Messages

61

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Can you ID our converter?

« on: July 06, 2019, 08:39:05 AM »

We got our converter second hand with the motor & I'm trying to find some info on it. I don't know the manufacturer but it has this stamped on it:
829 B14XLS +1/4 A1014135. It's about 10.5" diameter. Obviously the +1/4 is the extra lug thickness for the motor plate but that's all I can say.
When the car launches, rpm goes to about 5k immediately. I've searched mainly with the B14XLS part but drawn a blank. Any idea on the manufacturer to start with?

62

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Lost cam dowel - what to do?

« on: May 31, 2019, 12:07:35 PM »

That is a very good idea! Cheers.

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Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Lost cam dowel - what to do?

« on: May 31, 2019, 09:05:39 AM »

So I got a new Chevy cam dowel. It is an interference fit in the cam & about 0.25".

However what I did not notice before is that the cam hub dowel hole is bigger, a 6.5mm drill shank fits perfectly. Also the distributor/fuel pump drive spud dowel hole is even bigger, a 7mm drill fits that snugly. So the standard dowel would not achieve very much.

My plan is to drill & ream all the holes to 7mm if the hub is not too hard. If it is I will ream the cam only to 6.5mm. Then I will either buy dowel to fit or cut off a piece of drill shank to use.

Nothing ever seems straightforward in my life...

64

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Lost cam dowel - what to do?

« on: May 28, 2019, 12:51:14 PM »

Cam bolts are 5/16", new ones shipping right now. Off to the garage now to check my pushrods with the new lifters.

65

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Lost cam dowel - what to do?

« on: May 27, 2019, 01:21:34 PM »

I've been told the 3 cam bolts need to be torqued to 45 lbf.ft to prevent them from being shaken loose. Thats tricky because you can only get a ring spanner on, not a socket. I may have to weld a bar or tube to a spanner & hang a weight on the end! ARP recommended torque for the bolts is 32.

66

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Lost cam dowel - what to do?

« on: May 25, 2019, 01:17:27 PM »

We checked the gear drive & it looks ok, there is a light witness mark on the crank sprocket. The oil pump has definately ingested some small hard bits of metal, it has a few pits & scores but nothing bad enough to worry us, clearances are ok. Dodged another bullet though, while checking out the top end I spotted a crack in a lifter. New set of lifters in now. The guy who freshened it for us has a lot of experience with BBCs but not with blown motors which is why he didn't tighten the crank hub bolts enough. I think I might rebuild it myself next winter for peace of mind.

67

Altereds / Helmet filters?

« on: May 20, 2019, 02:12:22 PM »

We have a blown methanol altered running FC headers (see pic). The driver has a helmet with built in filters which he bought when he thought he was going to get a FC drive. Is it necessary to have filters in a car like ours?

68

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Engine Moisture

« on: May 17, 2019, 01:24:11 PM »

I've been thinking of using the trusty old Coleman inflator to vent as we get methanol & some water condensing in the valve covers. Up to now I've just pulled the valve covers as fast as I can after towing back but definitely going to get on with sorting it out.

69

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Lost cam dowel - what to do?

« on: May 15, 2019, 02:01:28 PM »

We took the pan off & it is not in there. It's a Moroso 20385 ally pan with kickouts & rear sump. I think the dowel may have knocked the corners off the end of the distributor gear to make the bronze particles, it looks slightly worse than I remember. Incidentally I tried a 0.250" dowel & it's about 5 thou (guess) undersize. Should I worry about the idler gear bearing on the cam gear drive? It looks just possible that debris could get in it. I could maybe pull the hub & remove the cover to examine it.

70

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Lost cam dowel - what to do?

« on: May 14, 2019, 12:42:13 PM »

We had our blown methanol BBC freshened up for the season by a fairly well known hot rodder/race car builder here in the UK. There was not much wrong with it from last season, basically he just replaced the bearing shells. We test ran it for the first time last week, it fired up and ran well. After draining the oil we found some small non-magnetic particles in the oil filter. Not enough to really worry about but a bit puzzling. Some of them seemed to be aluminum & some looked like phosphor-bronze. When we checked the lash before running again, it developed a tight spot that got worse the more we looked for it, until it was pretty much locked up. We took off the blower & inlet & I noticed I could move the crank about 5 degrees without moving the cam. We took off the fuel pump & front distributor drive & found that the cam dowel was missing & the bolts loose which hold the drive & cam hub to the cam. It seems the builder did not torque them up enough. He agreed on that & stated that there definitely was a dowel in the cam. We have not been able to find the dowel. it was not in the sump. A more experienced builder & racer told me they do sometimes come out & the gear drive is so hard it can actually munch them up. We tightened the bolts, replaced the rockers one at a time, turned it over by hand & it seemed ok. We didn't run it because I could not get a dowel & also we were worried about where the bits had gone. So after that long story, my question is should we have it completely stripped, inspected & cleaned or just replace the dowel?

71

Altereds / Re: What did you do on your Altered TODAY?

« on: April 14, 2019, 01:43:35 PM »

Nothing on this section for nearly two years? Ok, I'll bite.
First event of our season is 4 weeks away, motor is still at the shop after a freshen up, should be able to collect in 4 days. We had some extra tubes put in the roll cage & due to crazy circumstances only got the chassis back last week.
So, today I fitted front wheels, brakes, fitted new seals to shutoff valve & barrel valve & re-engineered the throttle pedal.
The driver finished changing the rearend gears, we will be re-assembling the axle tomorrow I hope.