1964 Valiant "Get Runnin & Drivin"
I'm sure I've read it earlier in the thread but....
How about a recap on the new drive train package?
Compression, cam, carb, gear...that sort of thing.
Curious if you know how much it weighs.
I'd off hand guess 2500-2750.
Yeah, she's pretty light alright. I'd guess no more than 2700 flat and that's probably just like it sits with the stock bumper jack, my aluminum floor jack, spare, tarp, car cover and full interior.
The whole drive train did not get replaced, just the engine. I was going to put the heavier duty A230 3 speed in it, but the transmission tunnel is not wide enough. It doesn't lack much. A ball peen hammer and 2x4 in the right place would take care of it, but, the larger bellhousing posed a few more hurdles, plus the slip yoke drive shaft needs to be cut 2.5" and that would have put me a few weeks out, so, I put the A903 and ball and tunnion drive shaft back in it and we are in the wind. Factory 3.55 gears and still 13" tires.
Specs on the motor. Stock 68 short block. Head milled .155". Compression is right on top of 10:1. Dynamic is 7.9. Stock valves sizes, no port work. 924-16 Comp valve sprAngs.
Cam is symmetrical. .465 250 @ .050 ground on a 108 LSA and installed at 104. I took the new oil pump out of the 170 and put that in it. It also has the Mopar Performance high pressure spring in it. I swapped on an early A body oil pan when I realized the A100 van pan does not fit the early A chassis.
It has the Freddie modified exhaust mannyfold that he ported and opened the outlet up to 2.5". Offy intake and QFT 450 V/C carburetor. TTI exhaust with a Dynomax Ultra Flow muffler.
I think that's all.
Also, I am experiencing some spark knock issues. No surprises there. I figured it'd be on the ragged edge. I consider 15* BTDC to be the absolute minimum to run it on and it rattles lightly when lugging it. It likes 18-20 a LOT more, but it rattles pretty good there.
My plans are to try and tune it out, rather than run it on premium. I tight lashed the valves this afternoon. Talked with Ken at Oregon Cams and he said that it wouldn't hurt a thing so I went from .020/.020 to .008/.010. That will increase the overlap and bring cylinder pressure down some. I've not driven it since I did that, but it did make the idle slightly rougher, since that makes the engine "think" the cam is a little bigger.
I also did not block off the exhaust manifold heat. That could make a big difference. I completely removed the heat riser valve in the exhaust manifold and just used the standard metal gasket,so the bottom of the intake has exhaust heat all the time. I have a block off plate I made that I will put on. All that'll cost me is a little more warm up time. Big whoop. I've actually seen where doing that makes ice form on the intake, so I know that will cool it off some.
I also have a 160* high flow thermostat on the way. Anything that can cool it off more will also help. I plan on going from the Autolite 66 (same heat range as the RN14YC) to something colder. That will help. Also, this carburetor has adjustments out the wazoo. It has adjustable air bleeds I can mess around with. I also found something I forgot I had tonight. A five blade non-symmetrical solid fan offset just like the Mopar viscous fan that moves so much air. I never knew they made one....and really didn't know I had it.....but there it is layin in the shop. lol I may can come up with a shroud of some sort too. It's not running hot at all, but anything I can do to cool it off more will help in preventing detonation.
So there are lots of things I can do to combat it. We'll see what happens. As far as I'm concerned, this is a good problem to have, because it means there's some compression there and that means power potential. I think between some or all of that, I'll get it licked.
