Sean’s cool. McCarthy on the other hand…
Just plexiglas over the back where the deck lid was 
No studs. What the fuck?
I finished the heads. The first one took my girl and I over two hours to double-team last night. I did the one today by myself in less than an hour. Not sure what that means. Hah.
Check out the spring/retainer comparison. Old on the left, new on the right. Gonna be rad.
I oiled the crap out of everything while reassembling the heads. I’ve got all of the timing marks lined up and piston 1 is at TDC. I’m ready to put it back together, just need the studs. Speaking of which; here is a picture of the kit. Basically, you drill the block out using the x-plate jig, then tap to 5/8-11 UNC. Finally, put Loc-Tite on the stud and run it down until the large portion of the body drops about 1/16" below the deck, except for the four studs with integrated dowel pins. Slide on new gaskets, then the head and torque it all down. Profit.
After I finished the heads, I did a bunch of random shit on the car. I pulled the speedometer that was in it so I can replace it with basically the exact same thing, but GPS. That’s ‘In Production’ according to SpeedHut, so hopefully that shows up this week. I also replaced the jacked up shifter cable with a freshy, only 4" longer. Should alleviate the entrance angle on the cable at the transmission a bit. Top of the picture below. Either way I had to replace it, so couldn’t hurt; right?
I made a bushing for the shifter arm on the transmission. The old one was trash from me heating the shit out of the hardened roll pin while trying to get it out. Gotta say, this little baby lathe has proven pretty damn useful. Consider that it’s just about 100 years old, and it still holds .003" runout. I’m pretty impressed with it. It’s got a brand new [decent] China chuck, but everything else is ancient.
I chucked up a piece of AceTron GP (acetal), faced it and then turned it to .865" OD x .595" ID. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Pretty much, it’s a precision sized chunk of black plastic with a bunch of holes in it. Nothing super special.
Really want those studs. They’re all I really need to get it back on the road.
Not that I expected to get them on a Sunday; but those God forsaken studs still aren’t here.
I did remember that I’ve got a brand new FueLab 535 regulator on the shelf and I want to use it, especially post-turbo. The best way that I can see to do that is to completely replace the fuel rails. There’s not an overwhelming aftermarket for these motors, so sometimes you need to get creative. I decided to build my own rails from scratch. I started making the injector bungs on the lathe tonight and ordered all of the fittings. I’m making the actual rails out of 1" square HREW steel because it’s slightly less thermally active than aluminum, I’ve got a shit ton and I’m not very good at welding aluminum yet. The bungs are also HREW, but they’re from 3/4" round stock. I only had time to whittle up two bungs, but then I had to spend an hour fixing what the previous owner “repaired” on the little Dalton in the tailstock when restoring it. FYI, the handwheel to acme screw connection is not an acceptable place to use epoxy, by the way. I ended up cleaning the hell out of everything and used the TIG torch to autogenously tack the two steel parts. Worked perfectly. I might go try to finish up the rails tomorrow, but I’m not sure I’ve got enough 3/4" round stock for the bungs. Probably going to have to wait for Metal Supermarkets to open on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Here are a few pictures:
They fit!
…and the two I managed to finish.
They’re not perfect, but then; neither am I. They should work just fine.
:tup:
I love all of this, keep up the great work.
Very cool - can’t wait to hear it screaming to 8K.
I called the clown that runs this Northstar Performance company; the one that makes those studs. He gave me some sob story about the Canadian Post going on strike or some shit, then goes on to tell me he shipped them from North Dakota anyway. WTF? Not sure how the Canadian Post thing is relevant in that case. Whatever. I just want my fucking studs. He claimed I’d have a tracking number tomorrow. We’ll see. Anyway, I cut another two bungs on the lathe and TIG welded the ‘main’ fuel rail together today. I have to stop at Metal Supermarkets on lunch tomorrow and grab some more 3/4" hot rolled solid round stock so I can make some more bungs.
I’m going to paint them white. Red/Black/White motor. Should help break up the red from the valve covers and new MSD coils, which I’ll get tomorrow. Hah. I’m so almost finished with this thing.
Got my MSD coils. I’ll be honest; they’re pretty rad. I threw a little Sharpie on the very bottom of each coil to indicate cylinder number(s) cause who can remember that shit? It won’t be visible when they’re installed.
Worked on the other fuel rail. Mostly finished it. Just need to cap the ends and weld on the one -8AN fitting. Then just some mounting brackets and paint. Hoping to finish these up tomorrow. I want to be ready in the eventuality that my studs actually show up at some point. Dude never sent me a tracking number today. I’m a pretty patient man, but I’m running very thin here.
Comparison with the old rail. It’s comical. I swear these custom joints would support 2,000+ HP. Hah.
That’s it for tonight. Took me about five hours to cut four bungs on the lathe, cut the rail body, drill the holes and weld that all up. This scratch metal fabrication shit is a pain in the ass. Hah.
It’s been two weeks to the day. Am I out of line? At least I was kind of funny. Anybody care to share in my misery? BTW: Had to Facebook message him because he couldn’t respond to his generic info@ e-mail address.
Acting odd to a complete stranger must be a 716 thing. My buddy Brian was king at it. Anyway; I ordered those fuckers literally two weeks ago. The tracking number he sent me says it doesn’t exist yet, so I’m forced to believe the kit never shipped at all. In two weeks. Unbelievable. I’m way too nice.
Yea. I’m fucking hammered. Big whoop, wanna fight about it?
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Also; fuck Facebook Messenger. Two apps to do the same fucking thing. Ridiculous.
Roundhouse :lol:
He’s stroking you. Never got shipped and probably not much closer to shipping today than two weeks ago. You’re more forgiving than I would be.
I live out in Eden so I instantly recognized it.
Hello neighbor.
Yup. Sure is. The tracking number he gave me just says “Pre-Shipment Info Sent to USPS,” meaning he just bought the postage yesterday. Fourteen handling days. Fourteen. Absolutely unbelievable. There is zero excuse for that. He didn’t even drop the coin to get it to me quicker because he fucking sucks at life. Standard 3-day USPS. So, by the time I actually have it in my hand, it’s almost 20 days. I get shit directly from China quicker than that.
I guess next time I need a set of studs, I’ll just buy a bigger lathe with a threading gearbox and build a case hardening oven. If you want it done right…
This fucking thread :tup:
Keep it up!
By the way, Autocorrect fucked me in the Facebook messages. Clearly, I know it’s ‘Roadhouse’.
What is their overall reputation?
Great product, horrible customer service and very slow shipping times. The complaints that I saw were from a few years ago, so I guessed he would have sorted it out by now. At any rate, the tracking number now works and the package will be here Monday. Here’s to hoping it’s not a box of horse shit.
I’m finishing those fuel rails today. Expect pictures later.
Starting to get the hang of this TIG machine.
…and I got two coats of primer and three coats of color on them. It occurs to me just now that I should clear them as well. I’ll do that later. I’ve got a few cans of satin clear over at the shop. I’m heading to the National Warplane Museum Airshow in Geneseo with the other Trevor in a few hours. Maybe get over to the shop later. Who knows.
I’ll see what they look like installed tomorrow or Sunday. I have to order a few fittings and some AN hose from Summit anyhow.