April 1, 2005 - The best time we could get was, 9.39 @ 143 MPH.  Lots of spinning in both lanes with a best 60 ft. time of 1.378 sec.  The winds were very high tonight at State Capitol Dragway and coming right down the track into the face of the car.  All of our gauges were erratic and we discovered loose ground wires to the MSD, Tach and all the gauges, all of which connect to the same point inside the car.  That will be an easy fix.  The car ran well, it steered straight on the first run in the right lane, but was all over the left lane on the 2nd pass.  The second pass was only a 9.48 @ 141 MPH.  I was very disappointed, but nothing is broke, so it was a good night at the track! 

April 3, 2005 - Today was not my day on the tree.  I lost in the first round when I tried to cross-over from the right lane, which made me look into the sun to see the other top bulb on the tree.  I had a .112 green light and failed to catch John Shea in his beautiful orange 1969 Camaro.  John had a new 350 + .040" engine, out for the first time today, and he was running very good.  In the second round, I had a .011 red light and lost.  John broke out on that run, but that did not help me at all.

The car came off the trailer with a nice 9.39 @ 144 MPH and backed it up with a 9.36 @ 144 MPH.  The second run was quicker than the first run for the first time in a very long time.  This means something has been fixed!  We solved the ground wire problem and all gauges and the tach worked great today.  I am very pleased with the car.  Now I have to work on the driver!

We completed the arrangements with Louisiana Raceway for our race in the "Battle on the Bayou" series for the May 14, 2005 event.  Bracket Masters Racing Team will sponsor that race and it will follow the format of the other races in that series.  Lot of good heads up index racing and brackets for those of us that like bracket racing. There will be free entry for all Jr. Dragster racers that bring a car.   FLYER

April 15, 2005 (Tax Day) - The day of atonement!  The car ran really well tonight.  Came out of the trailer with a 9.41 @ 143 MPH and the second pass was 9.388 @ 142 MPH.  During eliminations, I had a bye, a win and guess who I had to run in the finals!  Mr. John Shea!  Yes, here we go again.  As luck would have it, the power was lost to the track and we had to flip for the winners trophy.  John was very nice and "gave" me the winners trophy.  He took the runner-up and we both left happy (probably the only way I would have won the trophy!)  Reggie, Houston, Marva, Big Man and Willie helped out all night.

April 17, 2005 - Took the car to Eunice (Louisiana Raceway) and made two time trials.  After the 2nd time trial, Joe Oakley noted that my drivers side slick was going down.  After trying to refill the tire and look for the reason, which I could not find, I put the car in the trailer and went home.

April 18, 2005 - Removed the slick to have it repaired and noted after 102 runs, the slick was worn out, but only on the one that went down, and then only on the outside of the tire.  The inside still showed a little rubber in the wear cup. The other side (passenger) still had about 1/2 the rubber cup showing  I decided to get a new set of M/T slicks. 

After pulling the wheel off, I noted I was still rubbing on the inside of the wheel from a combination of the caliper bolts and the top of the caliper touching the inside of the wheel.  This was suppose to be fixed, but was still rubbing.  I removed the caliper bolts and cut approximately 1/8 inch from both bolts.  I also took a grinder and removed some to the top of the caliper where it was rubbing on the inside of the wheel. 

I decided to stop the rear transmission leak by replacing the seal on the tail shaft.  I purchased a new seal from Sonny at Pro-Fab, and he told me to look real close at the yoke where it goes into the tail shaft.  After removing the drive shaft, I found an abnormal wear pattern on the yoke, and the engagement was not correct.  The yoke was worn about a 1/16 of an inch around 1/2 the circumference of the shaft.  I took the whole thing to Driveline of Baton Rouge to get a new yoke.  The first thing they said when they looked at it was, "It's too short, it was not balanced, the yoke is bad and you need to inspect the tail shaft on that transmission".  They are making a complete new drive shaft which will be one inch longer to give me the correct engagement. 

While I was looking at the end of the transmission, I noted the two bolts that hold the tail shaft to the cross-member were missing.  Vibration most likely, or someone forgot to put them back in. 

I asked Houston and Marcus to come over and help me evaluate my rear brake system to see if any of the brackets were allowing unnecessary movement and to look the complete system.  We tested the brakes and watched for movement of the calipers, but could not see anything.  While standing and looking down at the two wheels, which were upside down on the ground, Marcus said he thought one was deeper than the other.  Houston bet him they were both the same.  Marcus was right!  The wheel that was rubbing on the caliper was 1/4 in. deeper than the other wheel (the backspace was 7" on one and 7.25" on the other).  Talk about calibrated eyeballs!  I also measured the I.D. of both wheels where the caliper rides.  The one that is rubbing has a slightly (0.080") smaller I.D. than the other one.  I have just about decided to get a new set of Wilwood Disk Brakes for the rear of the car.  The brakes that are on there are Metric GM calipers, adapted to the 9" Big Ford rear end and attached by a home made mounting bracket. 

