Recently in Engine Category

I recently developed a leak in my gas tank and due to the fine Italian engineering you must pull the motor to get the tank out. Since the motor was out I decided to open it up and refresh things. We've put 4 open road races ( including one at 5800 for 35 minutes ), 6 track events, and many road miles.

I opened up the manifold to find that two of my Comp Cams roller lifters had worn badly on the roller due to bearing failure or over tightning. Also the two cam lobes were also worn. Additionally I found one coil spring which lost a coil and broke.

After all my bragging about how this motor has held up despite the roller lifter setup, she finally had it. I do have to give some props to Comp Cams, after I called them with my situation they give me a big discount on replacement parts.

Bang! Happy fourth of july. I added a carb spacer to my pantera today. I
wanted to make a "super sucker" style spacer. They are two in one spacers,
increasing velocity and increasing plenum volume. I didn't wanna pay the
$140 for one of these spacers so I made one from a $50 moroso four hole
spacer. I took a print out of the one to copy and grinded away.

While I was in there I replaced the power valve and main/secondary jets and
stab pump discharge nozzles. After my dyno run last week I wanted to get
the car to where it should be air/fuel wise. I also replaced my 4" air
filter with a 2". I get about a 1" more gap now between the roof and the
air filter top. Result? Oh boy this thing is
so much faster. Seat of the pant's is great. I can really feel the power
and the motor seems to come alive. I don't know if its the jetting or the
spacer but it was definitly worth it.

Now I need to go back to the dyno to see what the results are.
If the results are good then I will buy the real CNC machined spacer.

Well finally hooked up with the mustang guys for a dyno run. I was a bit
disapointed in the output, but with some needed tuning I think I will be
happy with the results. My best HP was 385 and torque was 387. Torque
dropped off at 5000, and hp was still climbing. The A/F meter they put on
the car showed it as lean. So they did not run it up to the max rpm.
Apparently they want to see about a 11:1 a/f ratio. I am running about
14:1. So with some carb changes I should get some better results.

Intersting turn of events today. I want to ask for the lists help in
diagnosing the engine problem. As most of you know I have recently restored
this car and have only had ( #2245 ) on the road for a shore time ( about
3000 miles ).

Last weekend I adjusted my valves on the drivers side. Previous week I
adjusted the valves on the passenger side. This weekend I wanted to do some
carb work to get ready for autox tomorrow. I went down the shop today and
we came to the conclusion the car was running way to rich. We started the
day with #80 jets in the secondaries, then #72 in the primaries. At the end
of the day we ended up with #70 in the secondaries and #65 in the primary.
I took the car out for a trip down to get some Mobile one oil, it was
running great. I then took it for a 3 mile jaunt down the freeway and back
to the shop to change the oil to Mobil one synth. I changed the oil and
left the shop for my 10 mile trip home.

Crusing down the freeway in 5th gear about half way home i started to hear
a popping noise coming from the engine or exhaust. The popping noise
sounded like a leak in the exhaust like a small backfire. It only happened
when i accelerated. Within the next 5 miles it got worse. The popping got
louder till it was a banging. The noise was not mechanical though.
Something is wrong with the combustion. I coasted for awhile and the motor
almost died but was quiet when I wasn't accelerating. The banging got
worste as I tried to give it gas, so much so that I was afraid of causing
more damage by driving it. I pulled over and called the auto club for a
tow.

I haven't had a chance to diagnose the issue yet, that will probably start
tomorrow. Two immediate things come to mind, burnt valve and some wierd
timing issue. I may have setup the car too lean or I may have had the
valves too tight. I will pull the plugs tomorrow and do a compression check
first thing.

Ahhh .. The pantera gods shone upon thee this day!!!

Thanks for everyone's input on diagnosing my engine issue. It turns out
that I either forgot or didn't tighten the adjustment nut on the rocker arm
enough and it vibrated it's way off the pushrod and decided to not open the
exhaust valve anymore. This meant that the intake valve opened and but no
more stuff could get in, and it had to get spit back into the intake,
causing big booms.

So moral of the story, make sure your rocker arm adjustment nuts are tight.
I feel like i've won the lottery!

I played hooky from work on friday and spent most of the day doing wiring work in preperation for starting the motor. Saturday we made final preperations for running the engine. I ran a switch from the dash to the relay to power the ignition system and fuel pump. Then I ran a new power line from the battery to the amp meter. I did this because I am not utilzing a starter selinoed from the firewall anymore. Instead I ran a new power cable from the battery to the starter. So the only engine bay wires i am going to use are the alternator power and activation wires, start ignition wire, gas tank sender wires, and oil and temp guage wires. All the rest are not used or replaced.

