Not Fast, just "Less Slow"

I started with the engine rebuild by taking it to a shop and unfortunately less than a week later, he had a fire and is pretty much out of business. We grabbed my sooty junk and got it over to another place.

PC Automotive, Paul Cole, really cool guy. After he bored and honed my block I took the original head to him and he installed new valve guides, hardened exhaust seats, did a valve job and shimmed the springs to equal height. Because his house is practically attached to the shop, he pretty much works 7 days a week, though not a full day on Saturday and Sunday. So he called me and said the head was done. Oh cool, can I pick it up over the weekend? Yeah, just call first. I call on Saturday and it didn't work out so we arrange for me to pick the head up Sunday. (Easter Sunday) He's alone when I get there and we BS for about an hour. Me trying to learn stuff and him telling me about building race motors back in the day. He said when Dyno Don Nicholson was passing through that he sometimes would drop off heads to get them refreshed. So I show him my slanty rockers and he says he can reface them so I leave them.

A few weeks go by and I call and his wife answers and said Paul had passed away from complications from a hernia operation. Not the usual place for a hernia but in the chest area. After offering my condolences I ease into the subject of my rocker arms. She checks the records and they are not listed in the books. She yells out to his son, Hey Mike do you know anything about some /6 rockers? He gets on the phone and after rummaging around he finds them on Paul's desk, right where he left them that Sunday. Mike said he'd do them in the next couple days so I picked them up the next week. $60/12

I hope this car does not have bad Karma. First a fire, now Paul passing away. When I picked up the rockers, I talked to his wife for awhile and she told me the details of his passing. I asked how old he was and she said 78. I wish I could have known him longer. He really knew his work and was a very cool guy.

Of course I took the heads apart and did a little porting.