CSX4158 For Sale, but Salvage due to Flood

[rustyBob]

Building a car from the ground up is hard enouhg...........
to take one appart clean and inspect every part and the put it back
together has got to be mind numbing at best.......good luck
and keep us posted on your progress.

[snakehunter]

The paint is due for a very intensive correction (polishing/leveling) from previous care and the water/dirt damage, but we're on the fence about a full repaint. Probably not at this time.

We try to protect the paint but I'm used to working around these cars, and the aluminum bodywork isn't soft in the sense that you'd think. Fenders are high crown and very stiff, for instance.

And honestly, the paintwork on these cars is not that stellar. Its nice driver or local show material, not concours stuff. So the pads, blankets and silk panties just get in the way for now.

If you want to know more about the other cars, feel free to PM me, i don't want to go too far OT.

[Tom Wells]

snakehunter,

several sections of the intake gaskets were tearing or separating

That snake was about to be bit by the Fel-Pro Print-O-Seal intake gasket failure demon. If you Google it you'll get thousands of hits.

The thing to watch is when you go back on with the intake, use a Victor Reinz reinforced gasket, or at least one of the newer Fel-Pro steel shim reinforced ones. Don't, under any circumstances use the Fel-Pro Print-O-Seal nonreinforced gaskets unless you like changing them and picking up the repairs they conspire to cause.

Have fun,

Tom

[snakehunter]

excellent, thanks! I was wondering about an alternative to those cracked gaskets.

While we're on the subject, the head gaskets are new to me also - is anyone familiar with these? I've never used the FelPro composite gasket, but when the heads came off, they didn't seem to have that adhesion that traditional gaskets usually have. They literally fell off the deck surface!

[somedayaurora]

Love the update . Follow up too RedB request if you want to start another thread , Im sure you might have some fans . That being said I realize you probably have a life and don't have time to be on-line entertaining us , especially if you type like me . Great job ; I'm sure you now have some members wondering about the advice there guidance counselor gave them career wise " I could be working/playing with cobras and lambos and gettin paid!?
SDR
________
Mercedes-benz sprinter

[snakehunter]

Time flies. Three weeks have gone by already?

Well, the transmission is back together, just need a new tailshaft seal. Everything looked great and there were no signs of water damage to gears or bearings. The TO bearing felt notchy so it will be replaced, along with an update for the hydraulic actuator at Mcleod.

I'll have to reshoot the pics, but basically there are two AN-banjo fittings on the actuator which have been changed to a more positive sealing fitting. If you have a TO setup with phillips head screws attaching the banjos, I'm told there's a possibility of leakage over time. This one appeared ok.



Synchros and brass have nice sharp points on the teeth, as does the slider gear, which is a good sign.



This is the dual friction disc, which isn't available as a replaceable wear item - you have to get the whole shooting match for about $400.
I called Mcleod for a quote and they have a nice clutch/pp combo for a little more, but it is 12" and requires their flywheel, which brings the total to over $1000.

We have some local racers that have their discs relined at a shop in Dayton, Oh and resurface the centerforce plates. I'm thinking of going this route - any suggestions?



Bellhousing was crusty, pressure plate surface rusty and disc pretty worn.

[snakehunter]

Ironically, there's little to no water damage in the block. However there is a lot of 'dirt' damage and some odd wear. Check it out...



a little water here...


seems like a lot of slack - over 1/4" on this Rollmaster chain.



cam is kinda ugly. I'll replace it buy I have no clue what the specs are yet. Haven't had any luck tracing these numbers...


Yuck!








Lots of dirt scoring on the rod journals, front main has an obvious wear pattern. Rod and main bearings were worn through to copper and heavily scored.



So far it looks like the crank will clean up at .010".
Rods are Eagle, and will get new ARP bolts and resized
Pistons appear to be Arias...Hope the bores clean up, I don't want to have to but another set of these!

[snakehunter]

By the way, the machinist's suggestion was that the engine was assembled by 'inexperienced hands' and not kept in a clean environment during the process. For only 2300 miles, I wouldn't expect this much wear, even with hard use.

Also, I found that about half the main studs were torqued to over 150 ft/lbs! Shelby spec is 85. Can't say accurately whether the rods were over-torqued or not. Lots of silicone sealer is used on pan, intake and other sealing surfaces. Oil galley plugs were super tight - not corroded, just tight.

The main caps are cross bolted, but with only grade 8 hardware on the sides. This will be replaced with ARP or similar if available.

Bores have some scuffing on the thrust sides but crosshatching is still visible.

[tkb289]

snake ...

