grumpyvette

IM certainly NOT knocking your skills or enginueity,which I applaud, Im just pointing out your time and efforts better spent elseware

the combo looks sound, and well thought thru, the only potential areas of concern is that (1)you didn,t list the drive train, that combo will work best with a manual trans and a 4.11 or 4.33:1 rear gear ratio, or an auto with a 3000-3200rpm stall converter (2)dr hunts correct the 1 5/8" headers may cost a few peak hp ,(especially if you run nitrous later on) but youll gain some low to mid rpm N/A torque as a trade off, so its your choice, not a big deal either way, in my opinion on a street driven car. (3) but Id suggest you install a full length 3" exhaust with an (X) or (H) connector as the combo will be restricted if you use anything smaller (4) the cars rear suspension and rear differential, TIRES should be carefully set up to handle the torque, PROBABLY requires a few rear wheel tub and roll cage mods (5) Id suggest a 750-800 demon or HOLLEY carb also, the smaller carb will work, but your likely to be down a couple hp, again,not a big deal either way, in my opinion on a street driven car. (6)you didn,t mention the RINGS and BEARINGS Id use (H) type bearings and be sure to check with the manufacturer on the correct ring gap and bore finnish for honeing and use a torque plate while its honed, and get the piston to bore clearance correct, use a good assembly lube http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=CLE%2DMS909H&autoview=sku GROUVE IN BLOCK NOT CAPS ON THE MAINS (check thrust bearing clearance) http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=CLE%2DCB663HN10&autoview=sku BTW IF YOU DO INSTALL A NITROUS KIT ID use this intake/kit Ive had great results with the combo http://www.holley.com/300-110.asp http://www.holley.com/02101NOS.asp

YOU MIGHT BE A RACER IF ... You think the primary purpose of wings is to PREVENT flight. You take your helmet along when you go to buy new eyeglasses or check out cars. You are happiest when your street car's tires are worn to racing depth and the wear bars are showing. When something falls off of your car, you wonder how much weight you just saved. Your email address refers to your race car rather than to you. You've paid $4.00 a gallon for gas without complaining. You bought a race car before buying a house. You bought a race car before buying furniture for the new house. You're looking for a tow vehicle and still haven't bought furniture! The requirements you give your real estate agent are (in order of importance): 1) 8 car climate controlled garage with an attached shop. 2) Outside parking for 6 cars, a motor home, a crew cab dually, a 28' enclosed trailer and a 34' 5th wheel. 3) 3 phase 220V outlets in the garage for your welder. 4) A grease pit. 5) Deaf neighbors. 6) Some sort of house with a working toilet & shower on the property - or - hookups for the motor home. You sit in your race car in a dark garage and make car noises and shift and practice your heel and toe, while waiting for your motor to get back from the machine shop. You have enough spare parts to build another car. More than one racer supply store recognizes your voice and greets you by name when you call. You think the last line of the Star Spangled banner is: "Racers start your engines!" People know you by your class, car number, and car color. You astound the clerk at Sears by bringing in a snapped breaker bar every other week or so. Your family brings the couch into the garage to spend time with you. A neighbor asks if you have any oil, to which you query, "Synthetic or organic?" and they reply, "Vegetable or corn." You enjoy driving in the rain on the way to work. You always want to change something on your street car to make it handle better. You've tried to convince your wife you needed that flow bench to fix the air filter on her station wagon. You save broken car parts as "momentous". You've found your lawnmower runs pretty good on 108 octane gas (but doesn't particularly care for alcohol). The local police and state highway patrol have a picture of your car taped to their dashboard. Instead of pictures in your wallet, you have time slips. You quote your street tire wear life in weeks rather than miles. After you tell your wife where you'd like to go on vacation she answers: "Why...is there a race there?" You know at least three 1-800 numbers to aftermarket parts houses by heart. You are on a first-name basis with owners of every local speed shop. You want to take apart and rebuild things, even though they are not broken. You have the monetary equivalent of a lunar rocket invested in it, but your car still won't cut a good light or run the number. You own a vehicle that has at least 500 horsepower more than when it came out of Detroit. You look for hi-po cars in the movies and try to guess what engine size, tire size, and whether or not it has nitrous in it. You are the type of person who goes postal when you have to sit in a traffic jam for more than five minutes, yet you can spend five hours in the staging lanes. Every stoplight becomes a practice tree to test your ability to tree the guy in the other lane's eyes out. You wash your car like it was your firstborn child, you tend to its needs like it was your own body, you protect it like it's your family, then you drive it like you stole it. You understand racing is a way of life, not just a means of transportation. 1. You set off car alarms throughout any parking garage you drive into. 2. Neighbors mistake you driving by for either thunder or a low flying jet. 3. Your neighbors either hate you or want rides in your car, or both. 4. You exclaiming "Warp 9, number one!" before standing on the gas does not elicit laughs. 5. The smell of unburnt fuel from your exhaust at idle makes eyes water at 100 yards and kills small birds and insects much closer. 6. WOT has another nickname: Tire Fry. 7. Judicious use of the throttle has become more than just a good idea. 8. You have more gagues in your vehicle than any three of your friends, combined. 9. Your entire driveline has been replaced with more durable parts for fear of catastrophic failure of stock parts. 10. On a ten hour drive you only age 2 hours. 11. Your pastor tries to explain what one of the seals of the apocalypse breaking is like by using your car as an example. 12. When confronted by your car police either laugh or cry. 13. you refer to pump 93 octane as tow truck fuel 14. you buy fuel in 55 gallon drums 15 you know the octane rating of toulene and xylene by heart, and the local paint supply house thinks your a commercial painter because you buy it by the case lot 16.you had no idea marvel mystery oil was sold in containers smaller than 1 gallon cans 17. you think spark plugs life expectancy is one race 18. you can,t believe it takes those pit crews the whole 15 minutes to swap engings 19.you can,t believe the tire ballance guy won,t believe the tires have a harmonic shake at 218 mph 20. you know the exhaust temps plus/minus 10 degrees by the shade of red the exhaust pipes glow

