The Project "BLOW" odyssey has begun!

[Viet Nam Vett]

Dagnabbit! My wife comes in from an overseas business trip very early Saturday and she'll be in no mood to travel after that.

Oh well, I have lots to do on the coupe back home.

Speake to wife-y..maybe she can have the plane land at OC NJ Airport..

I think there runway is at least 800 feet.....

 

[Kid_Again]

Speake to wife-y..maybe she can have the plane land at OC NJ Airport..

I think there runway is at least 800 feet.....

...200 feet of which is the fairway for the first hole at the Municipal Golf Course....i HOPE to get to OC this weekend, will stay in touch

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

...200 feet of which is the fairway for the first hole at the Municipal Golf Course....i HOPE to get to OC this weekend, will stay in touch

10-4...Kuba Kuba..:cool

 

[Kid_Again]

Well, I started the disassembly before I invited the guys over to help me. Mostly boring stuff so no point in having the guys over just taking stuff off.

You may remember that I've had a lot of problems with oil infiltration from the lifter valley. Either the head base was cut at a bad angle or the block is milled incorrectly, the result being that the bottom of the head/intake has a gap which allows oil to be sucked in, fouling all eigth cylinders.

Well, I pulled the plugs before loosening the old heads (new aluminum heads still in the box) and I noticed substantial improvement in the color of each plug except for #7 and #8. My fix was to coat each side of the intake gasket with the new whiz bang gasket former from PermaTex, RTV being susceptible to gasoline. So, it looks like the back two cylinders are still fouling which suggests the heads/block are incorrect on two planes - the side/side plane is off and the fore/aft plane is off. Great. Either that or the fore/aft line is off at two different but consistent angles.

If it's the block, then I have to use more goop at the ass end to make up for the difference. There is NO way that I'm pulling the engine AGAIN. Either that or they invented a portable decking machine that I can roll into the garage. Either way, the engine just ran one hell of a lot better after the Bubba fix and now had no problems going to redline.

I did a compression test with a gauge that you press against the plug hole, rather than the screw-in adapter I should have used. All cylinders were in the 150-170psi range with the lower pressure cylinders blowing the gauge off the plug hole, accounting for the discrepancy, at least in my mind. Well, at least the re builder knew how to hone a cylinder wall and install pistons and rings.

I just got the blower back from Vortech AGAIN. If you follow the Vortech instructions, you will wind up voiding the 3 year warranty because Vortech HAS TO INSTALL the blower pulley or no warranty. Another $30 in the toilet. When this is all done, I will give Vortech a rating for how well they treated me. They're starting off in the hole if you ask me. Just install the pulley and drop it into the freakin' kit for God's sake.

OK, while I'm at it, I'm not all that happy with the finish quality of the carb enclosure casting. A little rough, which I can cosmetically address once I get this thing running. I had to chase every threaded hole in the enclosure to make things work. I would have done that anyway but I didn't expect to see casting crud in the threads when you considered how much the kit costs. Very nice people over the phone but the QA group needs to increase their headcount. Finally, I don't think the carb enclosure base is truly flat. Since I now have a LOT of experience truing flat surfaces (see my post on the tri power carbs), it looks like I'll have to work the bottom of the enclosure.

Same old story...prepping the parts is the majority of the job. Just like painting.


BTW, NICE job on the spell checker.

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Oh..so you did make it down this week end. I'm glad you go a head start on the SB. Are you down this week end..?? Let me know.

 

[Kid_Again]

Mark:

Staying on the mainland this weekend because I have more insulation work in the attic. I'll also work on my son's car, changing the oil. His Lexus (IS250) no longer uses a spin-on filter. The block has a hole cast into it which houses a CARTRIDGE filter, just like the old days. Of course, you theoretically need a Genuine Lexus tool to loosen the screw-on cap but a small oil filter wrench will work just fine. I didn't have the shop manual when I did his first oil change and COULD NOT find the oil filter. Took me forever but now that I know, no problem.

BTW, got a garage full of parts just waiting to go on the SB. Heads, low rise intake manifold if I need the clearance, new distributor, new plug wires, 1/8" pipe thread fittings for the oil feed from the block, new fuel pump, just about all the little stuff I can think of. Made another decision...won't install the electric fuel pump until I sort out the blower. No point in making two major modifications at once.

I test fitted the hood against the current manifold with the blower box on top and I have some work to do. I have the L88 cold air box on the hood which worked just fine with the rear hood cutouts. I need to grind that away until everything clears. If not, low rise manifold time. My son helped me pull off the hood so I can probably start on that the following weekend.

I'll send you PM.

ttfn

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Got your PM and replied

 

[Kid_Again]

Yup, got it and sent others a PM. Looks good to me. We MAY be down this Fri/Sat. Will call you if we are. I have to take a belt sander to the underside of the hood to remove the cold air frame. Why a belt sander? The jack hammer's too heavy to lift.

 

[Kid_Again]

Update on the 3x2 throttle plates. I got a PM from someone I trust and cancelled my order from the current vendor because they BO'd the center carb plates.

So, I sent an Email to Holley and they sold them to me. I'll be darned, didn't know Holley sold direct. Real nice guy, Mike.

 

[bossvette]

So, I sent an Email to Holley and they sold them to me. I'll be darned, didn't know Holley sold direct. Real nice guy, Mike.

