rummer

Been a couple of months since I last posted due to a couple of reasons - work (life) got in the way as well as very slow progress on the car. Finally got the oil pan modifications done to get it to fit over the crank girdle ( second time that a brand new oil pan got powder coated). The end result looks great but the amount of time it took was painful. We did not machine as much of the caps down as the vendor suggested as it was felt that the main caps themselves would be better off with more metal. Even though the girdle does not tie into the rear studs on the block it will still provide a lot more stability for the crank bearings simply by tying the bearing saddles in as a single piece. The other piece that concerned me was how tight the clearance between the big ends on the rods and the girdle would have been considering that we are using a 495 stroker crank. The hydro boost kit showed up and has been installed but not hooked up due to the engine not yet being installed. The pushrod length was established and we now have them in hand. The roller rockers look to be very robust so with the extra work in the machine shop done on the heads / valves I expect that the valve actuation will be very precise and effective.The end gaps on the piston rings have all been hand filed with the rings now ready to be installed. The rocker valve covers finally got decided on and should be in hand early next week. Quite a bit of work will be done with them prior to final installation so that they will be both functional as well as look the part. They are not baffled or vented so we will be addressing both of those issues. I do not know if the car will be ready before the snow flies but my biggest concern is not having things rushed at this point so that the finished product is done right. This has been roughly a 2 year exercise to date and although it bugs me to simply go look at cars versus participate in the car shows I have found that patience has to prevail or the outcome get affected!



Hydro Boost kit installed. Hoses to PS pump will be routed through the gap between the wheel well and the fender



Modified oilpan 1



Modified oilpan 2



Piston ring end gaps done



Will look even better with trim ring in place. Still need to roll fender edge slightly



Springs used to get proper push rod length.