http://www.ben-pearson.com/9000si.shtml heres the lift I bought after a good deal of research, keep in mind its CERTIFIED and TESTED and AMERICAN MADE INSTALLED AND PARTS ARE AVAILABLE I wanted a 4 post UNTILL I used one at a buddies shop, and quickly found the two post had far better access to the suspension,wheels,drive train ETC. "If Quality is what you're looking for, you'll find it in Ben Pearson's 9000SI Two-Post. The reasons are simple, we build each lift to exacting specifications. Plus, we don't build any lift to meet our needs, we build them to meet your needs. ALI certified/validated by ETL Single point safety release Padded overhead shut-off bar 2-5/8" & 5" truck adapters included Extra long carriage for smooth lifting Convenient stack-pad storage rack on post Automatic engage and release arm restraint Extra large ultra-high molecular bearing blocks Low profile arms for low ground clearance Optional height extension kits for taller vehicles Clear floor design for convenient use of floor jacks" this should help ID STRONGLY SUGGEST NOT BUYING A CHINESE BUILT LIFT AND BUYING FROM AN AMERICAN MANUFACTURER /KEEP IN MIND THAT PARTS AVAILABILITY IN THE FUTURE AN SERVICE IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN SAVING A FEW BUCKS ON THE UP FRONT COST Auto lifts http://www.autolift.org/ http://www.autolift.org/purchase_considerations.pdf http://www.geminilift.com/ http://www.ben-pearson.com/automotive-lifts.shtml http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/racks/index.htm http://www.challengerlifts.com/products.shtml http://www.directlift.com http://www.backyardbuddy.com http://www.autolifts.com http://www.westernhoist.com/ http://www.stingerlifts.com http://www.doublepark.net http://www.mohawklifts.com http://www.autolifters.com http://www.bendpak.com/ http://www.bendpak.com/product_info.isg?products_id=881 http://www.rotarylift.com/ http://eagleequip.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=LI ok having just gone thru this , Id point out that theres a HUGE differance in the REPLACEMENT PARTS availability and TECH SUPPORT availability and getting the lift installed correctly between the americam made and chinese built lifts, you probably DON,T WANT a 12,000 lb lift unless you excluesively work on larger trucks as the lift arms may not have the necessary clearance to use on low slung cars a 9000 lb lift will handle almost all personal cars/trucks "I have been looking for a lift for a while but my problem is my garage is not high enough for a full lift. What I want is a low rise or mid rise portable lift I can store under the car and it will be low enough to drive over when not is use. When I need it I can raise it up and have access to the underside of the car. Does anyone have one of these and which would you recommend. This is for a home garage. Thanks PS what about a used lift any market for them, where would I look for one" this will do almost everything you asked for in a low clearance garage http://kwiklift.com/commercial.htm http://kwiklift.com/Options.htm down up Ive used them at a couple friends garages that only had the comon 8 ft ceiling height double garages, and they work really well, but I used the heavy duty version so I don,t know about the standard versions

I worked, planed and saved for 35 years to afford and build that shop,its slowly getting built and outfitted,as my budget allows, so don,t get discouraged if your young and broke, Im STILL broke, but making progess. you WILL eventually achieve your goals if you stick to the course, on reaching your goals long enought

