<VV> Off Season Projects

[Smitty]

Smitty Says:  My off season projects have continued right on through the 
summer and I am still trying to catch up.  It began towards the end of last 
winter when Spike started smoking.  I determined that it was the #1 
cylinder.  Pulled the head off and pulled the cylinder.  Found the upper 
ring groove crushed and binding the ring.  Runaway boost??  I would have 
assumed that the Safeguard should have caught that.  Anyway, new piston, new 
rings, and all is well.  Ready for VIR.
Meanwhile I am making mod # 14 (or is it 22) to the water injection system I 
built.  I am getting crazy power and can hardly wait to get on the track. 
Had a little lifter problem on #4 exhaust.  It didn't want to stay adjusted. 
Had a real ball at VIR for maybe 10 laps.  Could not get my old brain 
recalibrated to the tremendous speed and was over cooking corners all over 
the place.  Caught one quick glance at the tach and was turning well over 
6500.  Said to my self,  "Self" this isn't right.  Safeguard is supposed to 
shut it down at 6200.  But who cares when it is running this way.  My Bud 
Paul took the car out and broke a rod cap.  (Not a bolt), and the rod tried 
to wrap around the crank..  It didn't even make a full revolution.
So I bring Spike home and pull the engine.  Looks like I can salvage the cam 
and lifters and a few other odds and ends.  I put in a new block, crank, two 
cylinders, 3 pistons, New rods and ARP rod bolts.  Fired it up and it sounds 
beautiful for 20 seconds or so before the rocker arm starts tapping again 
and then a horrible racket.  I pull the top off of the engine and check all 
the rod bearings.  They are fine.  Out comes the engine again.  I pull the 
flywheel and find that the bolted flywheel is banging on the bell housing 
bolts.  What is pitiful about this is that I had a newbie over at the house 
watching me put the engine together.  I was very carefully explaining to him 
what happens when you use washers in the wrong place.  OK, I'll take credit 
for that snafu.
I put it all together again and put the engine back in.  You must realize 
that I am old, and I spend a lot of time hurting from bad lower back, 
arthritic wrists and shoulders, not to mention severe sinus problems.   Some 
days I could only tolerate a couple of hours of work.  Not looking for 
sympathy.  Just letting you know why things go slowly.
So the engine is in and it is running great and the lifter is silent. 
Better take it down to the State inspection station as it is about 9 months 
out of date. When I get out on the street I find that it is reluctant to 
take throttle.  It is gutless to an extreme.  Looks like I am going to have 
to go through the tuneup procedures again.  I get the car inspected and head 
home.  The lifter clattered for a minute and went away.  Car goes in the 
garage and as I am checking things out I get that sick feeling.  I wonder if 
I miss-indexed the cam?
Out comes the engine again.  The tranny and bellhousing come off and there 
it is.  off by one tooth.  I have put together many many engines and each 
time I have lived it mortal fear I would do that some day.  I am so anal I 
don't see how I could have possibly done that.  Well, it is what it is so I 
tear the engine down.  When I lift the crank out I don't believe what I am 
seeing.  The two center mains are trashed.  Somehow, somewhere a load of 
grit has come from the oil galleries and ruined them.  I order new mains and 
go to work polishing the crank.  All day long I am remembering pulling the 
plugs at the ends of the galleries in my newly acquired block, and running 
long bottle brushes through the block and crank and flushing with oven 
cleaner and gasoline and water and then doing it over again.  The end 
casting was torn down and got the same treatment.  The oil pump was opened 
up and cleaned.  I will never know where that stuff came from.
I put the engine back together again and meanwhile find why my Safeguard 
failed me.  The hose that feeds boost info to the unit had thousands of tiny 
cracks in it.  Pressure was bleeding off and feeding bum dope to the unit. 
I don't feel like taking total ownership of that deal.  I know one thing, I 
am getting sick of working on the engine.  We have a club meeting that night 
and I decide to test run the car.  We hadn't gone far when the lifter 
started clattering again.  Aww Man, when is enough enough.  I go ahead and 
take the car to the meeting and as we are trucking along the lifter goes 
quiet and then starts up again.  Off and on, but by the time we get home I 
know what it is.  I break out my data from previous inspections of the 
engine.  #4 cylinder had been 110 lbs right along until the next day when it 
struggled to make 95.   Off comes the head.  Out come the springs.  All 
valve seats look fine.  That is there is no evidence of any of them moving. 
But the exhaust on #4 has a smokey trace on the seat about 3/8" long.  Ah Ha 
you miserable ^$#^@.  You did move didn't you?
I acquired a good usable head that needs guides.  I am tired of this game. 
I am going to support the economy, and give the head to a machine shop with 
orders to not heat the head over 350 degrees.  That is where we are right 
now.  Waiting for somebody to do something I have done 20 times in my past. 
But I am tired.