July 2, 2004 - Parts are starting to roll in from everywhere.  So far, this has cost me over $800 in parts and I still have to pick up the heads, block and crank.
I have some things to do to the car while the motor is out.  The front shocks will be reset to allow the front end to come up quicker, and the rear shocks will be set firmer.  I must fix the drivers side rollup mechanism inside the door panel to make the window easier to roll up and down.  Also the window pops out at the top just after the 1/8 mile on each run.  I am going to reinstall the throttle-stop device on the carb linkage, along with the hoses to the air bottle.  I have to fabricate a new throttle linkage to make the throttle-stop work on this car.  This will let me run in Super Gas at the Division 4 Points Meets at State Capitol and No Problem later this year. 

July 3, 2004 - Suprise, suprise!  Wallace Keese and 12 year old son, Adam Keese stopped in to say hello.  We had a wonderful visit, talking over old times and looking over the new car.  It has been almost two years since I have seen Wallace. 

After the visit, I was inspired to work on the car.  I fixed the "pop out window" and the drivers side window roll-up mechanism in about and hour.  Time well spent. 
I have decided to change the heat range of my spark plugs.  The NGK-8 plugs were staying very dark, as though they were running very rich.  I have moved up and down with jet sizes and they still look very rich.  I gapped and indexed a set of NGK-9 plugs that I will start out with when the engine is reassembled. 

July 4, 2004 - Continued cleaning engine parts.  Cleaned pistons and the oil pan, removing all the small metal parts that were inside, including rollers from the roller rockers that failed a few weeks ago and parts of the cam gear teeth.  I looked at the inside of the old oil pump.  It was in very good shape.  I still had 70 psi (cold) and 38 psi (hot @1000 RPM) when I disassembled the engine.  I removed the old oil pickup and tack welded it to the new oil pump (M77-HV).

July 5, 2003 - My Son Oliver and Granddaughter Catherine are visiting for a couple of days.  "Chatty" is in Summer school at the university of West Florida, Pensacola, FL and Oliver is going to a new job with General Dynamics in Washington, DC.  Congratulations Oliver!

                 Oliver                   "Chatty" & "L'il Barbara"

July 6, 2004 - I just found out that I need all new valves for my heads!  Seems the fact that I run the lash at the recommended .028" and .030" is too much for long valve stem life (unless you run lash caps).  I will be able to pick up everything tomorrow afternoon, If I can find enough money...

July 7, 2004 - I picked up all of my parts, heads, crank and block today.  I did find a card with enough left on it to pay for everything.  Big Block costs are much higher than the SBC rebuilds that I and use to doing.  Being on the racing team has its advantages and we get some discounts here and there, but it is still very costly to rebuild a BBC racing motor. 
For the first time in years, I expect to have all fresh parts, and even fresh tires, to go racing with.  The trans. has 47 runs on it, so it is still fresh too.  Now we will see what this new body is really capable of doing.  I will start file fitting rings Friday and measuring bearing clearances. 

July 9, 2004 - After removing all the plugs in the oil passages and lifter galley and cleaning everything, I started the long road to reassembly.  I took some measurements to make sure the cylinders and pistons were still in spec. and file fitted the rings (top- .020" and bottom - .025" gap).  I installed all the rings on the pistons and called it a day. 
Tomorrow I will fit all of the bearings, install the crank, all of the pistons, the cam and timing chain.  This should go quickly.  After the cam is installed, I will degree the cam.  I had been running 1/2 degree retarded since putting in the new cam in Oct. 2001. After talking with Houston, we decided to remove that 1/2 degree to see if this is where the power was lost.  I have purchased all the cam degree buttons to get it in "straight up". 

July 10, 2004 - All 8 pistons are in and torqued to spec.  The cam is not in yet.
After several trips to borrow parts and to purchase parts, I finally got something accomplished.  At one point, I proved that two heads are better than one.  I was having trouble getting the old timing gear off of the crank.  I call Houston to help me hold the crank while I removed the gear with a three jaw gear puller, borrowed from teammate Tenoa ("T").  When Houston arrived, he took one look and said, "This would be easy with a impact".  I looked very stupid and said, "Oh, I forgot about the impact".  The gear was off in about two seconds, using the impact, without holding the crank!

