Vacuum leak was obvious. I figured it popped epoxy, but wild that it actually pulled aluminum out. I worked at Batten in the P/S Truck era, and one day, John Lingenfelter brought a pair of heads in a suitcase for some flow bench/ swirl meter testing. That class was cool.
Continuing the Small Block Chevrolet's excellence. First year of production 1955. Continued development because of the open aftermarket industry and the quality of the original design. I love Pontiac V8's, Mopar RB and B big blocks, even the Mopar LA, but i hold high regards for the SBC.
It’s a sweet engine for sure, but sprint cars push that number all the time and have to last 30-50 laps at 8,500+ highs (sometimes buzzing over 9,000). Then they last 6, 10, 20, sometimes 30+ races at that. I didn’t catch what fuel he’s using in this, but sprint cars are mechanical fuel injected methanol.
Steve, if you do another video on this little beast could you show the modifications more extensively on the cylinder heads? Anything that was done by hand would be awesome to see. THAT is a true hot rod engine!
Been really curious about this engine, from what I remember about the pro stock trucks they ran the oddball short deck height bow tie block with the Olds Aurora bell housing. I’m assuming that this little monster is one of those engines, if that’s the case they could be milled down to around an 8.200” deck height. I do remember that they raised the cam tunnel by .391” for better pushrod angle and shorter pushrods to eliminate some of the deflection in the pushrods and lightening the valve train. Some of those teams had some really extravagant block lightening programs back then so I can only imagine how sculpted that block is in places that nobody would see. That’s definitely a cool piece you’re working with there. Looked for one of those castings for quite a long time but finally gave up and bought a Merlin IV and went big block big inch but still keep a watch out for one of those. Y’all are still doing an awesome job with the channel and congrats on the new machinery over the past few months. 👍
I remember a lot of guy's who ran Pro Stock Truck were not happy when NHRA dropped the class after only a short period of time because of all the time money and testing they put into the class.
Why people (like myself) fell in love with small blocks 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻! 2.5 hp per cube is also pretty awesome for something that old! New stuff is so much better! Aussie pro stock is right at 3hp per cube @ 398 cube! 400 cube small block rule over there! Tractor/ Truckpull is one of the hardest things on an engine! Wide open for 15secs + & yanking them backwards 😳😳😳😳!
I'm surprised you don't always index the plugs regardless. I remember seeing the magic marker lines on the porcelain on late model stock car engines at Langley Speedway in Hampton ,Va.
Those engines were originally 358 cu inches(4.185 bore x 3.25 stroke was the common sbc build) as the rule book capped them there. I hadn't ever seen a set of sb2's worked over like that with the epoxy. I know in the 80's that was common, but not so much in the 90's. I know back in those days the heads were sold by GM in roughed out form and it was up to the finisher to put the runners, guides, & seats in them.
I raced big port 426's. They all had tubes. They handled big boost and explosions without failure. Were those pushrod tubes had from chewing gum wrappers? :) Looking at your plugs and coming from an alky background, my faint memory recalls that the plugs would be clean in a sealed up engine but we looked at how many threads of plating were burnt off. I haven't thought about that for 30 years, for real not make believe. :) That engine was right at 2.48 hp per cube. What does a current na engine do?
Now that you remind me I had a similar thing happen to me when I had some porting on an old Harley. It was ported a bit too much and developed a pinhole in the top of the intake port into the rocker area.
I remember using those spark plug index shims, On one of the motors I built for my Fiat Topolino Altar. Was having same trouble piston hiting the plugs. I still have alot of stuff . I even had a cam that Jerry Hulse had one of a kind.
Even though it’s not a flux capacitor, it would be interesting to know what is the energy storage capacity of the fuel being used on a specific engine like the SMX and how much would that equate to and watch? Asking for a friend
So from an industrial not racing point of view.....Does the dry sump pump really need to spin at crank rpm? Seems like spinning a hydraulic pump at that rpm would contribute to whipping air into the oil, and take more HP to run. How many gallons per minute does the engine actually need? Could the pump spin slower? Could the pump gears be larger but spin the pump slower for less parasitic drag? Just curious questions.
Hello there. I hope you see this Mr Morrison. How would a wastegate for a turbo or supercharger work can you set up like that except install backwards so instead of losing pressure on the outside it loses pressure in the manifold for that split-second you may need to come down so you don't burn holes and things. Just a thought let me know
Ohh BTW, The Heads look like the old SHORT reach plugs not the long reach like you used. Maybe camera angle made it look that way but i remember the short reach plugs
Only thing from first video that didn’t give info on was engine smoked on restart I assumed it was Rich smoke if you would have said oil yup leaks like you found had those in the 70’s running F/MP and other classes where we ground the crap out of push rods CSA haaa glad you found it and something like this makes us all nuts after years of going along singing a song haaa😂
So you have to move the piston down just to remove or install a plug?? And what use crush rings to index them properly, I never looked, but I would not think the strap is indexed to the threads in manufacturing? So luck of draw?, or you need to add or remove material to index them?
Is this a canted valve head for the small block? Or a big block destroked to 376 CID? I was not aware of these heads for an SBC in the Pro Stock truck era.
Where are the "holes" Im guessing the gaskets? I dont understand if you actually means "holes" or that "some chunks were missing" "Holes" to me are like drilled or punched. The camera distance was too far away to see the issue. Thanks..... I knew for sure it wasnt a transmission line. 😁
There really is outside pressure, at 14 .7 lbs.per square inch against our body ..air pressure ,thats why we need pressureized space suits and pressureized air plane cabins because the air pressure is less with higher altitides. Dont feel bad, most people forget this !
Alright , I didn't start this vid ( ten secs at most ) , the belt drive lock nuts got loose and retarded the cam , lowering low speed combustion pressure .
I am wondering why the exhaust ports are not spaced like the typical SBC where the inboard port are next to each other? They appear to be spaced evenly?
you didnt mention they hogged the intake runners out so much they had to epoxy them... you wouldnt guess that unless youve done it...... which most of us woulda never atempted lol
But the problem was an intake leak where there was some oil which is what a lot of people guessed .in your description you did not make it clear that you checked the underside of the intake for leaks
No, instead of continuously accelerating like in drag racing, as more load is being applied in tractor pulling, it’s pulling the engine RPM down. That’s what he’s referring to.