Great update and nice photos! You just about have opened up all there is to had, and overall things look pretty good. Thanks for the update, you have a lot folks following your progress, keep up the good work!

[Bernica]

Great pics!

By the markings, that should be a Comp Cam. They list that number in their catalog. A healthy hydraulic cam:

Duration @ .050
INT = 260
EXH = 260

Lift = .565

LSA = 110 deg

Here's the catalog page: http://compcams.com/technical/Catalogs/106-07/233.pdf

[Bernica]

Sorry,
Wrong catalog page above. Try this one:
http://www.compperformancegroupstore...Code=FEHYTAPDR

[Bernica]

Actually, the cam lift is .611!!
Big stick!!

[snakehunter]

I've never tackled a fuel cell before. CSX4158 has a fuel safe cell, which uses a rubberized canvas bladder with foam inserts. There's no sending unit, but we may add that.

A call to FuelSafe was rewarded with helpful advice. Rather than toss it altogether, they suggested complete disassembly and inspection. The foam and bladder can be washed and reused. Here's how you take one apart:




Drill out rivets with a very shallow bit, or grind off heads. There's a strip of heavy urethane taped behind the rivet heads to prevent them from rubbing the bladder, so you do have some wiggle room.



Another cobra pee shot...

After draining, remove side plates, drain remaining fuel and lift out bladder.




There's a little mud in the filler flap assembly. About 50/50 dirty water/fuel mix in the tank. 10 gallons worth!


Tank is pretty simple otherwise. Seams are protected from burring with heavy tape.


There's the foam elements. Open cell foam washes easily at the carwash and once dried out, shows no signs of dirt.


"I love that dirty water..."(Anybody from Boston?)




Tank cleaned and ready for reassembly.

[snakehunter]

Originally Posted by Bernica

Actually, the cam lift is .611!!
Big stick!!

Thanks for the specs, that's a big help!
I talked to Phil at Flatlander racing and he said that this particular cam is an 'emissions' cam that was used for a limited time in CA cars. Since this one was sold there new and had the SB100 I'd believe that.

However, its supposedly a troublesome cam that doesn't make the power it should, and was not used in later cars.(although those specs sound healthy don't they?)

We'll replace it with something streetable that still makes good power.

[RedBarchetta]

Wow. Elmer Fudd must have built the motor, huh? Great documentation for when the doubters down the road don't believe what you are going through to make this car right.

-Dean

[snakehunter]

Its kinda sad really...you give somebody all these wonderful pieces, and they either don't know or don't care enough to get it right. I'm not the best builder in the world but I'm damn sure gonna try!

[snakehunter]

Now I'm replying to myself...but thinking about it, that cam actually seems way huge? Anybody think the builder would have gone with such a big duration to try to bleed off cylinder pressure for the 11:1 CR?

[Bernica]

That sure didn't sound like a "smog cam" to me!!

I'm running a similar engine; CSX #197 482ci with 10.8:1 cr and using an Edelbrock Performer #7106 hyd cam.
Duration @ .050 = 236/236
Lift @ valve = .572
LSA = 108 deg

It's been a very streetable cam with good power from 1,500-6,500 rpm, so they advertise. It does like the 100 octane gas though.

Here it is:
http://edelbrock.com/automotive_new/..._ford_bb.shtml

[snakehunter]

Cool, 2 questions for you. When you say 'csx197' is that a block serial number? Ours is stamped 228. Does Shelby track all the blocks they sell?

Any power numbers on your combo? That's in the ballpark for what I'm looking for.

I use a Comp cams software package that's kind of a desktop dyno. With the 284 cam they estimate 530hp @5500 and 550 tq @ 4000 rpm. The 312 actually has much lower numbers at higher RPM. I guess it needs more intake and maybe heads to make it come alive.

Curiously, previous owner said this motor was dyno'd at 550hp with that cam. Perhaps the numbers were a little optimistic?

[Bernica]

The block serial number should be stamped on the bottom back of the block on the pan rail, just outside the oil pan flange. I don't know if Shelby keeps track of them, but I have been curious too. You might try to reach Mike Lefevers at Shelby in Torrance if he's still around. He balanced and assembled my rotating assembly. Been there forever.

Optimistic dyno numbers? People do that???

I have an old dyno sheet that put mine at 558 lb tq and 497 hp @ 4500 rpm. It's an old dyno run and I have since changed carbs and some other things, as I believe it should be posting higher HP numbers.
Going to look into changing my exhaust and do a chassis dyno in the near future.

I have the specs on the build as it sits right now somewhere if you can use any of it for reference on your build. I will try to find it and send you a PM.
I would be curious what your software says about my build too....