Superformance MKII, Riverside Racer 289 FIA vintage race car

[1795]

Originally Posted by mr bruce

these guys might be able to help you out-https://fortwayneclutch.com/

Bruce,

Thanks for the suggestion. I looked at their site and they do have a clutch disc for a 289, but did not see a complete setup with the flywheel as well.

Jim

[blykins]

Jim, my memory stinks more and more as I get older, but I'm sorry if I forgot to email you back with clutch/flywheel recommendations. There are lots of options out there, some a lot better quality than the others.

Which QM combo did you get?

[1795]

Brent,

No problem, I fully understand the memory stuff and getting older. I ended up going with the street stock with a HTOB and the steel flywheel. I have a sprung disc, as there are times that it is a long drive through the paddock to the grid with a lot of spectators walking around and a 15-20 mph speed limit. I would be constantly feathering the clutch and jerking around with a solid disc clutch plate.

Being that every few years I have to replace the clutch, I figured that I would try something different this time. The McLeod that I had worked fine and the disc was going to be down to the rivets in another race or two. I will see how the two compare and let that inform my decision for the next time.

I greatly appreciate all of your input and our conversations.

Jim

[xb-60]

Jim,

Thanks for the clutch advice. I'll let you know what I end up with.

Cheers,
Glen

[blykins]

Make sure no organic discs at that horsepower level.

[1795]

Brent,

Thanks. I purchased the heavy duty disc, not the organic. Should be here tomorrow.

Jim

[1795]

Greetings,

Well, my Quarter Master clutch, HTOB and steel flywheel arrived yesterday, along with a new Lifeline fire system. The clutch, flywheel and pressure plate arrived all bolted together and since the engine is going out for a refresh and it was freezing in the garage, I decided to use leave it altogether for now.


They looked nice nd the HTOB has a nice feature in that there is a locking stud that prevents the HTOB from spinning on the shaft during install. My McLeod does not have that capacity and the HOB's do spin a little when you are trying to line up the input shaft with the bushing and bolting the transmission to the bell housing. Always wondered if my depth was correct after the transmission was installed and there was no wy to get a micrometer in there.

I did test fit the assembly on the input shaft to make sure that the correct disc was in the package and it slid on nice and tight (but not too tight).


Jim

[MAStuart]

Jim It looks like the flywheel in O balance. So that makes me wonder what you have for a crank in the engine? So I assume you have a 289 stroke steel forged internally balanced crank in your engine. What brand of crank are you using? Who did your motor?

[1795]

The engine was most recently built by Fitzgerald Brothers in CT, they did the conversion to Webers. The crank is an original that was magna fluxed and machined so that the internals were balanced.

I was going to use Brent for this rebuild, but you scoundrels have so tied up his time that he would not be able to get to it in time for next season's race schedule. I have found a local engine builder who I will be working with, he has built race engines and after having numerous discussions with him I think that it will work.

At the time of the original build I was going to go with a forged steel crank, but at that time they were out of production. The current build just told me that he has found someone that is making forged steel cranks for a 289, not cheap, but given that I am not spending $1,000 to ship the engine that does free up some cash. He was going to take a look at the existing crank to see how it looked before deciding on whether to order one, but I am starting to lean towards getting a new crank irrespective of how good the old one works just because of increased longevity.

Jim

[1795]

Things are starting to show up. The Dart block arrived yesterday. It is quite beefy. The main caps are substantial. A lot of machining to do on it. I have the heads and am getting ready to ship them out and have them ported and flow tested, the engine builder has a full machine shop, but does not do heads anymore.



Parts are hard to come by with businesses having been shut down for a while, hopefully I will be able to procure everything that I need.

Jim

[1795]

Well, it has been awhile since the last post. The heads were finally ported and after many calls to FedEx, they finally arrived today and I ran them out to the engine builder. Good thing that I was not building an FE with iron heads, as my right arm just came out of the sling yesterday after 6 weeks in in post rotator cuff surgery to basically re-attach my rotator cuff. Had to carry and balance the heads in my left arm.

I did not see the flow test in the container and have sent an email to the guy who ported them asking about it. When we talked he said that based on other heads like these that he has ported he expected that at .700 lift that they would flow 290 cfm, at about .600 lift around 270 cfm. Out of the box these heads are supposed to flow 265 cfm at .700 lift. So, what ever he did will be an improvement.



The crank is installed and one piston test fitted. Using Oliver rods and custom pistons from Diamond. The engine builder contacted several sources and Diamond was the only one who could manufacture them in any semblance of a reasonable time frame. The lightened crank was pretty spot on for balance and all that the engine builder had to do was lightly grind two areas on the counter weights and the crank was internally balanced.




The engine builder is going to measure the volume of the heads, test fit the heads for clearance with the pistons and valves (Erson 2.02 intake and 1.6 exhaust) and make adjustments as needed.

Still waiting on rocker arm studs and head bolts. Still need to measure and order push rods, which will hopefully not be too problematic to obtain, and test fit the custom headers that Georgie is making.

Rick Muck will be helping with the install, as I am not allowed to carry anything heavier than my cell phone for the next 6 weeks, and then I get to start strengthening exercises. Still hoping to be strong enough to race by early July.

