Projects rebuilding after the crash

I've always enjoyed seeing your car, and was sorry to learn about the crash. I'm glad that you are OK. It looks like you are rebuilding the first-class. I'm enjoying following along on the rebuild.

Here is a pic of your neat coupe from Union Grove in 2013, lining up with a "fierce competitor."

 

Nice insight to the Lenco, not that I would ever be inside one.

 

Finn its very cool that you actually get out and race your street car. Checked out your profile page too. Lets see more pics of your car.

 

This is the last bit of info on the lenco. Its all done. The first pic is what you see when the rear cover comes off with the output shaft. The fork is visable and the gear that engages forward and reverse. The second pic shows the cross shaft removed and the gear missing. The teeth on the gear in the middle held in place by the snap ring is what drives the car forward when the sliding gear engages it. The larger gear when engaged is reverse. Under all of that is a planetary set thats bolted to the case. These planets are very easily sheared off if the car is still going the slightest bit forward and the driver puts the car in reverse after a burnout. I stop and count to five before i pull the reverser. Just to be safe. There is a reason i learned to carry a spare. The third pic shows the inside teeth for forward. The fourth pic shows the outside teeth for reverse. Grinding almost half of the gears teeth from off the rear leaving .300 thousanths gives you a neutral. It allows the sliding gears remaining teeth to be between the other gears. This modification makes life alot easier when the car needs to be pushed or idled.

 

Heck of a great thread

 

I was introducing my polisher this morning. I have not talked to him in two weeks. This afternoon he sent a bunch of pics showing the progress. They still need a little polishing in a few areas but you will get the idea why mike gets the call when i need something done. as purchased

 

it amazes me mike was able to sand out all the pits and bring these back to life. i should get the fronts back this week. i will trade rims with mike and get the tires mounted. for being into this rebuild only two months i feel I'm making good progress.

 

I keep saying its all about the people in this rebuild. i will introduce another friend that has played a big part in this car recently. The lenco came from andy boehl. I have known andy for several years. He lives about five minutes away. I stopped by his shop today to exchange reverse levers. i took a minute to shoot a few pics of his car. If you attended the us nationals at indy this year then you saw andy win alchohol funny car. congrats andy thats hard to do.

 

Wow!

 

Wow, glad you are ok! I have not been on the board for months and just saw this. Sorry about your car, great thread tho. Keep up the great work. Andy

 

Wow! , is right!!!
Marcus...

 

i just received word from acceleration media today. the coupe is in gear heads for life magazine this quarter. i have viewed the story and it looks great. the magazine release date is next friday. for all the cassandra fans out there she is also featured in the issue. i can't reveal any more at this time.

 

Those wheels look awesome!!

 

all four of them were diamonds in the rough. i feel like I'm building the car around the engine and wheels. nothing says fuel car like these wheels. i think they will match the new theme of the car perfectly.

 

Thanks for explaining the entire transmission set up. I found the information on running a Lenco with a converter really interesting, I always wondered how they worked especially shifting into reverse with the engine running. I'm enjoying this build thread, I'm going to rely on this thread to help get me through winter so please keep up the good work.

 

The wheels look dynamite !! Very talented polisher there. That is a art form.

 

Im picking up the wheels after work. now they are done. Mike sent these pics today.unbelievable

 

i got some work done on the hemi. i wasn't sure if the crank; center main cap or studs got damaged. the lower pulley was damaged beyond repair. when the engine moved forward it slammed into the front cross member. i used a dial indicator on the crank snout and on the end of the crank. it had no run out. i also checked the end play. it was in spec. the crank i use is a billet fuel crank. its a 392 that has the mains cut to 354 spes. the rods are cut to bbc. the thrust has .050 added to it. this gives my 354 block at .060 over a engine that now has 392 cubes. minor rod bolt clearance is needed at the bottom of the bore. all this in a lighter smaller package with better port angles. the chevy size rod journals give me better bearing choices. with the aluminum rods i need bearings with pin holes.

 

The front crossmember damage.

 

The damaged pulley. With this kind of damage you can see why im being careful.

 

Next the rods are coming out. The big ends will be checked. The bores will be honed and new rings installed.

 

there is a lot going on in these pictures. here you can see the four bolt hot heads main caps. the oil pump is a 1100 titan. the pump is a must have for reliability in high horse power applications with roller rockers. the volume demand and pressure demand with the roller rockers necessitates this pump. i was smoking pushrod tips before i started using this pump. the crank adaptor is in place. this provides a register for a flywheel or flex plate. the oil filter holes are tapped for a remote mounted filter. also in the picture are hot heads bolt in freeze plugs. these plugs are stainless steel. there is a bar with a threaded hole in it that locks into the block. o-rings seal it all up. this is a vast improvement over the stock plugs and well worth the money. the stock plugs can fall out. the results are predictable if it happens on the top end.

 

Man those wheels look spectacular!

 

one of my all time favorite fuel coupes was black. the dawsons demon. look it up on the net. i was fortunate to have seen it run several times before it burned to the ground in wentsville mo. some of the insperation for my car comes from the demon. that car was bad ass. true hot rod to the core. it ran on a big load of nitro and made a huge impression on me. its rumored that the car is being put back together. for my paint job im thinking about a fine metal flake orange with heavy flake scallops. the color pays tribute to the old car but with a new look. i like bright cars. im also considering some gold leaf lettering. it would tie into what i have going on. i may even go with some lace. either way its going to be wild and colorful. i have a guy who does outstanding gold leaf work and pinstriping. he did all the work on the 65 and this car. i think the wild paint jobs of the 60s are on the way back. i admit some looked ugly but some were works of art. a paint job for me is like picking out baby names. you think you are set on one name then you see the kid and go with something else.

 

neat!

Is there a limited life on aluminum rods? They make me nervous...something about how steel has a fatigue limit (if you stress it less than some level, it will last forever), while aluminum does not--if you keep stressing aluminum, it will eventually break.

One of the few things I remember from engineering school, oh so many years ago.

 

Those turned out amazing! I live down the road from there and didn't even know about them. The next time I need something really shiny, I'll be knocking on their door. Thanks for post.

 

jim you have a good point. yes they will eventually need to be replaced. hopefully before you find out were their service life ends. they were never designed to go in a 100,000 mile engine. these rods were designed to handle three or four times the load i will be placing on them. staying on top of the maintainance is crucial. i mentioned i will be checking them out. this involves torquing the caps in place and measuring the big end without the bearing. if they are out of round more than a half thou its time to hone them. the pins need to come out first. they can also be remachined like any other rod. this needs to be done by the rod manufacturer duo the serations or scallops that align the rod and cap. this work is done all the time on the fuel car i work on. if these rods work in a all out fuel car they can handle my street car. i look at alum rods like bearings and valve springs. they need to be rotated out and replaced at set intervals. the alum rods superior fasteners; light weight; strength; and high rpm capabilities out weigh the maintainance. in nitro engines there is a cushioning benefit to the crank. most rod failures are caused by something else going wrong and the rods end up paying the price.