Original L81 engine pic's..

[KANE]

@Cor, are you stalking me? :gap

Driving it is a great idea but next time I think.

Greetings Peter

Stalking? No... eager to see your progress because you have done some impressive work? YES!


Good stuff, Peter! Keep the updates coming!

 

[GerryLP]

....The carb is still at full rich but my new hypertech chip is on its way. Next weeks sunday it's the first meeting I'll attend

Greetings Peter

Peter,

Your Vette probably has a leak ahead of the oxygen sensor. Either at the donut or at the exhaust manifold. If using headers, it would still be the same situation, except the likely place would be where you join two surfaces/pipes.

P.s. I am also NOT stalking you.

 

[Peer81]

Thanks everybody for the compliments

@Gerry. I used Chart #1 page 6E1-17 to trace the problem.
At Idle, choke engine: no dwell change.
Disconnect Oxygen Sensor, connect voltmeter to it and note dwell: under 10 degrees.
Engine at curb idle connect ECM terminal 2 to GRD with voltmeter: Under 2 volts.
No open wire to ECM terminal 9 also no ground: Replace ECM.
Send the ECM with prom to Cor so he hooked it up to his '81, dwell seems to be nice then drops to almost 0 degrees. Exactly the same as with mine. So I bought a new ECM (without prom) put that one in and still the problem is the same.
So now I'm hoop changing the OEM prom with the Hypertech prom will fix the problem.

Took her for a drive yesterday evening (as Cor told me so ). As the light is so much brighter and there is a clear cut off line visible you can see the lights are dancing a little because of the harsh suspension. And as I removed the headlights I need to get them to a equal height again.

Today some nice weather so washed all the dust off it and this is what it looks like at daytime

Greetings Peter

 

[Peer81]

Hello everybody,

This is going to be the last post for a long time.
Problem is last year the engine was producing a weird ticking noise when warmed up, it sounded like the noise was comming from cylinder 1.
So we pulled the valvecover to see if the rockers has some play in them and they didn't.

So pulled the intake and took out all the rockers, push rods and lifters.

It looked like the lifters where reused (not a good idea with a new camshaft) and some the spring was difficult to compress. So I ordered new lifters because I was thinking this was the problem.
Yesterday I started cleaning everything to put it all back together. Just to be curious I pulled a bearingcap from the crank. Well this is what I found! The engine has about 8000 miles on it and it is distroyed!!

Looks to me like the block wasn't cleaned propperly so old filth came loose from the oil channels and got between the crankbearings. As I'm within a few months going to build my own house and garage. I don't have the time and even less money to get this running. Even if, I still have the SHP 400ci block so when the house is finished I'm going to continue with the 400 and put that in the vette.

So this proves If you want to do it right you have to do it yourself. It took me several years to body off restore this car and because at the time I didn't know enough about engines somebody rebuild this for me.... Well, better luck next time...

Greetings Peter

 

[Tom Bryant]

That's too bad.

Tom

 

[kpic]

Peter,
We are camping and I read this thread followed the link to the Dutch site and this was not the ending I expected to see. A sad ending to a beautiful story.
You do excellent work, my compliments.

 

[GerryLP]

Oh man, that really sucks. Sorry to hear this.

 

[Peer81]

@Kpic, thanks for the compliment! This is not the ending, I just saw I begun the body off at 10 November 2003 so see this as a temporary setback

I start thinking that the Comp cam started eating this self as some lifters really had a horrible bottom (new comp lifters) but when I have the time I'll take the cam out to see how it was. If it was the cam of not, I'm just happy the 400ci is a full roller block so no more special break in etc etc.

@Gerry, no problem. I'm going to build a really cool house (if I may say so) So next time when you're around don't dare to not visit me!

Greetings Peter

 

[GerryLP]

I'm sure your house build will be over the top! You are very smart, and perhaps see the need for this

driveway

 

[kpic]

@Peter,
I knew it was a setback that would not stop you.

Horrible bottoms usually mean poor Heat Treat or potentially excessive spring force.

Rollers are good stuff.

 

[mike81]

Look under my profile great engine pic on my all original 5000mile black 81

 

[Peer81]

I see it's already 1.5 years ago since I last updated this topic.
Well there is not much to say about the vette. It's still in the same spot and I didn't loosen a nut or bolt.
On the other hand I bought an average '63 Pontiac Catalina in light blue still original except for the Grand Prix grill with turnlights (now running lights).

The garage is almost finished. Its 860 square foot with a large attic for storage. We're still busy with the house. The first floor concreet is dry and next week the steel structure for the second floor and roof arrives. As it is winter it is to cold the use mortar (masonry) to be used we concentrate on other things. As everything goes as it should (including delays) we should be finished before the next winter I'll post some pictures when it's finished.

Greetings Peter

 

[Tom Bryant]

You are a busy man. Good luck with the house and garage.
Tom

 

[GerryLP]

Hello folks!!

Hi guys!

Gail has a flat #3 exhaust cam lobe. I have not removed the engine yet, but since I had removed the cylinder heads for a rebuild, the short block still sitting the there. It is a complete tear down to make sure the metal is cleaned out.

I hope everyone has had a great holiday season.

GerryLP

 

[bill81vette]

Damn!!!!sorry to hear that Gerry!`
let us know how it goes...

 

[GerryLP]

Damn!!!!sorry to hear that Gerry!`
let us know how it goes...

Yeah Bill,

It is a bad way to learn that if you want a cam that won't so easily do that, you'll have to order it hardened. Smh

i am thinking of using a retrofit roller cam this time.

GerryLP

 

[Peer81]

Hi Gerry,

And yes Damn!! I was hoping to hear from you with some good updates! I also think that rebuilding it with a retro roller cam is the best way to go!

Greetings Peter

 

[Tom Bryant]

I think I'd go for the roller too. I wish I had done that on my last build. That would take the worry out of the situation. My rebuilder put some heavier springs on my heads for the stepside project. He says he uses these on a lot of small blocks with flat tappet cams without any problems. The number crosses over to several Chevrolet roller cam applications in the '90s. Even though I have 6 quarts of Shell Rotella T, cam break in lube and a quart of GM EOS in the 7 quart pan I just don't feel warm and fuzzy about starting my fresh engine with that much spring pressure. I have a new set of Edelbrock springs, retainers and locks that I got from a friend that was cleaning out his garage. I think they will be a much better match for my cam profile and rpm range.

#5802 (B) Cast-Iron O.E. Head Non-Rotator 80 lbs. 1.700" 200 lbs. @ .475" 1.222" 0.875" 1.150" #9721 retainers, use with #2102 / #2103 / #3702 Performer Cams

My cam is a GM performance 214/224 @ .050, .442/.465 lift. 114*.

When I read of these failures if reinforces my thought to change out for the lighter springs before I light that sucker for the first time.