Originally Posted by Flyboy1958

I agree with you, for the most part. But, over the years on this forum and others, people have twisted half shafts, broken u-joints, broken gearboxes,.......all with high RPM clutch dumps. I guess you would say that they did not build the car properly....and you would be right. But, I still call that abuse. Lets not argue. I understand your point. I am just a guy that leans towards a little more gentle approach to my machines. I am one of these folks that sees the "soul" in the machine, and treat is as I expect to be treated in return. I am just being a little defensive.....caused I have been ridiculed for building a high performance engine,....and NOT thrashing it. No matter how you put it.....even if stuff is built tough.....its harder on the parts when you push the limits. I prefer to not do that.

And you mentioned the "wear" thing......that ALSO comes into play. I put 8000 miles on the Vette, 5000 miles on the motorcycle....this summer. I use my stuff, and would like it to go the distance. I think my way of treating my Harley to 137,000 miles without ONE breakdown or one failure proves something. According to some, Harleys are junk. I think my experience says otherwise. This DAMN 406 was supposed to be a good, long lasting engine.......and at no fault of my own, it has not been. I just hope most of the good stuff I paid for can be re-used once Vortecpro checks it out.

Originally Posted by Flyboy1958

I have been searching forums, via Google, about this cracking / popping noise with heater on...and one possible issue may be that the heater shutoff valve is failing / cycling....or I have a vacuum problem. If at idle, when the vacuum is highest, which is when I hear the noise, the shutoff valve is intermittently failing and cycling open and closing, it would possibly open, allowing coolant to flow, and then suddenly failing, and closing, which would create a pulse in the system......and the cracking noise is the sudden pulse opening or closing the thermostat, banging the seat and making the noise. The sound definitely comes from the thermostat housing. Its an NOS factory Non-AC coolant heater shutoff valve I found.

Originally Posted by Flyboy1958

I am very easy on my possessions. Despite building this 406 with all these good parts, I don't believe in hammering on my stuff.....and that is why it lasts as long as it does. I can accelerate quickly and smoothly, but no max RPM clutch drops for me and unlikely my engine will ever see 6000 RPM. Never spun the tires.....just not interested. I treat my equipment well....always have, always will. So I think / hope my Borg Super T10 will hold up fine. Same with the Big Block Vortecpro will build for my 69 Corvette.....which will have the original Muncie 4 speed, rebuilt. Just because you have a ton of power does not mean you have to use all of it in a harsh way. Who makes those rules? It surprises me when people abuse their equipment, and then complain because it broke. Maybe some don't understand me, but it works for me. Its my money, my car.

My 2004 Harley Road King has 137,000 miles on it,.....all with me riding it,.....original clutch, original engine, original drive belt, original primary chain. I decided last fall to go ahead and upgrade the cylinders to bigger cubic inch, and get the bottom end beefed up.......not because it needed it, because it was running good, but I just thought it was time. And I will enjoy the new torquier engine.......BUT, will still never exceed 60 mph. never will abuse it, and I will continue to ride it like I did the first 137,000 miles....loving every mile of it. It NEVER once left me on the side of the road, frankly it never quit running well. My money, my bike. Served me well.

Not sure why people don't understand that you CAN build a high performance motor, and still treat it well. Its a street car.....not a drag racer. I could have saved a ton of money by just rebuilding my stock 350, which still sits in my basement,.....and just drove the car with that.......but that 180 HP just would not be as fun. In fact,.....I suggest that building a high performance torque monster engine, and then treating it well is FAR better choice than a stock 180 HP engine that I would have had to thrash to get the equivalent fun out of it.

In my 40 years of working on airplanes, cars and motorcycles,.....it is my belief you have to do good preventative maintenance, and treat the equipment well,.....if you want it to work well, and last a long time.

Originally Posted by REELAV8R

I would not disagree with most of that. dumping a clutch at high RPM without taking up the lash first would be abuse IMO, or at least not understanding the physics involved in doing such things. Even if it's built to take the high RPM drops, It won't be built to take the repeated severe lash of shock loading of the gears and connecting points of the drive train if you do so.

To each his own. I don't fault a guy for taking care of his equipment. But, babying it to the extreme is not in my play book if it's built to take more.

You fly a transport category aircraft within it's intended limits which cannot be compared to the limits of an aerobatic aircraft. Two different purposes two different ways of flying. One cannot be compared to the other by using a single standard.

Originally Posted by GordonR

If your block is designed without a coolant bypass you should drill 4 holes in your t-stat. The coolant bypass in a block like that would be controlled by a heater control valve that has 4 ports on it acting as the bypass when the heater is off. The correct one will look like similar to an "H". I am assuming your hearing an over temp purging when opening your heater control valve?

Originally Posted by GordonR

I would just drill a couple more holes in the t-stat and see if it resolves your issue. Or even better leave it out for a test.

Originally Posted by CorvettePassion

June 9th Update.......the initial quick inspection of the engine shows wear on the original "Mike" Jones cam, so a new cam is going to be installed. So "Mark" Jones (VortecPro) has selected and ordered a new cam for this rebuild. He has previously built a 406 SBC with this cam, with good results and is his recommendation. The cam is a 234/238 @ 0.050, 110 LSA hydraulic roller. This should be quite different than the 224/228 @ 0.050, 112 LSA Mike Jones roller cam. Valve springs, lifters, etc. will be all replaced as necessary and at the right spec's for this engine.....i.e., the way it should have been done the first time.

Once Mark starts working on the engine, there will be further updates. I am very interested in what he finds in the AFR 195 race heads. There are obvious problems on the valve tips. He is also going to see how well AFR did on the valve seats. He is essentially starting over on a complete rebuild.

Jody Haag has finished my M23Z 4-speeds for both this car, and the 69.......and I will be picking them up in a few weeks. I will now have a stout, original design 4-speed in the car....just the way I want it.

As for the heater pinging noise.....I intend to bypass the heater core to start, and maybe replace the factory vacuum shutoff with a manual shutoff. The internal coolant leak and oil leak problems should be resolved with the VortecPro rebuild.

I am very hopeful that with all this work and money, I will have the car exactly where I want it......powerful, leak free and reliable for my purposes. And then I will put LOTS of miles on it.