Rebirth of my 1970 GTX!

[t.flatt]

I got my heads back from the machine shop!!! They are brand new stealth heads from 440 Source but I wanted to get them checked over. The shop said the valve guides were a bit tight so they took 0.001" off of those. Also, one of the valves had some chrome that was flaking away on the stem. I'll dig up a picture later. I told 440 Source about it and they sent out a new valve free of charge! Much appreciated! Now I can take some measurements to send to B3 Racing Engines and they'll make some special shims to reposition the rocker shaft and get the valvetrain geometry correct.

 

[Nxcoupe]

I got my heads back from the machine shop!!! They are brand new stealth heads from 440 Source but I wanted to get them checked over. The shop said the valve guides were a bit tight so they took 0.001" off of those. Also, one of the valves had some chrome that was flaking away on the stem. I'll dig up a picture later. I told 440 Source about it and they sent out a new valve free of charge! Much appreciated! Now I can take some measurements to send to B3 Racing Engines and they'll make some special shims to reposition the rocker shaft and get the valvetrain geometry correct.View attachment 1333778

Happy guy!

 

[blue69runner]

Good to see a company stand behind their product. Sounds like you on the way to having the motor done.

 

[t.flatt]

Good to see a company stand behind their product. Sounds like you on the way to having the motor done.

Yeah, it is on the way! I still have a lot to do but it is progressing!

 

[SRT_Blubyu]

Fast cars and young guys have a tendency to destroy one or the other...many times, both.

A more prophetic statement has rarely been spoken... so very true.

 

[t.flatt]

Here is the bad valve I spoke of earlier. The chrome flaking off I'm sure would make quick work of a valve seal and who knows what else. It's definitely another reminder to check over new parts thoroughly! It never would have been seen if the heads hadn't been disassembled.

 

[HawkRod]

Here is the bad valve I spoke of earlier. The chrome flaking off I'm sure would make quick work of a valve seal and who knows what else. It's definitely another reminder to check over new parts thoroughly! It never would have been seen if the heads hadn't been disassembled.

View attachment 1348251

Fully agree.

My brand new rods for my stroker 340 were over spec on the rod journal size right out of the box! Assume NOTHING!

 

[t.flatt]

Fully agree.

My brand new rods for my stroker 340 were over spec on the rod journal size right out of the box! Assume NOTHING!

Wow, that's one you'd hate to find out when you fire up the motor for the first time!

 

[SRT_Blubyu]

Fully agree.

My brand new rods for my stroker 340 were over spec on the rod journal size right out of the box! Assume NOTHING!

wow sounds like lousy QC... what brand?

 

[HawkRod]

Wow, that's one you'd hate to find out when you fire up the motor for the first time!

They were at the high end of the spec to .0002" bigger. Not absolutely terrible, and likely there would have been enough crush to keep the bearings in place. But, I didn't want to take the chance.

wow sounds like lousy QC... what brand?

They are Scat 6123 rods that came in a stroker kit from Scat. My complete engine build is on a thread - here is the post where I discuss the rods:
The first "Hawk-Rod" resurrection, Roadkill style

 

[SRT_Blubyu]

Not a single connecting rod leaves the Scat facility without being inspected for quality and accuracy first. Photo courtesy of Scat.

You'll get a kick out of this article then.. Talking all about Chinese quality.

A Look Into Manufacturing in China

 

[HawkRod]

You'll get a kick out of this article then.. Talking all about Chinese quality.

A Look Into Manufacturing in China

Good article to read. Here is the unfortunate part:
Lieb says Scat will never buy a connecting rod from China that is 100% finished. "We do all the finishing here because that’s the only way we can control the sizing,” Lieb says.

So that means that the finish size was done here in the USA.

Now to be clear: I am not bashing Scat, or US manufacturing, or even Chinese manufacturing in this case. The crank was great and perfectly in spec. So the rods were the only issue. And really, .0002" tolerance difference can happen based on a change in temperature! So these rods may very well have left the factory in spec (but on the higher side of the spec) on the day they were measured. Maybe a little colder when they were checked? Who knows, but I wanted them on the smaller side of the spec to be sure I had excellent crush on the bearing for when my right foot hit the go pedal!

Now back to the @t.flatt restoration thread - I don't want to hijack his thread!

 

[SRT_Blubyu]

yea.. thats what i thought was ironic ha

 

[t.flatt]

Yeah, we can get back to it but we're not gonna get to far! I've had a few setbacks. First, I spent a lot of time setting up the rocker arm spacing. The B3 kit has smaller hold downs you have to use so that was time well spent! The new spacers I ordered were, of course, the same as the ones I already have. And, I ruined a valve cover trying to get the rockers to clear the baffle. A new one is not available for a couple months. To top everything off, we're moving!! This will be the second time since getting the car back. But it's not all bad. I'll have a triple garage!!!

 

[t.flatt]

I made these little dollies for the move and had my step-dad weld them up. I also went ahead and bolted up the old rear suspension.

 

[t.flatt]

Success!!! I Got the X and all my crap to the new place. I have to say, I really like the view when I open the garage door! There are a few steps so you get a birds eye view. I still have no idea how this shop will be set up. But, it's a relief to have everything here to organize as I see fit!

 

[t.flatt]

Well, here is what might not seem like it, but it's a major accomplishment! An open workbench! After the general chaos of moving and then the holidays hitting I have not got much done on the car. But, that clean bench is about to get invaded by my heads! And the heads for my harley...

 

[t.flatt]

So, I'm almost done messing around with this old thing! I didn't have time to spray the nice paint job that I want. So, I got a good couple coats of epoxy primer on the tanks and spray bombed the tanks black to get it in a show next to my late uncle's '77 FLH. I'll sand that off, make sure they look perfect in primer and spray the good paint that I bought.

 

[t.flatt]

A few shots of the show... I took home a 2nd place chopper trophy and my aunt got Crusader's choice (the Crusader's are the bike club putting on the show), people's choice, best display, and 1st place 3-wheeler! Way to go Margie!!!

 

[t.flatt]

And, in an effort to clean the garage I got some work done on the X! After a few hours of tweaking, checking, tweaking, checking...a brake line is in! Brake and fuel lines were one of the first things I wanted to get done but I got extremely discouraged when I saw what the body shop did. They welded in the sub-frame connectors like I asked and made a beautiful hole through the driver's side one for the parking brake cable. But, the holes in the torsion bar crossmember that the brake and fuel lines go through are completely blocked off!!! WTF!!! They claim to be one of the top shops in the country and love Mopars. How the hell could this go unnoticed? I'm not excited to start cutting into a ridiculously expensive paint job but that is the only option. I'm not routing them under the crossmember.