 I will remove the tail shaft and check out the roller bearing for any damage.  I will pick up the drive shaft and fit it into the transmission and replace the cross-member bolts.

While I was under the car, I found one of my front, lower ladder bar bolts loose.  The bolt and nut could not be tightened because it was galled.  It took almost an hour to get the bolt off.

This is a lot of time, effort and money to fix what started out as a flat tire.  I will end up with a new trans. seal, a new drive shaft, new ladder bar nut and bolt, new bolts in the cross-member, a set of new slicks, and sooner of later, a new set of rear disk brakes.  With all of these things wrong, it is no wonder this body does not perform as well as the old "Masterpiece", which had Wilwood disks all around.

April 20, 2005 - Picked up the 1" longer drive shaft today.  The shaft fits very well.  Spent most of the afternoon tightening bolts that were loose on the rear chassis and wheelie bars.  I have not put the tires on, I ordered the rear disk brakes to be on the safe side.  They should be here Monday.  I will have everything else done by then. 

The SPORTSnationals are at No Problem Raceway Park this weekend.  See you all there!

April 24, 2005 - Enjoyed the SPORTSnationals! A few Photos.

April 25-27, 2005 - Started installation of Wilwood rear disk brakes.  Everything has gone very well up to this point.  Playing with the lockwire tool and trying to get the correct rotation on the wire was a trip down memory lane.  When I was in the Navy, nuclear power program, there was a lot of lockwire.  I had to install lockwire on junction boxes and connection panels, in the plant, wearing Anti-Contamination clothing and two set of gloves, in 120+ degree heat. 

The brakes are a little over 50% installed.  I have the hats attached to the disks and I have found the correct fittings for the brake lines.  I am about to attach the caliper to the right wheel.  I have checked the alignment of the caliper to the disk and had to move the caliper mount to the opposite side of the spacer plate next to the bearing.  The instructions are very good and cover a lot of situations, such as, my studs are 5/8" and the holes in the Wilwood hats are 1/2".  The instructions allow drilling out the holes to the correct size.  I strongly recommend reading the instructions, twice, before and during installation. 

I should be able to test the brakes Friday, at State Capitol Dragway, and be ready to go to the "Battle on the Bayou" on Sat., April 30, 2005 at Louisiana Raceway!

April 28, 2005 - The brake job is finished!  No leaks and good petal after a few hours of sitting.  After installing the wheels, I had to remove them and put the spacers back in to clear the balance weights on the inside of the wheels.  Other than that, everything is perfect.  The car is back on the ground and now just needs to be tested. 

While looking around, after changing the transmission fluid, I noticed some bolts missing from the trans housing.  Vibration is really taking its toll on this car.  I must make it a monthly task to check all the bolts under the car.  While I was tightening bolts, I checked the intake manifold bolts.  Some of them were loose too.  One of the bolts holding the steering rack was about to fall out too. 

April 29, 2005 - Everything seemed so good.  Then all hell broke loose.  The burn-out went just fine and the launch was good.  All indications were that a good run was about to take place.  I had decided to let off after the 1/8 mile to test the brakes and make sure I could stop safely.  Just as that thought crossed my mine, I heard a noise.  My first thought was, the new drive shaft U-joints.  Then I saw all the smoke and I knew it was not the U-joint.  I pulled over to the rail to keep the track as clean as possible and stopped.  When I looked under the car I saw oil, which I thought was from the transmission, but it was really from the engine.  I had a small hole (actually two large holes) in the oil pan and you can see a part of a rod or rod cap.  Tomorrow I will take the car out of the trailer and start to disassemble the engine to find out what the damage is.  This was run #96 on the engine since the overhaul in August 2004.  I did the assembly, so there is only one person to blame. 

May 1, 2005 - I did have new ARP rod bolts, installed during the last overhaul in August 2004.  I told some people that I thought the rod bolts had been reused.

I took the valve covers off last night and removed all the spark plugs, except #8, which has to have the steering separated before it can come out. None of the 7 plugs had any damage or any signs of being hit.  Number 3 intake push rod is bent really bad and the lifter diagonal link is broken off of that same lifter.  The pan has two holes in it, one on each side.  The holes seem to be closer to #5 and #6 rods.  The right side of the valve train seems to be OK.  That is all I have done.  The car is still in the trailer.

