The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster

[rmchrgr]

One more quick update. I made a bracket for the air oil separator to be able to use a pcv on the dyno. I am curious to see if it will cost horsepower but I'm thinking it won't or will be very minimal.

I don't think there will be enough room to keep this here when the engine goes in the car.

I've mentioned it before but the black anodized block thing here on the valve cover is a fixed-orifice 'pcv valve' that's not really even a traditional valve. There's no spring or check ball, just an orifice drilled for a Holley carb air bleed. We'll see how it works.

More to come.

 

[abdywgn]

Thanks for sharing! I had a block that a lower timing cover bolt broke off. Center punched the bolt and started drilling...and ventilated the lower cylinder wall of #2 I think it was. Well, bad for me and good for someone else. I sold it cheap, they sleeved it and had a nice 340 block. Nice work with the jig!

 

[mopowers]

Hey man, I appreciate the share. That kind of **** happens to all of us. Good for you for realizing the mistake, owning up to it, and repairing everything. Good luck on the dyno day! Keep us posted.

 

[rmchrgr]

Thanks guys. Once you accept your mistake it's either clean it up or...clean it up. I'm really glad I didn't have to take apart the bottom end though, I was dreading that.

Fortunately it all went back together pretty easily. Basically this little mishap cost me a month of time, 5 quarts of oil, a tube of Permatex Ultra Black and an oil pan gasket.

No dyno session scheduled as of yet, going to call tomorrow and see what's available.

 

[rmchrgr]

For those following along at home, the dyno shop I'm using is tied up for the next two weeks. Hoping to get a slot the 2nd week of October. Definitely feel better about things now. Whatever happens from here (hopefully) won't be because of some dumb thing I did that had nothing to do with building an engine properly.

I am contemplating putting the engine in the chassis to get started on the last bits of wiring and possibly the exhaust. Kind of a PITA to do all that and take it all back apart though.

More to come.

 

[abdywgn]

but you'll be that much farther ahead when it is time for the final installation

 

[MMissile]

Wait till everything is the way you want it...on the dyno. Find something else to do.

 

[rmchrgr]

For anyone following my build thread here that may have missed my post about putting the 416" on the dyno you can read about that at the link below;

416" on the dyno

Obviously, I'm really happy with the results. I never dreamed there would be numbers like that attached to something I built. It's a nice feeling to finally be on the winning end rather than having to come up with excuses why it didn't perform.

Despite the overall success, I do have to address what appears to be an oil leak from the rear of the pan somewhere. I don't think it's the rear main but rather the end seal. Those don't normally leak though so either way it's a bit concerning. I'm going to get a cheap smoke machine and try to pinpoint what's going on. I really do not want to re-do the oil pan again.

I will mention that for the last few runs on the dyno the PCV system was not hooked up because the dyno shop carb did not have a provision for it. It's possible the lack of crankcase ventilation was pushing the oil past the seal. There is a breather on the other valve cover but it may not be enough.

From the let's-spend-more-money-before-we-ever-drive-this-thing dept., I will probably need to get my torque converter changed for it to be optimal. 10 years ago I had it built by Dynamic when the engine was making 500hp. It's a 9 1/2" that is supposed to stall at 4,500 rpm. The peak numbers are much higher now as are the rpms the peaks occur at. I called them yesterday and they said they would work with me on changing it if it actually needs it.

Thanks for reading. More to come.