Unstoppable Coolant Leak
GEEEZZZ.... You have more patience than I will ever have. Glad you got it sorted out. When you had it re-machined did that boost your compression?
yes it did;
but I immediately installed a bigger cam, so the pressure remained very similar.
Oh wait,no, that re-machining happened shortly after the first iteration, and I actually went to a smaller cam...... but a thicker headgasket.... so the pressure remained very similar.lol. That was year 2000.
I built the engine in such a way that this was possible, cuz right from the get-go, I was aware that the 292/509/108 cam might not be my cup-O-tea. And it wasn't.
But by the time I had that figured, I sorta knew how much smaller a cam I might like. So I went down, almost 3 sizes; from that 292 to a 270/276/110, and hit a home-run for me.
After that 270 cam dropped lobes, I went up one size to a 276/286/110 and it's bin in there since 2004. Yeah it's a tad large for me, and I'm waiting for it to self-destruct so I can replace it.... but it's like the Energizer Bunny; it just keeps going and going and going.......
The compression progression IIRC was 11.3 down to 10.95, and remains there.
But the pressure has always been close to 180 psi (aluminum heads), with each iteration. I think this 230* cam is around 177.
I chose that pressure in year 1999 against advice from all other smarter-than-me, mechanics and builders, who, I guess were Chevy guys, cuz 180psi runs just fine in a Mopar,on 87E10. I was prepared to do whatever it took to make that work, but happily, I didn't need to.Several years later I found guys here on FABO running up to 200psi on pumpgas, so 180 is, I guess, still on the conservative side,lol.
If I had a smaller engine I might try ~195psi and an automatic, cuz my 367 with that 270cam was a torque monster. But 180 is already too much for a manual trans, IMO, cuz I have to take timing out at low-rpm, not because of detonation, but because the power-pulses are just too "violent" to idle around with. So, Ima thinking a 318/340 at 195psi is the next experiment for me, but in a slightly lighter car, like a Duster/Demon/Early-A.
But making that kind of pressure with a 318 is gonna be real hard, and probably pretty expensive; cuz the total-chamber volume is gonna have to be real small, and of course, the heads will have to be aluminum.
Ima thinking the 340 will be tuff enough.....
Meh, the 360 was actually pretty much a bolt-together deal.