YEAH! the TRUTH SUCKS AT TIMES, but theres little to be gained in fabricating a tool when the comercial versions easy to aquire and dirt cheap

BTW I was asked about my garage ,for those who mised the previous post... my garage is 36 FT deep x 74 feet wide and 16FT tall to the lower edge of the rafters, ITS GREAT!( ITS My dream garage) but you can ALWAYS use a few more feet of area. I can,t seem to get a decent picture to show the true size, Ive added shelving and work benchs ETC, since pictures are a couple years old, taken on the first day we had electric as we were just stuffing things in out of the rain on day one, over 1/2 the tools a couple engines and 4 various welders were not off the truck yet looking east from scafold

http://www.millermotorsports.com/mboard/forumdisplay.php?f=3 ask here

first ID point out that 220F coolant should NOT be any cause for allarm in traffic style driving its almostr expected with a large V8 set up to produce high power when theres limited air flow thru the radiator at lower speeds, and also suggest that OIL does a great deal of the cooling of the hotter parts so installing a large OIL COOLER on the engine and a second one on the transmission(if its an auto trans) will go a long way towards cooling the engine and maintaining stabile temps http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=PRM%2D13318&N=700+4294854215+115&autoview=sku you might want to install both a pull and push ellectric fan on the radiator if you don,t currently have both just some info too think thru the engines state of tune effects the heat generated, vacuum leaks tend to increase heat, octane used effects the heat, your ignition timing curve effects the heat the type of coolant effects the rate heats transfered the amount and type of oil effects the temp transfer rates a larger oil filter, and larger capacity baffeled oil pan, tends to reduce temps due to exposing a larger surface area to the air flow, keeping the average oil temp in the pan lower:thumbsup: anything that reduces airflow thru the radiator reduces its efficiency the water pump and T-stat both effect the rate heats transfered, high flow water pumps can help the electric fans work off a sensor and the temp they turn on at can be modified, larger or additional electrical fans can be added on an auto trans car,the transmission fluid adds a good deal of heat to the radiator, adding a seperate ADDITIONAL trans cooler with a seperate ellectric fan,removes a good deal of the load from the radiator oil in the engine flowing over parts absorbs and transfers heat , having a larger baffled oil pan hanging down in the airflow under the engine helps cool the engine headers remove heat faster than stock exhaust manifolds aftermarket aluminum radiators can be far more efficient the dia. of the pullies your using does effect the coolant flow running the correct T-stat can help cooling, generally the 180F-190F is the best compromize http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81691 http://www.becool.com/ http://www.dewitts.com/pages/categoryresults.asp?catID=19 http://www.kevko.net/images/1090_full.gif http://www.kevko.net/wetsump_chevy.htm http://www.stefs.com/products/oilpans/circletrackwetsump.htm http://www.radiatorbarn.com/?source=overture engine oil needs to reach and stay at about 215F-240f to lube and clean correctly and burn off moisture trans fluid I try to keep under 160F,surely below 180F , Ideally I try to keep engine coolant in the engine in the 190F-200F range but don,t get overly worried below 230F. BTW I run a 190F t-stat, temp ranges should be kept within these ranges or the wear and emmissions won,t give you the long engine and trans life and low emmission levels you expect , drop the coolant temps lower and you may gain a few hp but the wear tends to get worse as the fluids can,t opperate correctly, drop the oil temp below 211 F and acids can form in the oil (bad for bearings) in an ideal world the coolant temp would stay in the 190F-200F range, install a 180F-or-190F t-stat and have the fans reprogramed to come on at about 185F-200F and youll see a marked stabilization of the coolant temp IF everythings functioning CORRECTLY heres the fan control kits 185F http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=SUM-890015 200F http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=PRF%2D30102&N=700+115&autoview=sku this external trans cooler http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=PRM%2D12318&N=700+115&autoview=sku personally I sellected the 190F T-stat 185F fan control , but IM seriously thinking of getting the 200F fan control simply because with my external trans cooler the engine oil temp seldom gets over 220F and it takes 215F to burn off all moisture in the oil. on my corvette I felt the proper route was hot tranny fluid out to radiator then to the electric fan cooled trans cooler then back to the trans, simply because that maximized the temp drop to the trans AND I was not having ANY trouble cooling the engine, in fact the oil temp seldom exceeds 230F and takes a fairly long time to reach 215F. I don,t know the trans fluid pressure but I did verify that my trans cooler was designed for transmision heat/pressure and was factory tested at 300PSI. BTW if you route the other direction, IE seperate trans cooler first then to the radiator it makes for a significant reduction in coolant temp, and the fan on the seperate tranny fluid cooler runs constantly, but the engine coolant has a difficult time getting up to temp,(at least on my corvette) of reaching or allowing the oil temp in the engine to reach 215F LETS NOT GET INTO HOW I KNOW THAT ... btw some comon areas people SCREW-UP (1) theres TWO differant types of water pumps, most serpentine belt water pumps are REVERSE ROTATION compared to the standard SBC water pumps and of course wount work correctly if they get installed in an application where they spin in the wrong dirrection (2) some head gaskets have significantly smaller than standard water flow passage holes that significantly restrict coolant flow rates to the heads, youll need to verify your useing the correct gaskets (3) your ignition timing has a huge effect on the engine temp, verify its close to correct, on both total timing and it advances smoothly as the rpms go up. (4)never mix the older GREEN and newer ORANGE COOLANT (ANTI-FREEZE) they CAN in rare cases form a JELL over several months and clog a radiator (5) air flow thru the radiator is critical, make darn sure theres no crud blocking the radiator fins, CLEAN IT FREQUENTLY with soapy water and a hose it takes surprizingly little mud or grass stuck in the fins to significantly raise temps and you won,t be the first guy to have a plastic bag or paper or leaves sucked up and blocking the air flow (6) T-stats can go deffective, Id advise useing a known brand in a 180F-190f RANGE, and type , not the cheapest crap you can find BTW I normally drill 8-10 equally spaced 1/8" holes in the flange of the corvetts t-stat all around the perimeter this allows coolant to flow even if the t-stat locks closed and prevents air trapped under the flange, :thumbsup: the picture below is of a semi similar mod on a differant cars T-stat, yes it takes longer to reach full temp, but Ive found no down side and it works better with this mod in my opinion heres a couple chevy t-stats Ive seen fewer of the upper design fail to function correctly now IM sure some guys will say that defeats the T-stats purpose but it still works and theres a noticable increase in coolant flow at 190F when the t-stat opens so I feel its a no lost deal

