Poor life choices - C4 content

In reply to GTXVette:

Yes, I have a set of new springs for the cam. I've not heard of lighter retainers though?

In reply to petegossett:

Do you ever sleep?

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

Occasionally.

The style you have is known as an umbrella and it keeps the springs oiled and kool from an oil bath, a simple flat steel retainer is all you need and expensive one's are made from Unobtainium.

In reply to GTXVette:

I received your package today - thanks for including the manual too!!!

so you can work with that,Good deal. I found an OLD 4500 that had been done at Bud Moore's shop and had venturi neckdowns to get it small enough for the old Busch series 351ci 9to1 engines for $50.00 , But I fiddled with it enough It'll work on this boat motor I'm bringin' to the challenge. A Little big but it looks KOOL!!!

Day-50(1-hour):

Only got an hour in tonight because it's SWMBO's b-day, but I was able to get the head masked & painted, as well as a couple more sets of valvetrain parts through the cleaner.

On our way back from dinner I picked up some valve lapping compound, so I'll start on that tomorrow night.

Had to register after finding GRM through mazdeuce's thread. Your build is great too. Very detailed. One question though. Are you not going to have your heads magnafluxed to check for cracks?

In reply to sixt9stang:

Thanks and welcome!

If I weren't trying to stay within the budget limits of the GRM $2017 Challenge I would have likely sent the heads and block out to the machine shop. However, since outsourced labor counts against the budget, I'm cutting corners and doing what I can myself. I'm planning an LS swap in a year or two, so this rebuild doesn't need to last another ~30-years.

Day-51(2-hours):

I got all the valves lapped, then cleaned them & the head thoroughly again. I also finished cleaning the rest of the valvetrain hardware, so I installed exhaust valves. I order the intake valve seals last night, but they're not due here until Thursday. That may work out well since my other step-son is coming down tomorrow for a job interview, so I'm sure we'll have dinner plans tomorrow evening.

I do love Challenge budget constraints. The creativity it breeds is fun.

In reply to mazdeuce:

It certainly does. Though I'd say I'm following a fairly boring and conservative path - no serious fabrication, no extreme mods, nothing crazy at all really. I just hope to end up with a competent autocrosser and part-time driver that I can still drag to the Challenge once or twice before I go crazy with it.

I would argue that magnaflux checking does not count against the budget because it (1) is not part of the car and (2) does not improve performance or appearance. It is a tool which tells you whether or not to invest more time and or money into these particular heads.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

Good point. Though with the difficulty of me getting to a machine shop(twice) not having a running car, it's mostly a moot point.

Pish posh. I carried cylinder heads on my bicycle to the machine shop when I was young and foolish. You got this.

Morning Pete, so Is that carb Going to work for you. Jes' courious, may have another if you want,Or I can help fix the one you bought if you prefer.

In reply to GTXVette:

I've not had time to tear into it yet, but I will in a week or so once the engine is together. I did get the rebuild kit for it yesterday though. I think it should work - I know I'll need a bracket for the TV cable, but I've found the Holley one & think I can fab one up rather than spend $25 for theirs.

Day-52(2-hours):

I completed the head. Unfortunately I had to pull it all apart again, as I didn't realize I needed to wait to install the o-rings until after the springs were on & compressed. Fortunately the new seals also included a pack of o-rings, so I had spares for the two I damaged.

I started chasing the threads on the head bolts too, hope to have it bolted onto the block tomorrow night.

AngryCorvair wrote: I would argue that magnaflux checking does not count against the budget because it (1) is not part of the car and (2) does not improve performance or appearance. It is a tool which tells you whether or not to invest more time and or money into these particular heads.

Anyone make an inexpensive dye penetrant kit? It would be DIY and a consumable you wipe off after the testing. Maybe not as good as magnaflux, but much better than the eyeballs.

Yep, Hadn't seen one in 20-30 years. I wonder if you can get a couple B/A magnets and some UV dye and of course a black light for a homemade mag machine.

akamcfly wrote: Anyone make an inexpensive dye penetrant kit? It would be DIY and a consumable you wipe off after the testing. Maybe not as good as magnaflux, but much better than the eyeballs.

I believe there is something on the market like that in the heating & air conditioning world. They use it to check heat exchangers for cracks. I'll ask my HVAC buddy about it & post back.

Dykem?

They do make two part dye penetrant kits. They use them for non destructive weld testing in the field. They taught us to use them in NDT class as part of the welding inspector program. Spray the penetrant on, let it sit and wipe it off. Spray on the lifting agent and see what shows up. The smoother the surface the better they work.

I think Pegasus has a 3 part spray system. First part is a cleaner, then the dye, then use the cleaner again, then spray the developer. If there is a crack the dye will sink into it and the developer will draw it out. The developer dries to a white powder and the red dye will be easy to see, if it was trapped in a crack.

It looks like CRC makes the red dye, cleaner, and developer and you can get all three on Amazon for about $30.
And yes, the heads are back together so this is largely a moot point, but for future reference....