Session 3
Well last time we laid the new heads and intake on the bare block. Good news is that the taller RPM Air Gap will still clear the hood with the breather on it. Bad news is they sent us the wrong camshaft. In this application, to use roller rockers in an engine not designed for them, we needed a "small base circle" cam. With a normal base circle, the roller lifters, being taller, would emerge too far out of the lifter bore....and
oil pressure would be lost. So we sent the cam back. The new cam will be here likely next week. Meanwhie a few more pics:
Naked 289. Good news is these are TRW
forged pistons. Nice to have.
When good lifters go bad.....see the overheated darkness and the rough bottom on the bad vs good lifter? This already had worn the cam lobe down some, but we caught it in time to avoid a complete rebuild due to metal flakes.
Here you can see how it was running a bit rich, this was one of the better looking spark plugs as far as color. Others were pretty black.
Here are the roller rockers....nice Comp units but we cannot use them. These are for pedestal mount. The new Edelbrock heads need stud mount rockers. Jim has ordered some new Scorpion 1.6 rockers. Notice the previous builder was nice enough to coat all engine innards with Glyptol....the shiny rust colored chemical resistant paint. Makes
oil drainback from top of engine to
oil pan quicker.
Here is the flat vs. roller lifter. Hopefully no more failed cams with this.....and a bit better cam lobe curve getting air into the intake valve earlier for more power.