May 2, 2005 - Houston came over and we took the car out of the trailer and removed the engine from the car.  Number 6 rod is broken and that cylinder has a big chunk out of the bottom of it.  The water jacket is still OK.  The heads look OK, but several of the valves had hit the pistons.  The timing chain is broken (not broken, but the three cam bolts were sheared off), and #6 piston is junk.  The big end of #6 rod is still attached to the crank, and that is good news.  The cam is dinged up in the area of #6 rod and will need to be replaced.  We will finish the disassembly tomorrow and take the block to find out if it can be sleeved and I will take the heads to be reworked. 

I may go bigger on the bore and add a little compression.  Since I have to get a new cam anyway, I may as well step it up a little and try to break into the 8 second range (on motor).  I am going to put new Wilwood disks on the front and get away from those Pinto disk brakes.  I am going to take all of the glass out of the car too and put in Lexan all around.  This car still has all of the roll-up mechanisms in the doors.  All of these improvements should be good for about 200 lbs. I just got my new NHRA license in the mail, so I am good for another two years.  I have to leave the door on the drivers side as is.  That is how I get in and out of the car when it is in the trailer. 

May 4, 2005 - Engine update.  The heads are with Mr. Alvin Calhoun to be ported and polished.  The block and crank were delivered to Mr. Remi Baker at Womack's Block & Head.  Remi has been a constant supporter of the Louisiana Drag Classic and the Baton Rouge SMART Program since we started having our events. 

After completing disassembly of the rest of the engine, we found the three bolts that hold the cam gear sheared off.  The crank is in excellent shape, even on the journal that had #6 rod attached.  Remi inspected the bottom of the block where the chunks are missing and has decided to put in two sleeves, #5 & #6, to insure adequate support for the piston skirts on the downward stroke.  We will go with a +.060" overbore, which will put me at 4.560" and make the engine a 555 CID.  We will put a Lunati 4-7 swap cam, new rods and new pistons to increase the compression ratio from 12.8:1 up to around 14.5:1.  I would like to make enough power to run 8.80's in the heat of Summer.  I hope to be able to order my push rods in about 4-5 weeks.  We should be up and ready to test around July 1st.  This is a good time for a getaway vacation. 

May 9, 2005 - After taking a sharp pencil to the repairs and modifications that I want to make to the car and the engine, the anticipated date for completion will be very late Summer or maybe around October in the Fall.  $$$$.$$

Alvin took the heads apart and found them in good shape.  We have several bent valves.  We will put in all new Ferrea Competition Plus Valves.  We will put new springs on the heads too.  New lifters will be installed in the block.  I will get new rods for the motor too.  The old rods have over 500 passes on them. 

May 10, 2005 - Went back to Remi at Womack's today to get the correct size for the head gaskets, after taking the cylinders out to 4.560", the old gasket will not fit.  I will have to have 4.630'' gaskets. 

Purchased the rods from Engine Parts Warehouse, these are Eagle ESP H-Beams rods with L-19 bolts (The old Eagle H-Beam rods lasted over 500 runs and 6 years, these should last at least that long).  I also purchased a new set of ARP head bolts to fit the Dart Pro-1 heads that have the 8 long bolts on the exhaust side. 

Remi will order Ross pistons, which will give me 14.7:1 compression ratio.  Once we get the pistons, and Alvin completes the heads, I will assemble the engine.  We will have to check the piston to head clearance and take care of any interference and insure the correct quench area.  After that we will make any adjustments and Remi will balance the complete rotating assembly. 

Remi will also order a Stef's Alum. Oil Pan to fit the Gen V block along with all the bearings for the rods and mains.

May 19, 2005 - That Stef's pan will not go on my engine, instead I am getting a Billet Fabrication aluminum oil pan for the Gen V block.  The Ross pistons are here and they look good.  They will give me 14:1 compression with 118 cc chambers.  Remi has not started on the block yet but is should be done this coming week.  In the mean time, I'm collecting parts and getting more information.  I have been talking to Lunati Cams about a cam for the 555.  As soon as Alvin gives me some flow numbers for one on the chambers, we will get back with Lunati. 

Alvin did some calculations on his computer the other day and came up with some nice numbers.  To make it real, we put in 90 degree air temp. and 90% humidity to match the Louisiana weather in the heat of Summer.  I should still be able to run around 8.95 @ 150 MPH.  The heads should be done in about a week.  We decided to use Manley Severe Duty valves.  Alvin has started on the first chamber and found several of the valves a lot deeper in the head than they should have been.  This is causing "shrouding" and loss of some air flow.  Makes the cam have to lift the valve more than it should to get the air flowing.  Alvin is blending the seats and the head to fix this problem. 

While leaning on one of the front wheels, the travel limiter wire rope broke.  This would have happened on the first run after the new engine is installed.  No telling what the front of the car would have done.  I removed and inspected the other side.  It seems to be in good shape.  I replaced the broken travel limiter.  Cost less than $3.00 to fix.  This will be the least expensive thing that I do!