its the skill level and experiance of the guy or gal IN that garage that determines the level of expertize,and the resulting finished work, hand tools a decent set of jack stands and knowing what your doing will ALWAYS produce better results than all the lifts, compressors,welders etc. in the world in un-skilled hands. Im a tool junky, but having the correct tools speeds up the work and makes it easier to do, hand tools in skilled hands can do just as much work, and at times get better results, it just takes longer and requires more effort. you DON,T need to be comfortable, or have the best tools, but you do need to understand what your trying to accomplish and how the parts work, what caused them to fail and what youll need to do to correctly repair or modify them having the correct lighting, a lift,air conditioning, cold beers etc, may be nice, but it adds little but added comfort or ease of access to the guy doing the work, its the skills of the guy doing the work and his extensive experiance and understanding of mechanics that gets the job done other than an extensive list of HAND TOOLs like a VOM meter timing light vacuum gauge fuel pressure gauge IR TEMP GUN JACK STANDS and shop manuals/ and a decent set of diagnostic meters sure helps (ILL POST MY TOOL LIST BELOW) Id say a good quality welder, die grinder compressor, DRILL PRESS QUALITY lift, are nice but not MANDATORY, because you can usually borrow or sub out some of the work BTW heres MY TOOL LIST, IVE POSTED BEFORE,.....IF IT FITS IN A COUPLE OF MY PRO SIZED TOOL CHEST ITS A HAND TOOL.....and YEAH IVE GOT 90% or more PLUS of those tools in my tool chest...LIKE I SAID IM A TOOL JUNKY......but the lift, compressor, welders are great but not necessarily mandatory GRUMPYVETTES BASIC TOOL LIST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- l items that may come in handy -not a comnplete list but it will get you started A set of quick release tools for late model gm fuel lines and a/c line disconnects. ACETYLENE TORCH ADJUSTABLE LENGTH PUSH ROD ADJUSTABLE POINTER , Adjustable stand, for dial indicator Air compressor Air ratchet Allen wrenches Allen wrenches ASK QUESTIONS (its important to get answers BEFORE screwing up) ASSORTED FILES Assorted pliers/vise grips ASSORTED SOCKETS,OPEN AND BOX WRENCHES 1/2",3/8".1/4" DRIVE auto xray software Ball joint press tools Ball joint separator forks Battery charger(full size shop type) Bench grinder w/ wire wheel Bench grinder w/ wire wheel bearing press 12 ton hydrolic Big huge screwdriver which doubles as a pry bar BORE GAUGE Brake spring pliers and retaining spring tool Breaker bar CAM BEARING INSTALLER CAM DEGREE WHEEL CAM HANDLE CARBIDE BURRS Carburetor stand CC Burette Kit/PLUS STAND Checking springs chisels (assorted sizes/types) clamp for compressing calipers CLUTCH PILOT Coil spring compressors COMMON SENSE Compression gauge Compression tester Compressor CRANK SOCKETS Creeper Crows feet Cutting torch CYLINDER HONE Deep sockets DENT PULLER DEPTH GAUGE Dial indicator, Die grinder digital meter Differential Set-up