CS GT40 MK2 Build
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It has been several years in the making and I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel after several hurdles. Today, the motor and transaxle was finally installed in my car. The most common installation in these cars is usually a small block stroker or an FE. Well, I decided to do more of a one off. Specifically, I decided to have a dual quad, dry sumped 427 SOHC built and installed.
As you can imagine, the biggest challenge with this project was amassing the parts and getting the engine built. All I can say is that the unscrupulous people that I have come across that live in the 427 Cammer world are for the most part extremely unknowledgeable and crooks. From Michael Deutsch from Cammer Concepts who sold me improperly ground cams and faulty rocker arms, to Butch Engelbrecht who was impossible to deal with, to Jim Dove and his faulty manufacturing, to the biggest disappointment of all which was Jim Barillaro from Knoxville, TN. He is the guy who claims to have been building these motors since 1969 and a self proclaimed expert. Jim also owns the 2 Jack Chrisman Comets that have cammers in them.
I bought quality new parts for this motor and sent them to Jim Barillaro for final machining and assembly. Shelby block, Crower billet rods and crank, Arias pistons, Comp billet cams, T&D rockers, etc. He informed me that the machinng and dyno testing would be done at a local shop near him and he would oversee that aspect and he would do the final assembly himself.
Barillaro assembled it and dyno'd it and it took nearly 2 years to get the motor from him. A few months later after it was delivered, we did some tests on the motor without running it. A leak down test was done and it yielded results between 35% to 95%. We also noticed that there was some kind of rear cam plug improperly wedged into the rear of the block. It was driven in through the inside of the block and was sealed with silicone and it looked awful. We also noticed that one of the spark plug tubes was not sitting flush in the valve cover.
Given the leak down test results and the other visual indicators, I decided to sent the motor to Ernie Elliott in Dawsonville, Georgia to be inspected. Ernie builds for NASCAR and he is the real deal. Everything is done in house and to a high standard. Ernie got it running and noticed several problems right away.
Valve stems were bent, and that is why the leak down test did not yield proper results. Valves were getting hung up in the guides. Obviously Barillaro did not check this. The drive on my Aviaid dry sump pump was hammered on and mangled as well. When the front cover was removed, it was discovered that a bolt holding on the Milodon primary gear drive had undone itself and made its way to the
oil pan. The block had been decked with the sleeves in and they were damaged as well as the head gaskets were improperly installed and about to fail. I paid Barillaro for hardened valve seats and they were never installed. I also paid for him to install bronze valve guides and that was not done either. All of the plugs that were installed in the block and heads were cross threaded as well.
It turns out that the motor was not getting enough
oil and it burnt all the cam and main bearings and all the pistons were trashed. I am fortunate to have found this out before it was installed in the car as putting it in and taking it out is a lot more expensive than losing a motor on the dyno. I brought this to Barillaro's attention and he told me that he did not feel that he would be able to stand behind his work and he would not pay me for my trouble to have someone else rectify his mistakes. He claims financial hardship due to health reasons.
Ernie had to take it all apart and rebuild it from the ground up and these are not cheap motors. I had to absorb the cost of this and Barillaro does not even have the courtesy to step up and reimburse me for what has happened. It is now a proper engine and hopefully the end of my troubles. All I can say is be very leary of anyone that you deal with in the Cammer world.
I will be posting pictures in the near future.
I posted this some time ago, and the car is now complete thanks to Bill Andrews at HRE in New York and Ernie Elliott in Georgia. This complicated build could not have been done without them and I am grateful for their help.