The new heavy duty, Wilwood, disk brakes should be here tomorrow or Monday. 

May 24, 2005 - Had to send the brakes back today.  They (not Wilwood) ignored the fact that I told them it has Pinto disks on the front and sent a Camaro kit, which did not fit. 
Started to overhaul my BG 1090 Carb today.  The computer analysis says I need a much larger carb on the 555 engine.  I will test with what I have and change later, if necessary.  Holley and BG both say I should not have to change. 
I took all my parts to Remi today to get the engine balanced.  They will do a cleanup cut on the deck to make it flat at zero deck height.  The heads will also get a true-up cut to make them flat and to bring the chamber volume down to get the target 14:1 compression ratio.  I should start to assemble my shortblock this coming week. 
Alvin called with my flowbench numbers for my heads, after completing the porting on one of the heads.  There were dramatic changes in flow from before and after the porting.  I went over to his shop and looked at the head.  It really looks good.  Having done one port job myself (never again), I really can appreciate his work. 
I have faxed the information off to 4 cam companies to get recommendations.  This should be very interesting.  Alvin feels we should stick with the Ferrea valves that were in the heads.  Seems they flow very good. 

May 26, 2005 - Removed the transmission pan and cleaned it out, along with the filter.  Changed the rear trans seal too. 

I have received recommendations from three cam companies.  All different, from keep what I was running in the 540 from Reed Cams, to real wild grinds from Crane and Lunati.  Have not heard from Crower or Comp Cams yet. 

Ordered a set of Mar-Guard Lexan windows.  This should let me lose some weight.  I am going to install the alternator again and remove one of the batteries.  This should be much better for maintaining a constant voltage supply, and save a few pounds too.  I also ordered a set of 4.30 gears for the Ford 9".  I will not put them in until after testing the new engine. 

I read some information on reading spark plugs today on a web site, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_spark_plugs_for_racing .  I think I learned something about heat range selection.  Every since I changed to this new body, I have used NGK-8 or 9 plugs.  No matter how I change the jetting, the plugs are always black, which seems to indicate too rich.  The information I read today indicates maybe the plugs are too cold and not able to burn off the deposits.  The article also stated that without the needed heat to burn off the deposits, I was also losing power because the plugs heat range was not hot enough.  I have to do some research to determine the correct plug to use in the new combination.   Some of the information on the NGK web site seems to indicate that with all my new changes, I may design right into the range that I am already using.  Therefore, I will start out with my NGK-8 plugs and see how they perform. 
Here is some information from the NGK web site: It is important to remember that spark plugs do not create heat, they can only remove heat. The spark plug works as a heat exchanger by pulling unwanted thermal energy away from the combustion chamber, and transferring the heat to the engine's cooling system. The heat range is defined as a plug's ability to dissipate heat.  http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/techtips.asp?nav=31000&country=US
I had this all figured out when I was running a SBC.  I am still learning about the BBC and I have a lot to learn. 

May 27, 2005 - I received a cam recommendation from my current cam company, Comp Cams, and they are on the conservative end of the spectrum.  They want me to almost stay the same in duration, from 289 to 292, and move up just a little in lift, from .725", up to .740" lift.  This is the same recommendation that was given by Reed Cams.  Crane and Lunati want me to install a cam that is around 295 duration and .800" lift.  The durations are at .050" lift.   Still waiting on Crower's recommendation, and I may contact Erson Cams.  I had an excellent Erson Cam in a 383 SBC once.  Right now, I am leaning to the Comp Cam, since that is what has worked in the past and I have the retainers already.  They say their cam will be easy on parts. 

My front disk brakes came in today.  I will start on them tomorrow.  I spent most of the day cleaning under the car, the frame, and anything I could touch under there.  The carb is still in pieces.  It is clean and I have the kit, just waiting to put it back together and make the adjustments.

May 30, 2005 - Our lights were out for a major part of yesterday, so I got the Bar-B-Que pit out and did some ribs on the grill.  I also finished up the driver side front disk brake.  The installation went without a problem (as long as you follow the Wilwood directions and observe the orientation of the photos).  Since the lug size is larger, I need to purchase some new open end lug nuts for the front.  I also assembled the right side disk and got all the lock wiring done.   I put the BG 1095 carb. back in one piece. 