Kit Distributor wrench sae Distributor wrench metric Drain pans all sizes Dremel tool set to cut rivets etc. DRIFT PUNCHES (assorted sizes/types) Drill bits DRILL PRESS Drop light (florescent preferred) Duct tape Dwell meter for the older cars EASY OUTS ELECTRIC SOLDER GUN Electrical connectors assorted Electrical tape Engine hoist ENGINE LEVELER ENGINE STAND Feeler Gages FIRE EXTINGUISHER co2 FIRE EXTINGUISHER powder Flexible dwell key for point distributors FREEZE PLUG INSTALLER FUEL PRESSURE GAUGE Full set of assorted hammers all the way up to 5 lb hand held full set of tap and dies metric and standard Full set of torqze tip screw drivers and sockets male and female all sizes Full size vice Gasket scraper 2" Gasket scraper4" Gear Pullers (assorted) GM disk brake caliper Allen key 3/8 and 5/16 GOOD KNOWLEDGEABLE FRIENDS Grease gun Harmonic balancer puller HARMONIC BALLANCER INSTALLER HONING STONE Impact sockets Jack stands and a 2 1/2 -3 ton full size service floor jack JEWELERS FILES LAPTOP COMPUTER with diagnostic software Leakdown tester LIFTER BORE HONE LIFTER GROOVE TOOL Line wrenches LUIS TOOL Magnet MAGNETIC PICK UP TOOL MAGNIFYING GLASS Mallet MANUAL LUBE PUMP MICROMETERS MIG WELDER Mini Valve Spring Tester MIRROR Multimeter Normal screwdrivers all sizes NUT SPLITTER OIL CAN Oil filter and regular spin on filter wrenches. Oil filter wrench plier type Oil filter wrench expandable type Oil pump primer chevy Oil Pump Primers hydrolic ONE NEW SOLID LIFTER Paint gun PB BLASTER OIL Permanent marker Pipe cutter PISTON RING COMPRESSOR Piston stop, Pitman arm puller Plasma cutter 200amp Plasma cutter 60amp PLASTIC HAMMER Plastic zip-lock bags Pneumatic chisel Pneumatic impact guns 3/8 and 1/2 drive Pressure bleeder for brakes PRY BAR PUSHROD CHECKER Putty knife Ramps Rear caliper piston turning tool REFERENCE MANUALS Retracting extension cord RIFLE CLEANING ROD AND BRUSHES FOR OIL PASSAGES Ring expander pliers RING GAP FILER Rochester idle mixture adjusting tool ROD BOLT GUIDES ROD BOLT STRETCH GAUGE Safety glasses Sandblaster SCAN SOFTWARE Shorty wrenches Sledge or mall hammer SMALL FLASH LIGHT Snap ring pliers internal and external Speed wrench SPRING COMPRESSOR Standard set of drift pin punches, alignment punches, and centering punches. Steering column lock plate compressor Steering wheel puller Stethoscope Stick/arc welder STUD INSTALLER TAPE MEASURE Taps & dies Test light Three or four of every size socket and wrenches plus extensions ETC. Throw-away vinyl gloves Tig welder Timing light Tire iron Tire Pressure Gauges Torque wrench 3/8' TORQUE WRENCH 1/2" Transmission jack Tubing bender Tubing cutter Tubing flare tool Utility knife Utility knife VACUUM GAUGE Valve spring compressor Wheel chocks (keep cars from rolling) Wire crimper surprizingly a good deal of that stuff fits inside three pro-size craftsman tool boxes,that stand 6 feet tall and 40" wide and have 22 drawers each (at $2000 each..ON SALE??) and the stuff like various welders,bearing presses,hoists ETC. don,t take up as much room as you might think

