First the weather in TX has been great lately. It was nearly 80* today around Dallas. I took the Vette out for a nice little cruise today and ran it up through the gears a few times!

Those that know me know that means 7000+ RPM!

Then to make it even better, when I got home, I pulled the intake and removed my solid roller lifters to send out to be rebuilt. Now to normal people this wouldn't be that much fun...but to anyone running a big solid roller on the street...checking things and finding no issues is a GREAT DAY!

My cam has .774/.731 lift and the springs can hold up a house to give you an idea. These lifters have been in there for several years now...I actually ran them longer than I should have. But it's been an awful busy year and I didn't put as many miles on as usual this year. Normally I get at least 5K+ miles and as many drag strip runs as I can.

The first thing I did was to bump the motor through and check the lash before I touched anything. This is the *window* to valvetrain health. Anything going wrong will quickly show up here. All was good.

Then I pulled the distributor to check the dist gear for wear. No problems..I have a pressed on iron gear on my steel billet cam. I run a HV pump with lots of oil pressure and the stock MSD gear. It's been in there for years.

Then I pulled intake. Only issue I saw was the gasket was torn above the #2 port. Not sure if it tore while pulling intake or not. It's been running OK. The #2 port on these big intake/big cam motors seems to run richer/colder than all the others anyway. Putting carb spacer on helps the situation..so it's obviously an airflow issue at low speeds. Racing it comes right into line. Hate to port/modify on intake to make it flow better at low speeds and possibly screw up the high speed stuff. Don't want to lean a cylinder too much.

Looked at valve stems through ports. No excessive grime or junk on them to indicate loose guides etc.

Then I pulled stud girdle and then each rocker one at a time. I inspected each rocker closely. I only found an issue with one. The little sheetmetal lip on the trunnion bearing had a small piece missing. All the needles were in place. So that's good. I didn't find the little metal piece yet..but I will before I reassemble it. Didn't look too hard yet. I've had this same thing happen several times over the years with the Comp Magnum rockers. I'll just have Comp rebuild the rocker at the same time they do the lifters.

Then I pulled each pushrod and went through same drill. Check each one at a time. The reason you do it this way is to make sure you know exactly where a bad part came from so you can closely inspect everything associated with it for other issues. If you throw them all in a pile and inspect later...you have no way of knowing.

Next came the scary part..pulling the lifters. If you let a lifter go too long, they will very quickly take a cam lobe with them. Only a few miles will kill them. So as you pull them out you look closely to make sure the rollers still roll and there is no damage to the roller wheel. If there are any issues..you might as well start pulling cam. In this case I was very relieved to find all the rollers in good shape. They all rolled OK..but I could feel a little *grittiness* on several of them. This is what you are looking for and want to catch early. Once the needles stop rolling properly, the whole thing is done for.

So tomorrow I'll ship lifters and rocker to Comp. They'll have them back to me in a week or so.

The next big winter project is to drop the oil pan. My Milodon stepped drag race pan has developed a little crack right in the center of the sump along one of the stiffening ribs. I've seen across the net that others have the same issue. It appears they stamped it a little thin in the ribs during MFG. So it drips all the time and makes a mess on shop floor unless I put a pan under it. I haven't looked at the bearings in a few years either..so this will give me a good chance to do that. The main bearings are the *window* to the rest of the motor..so it's good to check them once in a while on a high HP deal.

If everything looks good during that inspection...I'll be doing the *Snoopy Dance* and my wife will be happy not to see the motor come out of the car!! I'll put it all back together, give it a wax job and be ready for the opening day at the track! Would love to get some runs in during some cold weather!!

Wish me luck!

JIM

 

Hey Jim, obviously you don't much about hotroding

"You can't run a solid roller on the street, this is a "race only" piece. Your car would not last threes trip down the block with it."



Since you got the intake off now would be a good time to plumb a Fogger in it 8 sec pump gas clutch car ?

 

Did you say plumb, fogger?

 

Appreciate the detailed report, and it's nice to hear good news about your lifters. You're running the Endure-X's, right? If so, sounds like I should expect good service out of them with my lesser cam ("only" a mid .600" lift stick).

 

Ya, thats the lingo in the nitrous game; to install a Fogger.

 

Yep..I have some of the originals when they were prototyping the new style ones with the pressurized oiling. They made me a great deal on them to see how they would do. The later versions have an even better axle in them than mine do. When they rebuild them, you get the improved pieces. They should do fine for you.


Yep John..no way this stuff can last on the street! Same with my K-Motion springs. No way they will last on the street! Let's see...they've been there over 4-5 years now. I checked them 2-3 years ago. They had lost 10psi on the intakes (heavier valve) and I switched them from intake to exhaust and have been running them ever since. But i sorta figure It might be time to change them for insurance reasons huh?


Hmmnnnn.....fogger.....8 sec gear jammer! Man..would that be a fun show or what??? I know..you probably know folks who could help me out right??? You guys are going to get me thrown out of even more tracks!!


JIM

 

It's a bitch when a car is to fast.

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, just keep rubbing it in, Jim. All you guys with this much good luck please throw me a little of it. Just a smidgen.

 

Jim, glad to hear most everything is in good shape. Any more thoughts about going with a solid lifter/flat tappet deal and dumping the roller setup?

Steve

 

Hey there's Steve!!!


Actually maybe......

I've been conversing with an Engine Masters competitor that has a bunch of unused 4/7 swap nitrided flat tappets left over from the contest. He ordered a pile of them in 2* increments and 2* LSA changes. He found one he was happy with pretty quick and never used these other ones. Chasing down the lobe #'s now. They are pretty *short* though......250*@.050 tops and .600-.650 lift. We're thinking they might work for young T-Shorts 427 pretty well...and maybe even a 496 another fellow is building. Seems a little small for mine. He said they made 750+ HP in a 454 based deal peaking at 6500. I'll see what I come up with.

What's up with yours?

JIM

 

That was an interesting report. Most of us don't have to worry about roller lifters, solids no less. Looking forward to seeing your times in (relatively) cool air. Good luck.

 

Jim,
You got room in that shop for a 78 LS6 car? I'm tired of tripping over it. I figure if I left it at your house for a month or two it would be in the 11's.

Welcome to DFW.
Buddy

 

Sounds good JIM, all is looking well.....so far

Hope you find the same after pulling the oil pan/further inspection.

Good Luck

 

Thanks.....gotta do a checkup every once in a while on these things.


My buddies keep telling me that considering my propensity for continuously increasing the RPM I like to shift at...that I should put the rods on a regular replacement interval too!

What shift light? It just annoys me...so I unplugged it!

So Buddy....with an LS-6..why on earth would we limit it to the 11's???



JIM

 

Lack of oversized nads.

Not sure what to do with the 78, but I do know it needs paint and the interior put back in. I will probably finish it and auction it off when the economy comes back.

 

Absolutely nothing. I'm being lazy.

Steve

 

Lazy is good!


I think you've earned it over the last few years!


JIM

 

Sorry, maybe I should have put one of these....:
I know, I was perking up my ears. I don't run the stuff, I like normally aspirated.