Did anyone see the Indy 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the NHRA Summer Nationals?  I watched some parts of all three and got to see the finish of all of them!  I love to see John Force win anytime.  I was pulling for Danica Patrick, but fuel issues got her.  I think Bobby Labonte is one of the best sportsman competing in any sport.  He could have blocked Jimmy Johnson. 
Can you imagine what that finish would have looked like if Richard Petty, Cale Yarbrough and Dale Earnhardt (or Tony Stewart and Jr.) had been coming down to that finish line?  Lots of crumpled up sheet metal and cars all over the place! 
Did you know that I was born and raised in Daytona Beach, FL, and went to the Daytona races on the old beach and road course up to 1957? (Winner in 1957, Cotton Owens driving a Pontiac.  Pontiac's 1st ever NASCAR victory!)  I was a NASCAR fan before I ever heard of drag racing or NHRA!   My father had a 57 Pontiac Bonneville!
Next time you go to Florida to visit "The Mouse", take a side trip to Daytona Beach, about 50 miles east of Orlando, just off Interstate 4, and visit Daytona USA and the Daytona International Speedway.  It is a real treat for anyone that loves NASCAR racing.  Daytona is also the home of Crane Cams.
On the way home from Orlando, just a few miles north is Ocala, FL,  just off of I-75.  There you will find the "Big Daddy" Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum.  Houston and Marva visited his place last year and had a very nice time.  Drag racing fans will really enjoy seeing the history and evolution of the sport along with some of Don's old "Swamp Rat" dragsters.   Ocala is also the home of "Silver Springs".  There you can take a ride in glass bottom boats and enjoy some of the most wonderful underwater sights that you will ever see.  They also have a Antique Car display there. 

May 31, 2005 - Only worked a little today.  Purchased my lug nuts from Sonny at Pro-Fab.  He also had the 90 degree brake line fitting that I needed, along with loaning me a heli-coil kit to repair a stripped thread in the spindle for my right side front brake.  Lots of goodies came in the mail today, the 4.30 gear set and my Lexan windows.  Still waiting on the installation kit for the windows.  After I finish the brakes I will start on the windows. 

A friend, Roger "Big Tiny" Grisle, currently of Woodbury, MN, originally from Forrest, MS, and a graduate of Alcorn State University, is an avid reader of these pages.  Big Tiny has a 540 BBC that makes 850 HP and over 700 ft.-lbs of torque.  We have swapped a lot of information over the past month and I have learned a lot from talking to him.  We are currently discussing my selection of a cam. 

Speaking of a cam, I received more recommendations today from Bullet Cams of Olive Branch, MS.  They gave me three choices, from hot to hottest, all with the 4-7 swap.     

Tomorrow I will accompany Mr. Van Johnson and family down to No Problem Raceway Park where he and daughter Chandra will make all of their license passes, weather permitting.  We hope to get all 12 passes in for the two of them.  (See Van Johnson)

June 3, 2005 - Oh Happy Day!  I got my block and balanced rotating assembly back from Womack's.  I am ready to clean the block and start assembly.  When I arrived home, the oil pan was sitting at the front of the house.  All we need now is the heads, which Alvin is working on now.

Visit To Summer School
Get them while they are young! Bracket Masters Racing Team took 4 cars, including the Jr. Dragster, to visit the Summer Program at God's Way Christian Academy and make a presentation to the kids using the SMART Program materials. During our visit, Mr. Willie Beathley introduced the film and gave a brief history of our organization. The children were happy to look at the race cars, but the thrill of the day was getting to sit in the Jr. Dragster and act like they were driving. Many of the kids asked some very good questions. 

The cars that were present were, Mr. Warren Birkett with his M/SA station wagon, recent winner of class at a national event, Mr. Willie Beathley with his 9 second small block Chevy wagon, Mr. Glend McDonald with his 9 second big block Chevy Camaro, and I handled the teams Jr. Dragster. Also supporting the event were Mr. James Richardson and Mr. Reggie Jackson, Director of Baton Rouge SMART Program. 

June 4, 2005 - Panic!  Alvin called and told me he found evidence that all four pistons on the drivers side of the engine have been hitting the cylinder head!  The other side has not been hit at all.  Could the deck height on that side be shorter?  If it was hitting before, it will surely hit even more now due to the cleanup cut that I had done on the block.  The area that is hitting is around the edge of the top of the piston away from the quench area (exhaust side of head).  The contact area is about 1/32" wide and maybe .003-.005" deep, and it extends about 120 degrees around that side of the piston.  All 4 pistons, 1, 3, 5 & 7, seem to have the same contact area. 

Alvin has suggested a fix.  He wants to put the head on the block, scribe the head from the inside of the cylinder and grind out that area.  This would take care of the area that has the contact showing.  This would be done after we assemble the crank and put one piston, rod and bearing assemble in all four corners of the block and measure the actual deck height compared to the amount the piston comes out of the block.  We know this will increase the cc of the head, and it will have to be compensated for, by either flat or angle milling the head to get the compression, either up or down, to where I want it. 

We noticed a difference between the SRP pistons that were in the 540 and the Ross pistons that are going into the 555.  The Ross pistons have a relief area around the complete top of the piston in the exact area that we are concerned about.  The relief area is approximately 3/32" wide and about .003-.005" deep. 

