Projects rebuilding after the crash

looks like some serious damage to a few rockers, unfortunately.

But you'll rebuild it bigger, stronger, faster

 

After a 8hr ride home i knew i wasn't going to sleep without taking a look inside. A leak down test showed 1 and 3 leaking 100 percent. Most likely a bent valve. No big deal i have a set of new ones. The seats just need to be touched up. The cam looks good. The trans is out. The rest of the engine will be out before lunch. Updates coming soon.

 

Before lunch guess I can understand that when you have parts.

 

Ahead of schedule. out before lunch.

 

Amazing. Very jealous of your energy and talent!

 

My hunch was correct. The bearing spun just enough to shut off the oil to the top.

 

New cam bearings will go in first thing in the morning.
A leak down test was done before anything came apart. Number 1 and 3 showed no compression. When the head came off the valves in the respective cylinders were examined. They look good.
The crank and rods were then removed. The rings on those two pistons were pinched. New pistons will be needed for those holes. Tonight will be spent cleaning and scraping everything. Fun fun.

 

Damn. I am aware of what nitro can do to parts, but now even better educated. I do not like to see this happen to you Brian, but find the pictures you posted of the damaged parts interesting. I studied failure analysis of engine parts when I was younger. Us drag racers are life learners.

 

As you know mike a close examination of the parts tells you alot. With that being said pinched rings are only the start of the damage. New pistons and rings will only help so much. The bores go out of round. They need to be honed a special way. A rigid hone needs to be used. They are special. The force against the wall is so great a big ugly high torque drill is the only thing that will spin it. A steady stream of wd-40 is used. It works best with two guys. You are constantly tightening for max force. You can feel it when they are round again. The sleeves are so hard the bore diameter hardly changes. The bore is 4.187 if its off .001-.002 thats alot of surface area to leak. Usually 35-50 percent. Its worth going the extra step to get them round again.

 

Brian, is that a bend in the top of the sleeve on the left front?

 

The top edge is relieved slightly for intake valve clearance and to enhance breathing.

 

Jim, I'm looking at the top not the sides. It looks like a dent pushing towards the intake.

 

Yep thats the spot, Thanks.

 

LoL,,,,,,it’s a Hemi !
The valves are at the top and bottom,,,,not the sides.
The sleeves look fine to me,,,,,a light honing by Brian and all will be in order .
He knows what he is doing ,,,,,,a pretty smart cookie in my book !

Tommy

 

I just received this pic taken off the live feed. Not a small fire.

 

Damn dude. You are an inspiration to all of us. Keep fighting buddy. You are running at such an amazingly high level now. It's crazy to see how far your car has come in just a few years. Thanks for letting us follow along!

 

I had to run to iowa to work on the driver side head. A little welding and machining waa needed. I hope to get the short block assembled and back in the car along with the trans by the end of the day.

 

The fix so it wont happen again. The bearings were drilled the size of the roll pins. They were driven in so they just went into the bearings but not past. The cam rotates just fine. Stronger faster.

 

Its almost midnight im done. It was a hot one today. The short block is back in the car along with the bruno and lenco. I put new cam; rod; main bearings in the engine. The cam is degreed at 112. It should be running again sometime this week. I cant put the heads on until i deal with the rockers.

 

Glad your okay...that'd get the Ole adrenaline going Bigtime...Nasty Beast with a Fearless Leader...

 

This is likely the most legit hot rodding on this forum.

 

The engine fired up this morning. I just need to take care of a few small details and clean the car up. Then its off to back to the 50s. If your at the show stop by.
This was a big thrash. Im beat. There were several nights that went to 3am. Im on emergency call for my department all week so that doesn't help. It took a little extra time cleaning all the parts after the fire.

 

As long as you take care of yourself and don't become a victim for your own department, all good. Have fun in MN.

 

Nothing but respect from me ... I simply cant afford to drag race. I am the grumpy old man that worries about the cost of tires when accidentally doing a burn out.

Drag week is pretty awesome, I just love watching them race. The added load up the trailer and drive to the next track to race again tomorrow. Such awesome cars that are barely street legal ... Takes a intelligent person to drive them on the street to get to the next race without bail money.

The adventures along the way I love to hear about. I should not talk about Tom Bailey here. I laughed when they mentioned getting to the hotel late at night, The hill up the driveway kept getting high centered when the wheelie bars hit the pavement. Had to back the trailer up across 4 lanes and get a running start to jump the driveway ... This is what we call "life happens".
Not sure if Bailey created the quote ... He did say ... If you like getting kicked in the nuts over & over, & come back for more ... Drag week is the event for you.

For some of the spectators like me, is not how fast you go ... Is about everything you do to get there.
@racer-x I really appreciate you taking us along for the ride. I am rooting for you in the pits 100%

 

Im registered for drag week 2021. Im not saying i like my nuts kicked in i just like the challenge.

 

Another long full day. Its ready to go again. Other than needing some cleaning time its ready for back to the 50s. I know its more of a street rodder crowd so it will be interesting to see how its received. I might go cruising the hotels at night. It would be fun to roll through there on a good load of nitro.

 

Idling thru the fairground roads w/a load, or even a hint of, nitro would be another 1st. Never forgotten by those you drove by. If you do that, I hope I'm one of the driven-bys. . I'll be looking for you.
Marcus...

 

Sure would clear out the drive-through at Burger King!

 

My drag week buddy joel is bringing his 30 Plymouth. It has a hemi in it. We should have fun cruising around with some cars that are too loud and smelly.

 

Too loud? Maybe you can teach some self-proclaimed hotdogs what real chest-thumping noise is. "Noise? That ain't noise - THIS is noise! . There's a few clown-acts that insist on hi-reving their little ittybitty small blocks' open headers in front-jacked-up-fake-gasser in a futile attempt to impress the wha-fo's. Doesn't work, & sounds like crap, too. Then there are the very few guys that idle past & can get the point across as the exh pulses hit the chest. & sound good while turning heads. Once in awhile, one comes along & everybody looks, mouths move, but can't hear them say anything - . AA/FC parade - I can't wait! Wonder how long spent-nitro-fumes-clouds hang around? .
Marcus...