My car is a QV, so it's got all the QV stuff. Were it a 2v I might have given up on force fitting the 4v TR heads long ago I opted for removing the tub altogether. I had to angle the radiator to get it in becasue its a couple inches taller than a stock radiator and the tub was in the way. I keep thinking I'm going to figure out how to get a spare back in there but time hasn't allowed. I'll do a wait and see on that. This engine shouldn't be making any more heat at idle than a stock engine 400 engine which doesn't over heat in traffic..at least not due to the water pump. I really think I'll be all right.
A few tune ups on the cylinder design. I need to take a few more measurements to finalize it, but it's pretty close now Image Unavailable, Please Login
Why is it that after I watched this little movie I thought of this project? http://youtube.com/watch?v=4g7_bHlQhd8
Please forgive the silly question, but, do you think that'd be caused by over-revving, lack of lubrication, too much power for the connecting rods... ??? Where does a catastrophic failure like that first begin? I'm utterly addicted to this thread, too, btw.
Mark, THis is such an "outside of the box" project why not close in the frame and run the oil through it? (Grin) Joe
I think I can now say it's officially a transmission case again. I still need to drill the holes in the right end plate but it's a quick job and I think I want to straighten out the block before I drill them. ......now on to the drop gears I guess......or maybe straighten out the block first...hmmmm Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It I see the whole crankshaft so the whole side of the block is missing. It looks like just pain more than the block could handle. a freind of freind saw the numbers my car was making with the blower and ran out and got one for his mustang drag car that had already dyno'd naturally aspirated exactly the same as my car with the blower. He added 8 psi which should be 50% (so about 750-800hp) and hit the drag strip. On the second pass the entire engine split in half down the main bearing jounals....appearently that year/style block was known to be some what weak.......
mk_e, I've been reading about how you intend to straighten out the block and I'm a little surprised you are not going to stress relieve the block as part of this process. With all this welding I imagine a fair bit of stress has been induced. Anyway you are having way too much fun . Pete
We had a long discussion about stress relieving about post 347. I think the consensus was that although heat stress relief and re-hardening would probably be the best it would also most likely twist the block beyond use. Vibratory stress relief was suggested and I like that idea but it seems to be a young technology and sensitive to the operator understanding the part so I couldnt be sure that it actually did anything and Id have to ship the block because there is no place around me. I decided to simply proceed as is. Im going to rough-cut as much of the welded area first so if it springs back some it wont do any hard then start the finish work. I need to get the crank journals straight and they currently are not (note to self, make a welding jig that grabs all the main bearing studs next time). At this point I see no option but to weld the journals in and re-cut them back to size. Im thinking Ill mill the edges of the block straight and symmetric to the crank so I have something to tell me where exactly the crank goes after I weld. Then I can rough them in with a ball-mill before taking it to the machine shop for the final line bore ..maybe.
No worries I thought it was a good car joke when I registered but Id say over 3/4 of the people just call me mike now. The human brain likes things that make sense and will fill in missing letters with no conscious thought; there are numerous word trick puzzles that work that way .so mike it is
I decided straightening the block out is next. I spent some time having a good long look at main journals in the block tonight and the problem is not exactly what I though it was. The block is bowed toward the crank about .015” in the middle but that’s no problem as a face cut on the bottom of the block and a line bore will straighten that right out. The bigger problem is that is that the journals are sprung open as much as .015”. Sprung in would be no problem because they could be re-cut, but sprung out is bad because it mean material is missing. That means 3 options: 1 is to machine them out and make an insert just like a second bearing shell. 2 is to weld them and re-cut to size 3 is to just put it in the press and spring them back to under size. I think I’m going to give #3 a try and see what happens. If I can’t move them I’ll probably go with welding. The front face of the block pulled in were I welded around the cylinders on top so I need to weld that back up and re-cut it too. Stay tuned.
Mark, Before you start reassembling your tranny, replace all the bearing races. With all the welding they will be toast now.
Mark, couldnt you bolt the block down to that 2 ton steel table of yours, heat it up, and do some flow welding here or there while tensioning the block and shimming it to pull it back closer into its original shape?
Maybe. I could probably get some of the bow out of it but the bow isn't really very important. It's the spread in the main journals that's the killer and I don't know how I would pull that back other than the press and I just laid into it as hard as I dared in the press and got nothing. Next chance I get to spend time in the shop Ill just weld them and be done with it. I want to get the block out to the machine shop in the next week or so if I can. It will be a week out there, a week in the shop and a week back and Id like to get it done so I can move on.
I was thinking... always a dangerous thing for me, but nonetheless. On the subject of stress relief, couldn't some form of shot peening do the trick? Forgive me if what I ask is dumb, my only claim to an engineering background is that my great uncle drove a switch engine for the Illinois Central! Shiny Side Up! Bill
Mark I think Paul has got a good idea .Before you go mad and add material to the outer edges of the block (journal saddles what ever you want to call them ).Why not first try running a weld across the journal saddle say half way down and as that weld cools it will shrink and just maybe pull the bearing saddles in a bit . If it does not work you have got to weld them up anyway ,if it does you have put a hell of alot less heat there which hopefully stops them wondering off somewhere else (the journal saddles that is )just a thought
Trust me, it's way easier to just weld them and be done. We're talking about a journal that is 3/4" wide and I need to put .010" thick bead maybe 1/2-3/4" down on both sides, the rest of the journal is fine. It will be very quick, not a lot of heat and I will know exactly what I have when it's done, no guessing or hoping. I need to do something with the caps too I guess. If the journals are sprung the sleeve dowels for the caps must have gone along for the ride. I'll need to oversize them I guess and refit the caps. This whole mess sounds a lot more scary than it is. Moving the head studs was hard, this stuff is just clean-up work and is causing a delay but it's nothing to worry about I don't think.