June 6, 2005 - Here is some head air flow information that "Big Tiny" sent to me:  http://www.airflowresearch.com/performance/westech_figures.htm .  Thanks to everyone for helping with the research and information.  The internet is great!

I did not do anything yesterday, except cook a big pot of Mustard Greens and put another slab of ribs on the grill.  I attended church with the Barbara and really enjoyed relaxing on Sunday.  I hope to get the block washed out today and measure the deck height so the heads can be blended in to clear the pistons.

June 7, 2005 -  I did get the block washed, scrubbed, brushed, air dried and everything sprayed down with WD-40. The block was put on the engine stand and I checked the four corner cylinders for the correct deck height.  Alvin was correct.  The pistons on the odd number side, when checked at the indented part of the piston dome are .002" down.  So that side actually has approximately zero deck height.  The even side is low.  It is approximately .002" low on # 2 cylinder and .003" low on # 8 cylinder.  We used the same piston/rod combination in each cylinder to remove that variable. 

We had another problem presented itself today.  Good thing I decided to use only the oil ring on the piston to check the deck height.  The set of rings were suppose to be file fit, 4.563".  I normally file fit my rings as the first step in assembly.  This time I fitted the oil ring set first and it was too big.  I had all kind of trouble getting the first piston in the first hole.  I called Jason at Engine Parts and asked him to check the size of the rings to make sure I had the correct set.  He said the oil rings in the set that I had purchased were also 4.563" and not standard as I required.  Since I had not cut the rings, they exchanged them for a new set with standard oil rings. 

Alvin completed a cc check of one of the ported chambers and got 122 cc.  This is much higher than we wanted (118 cc) for 14:1 compression.  We will have to bring the heads down to the correct volume. We will have to take into account the block deck height.  That would make that one head only good for that block if we milled it to get the same compression on both sides.  Rather than do that, I will look into finding a head gasket that will provide the correct volume, quench area and clearance.  Alvin has already blended the area that was hitting the pistons.

June 8, 2005 - I looked up some information on the Ross Pistons web site and found information that indicated the pistons that I have will produce 14.63:1 compression with a 122 cc chamber (that includes the .039" compressed thickness of the Fel-Pro head gasket, which gives 11cc more).  Since I only wanted to get 14.0:1 compression, the chamber volume that we have will be great!  I also found that the .002-.003"  of the piston coming out of the cylinder is not going to effect me enough to worry about.  That will increase that side from 14.63:1 up to 14.71:1, by calculations on the Ross web site. I will live the that. We will cc most of the chambers.

The crank is installed, clearances have been checked and everything is looking very good. I will cut the rings tomorrow and try to get some of the pistons in.  I am looking for the cam to arrive any day, then I can check the piston to valve clearance and check for push rod length. 

June 10, 2005 - Houston Hawkins stopped by today to check on my progress with the new motor.  While he was here, he noticed my new disk brake installation on the front of the Camaro, which I had not finished on one side.  He pointed out that the caliper was too far away from the center of the disk and the brake pad would not ride in the correct location.  I had not noticed where the pads were riding, just the alignment of the caliper with the disk, side to side.  Not up and down.  With Houston's help, we changed the location of the mounting bracket for the caliper and now it is in the correct location.  That's teamwork!  Thank you Houston!

The engine is slowly making progress.  I am in the process of measuring all the piston to cylinder wall clearances.  I had all the pistons numbered, but that may change after I complete all the measurements to get the best piston in the best cylinder IAW the required clearance.  The rings have not been cut yet.

I spent a good part of the day in Barnes & Noble Book Store looking for books on Big Block Chevy engines.  I found one for assembly, and I purchased one on cylinder head flow testing and what makes for good flow.  While there I also purchased a Desktop Dyno book that includes the computer program.  I already own one very simple version of a computer dyno program, but this new one will require a lot more input.  I am at the stage of engine building that will make it very easy to get all the required information.  The heads are dissembled and the engine is in pieces. I can take a lot of measurements.  It is so hot this time of year here in Louisiana, now is a good time to take my time and do it right. 

All of my cam equipment arrived today.  Comp Cams cam #11-740-9, # 947 triple springs, #611-16, 10 degree locks, # 739 Titanium retainers, special valve seals #506-16 , and lash caps #621-16.  The push rods will be obtained after the engine is trial fitted. 

