<VV> Off Season Projects

[ricknorris at suddenlink.net]

As always Smitty, I enjoy your articles...or should I say your pain. GG!
--
Rick Norris
#36 Sunoco Corvair
www.corvairalley.com 

---- Smitty <vairologist at cox.net> wrote: 
> 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. 
> 
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