The weather is turning nicer, except for a snow storm arriving on April 1 that is going to dump 7" of snow on us, and I am getting the itch to get out and race.

Jim

[1795]

Just received the flow chart from the person that did the porting on the heads. They look pretty good. Stock they were supposed to flow 262 cfm intake and 204 cfm exhaust at .700 lift. Not sure if they actually ever performed at that level. Here is the flow chart:



That should provide some improvement in performance. Given that I do not plan on having a cam with a .700 lift, something in the .600 range will hit the peak flow. Looking forwards to getting this build done before the race season is over.

Jim

[xb-60]

Looks like he very much knows his 'craft'.
Might be a dumb question....will the Webers need any rejetting to suit the better flow?

Cheers!
Glen

[1795]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Looks like he very much knows his 'craft'.
Might be a dumb question....will the Webers need any rejetting to suit the better flow?

Cheers!
Glen

Glen,

Not a dumb question. Yes, I will be rejetting and tuning them in on a chassis dyno. You can't change one thing without it having an effect on other settings.

Jim

[Mark IV]

Picking Jim's FIA up on the 14th for transport to Time Machines. Georgie from Gas-N is coming to fabricate improved headers that once completed we will be offering as an upgrade to the factory supplied units. We will have them with a selection of port flanges to allow proper flow on the range of Windsor heads available.

[1795]

Georgie from Gas-N and his crew came Saturday morning to start the mock-up for the new headers for the race car, these headers will also fit other SPF street cars and FIA's as well, and possibly other cars using the original frame design for the 289's.

What an impressive level of skill to observe. They were quick, efficient and highly talented. They would install a flange on one side, started with the driver's side (which was the most difficult one due to the steering shaft and brake/clutch master cylinders) and started piecing together the tubes.



There was a lot of trial and error, but not too much error, in getting them to fit. They would quickly figure out the angles required, cut a section of tube to fit, test it and tack weld it in place. There was a lot of time spent disconnecting the driver's side motor mount, rolling the engine over and then moving it back, as there is no way to drop the header in from the top on that side and you cannot put it up from the bottom either.



By mid afternoon they had one side done and were moving on to the next.



They will be completing it Sunday morning and then taking the mock-ups back with them to make a new set of headers and a set of side pipes for the car. Truly great people, both personally and professionally. Of course, between having Rick Muck there, Georgie and Rick's friend Mike (who was involved with Shelby's GT350 program) the stories were endless.....Wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Also, received great news from my PT during our first session, my ROM after the rotator cuff surgery is ahead of schedule and he expects a complete recovery. So, racing should be on the schedule at some point this year.

Jim

[Mark IV]

So a weekend of prototype header design and fabrication has ended very successfully. The prototypes will be laser scanned and production headers will be one-piece tubes. The headers are all stainless and will be available in full polished or brushed finishes. These race headers are 1 3/4" primaries but street headers will be available in either 1 5/8" or the 1 3/4" versions. The flanges are THICK (plan on longer header bolts!) laser-cut stainless and will be available with ports to match stock Ford heads as well as most of the aftermarket heads. These prototypes were done for Jim's new ported Dart heads. We will also be working on a long tube version but that will be over the winter.

These headers fit all of the Superformance and Shelby 289 models, the MK II street, the FIA/USRRC and of course original Cobras.

We will have pricing in a few weeks and will announce it when ready. We now offer the Gas-N line of headers and sidepipes for the Superformance MK III as well. We were shown the prototype for a really new concept for the SPF MK III header that uses a "gimbal" between the primaries and the collector that makes the sidepipe alignment a breeze. This system allows the flange to the sidepipe to be rotated and moved in two axis which makes sidepipe installation slick, no wedges needed, no "torque" on the sidepipe mounts and a thick flange on both collector and sidepipe for no hot warping.

Thanks to Georgie and his crew, these guys are real craftsmen and made it look easy.....I assure you it isn't!

[1795]

Trying to get everything put back together and ready for a vintage race at Watkins Glen on July 7-11. Georgie sent the test models of the headers to me and they looked good and fit well. The final version will have fewer welds and will look a little more shiny than these, but these will get me on the track and that is all that matters now. It takes awhile in product development to get things to a finish stage and Georgie and his crew have done a very nice job.



The headers are installed. They should flow nicely. Georgie also made me a set of exhaust pipes with a small custom made muffler (straight through flow) to try to keep the noise down to about 100 decibels. Some tracks do not have a noise limit and others do. Besides, I really enjoy being able to hear and open pipes right near your ears can get a little loud.



Will hopefully have everything buttoned up and ready for a dyno tuning session before the race weekend. Going to go to Pitt Race the following week for the Vintage Grand Prix there.

Jim

[xb-60]

Jim, a nice looking set of pipes.
Just wondering, what internal diameter are they?
Will they be coated? This is not my area of expertise ....do you know if ceramic coating does actually make a difference to the power output in race applications?

Cheers!
Glen

[1795]

Glen,

The headers are 1 3/4" and the exhaust pipes are 2 1/2". 2" pipes would have been too restrictive for this engine and 3" pipes would have killed the torque. They do real nice work at Gas-N.

Jim