Alvin is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the Super Victor intake manifold.  According to Alvin, the manifold was in sad shape.  Out of the box, it had a lot of casting flash and imperfections in the runners and especially in the plenum area.  When he finishes, we should see some major improvement in distribution of fuel and air.  Alvin pointed out that my heads did not have a three angle valve job that is normally used in drag racing, but the seats were cut with a very large seat, that is normally used in boat racing.  The wide seat allows the engine to run at WOT for long periods of time and not get too hot, or burn up.  This is not the best thing for a drag car.  Houston says they now are doing 5 angle valve jobs on some drag cars.  We will use a three angle valve job and the seats will be a little thinner.  All of this is way above my head, for now.  Just let me finish reading my new book on flow testing, then I will understand what I am talking about.

The Ferrea Valves that we settled on are #F1224P Intakes and  F1206P Exhausts. 

Baron Young, the welder, stopped by yesterday to give me an estimate on what it will take to modify my headers to be able to put on mufflers.  After the engine is back in the car, he will return to get a better idea of what is needed.  I want to put the Tommy Johnson Muffler Inserts into the collectors.  This is what I had on the other car and they worked perfect.  There was no loss of power and they quiet down the car to pass NHRA Super Gas noise inspection.  Right now, I do not have room to put the mufflers into the collectors.

Barbara and I went to Joe's Crab Shack and had the best crab cake dinner on the planet! Tonight is the start of my Father's Day celebration (a week early)! 

June 11, 2005 - Did not accomplish much today, spent the better part of the day shopping with the wife (time well spent).  Completed taking all the rod bearing journal measurements, the cylinder bore measurements and numbered all the pistons IAW the measurements to get the proper wall clearances for each piston.  

June 12, 2005 - All Stop!  All of my rod bearings are out of spec.  The recommended clearance is .003-.0035" on the rods.  I have one that is, .0037", and the others range from .0040" to .0043", using a micrometer, not plastigage, and being very careful.  I will check with Engine Parts Warehouse to see if they have the +.001" rod bearings that will bring me into tolerance on all the bearings, except the one that is .0037".  We will live with it being .0003" under. 

June 13, 2005 (early) - There is an old carpenters saying that goes, "Measure twice and cut once".  I went back and measured again. The journal measurements were all off by -.001".  Now all of the specs are OK!  They are all between .0029" and .0032".  I rechecked all the bearings and all the journals this time.   

June 14, 2005 - Marcus stopped by today and took a look at all the new parts and the progress on the engine assembly.  He also looked at the measurements to confirm my readings.  He also inspected the front disk brake installation.  Nothing like another set of eyes looking over things.  Willie stopped by yesterday to look over everything. 

I am teaching Vacation Bible School this week at my church.   It has been very enjoyable so far.

I got the last piece of the puzzle today.  My last exhaust valve came in from Ferrea and I delivered the valve, the springs, locks and retainers to Alvin.  The heads should be back from the machine shop by this Friday.  Alvin will check them over and we will cc some of the chambers on each head to see if we need to do any milling to get the compression to where I want it. 

June 16, 2005 - I cut all the rings and put #1 and #8 pistons in.  I purchased one of those solid, round, ring compressors specifically for the 4.560" bore.  It makes installing pistons a pleasure.  The $30.00 cost is well worth it.  I also installed the cam and chain and completed degreeing the cam.  It is straight up at 112 degrees.  The Cloyes adjustable chain and sprocket allowed me to get it right on the money.  When the heads come back, I will check for piston to valve clearance on #1 and #8 pistons. 

June 17, 2005 - Reggie Jackson stopped by and we traveled down to Louisiana Engine Exchange in Prairieville, LA to pick up my heads.  They are fully assembled and look very good.  They took .010" off of each head to true them up.  We returned to Alvin's shop to cc the heads.  We ended up with 119 on the even side and 122 cc's on the odd side head.  This will help even out the block deck height discrepancy.  The difference in compression ratio will be approximately point three to one. The final compression ratio will be approximately 15:1, if we don't have to fly cut the pistons.  We removed the triple valve springs from #1 and #8 and installed the checking springs to allow easy checking of piston to valve clearance.  

June 18, 2005 - Checked the drivers side head today.  I have approximately .130" under the exhaust valve and .160" under the intake valve.  The area that was hitting on the old motor, close to the spark plug side of the piston, has .055" clearance, which is good.  The quench area has .050" clearance. The other side should be similar with a little more clearance. 