in most cases the roller rockers that use a 3/8" stud are designed to work with almost any screw in stud, but be aware that the axle in the roller bearing in the rocker has a rounded lower and a flat upper surface, the flat upper surface matches the lock nuts that come with the rockers, you can,t use stock nuts and its possiable to assemble the rocker on the stud with the flat side down, in that case the adjustment nuts wount fit or work so be carefull about that most rockers come with adjustment nuts like these. the outside dia matches the rockers upper slot width and the locking hex in the center is designed to jam against a flat top on a studs after the nuts adjusted the rocker top get the correct preload or lash distance, you need to back out the center lock hex set screw to almost the top of the threads in the nut before adjusting valves, to prevent the set screw from limiting adjustment most use a 5/8" wrench and a 3/16" allen key http://www.2quicknovas.com/happyvalves.html http://www.iworkinmyunderwear.com/king_family/impala/engine_rebuild/4drss/adj-valves.html

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=PRM%2D12318&N=700+115&autoview=sku if your going to get one , get a decent size and mount it where theres decent access, air flow and it will work, personally I mounted my cooler where the spare tire used to be, but thats mostly because I bought a large effective one, I fabricated mount brackets,outlet size is 3/8 in. NPT FEMALE at the cooler, I don,t run a TH400 so I don,t know the trans size but its just not that much work to research it and find out, call the local trans shop! 90 degree fittings of the correct type are NOT a major restriction, your local hydrolic supply can fabricate custom hoses for your application adapters http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+115+323915&D=323915 90S http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=AER%2DFBM1532&N=700+115&autoview=sku http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=AER-FCV0620

since roller cams generally use taller springs, greater lobe lift and faster accelleration rates and heavier spring pressures you generally CAN,t get away with pressed in studs, so youll be forced to convert to screw in rocker studs, stock are 3/8" aftermarket can be either 3/8" or 7/16" which tend to be stronger and deflect less, especially with a stud girdle, now you can run or make nearly anything function short term, but it takes a bit more thought and better parts once the rpms exceed about 6500rpm and lifts start to exceed .600 or so, BECAUSE the spring rates and stress levels necessary to make it function will be higher than whats required at lower stress levels, keep in mind stress is cumulative, just because it works the first or fiftyeith time does not mean it will continue to function without failing the next time out, building engines with both the correct clearances and a significant FUDGE FACTOR on the parts strength and correct LUBRACATION AND COOLING and UNDERSTANDING fatigue life is smart if you need to depend on it functioning LONG TERM

youll be best served asking DETAILED WELDING questions HERE, your always better off asking pros in the tech field rather than hobbiests http://www.millermotorsports.com/mboard/forumdisplay.php?f=3 http://metals.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aws.org%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmwf%2Fforum_show.pl%3FmarkRead%3D1 http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95187 its a waste of time and effort to build your own when HF sells complete compression test kits for under $15 with them included youll NEED to pull the heads to correctly measure the valve guides or install new ones,( BOTH jobs best left to a QUALITY machine shop)

the product http://www.pulstarplug.com/ THIER CLAIMS http://www.pulstarplug.com/testresults.html ID LOVE TO SEE SOME INDEPENDENT TEST RESULTS, BECAUSE having the guys selling the pulstarplug plugs, set up the test procedures, stage and report on the test results seems kind of a RIGGED GAME to ME! THE REAL RESULTS FROM INDEPENDENT TESTING http://www.teamzr1.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1976 :crazy:

"THE TORCH" WAS NICE ENOUGHT TO POST THIS WELDING ROD INFO Arc welding electrodes are identified using the A.W.S, (American Welding Society) numbering system and are made in sizes from 1/16 to 5/16 . An The E6011 is not a complete number. It also needs a diameter designation such as "1/8" E6011 electrode." The rid (electrode) is 1/8" in diameter The "E" stands for arc welding electrode. Next will be either a 4 or 5 digit number stamped on the electrode. The first two numbers of a 4 digit number and the first 3 digits of a 5 digit number indicate the minimum tensile strength (in thousands of pounds per square inch) of the weld that the rod will produce, stress relieved. Examples would be as follows: E60xx would have a tensile strength of 60,000 psi. E110XX would be 110,000 psi The next to last digit indicates the position the electrode can be used in. 1. Exx1x is for use in all positions 2. Exx2x is for use in flat and horizontal positions 3. Exx3x is for flat welding The last two digits together, indicate the type of coating on the electrode and the welding current the electrode can be used with. Such as DC straight, (DC -) DC reverse (DC+) or A.C. * Exx10 DC+ (DC reverse or DCRP) electrode positive. * Exx11 AC or DC- (DC straight or DCSP) electrode negative. * Exx12 AC or DC- * Exx13 AC, DC- or DC+ * Exx14 AC, DC- or DC+ * Exx15 DC+ * Exx16 AC or DC+ * Exx18 AC, DC- or DC+ * Exx20 AC ,DC- or DC+ * Exx24 AC, DC- or DC+ * Exx2711 AC, DC- or DC+ * Exx2811 AC or DC+ So the E6011 has a tensile strength of 60,000psi, can be used in any position and can be used in either AC ot DC- welding. Basically it is a middle of the road welding rod. that can be used by less experienced welders in a variety od situations since it produces a deep penetrating weld and works well on dirty,rusted, or painted metals. A similar rod is the E6010. It produces similar results but can only be used with DC+ or DCRP (DC Reversed Polarity) Ive been welding for 35 plus years and always asked for and got advice from the local MILLER DEALER,after explaining the welder to be used, the application, etc,then purchased the suggested rods IN BULK packs and never bothered to as what the numbers ment.... never said I was a GREAT weldor, but Ive welded lots of stuff over the years,thats still in use without it breaking,and while its not always the best looking job it STAYS WELDED ...IM working on the LOOKS PART, and the recent MILLER 330 AMP TIG purchase HELPS