Now how about this.  All of us with racecars have run into this situation.  You need a part and you head out to the Auto Parts store.  First of all, I pass up Auto Zone because I know the first question is going to be, "What is the make and model of car?"  My answer is, "1967 Camaro".  Next question.  "What engine?"  "Big Block Chevy, 540 cid".  If the salesperson understands, they usually just give up at that point.  If the salesperson is fairly new, they actually try to look it up on the computer! 
Most of my local parts shopping is done at the local speed shops, but when an emergency presents itself, and I need something quick or it is late at night, I head for the nearest O'Reilly Auto Parts.  They will at least try of find the parts for a racecar, even if it takes finding the engine that the part comes from.   The counter persons at the Tom Drive O'Reilly warehouse are very good at finding parts for my racecar. 

I must give Auto Zone some credit.  Today, while looking for some silicone gasket sealer, I found some Mobil 1 oil that is 0W-40.  I usually mix 30W and 50W Mobil 1 to try to get close to 40W.  Now I can actually purchase 40W Mobil 1 oil.  After looking at my main and rod bearings, after running since Oct. 2001, I think my method is a good one.  The bearings, especially the rod bearings, could have been used again.  Now I have a reason to go to Auto Zone too.

July 11, 2004 - After church, I worked on getting the cam degreed.  The initial installed position was 111.5 degrees on a 110.0 centerline, using the "Intake Centerline Method" from the Comp Cams catalog.  This means the cam was 1.5 degrees retarded.  I had to decide how to bring it into spec.  I actually want to be slightly advanced and not at all retarded.

Many articles are written on degreeing cams each year.  I have used the Intake Centerline Method many times, but each time I do it I have to read the instructions word for word to get it correct.  The explanations in the Comp Cams catalog and the Lunati Cams catalogs (my favorite) are very good.  There is a lot of measuring instruments that are needed, including equipment to locate top-dead-center, a solid lifter, a degree wheel, dial indicators, pointer and magnetic stand.  I started collecting all of these items some years ago and I have been happy that I made the investment. Comp Cams (and others) sell a kit for doing all of this.  

Since I have the Comp Cams double roller chain with the gear that has many adjustments on the crank gear, I could pull the crank gear back off and move it 2 degrees.  I also have a set of cam buttons that will adjust the cam gear in increments of 2 degrees, starting at 1 degree, then 3 degrees, and so on, up to 7 degrees.  I decided to install the 3 degree button in the cam gear.  This button, installed correct, should get me close to 1.5 degrees advanced.

I put the adjusting button in wrong the first time and ended up at 113.75 degrees, or retarded by 3.75 degrees, with a centerline of 110 degrees.  These buttons are not exact, and you can change the amount of degrees by the exact placement of the button on the dowel pin. 

The degree button must be inserted in the dowel hole, with the cam gear in my hand, and the dowel pin hole at 3 O'clock position, the button fits over the dowel pin with the hole at the bottom, not at the top as I put it in the first time.  The instructions are very good, I did not pay attention until my measurements were incorrect.  The instructions also tell you exactly what size drill to use to get all four holes drilled correctly.  The three cam bolt holes in the cam gear should be drilled the same as the dowel pin hole.

After completing the installation the 2nd time, my measurements were 108.75 degrees, or 1.25 degrees advanced.  This was close to my goal, right according to plan.  I wanted to be slightly advanced, rather than any amount of retard.  It is probably closer to Zero than indicated after the inaccuracies and tolerances are counted in. 

After installing the cam button on the nose of the cam and installing the timing chain cover, I called it a day.  Tomorrow I will put one of the heads on and check the piston to valve clearance with the new cam setting.  Degreeing of the cam changes the piston to valve clearance, so I have to find my new clearance.  I should have both heads on, the oil pump installed and the oil pan on by Monday night.

July 12, 2004 - It took all day, but I am where I said I would be tonight.  The pan in on, and what a job that was.  The oil pump is on, I would hope since the pan is on.  The heads are on, after checking the piston-to-valve clearances.  I have over .140" on both the intake and the exhaust with zero lash.  I wanted to know just how much lash I could take out and still be safe.  Jr., at Womack's, said I should run between 020" and 025" lash on the intake and exhaust.  Now I can try it without fear of hurting anything.  The recommended lash is, Exh. .030" and Intake .028". 

Tomorrow I will set all the valves and install the damper, intake and flexplate and swing the engine into the car.  All the other stuff will be put on after it is in the car.  I hope to start up on Thursday evening or Friday.  I wanted to go to State Capitol to try it out on Friday night, but a family affair will stop me from doing that.  I may go over to Eunice and test on Sat.

Page 2 (3rd Qtr 2004)
 

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