done in three ways. The crank trigger needs to be set at 50 degrees btdc. A magnet on the trigger wheel needs to line up with the pickup. The wheel has several patterns drilled into it. This must be correct. Then the engine gets rolled to tdc. I use a old distributor cap to verify correct rotor phasing. These two timing steps are for the efi. The mag goes in at 40 degrees. We use a buzz box to set that. The wires for the efi are carbon core while the mag wires are solid core. hot heads offers a sfi certified balancer that makes it easy to set the timing and lash the engine due to it having the timing marks machined into it. there is no longer a need to use a timing tape that just falls off. the balancer is offered with pulleys for a number of different uses that are all designed to work together to get the right spacing. it really makes life easier. The fitting on the oil pan are for oil return from the valve covers. More on that later.
Here's some inspiration for your color selection. Bright white on the firewall, chassis and cage. Dash painted body color would be my choice. maybe a zodiac white vinyl for the seat covers to make it pop. http://www.hotrodchassisandcycle.com/1940_ford_kosmic_outcast.php
that's a cool car. we have been talking about a crème colored fire wall and dash. thanks for the pics. we are leaving the chassis the natural chromolly. cracks cant be seen if its painted.
Just out of curiosity. Why isn't the oil pan polished? I know it'll catch rocks and all but at least the sides will look good. Or is that a mock up thing that I missed?
i will clean it up better before it goes in the car. its not polished because its hard to reach and maintain the shine. with all of the aluminum and magnesium on the car i already have my hands full. i usually clean it up when the car is up on the lift where i can get to it.
I started with a pile of parts today and finished with a engine ready to fire. Trying to build whats basically a race engine that i can drive on the street has special needs. My hot heads hemi heads are o- ringed. Several years ago we changed the height off the deck from .015 to .008 due to leaking anti freeze. The extra height was holding the head from sealing with the deck. we use silicone to help seal it all up. The maniflod runs a divider for better fuel distribution. This is something learned from the dragster. The manifold is torqued into place. Its then filled with rags and sanded flat with a large plate that has sand paper glued to it. We o- ringed the manifold so we dont need to replace the paper gaskets when the blower comes off. The blower is torqued to 25 inch pounds. Any irregularities on the deck are transfered to the blower case. With the tight clearences in the blower these steps do make a difference. The roller rockers are hot head items. Its starting to look like something now.
The body shop had extra paint in a gun. So they put some color on it. It just needs to be blocked out now. Jimdidnt want it finish painted in case there is a fire from welding inside the car. I thought it was a good idea also. Whats another trip do the body shop.
The Jalopy Journal