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=HTMD%2D4 I purchased 8 of these for the shop,(above) they make moving my cars around far easier, a simple shove in any dirrection moves the car once they are put in place, and no matter how large your floor space you find that moving a car can be necessary at times and if your like me, theres a good chance at least one of the cars your working on can,t be driven at any time. BTW I borrowed some like these to test,(BELOW) DON,T WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY, THERES NO COMPARISON, these ARE JUNK COMPARED TO THE ONES ABOVE http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=TPWD%2D4 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32052 the dollies like these http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=HTMD%2D4 slide around the wheels and jack the car up or down , without need of a seperate floor jack,like the HF dollies require, plus they roll far easier than the HF dollies did, yes theres a price differance, but the extra features and ease of use make it a no-brainer if the budget allows WE all have character flaws ,my tendency to buy nice TOOLS for the shop rather than PARTS for my cars is one reason my projects take extra time, but in the long run I keep getting a nicer shop with better tools which tends to make the project go smoother, I probably could have easily completed my corvette projects long ago if I didn,t build the garage and buy all the tools in it, but then ...I would not have the garage and all the tools in it,which adds a good deal to my enjoyment of the hobby

valve float wet flow videos notice how the combustion chamber shape effects flow

most engines wear out due to lack of or faulty maintinance procedures, you would be suprised at the number of people that add oil & fuel, when its low and thats about the extent of maintinance untill something breaks

just some info, your far better off to stay with the name brands, as the quality and parts availabilitys far better. you can do much better work with a good welder than you can with a cheap P.O.S., so don,t scrimp, buy the best you can afford, youll have a good welder pay for itself many times over in a few years a oxy-acetolene torch can do a great deal around the shop in skilled hands a decent 180-250 amp mig will do almost anything youll need to do, but aluminum, especially thicker aluminum (1/2" like brackets or block repairs)really is better done with a TIG or mig in the 250-350 amp range you will be amazed at the deals on larger used industrial style welders that are available if you take your time and shop, ask your local; dealers and welder repair guys for leads on guys trading in older welders or upgrading, just be aware that you can,t use a THREE PHASE welder on most home current. look in the local papers classiffied section and the local BARGIN TRADER mags, and ask at welding shops, most of those shops KNOW whos looking to move, upgrade, or go out of business http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv https://weldingsupply.securesites.com/cgi-bin/browsecatalogs.pl?UNDEF:: http://www.htpweld.com/ http://www.weldingdirect.com/tig252helsys.html youll be far better off taking a class on welders and working with other guys welders untill you get a good feel for what works in your particular applications, IM no expert, but I have been welding for 35 years with lots of differant equipment, Id strongly suggest a minimum of a 220volt /180 amp welder, if youll be welding frames,roll cages, suspensions,rear differentials ETC. Ive seldom (never) seen car guys who do most of thier own work ,regret buying a decent name brand welder. btw having a nice MIG or TIG welder is nice but I got by for many years with just an oxy-acetolene torch and a 230 amp stick welder, so don,t think its mandatory you drop huge bucks on a welder, yeah its really nice if you can but one of my first good welders was purchased as a group/club deal where several guys each kicked in couple hundred $ to get a welder none of us could afford individually, and it was a USED 300 amp stick welder, it was well worth the expence but it was hardly the best available. yet it served mostly as a good teaching tool, functioning mostly as an example of how to weld badly, untill you read up on welding, get some classes and find experianced welders to instuct you in the skills necessary having a local corvette, or hot rod club and BEING ACTIVE in that local corvette or hot rod club HAS ADVANTAGES

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/standard_analysis.html with postage its easily $26 and a weeks time to analyze the oil, an oil change to NEW oil and filters not much more, in most cases and its 100% sure to result in clean oil and a new filter, even my 10 QT oil system the cost is under $60, and its only necessary about twice , maybe three or four times a year,certainly not a huge expence or something taking a great deal of effort

while this looks like a super little welding project , I don,t see it as necessarily a huge cost savings if the only object is to bend exhaust tubing,yes it looks like a great tool,. but add up the cost of steel, the hydrolic ram and the dies and I bet youll be getting close to this one http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=35336 now don,t get me wrong, the custom built ones probably superior , but since most exhaust systems that require bending vs buying a pre-made kit are custom fabricated, youll probably be cutting and welding more than tweaking the angles with a bender if your looking for full dia. bends btw http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=37354 these come in handy at times basic kits like this make fabricating a custom exhaust fairly easy with a decent welder, and I can,t see useing anything but stainless if IM taking the time and effort to build a custom exhaust http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MPE%2D15897&N=700+115&autoview=sku http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MPE%2D15851&N=700+115&autoview=sku