June 20, 2005 - I spent most of the day trying to get the other side to clear the valves, without much success.  I finally had to switch heads.  With the new arrangement, I had to check both sides again.  The Even bank (2, 4, 6 & 8) now has Intake clearance of, 0.135"  and the Exhaust clearance is, 0.105" .  The Odd bank (1, 3, 5, & 7) now has Intake clearance of, 0.125" and the Exhaust is, 0.100" (no kidding), this is with the Fel-Pro marine .039" thick gaskets. 
I checked the head thickness on both heads and found a difference of 0.038" between the two heads.  This engine has mismatched heads and a block that is not decked the same on each side and the compression ratio is different on each side.  We know that it has been running like this for the last 6 years.  Now we have more cubes, more compression, ported heads and intake, and a hotter cam (good thing I selected the lower lift cam, instead of going with the .800 lift cams that some of the cam grinders recommended.  Some time my conservative side comes in handy).  The pistons are not hitting the heads any more, so we are much better off than we were.  We will see how much quicker this imperfect engine will run.
Alvin installed the valve springs on both heads today.  We discussed my concerns and his theory is: "There are a lot of engines that are worse than this one, and they may even run better than this one.  You should not be concerned about the imperfections".  At least Alvin has pointed out the problems and he has corrected all of the problems that he could.  For that, I am very thankful.  The problems that he could not correct, we have found a way to minimize the effects.  It would not be me if I was not concerned.  If I could afford to purchase a new block and new heads, I would.  Until I win that big race (or hit he lottery), I will have to live with my new 555 BBC and do the best I can. 

June 21, 2005 - "I've Got To Be Me!  I've got to be me...!"  Here we go again!  I ordered a set of SCE copper gaskets that will almost equalize out the compression ratio.  I should end up with very close to 14.7:1 after installing the copper head gaskets (to be exact, Left side = 14.58:1 and Right side = 14.80:1).  The left side will have a 0.043" thick gasket and the right side will have 0.050" thick.  The SCE copper gaskets will also help to hold that compression inside the cylinders.  Now I will feel better about the engine, no matter what happens.

I learned something about (my) BBC rods and pistons today.  They can be installed incorrect.  Last week I hung all my pistons, measured them and assigned them to a cylinder bore according to the clearance that I was trying to achieve.  Tonight when I started to put the pistons in, # 3 rod cap would not start.  I have an aftermarket Cola Crank that has chamfered shoulders on the front and back side of each rod throw.  It takes a special rod and rod bearing.  You must put the rods on the pistons to correctly align with the position on the crank.  I had to flip three of the rods to get them all installed.  All I can do now is install the oil pump and that will complete the bottom end.  The pan will go on last.  I have to wait on the head gaskets, then I will measure for the push rods.  It looks like another two weeks before I am ready to start the engine. 

June 22, 2005 - Not much done today, finished installing the front disk brakes that were on hold since the engine project started to come together. Visited with Alvin and talked over my decision to put the thicker head gaskets in.  He does not agree.  He feels we are compromising the quench area of the pistons.  I am still thinking about that.  Everything is a trade off.  I have some parts to scrape and clean, water pump, motor plate, header flanges.  I am going to remove the pan from the transmission again and put in a better gasket.  I have to wash and blow out the intake where all the grinding was done too.  I also need to determine how I am going to rig up the alternator to work with the crank trigger device on the front of the engine.  This will call for pulleys, belts and adaptors.  More engineering. 

June 23, 2005 - It is a good thing this is a family web site.  Today I decided to check out my new oil pan and put the oil pick-up on the oil pump.  When I tried a trial fit-up of the pan, it did not go into place.  The pan was fabricated for a one-piece seal.  I have a two-piece seal.  I called the people and they are going to modify it to fit.  That will take another two weeks or more.  The problem is, I have a Gen. V block with a two-piece seal that uses a Gen. IV front timing chain cover.  This is the configuration that has leaked from day one on the dyno, and I tried everything I could think of to stop the leaks.  This custom made pan is suppose to be the cure.  I also found the one piece gasket that I purchased for the oil pan does not fit, and will not fit, even after the modifications. Maybe October was a good guess on getting this thing back on the track!

I decided to check the quench area again, since I had not checked it since deciding to swap the heads.  With the .039" gaskets, I have approximately .040" quench.  With the .043" copper gasket, I should have approximately .044" quench.  This is within the .040 - .050" that Alvin recommends. 

June 30, 2005 (Morning) - This year is really passing by quick!  The Summer heat has descended upon Louisiana and we are baking in the mid 90's each day.  I picked up my copper head gaskets yesterday.  Those things are really heavy.  I will check clearances again to record my valve clearances.  After that I will torque the heads and check the push rod length so I can order the correct length.  I am still waiting on the pan to come back.

(Afternoon 6/30) -  Another major setback!  The copper head gaskets that were ordered require O-rings in the block.  I returned them and now the correct gaskets, with built-in O-Rings, are on order.  The salesperson called the factory to make sure this time.  Delivery date, three to four weeks! 

Looks like I have plenty of time to do some of the other things, like install the Lexan and change the gears in the rear end.  As Houston pointed out, it is so hot that we don't get much enjoyment out of racing at this time of year anyway, except at night.

Everyone, enjoy the 4th of July holiday and say a special prayer for our troops all over the world that are fighting to insure those of us back here get to enjoy our liberties, freedom and our love ones.   

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