We have a forum member Drjohn who works for Holley and arranged a tour of the plant for us during CF2 talk about a kid in a candy store. Only four of us went on the tour so John gave us a real good one

 

[Kid_Again]

Just sent him a PM, giving him a head's up. I shoulda' posted this in the tripower thread but, to paraphrase VNV :


"WTF, do what you want, it's your thread"



;worship

 

[Drjohn]

Update on the 3x2 throttle plates. I got a PM from someone I trust and cancelled my order from the current vendor because they BO'd the center carb plates.

So, I sent an Email to Holley and they sold them to me. I'll be darned, didn't know Holley sold direct. Real nice guy, Mike.

We typically don't sell direct. Mike is a good guy.

 

[Kid_Again]

I really appreciated the help. I could NOT find the throttle plates ANYWHERE.

I can understand the policy of no direct sales. However, when there's no one who is willing to sell their stock of inventory, what are you going to do?

Frankly, this substantially changed my opinion of Holley. Any time I previously called tech support, I hit a wall. Charge me what you need to but cut me a break if I'm stuck.

Very helpful and appreciated!

It just takes one guy to make a big difference.

 

[4WDVETTE]

Hey Joe - you have mail

Steve

 

[Kid_Again]

Hey Joe - you have mail

Steve

Back 'atcha

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Mmmmmmmmmmm F&M Deli....Mmmmmmmmmm

 

[Kid_Again]

hey mark, as soon as i get the little stuff out of the way, i'll give you a call and ask yuo to help me with the really difficult stuff (like helping me put the hood back on )...besides, f&M Deli should be open by then, but if they're not, there's ALWAYS Primo's hoagies..


Anyway, here's a brief update on the Vortech centrifugal supercharger install on the '65 sb.....

...i would first say that all i can do is recount MY experiences with MY car, even though i may sound like i'm making broad generalizations......

...so, all of the articles that i read about the vortech fitting under the hood of a midyear without much modification? ->

...obviously, those stories are misleading since i have had to modify just about EVERYTHING on the front of the engine, for example, the cast aluminum mounting bracket that attaches the blower mounting plate to the engine had to be relieved in two places, one to allow fitment next to the water pump and then lower down to clear the lower pulley (after a fair amount of hand grinding with a mill bastard, i then had to bead blast the entire thing to ensure a consistent finish)

hood clearance?

the short version of the story is that i had to drop the blower by at least 1 1/8" and i'm still not sure it will clear (hence the need for VNV)...i accomplished that by drilling new holes in the plate AND cutting off the top of the blower mounting plate - i finished the cut section off with a fine grit belt on a belt sander and it looks just like the factory finish.....THEN, i had to reclock the volute to clear the hood (which is no big deal) but 'm not certain that i now have enough exposed bolt holes to adequately clamp the two halves of the turbo casing together...PROBABLY OK, but we'll see...

...now that the blower mounting plate is lowered, it interferes with a kick out of the block mounting plate which means that I have to remove everything and grinder off a bit more aluminum....now that the blower is lower, i can't use the factory serpentine belt and will have to buy a new one

finally, the vortech instructions?ad

none of the parts bags are identified in the instructions and the bolts supplied bear little resemblance to what's pictured in the manual and the descriptions supplied are just flat-out wrong.....this is one kit where you should not waste your time reading, just look at the picture on the front and build it to look like what you see

...the one bright spot was that punching and tapping the side of the oil pan went as advertised, they supplied a sharp pointed punch which worked well to enlarge the hole to 9/16" BUT as opposed to the instructions, you need to apply common sense....first i drilled a small pilot hole to center the pointy thingy and covered that with anti sieze grease to reduce friction...i then used a small sledge hammer to minimize the number of hits, hoping to minimize any denting and it worked fine

...the only problem i had was finding a 3/8"NPT tap for the brass fitting....EVERY hardware store that i went to stopped at 1/4"NPT....finally found one in the basement (in Hopewell, while i needed it in Ocean City, of course)..


...and i haven't even gotten close to firing it up and dialing it in


i'll post detailed pictures once we get the hood clearance under control


would i do it again? yep, but you can forget about that "weekend project bull crap

 

[67HEAVEN]

Thanks for the update, Joe. Why is it that so many companies seem to have trouble with publishing accurate instructions? Lemme see.............they're smart enough to design and build these wonder toys, but they can't write it down in English????? :eyerole

I'll bang on one of my favourite drums for a moment, if you please. We need a new law. No product may be offered for sale until the president of the company has demonstrated that he/she can use the instructions to personally assemble the product to achieve proper working order. Then, and only then, can it be offered to the public. That ought to clear up a lot of this nonsense.

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

the only problem i had was finding a 3/8"NPT tap for the brass fitting....EVERY hardware stop that i went to stopped at 1/4"NPT....finally found one in the basement (in Hopewell, while i needed it in Ocean City, of course)..

Except you didn't stop at VNV's Hardware store....I think..(Not 100% sure) I have one here some ware...:L

Let me know when your ready to smash your hood down around the Vortec Blower for fitment. Fun ...ain't it.

 

[Kid_Again]

DAGNABBIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

ie crashed 3 times on this response so i'll keep it short

thanks for the responses...67HEAVEN is right on, especially at this price point

mark, if i called you EVERY time that i needed help, you would stop answering the phone...i need you for the big stuff like the hood - you're pretty clever with this stuff

as a back up, i bought scrap plate which is large enough to make a blower mounting plate with at least another inch of drop but that's a`LOT of fabrication work for me...not difficult but not a quick project


ttfn