We got the new exhaust sytem to align properly by basically hanging off it to bend it a bit. With a little sweat the whole thing lined up properly. I looks great too, and we didnt have to heat it which would have ruined the jet-hot coating. I filled the motor with oil, the transmission with lube, and the cooling system with water. Since I work on this car at an automotive shop in an industrial part of town, as soon as we hit the starter button about thirty people gathered around to see the 3 year old project come to life. I manned the carb and my brother in-law manned the starter button ( remote starter button, key wasn't wired up yet ). It started after three cranks! I kept the motor alive with the throttle and was amazed at the sound. This is a 408 stroker motor with solid roller lifter cam and a GTS exhaust system, the sound was amazing. The throttle response was great, the aluminum flywheel helps with that as does the A3 heads with spider single plane intake. The crowd was just amazed at the sound of the motor and the amount of rocking the car was doing when the motor was reved. The Electromotive HPV-1 ignition worked flawlessly, timing was perfect the first time, no muss, no fuss.

I was so excited I had to call my wife on the cell phone so she could hear it as well. After 3 years and close to $50,000 this a monumental milestone for this project. I have to make a driver out of the car now. I need all the guages and electrics working, and driver controls to complete as well. Words cannot describe my excitement.

pantera.wav

I spent the day working on the motor. The oil pan is on and the the intake manifold is a few bolts away from complete. I also installed the new edelbrock water pump. The pump had to be ground down a bit on the two bolts nearest the damper, my damper was either bigger then stock or the edelbrock is not cast quite right. I going to complete the top end of the motor and do some more plumbing for the water and clutch slave. I took some more shots of the car, showing the size of the rear tires ... freaking huge!

Tomorrow is a big day. I get my completed motor back from Al Liest. Im going to go pick it up and take to the shop where the car is. It basically ended up a $10,000 motor, $2000 labor, $3000 in A3 heads, manifold, connecting rods, and $5000 in other parts to put together the long block. I will post the list of full parts once I get it from Al. I also ordered some bulk head fittings to install a new fuel pickup tube in my gas tank. I should be able to finish that this weekend in preperation for installing the motor. I picked up two front Michelin Sport tires for the car, they were used from a friend $20 each. They only have maybe 15k miles left, but for $20 im not complaining. I installed the front calipers and the brake lines. It's hard to see the brake calipers with the bright wheels, but that won't prevent them from working great when stopping the car. I also installed the front lower brace that keeps the frame from flexing. I will be purchasing my rear tires soon.

I got a call from Al Leist saying my motor was about to be assembled and to come take some pictures. So I ran down there during lunchtime and took a couple of photos. The camshaft, crank, and timing gear is on the block. The pistons and rods were laying on the bench. Some nice pieces include the custom pistons which are nicely dished to match the A3 heads, a custom made aluminum flywheel, and a nice steel harmonic dampener. The pistons have a 20cc dish which should put the compression ratio down to around 10.5:1. Should be just right for street gas. The motor assembly should finish up this week. I should take delivery next week.

Another Christmas has gone by and it's 2003! Could this be the year my Pantera finally sees the highway again? Things look right. I'm still waiting on the motor from Al Leist. He ran into a snag with the rods I gave him. I gave him some Eagle 6.2" chevy rods which when I was planning a Windsor stroker would have worked great. However since I couldn't find a manifold to mate my A3 heads to the Windsor block, we had to go with the Clevland block. That .25" difference in the deck height, means these connecting rods will not fit. So Al is off finding me some new connecting rods, 6". The block is prepared and the SCAT stroker crank has been balanced with my new aluminum flywheel, damper, and clutch pressure plate. So all the heavy work has been done. He already has the custom pistons in hand as well. So we are only waiting for the connecting rods and he can do the final assembly. I will be taking delivery of the long block. I will still have to add the water pump, valve covers, and probably oil pump and pan. Al is also looking for an oil pan for the motor, so I may not need to install those items. It shouldn't be too much longer now til I get the motor back.

I also have the rebuilt transmission in hand and that looks great. The only things I need to do yet; install the wiring harness, install the calipers and brake plumbing, install the chassis stiffening kit, install the steering column and gauges, and plumb the cooling system. Of course install the engine and transmission. Here are some more pictures of my progress.

Here is the SCAT stroker crankshaft sitting next to the stock 351C piece. The stroker piece is a 4" stroke with 3" main journal size and chevy size crank pins. The journals wil have be turned down to 2.749" for use in the stock block. At this point I am hoping to buy an SVO block. You can buy the block with either main journal sizes, 3" or 2.749". Most people prefer the smaller diameter journal size due to the amount of heat built up from the larger journal.