" IVE HEARD YOU NEED TO CHANGE OIL EVERY 3500 MILES,...Would this mileage apply to LT1 corvettes with full synthetic oil too? I was told full synthetic oil lasts longer to like 7500 miles or once a year. most guys have heard that youll want to change the oil and filter in your corvette every 3500 miles or so, and thats certainly good general advice, but its not necessarily something youll need to do under some conditions, having the car sit days between drives, use of cheap oil and filters, dusty or wet conditions, extreme temps all effect the oils expected life span, use a good oil and a good oil and air and fuel,filter and you can go longer under some conditions. synthetic oils don,t generally break down as fast, and have a higher heat tollerance than mineral base oils and getting 7500-10,000 mile on an oil change is something that can be done, but Id sure change the oil filter out every 3500 miles (once or twice durring that 7500,-10,000 miles because , its the crap like metalic dust and moisture that can get trapped & suspended in the synthetic oil that causes problems more that the oil breaking down when your talking about the better synthetic oils. you can generally take the dipstick out and look at the color,and crap suspended in the oil if you wipe the dipstick on clean white typing paper,if you check whats on the dipstick ,just after turning the engine off, after getting it up to operating temp by driving the car for 15-30 minutes, and get some idea as to the crud level in suspension, obviously if its filthy its best to change it out, but just getting dark in color means little because modern detergent oils are designed to hold some fine ash in suspension, so they almost always get darker with use, its the extra fine metalic crud, acids and moisture your looking for, and by the time they become obvious youll NEED an oil change, as the filters supposed to screen most of that out of circulation, and getting the oil up to 215F SHOULD burn out ther moisture. just as an example now I know Im not typical as I run a 10 qt baffled oil pan on my vette, I have a large external oil cooler, I filled the vettes engine with 9 qts of mobile 1 and a qt of marvel mystery oil,and used a extended length PURE 1 filter, but I changed my oil just before driving from miami fla. to a buddies house near colorado springs co. where I swapped out the filter before the return trip, where I drove to the corvette museum , in bowling green ky THEN TO THE SUMMIT STORE IN ga. ON VACATION THEN TO BILOXI ms and I had over 6000 miles on the oil (mostly higher speed freeway driving) when I arrived back in miami fla. about three weeks later, the oil looked almost new, it was only at the 7000mile point I changed it out as the last 1000 miles in local driving made the oil look worse that the previous 6000 miles its worth the time to read thru both links http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html http://teamzr1.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1774#Post1774 BUT I GENERALLY CHANGE OUT THE OIL/AND FILTER EVERY 3500-4000 MILES, JUST TO BE SAFE AS OILS CHEAP INSURANCE

reguarding the dcr calcs http://www.cranecams.com/?show=browseParts&action=partSpec&partNumber=119661&lvl=2&prt=5 when you have the .004-.006 lift figures provided on the cam card, (like this above) you can use those that were provided, if not adding 13-15 degrees to each of the opening and closeing points gets you into the ball park. when you don,t http://www.crower.com/misc/valve_timing_chart.html this can help you may want to remember that the ramp on the cam lobe tends to be far more gradual at first, to change accelleration rates rapidly on the initial opening and final closing parts to avoid valve seat bounce or excessive accelleration rates. and that roller cams have potentially a much faster ramp rate. theres not much flow thru a valve durring the first couple of thousands of lift durring the couple of ten thousands of a second as it leaves the seat or returns to the seat, theres just not enought time or area between the head and valve or enought time. crane and crower take this to extremes at times to insure smooth lower stress and quite valve train operation, lunati, and comp cams have some designs that use faster rates , and are known for noisier valve trains, they of course point out the minor improvement in the area under the curve in flow rates at the expence of a lower life expectancy on the valve train, personally I prefer to give up a couple hp for less problems and longer engine life expectancy. theres not much sence in building an engine for peak hp when youll spend 99.999% of the time in lower rpm range when your building a street car and the differance is a couple hp vs thousands of extra miles between refreshing/replacing parts. think about it. you probable get into a couple seconds worth of hold it to the floor, at over 6000-7000rpm engine races a year vs thousands of miles and months of spirited driving at slightly less than peak power, so it only makes sence to build for durability in a street combo