After 4 months, it is ALIVE

[LannyL81]

UPDATE with pictures...at the bottom:


After bending a valve four months ago, I now have the new Edelbrock Performer heads, used Performer intake, Lunati VooDoo cam/lifters. Did the break-in last night, after finding that I had installed the distributor 180 out and then found-out what happens if you do not tighen the distributor down...you get oil.....but engine seemed to run very good. I also forget to connect the O2 sensor so I got the Check Engine Lite......but no over-heating....temp was a steady 180 for the entire break-in. Did a 10 minute, then off for 5 minutes, then on for another 15 minutes per the Lunati instructions.
Changed the oil and filter today. Stlll need to connect the power steering all up and do the balance thing....but made alot of progress this weekend.

Only really bad thing was a stupid thing on my part. I have side pipes with heat shields and I normally put my left hand onto the heat shield when I get out of the car.....and I did this after the first 10 minutes of break-in....however I had not put the heat shields on yet!!!

Have a really nice burned left palm now.....big blisters and everything. When you do something stupid....one should get a stern reminder.

Going to be next weekend before I do any more work on the car.....gotta do some healing this week.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Lanny

 

[Peer81]

Sounds good Lanny!

Real bummer for that valve to ^*$%& your engine! Good to hear everything is back where it should be. I don't now if you checked your exhaust near the engine when breaking in the engine. I helped somebody bracking in his high pressure engine and after 4 to 5 minutes the exhaust became red hot almost transparend to look at! hnoes But you even put your hand on it... Good luck! :eyerole

Greetings Peter

 

[bill81vette]

Great!! on the engine....
sorry about your hand...:ugh
FYI...next time if you use the back side of your finger(s)
Its a natural reaction to move your finger away from the heat source...

 

[LannyL81]

Think I will be breaking that habit of putting my left hand onto the side pipe heat shield when getting out of the car from now on. I don't think my left hand will allow itself to be put back there again.......ad

 

[Tim81]

Good for you Lanny, What are the final specs for engine? Good Luck with finishing it up....Tim

 

[LannyL81]

I really have no idea of what the final specs are on the engine as far as output...no way to measure it.

I used the 70cc Performer aluminum heads, with a 0.045 thick gasket, -0.005 of deck height, flat-top 2 valve relief -5cc pistons.
I went with the VooDoo 602 cam with 1.6 ratio on the intake, 1.52 on exhaust.

All I have done so far is to break the cam in, no driving it yet....need to reconnect the power steering as I rebuilt the control valve and ram, plus had Gary rebuild the steering box. Hope is to do a final setting on the carb and then work on the steering....getting air out of the system and then get it zero'ed. Possibly get a drive in this weekend....will see...

 

[LannyL81]

Well....engine seems to be fine. Only have 7 miles on it at this writing. Did however find that I did not get a good seal on the intake and have a small oil leak....so the intake will be coming off later this fall....when the temps are below 100 F.....to try again. First time I have ever not gotten a good seal in all the engines I have done. Must be getting old or something.....

I will drive it probably about 50 miles or so and then pull the valve covers off and re-torque the heads.

Also since I rebuilt all the steering parts, I messed up the steering wheel alignment so it will need to go back to the alignment shop.

Sure is nice to drive it once again though. The VooDoo cam is alot different from the Comp Cams I had in there.

Wiped all the dust off and really noticed how bad the paint job is getting. Lots of chips and getting several stress cracks. I had not planned on getting this car repainted. Previous owner repainted the car close to original white...but not quite. With the stress cracks showing up it will require some repairs along with paint. The thought of taking off the new weatherstripping I put on 8 years ago....that will be ALOT of work. Not going to do this anytime soon or maybe not at all.....may let a new owner take over.

Hope all is well with everyone.

LannyL81

 

[minifridge1138]

Congrats on the rebuild. The burned hand sucks, but if the biggest mechanical problem you have is a leaky intake, then you're doing pretty well.

 

[LannyL81]

Yeah...a leaking intake, although a lot of work to fix is not all that bad. I was reading on Corvette Forum about a guy driving his newly acquired 79 when the engine stopped. Several pages later it turns out that the engine is seezed or at least not capable of turning over. He posted a video of the starter flexing when he turns the key....quite amazing to see how much torque these starters can put out.

So again a leaky intake....not bad at all compared to a seezed engine.

Oh and the left palm has healed-up nicely. Fully functional, although I do have a rather large scar with reduced feeling which will slowly go away over the next few months.

 

[Whiteshadow89158]

 

[LannyL81]

You really want a picture of my burn?

 

[Whiteshadow89158]

You really want a picture of my burn?

no just the upgrades lol

 

[LannyL81]

Pictures....

Here are some shots I took after taking the intake off in order to re-seal it.
The visible green liquid is oil...not coolant.

 

[Peer81]

Very nice to see, also a clean enginebay!

 

[GerryLP]

Lanny,
I am glad you got her running again.

GerryLP:cool

 

[LannyL81]

Thanks....had it running for awhile...then decided to change-out the starter...getting tired of starter not working when hot....got one of those mini starter to try.....be putting that on Sat morning.....then it should be back up and running once again. Oh and I did fix the leaking oil from the intake.

 

[Whiteshadow89158]

just curious, what oil did you use that's green? also, whats the purpose of it being green?

 

[GerryLP]

I really have no idea of what the final specs are on the engine as far as output...no way to measure it....

.Sure there is!...it's called a Chasis Dynometer!!