jt1

Western NC!!!!!! John

The trick timing covers have two benefits over the stamped steel ones. They control cam movement better; the two piece ones let you adjust cam timing without breaking the oil pan loose; the three piece ones I have seen allow cam changes without disturbing the oil pan. A reinforced steel one will work fine, just not as fancy. Some water pumps have a boss on the pump housing to put a bolt in and use as a support for the timing cover, eliminating the need for any reinforcement. So, a steel one will work fine, but the aluminum pieces do have advantages, at a cost. John

Bob's 911 is a really nice gutted, caged, big braked, stroked & built to the gills track car. Straight & nice with a good paint job in and out. He was down at Roebling back in the spring and wasn't satisfied with the car's handling, so he asked a good friend who is a porsche mechanic to take it for a few laps and see what he thought. The friend got loose out of 8, went off to the left, hit a swale and rolled it three times. Not injured, but over 20K in damage to the car. Track only car with no insurance. Bob was highly pissed and wanted the friend to pay for the repairs. Friend basically says " I can't afford it. Sorry." Lots of harsh words and legal bills later, the two previously good friends are bitter enemies and never speak. Bob got some amount of money, 6 or 7 K, out of the friends shop insurance, but not nearly enough to pay for the damages. When you go out on the track, anything can happen. John

WoooHooo!!!!! The famous BMW "money shift". I've know of several guys doing this, with the same results. Supposedly it happens because the rubber in the motor mounts and trans mounts allow enough movement that it's really easy to catch second. I've personally seen it twice, and heard of several other instances. Legally I suspect it's a gray area, and the outcome would depend on the whims of the judge or jury. However, if that instructor has any balls at all, he should offer to pay for at least half of the repairs. If he has a M3, he should be aware of the possibility of the money shift, and take some responsibility, even though the owner asked him to drive the car and also accepted some responsibility himself. Mark, do you know the story of Bob's 911, the guy with the light blue one that pits close to where we do at CMP? Similar, except rolled three times. I'm not gonna drive anyone else's car at the track. And nobody's gonna drive mine but me. John

Nic, as far as I know all small journal 327 blocks are equal. The high nickel stuff didn't come along till the very late 60's and early 70's. To use your 283 crank you will want a pre 68 block. A 283 crank and a small journal 327 block will make a dandy 302. I used to race a dirt late model with that exact combo. John

There were no 4 bolt 327's. 68's were the last year of the 327 and were large journal motors. All previous were small journal. All the small journal motors I've seen are forged crank motors, and I've read all small journal motors had forged cranks. You can build a 4 bolt 327 if you want, use a 4 bolt 350 block and a large journal 3.25 stroke crank. An original one will be hard to find, 68 only, but the aftermarket ones are fine. There's nothing wrong with a small journal 327. Lighter rotating assembly and less friction. Upgrade the rods, balance it a have a real winder. John

No minatures here: http://www.fhm.com/img/reporter/bigeye/15aug/boobs.swf Let it load, then move your cursor over the girl. Try varying speeds. Somehow I never get tired of that one. John

Lot's of times the rods aren't perfectly centered between the pin bosses, but that's more than I'm used to seeing. Are the big ends of the rods the same on both sides? I'm not familiar with scats, but some have a different surface on each side. Maybe that's causing the offset? John

This is controlled by the width of the crank journal and the widths of the rods. About 18 -24 thou is a pretty common clearance there, but some engines use a lot more, as much as 50 or 60, with no problems. In my experience, increased wear caused by any offset loading is negligible. John

Searches avoid repetition, but they can also provide more info. Let's say there is a member who has done both swaps and is very knowledgeable about both. Someone asks "Is the LS-1 better than the LT-1?", or "Is the SBC better than the SB Ford?", or "How much does it cost to V8 a Zcar?". This member spends a good bit of time typing up a long, detailed response with a lot of good info. Then a month or so later a new member asks the same question, and he spends a lot more time responding to that post. Then another month or so, the same Q comes up, and he says the heck with it, I'm not typing all that up again. Or maybe he is busy with something else in life and not able to spend much time on HybridZ and doesn't see the post. So a search avoids repetition and can provide info you may not get otherwise. John

Sounds like a brake bias problem to me. How does the car feel without any brake application? John

Bearing preload and the torque on the nut are two different things, but closely related. Basically you torque the nut to the point the bearings have enough preload (the clamping force on the bearings exerted by the nut) so that it takes 3.9 ft-# of torque to rotate the stub axle. The tighter the nut is torqued, the more it clamps on the bearings causing more internal friction in the bearing, and the harder the stub axle is to rotate. Bearings must have preload to function properly. The preload maintains the internal clearances and alignment when a working force (your car going around a corner) is applied to the bearing. If the bearing is loose and the applied force causes misalignment, the bearing life is short. A front wheel bearing is an excellent example of this. It's even more important with cone type bearings than ball bearings. John

That really sucks for both of you. I'm sorry to see it turn out this way. When the guy in Austin had that car for sale, I was on the razor's edge of buying it. I had made up my mind on the money, but couldn't get the transportation worked out. I hate to see this happen to you fellows because it could have been me if I had found someone to go get it for me. Kinda makes me think of meeting a good looking woman who turns out to be a real bitch. John

Cool deal Mark. That will make an awesome track car, it's got room to run some big meats on it. Those GT1 cars better get out of the way. I agree your yellow car is just to nice to track and get sandblasted, or maybe bent up. It's really sweet. John

They are interesting to think about, I have a good bit. Here in stock car land, used ones can be had for $1000-1500. But the hubs are 5 x 5, brakes are $$$, and they're usually set up for truck arms or three links. Most have spools or lockers, neither street friendly. The reason ground clearance is so low is becauce the input shaft runs under the ring and pinion to the spur gear case. After a 40 lap race on a 1/2 mile track, the oil in a QC will blister you. Maybe 225-250 deg? anyway, it's HOT. And even with an open exhaust, you can hear the QC inside the car. Sure would be nice to change gears in a few minutes, though! John

I've messed with QC's a lot in circle track cars. Pro's: Any gear ratio you want in about 10 minutes. The rear can be configured just about any way you want. Lots of horsepower capability. Con's: Takes a good bit of power to pull them and they get pretty hot. Rearend coolers are common. Not much ground clearance. Pinion angle can be a pain. Very, very noisy in a street car. Pricey. John

The 383 will be quicker if gearing is the same. If gearing is optimized for each engine, then you've got a good race, and the 383 might well lose. If the induction, heads, cam and exhaust are the same, the horse power will be close, but the 302 will make it at a lot higher rpm. Since the 383 has about 27% more displacement, assuming the same volumetric efficency, the 302 will have to turn 27% more rpm than the 383 to make equal horsepower. So if you turn the 383 to 6500, the 302 needs 8250 to move the same amount of air. Not many people want to see that on their tach. Assuming the same VE is a little risky, since a ton of things affect it, but you get the idea about the rpm. The 302 has a big advantage in that it has much less rotating weight, lower bearing speed, better R/S ratio, less piston speed, and less internal friction. IIRC, rotational inertia has some 4th power functions, so a lighter rotating assembly means a lot more power goes to the wheels, not towards accelerating the internal mass of the engine. The 383 wins most races because not many people will turn the 302 enough. But a really buzzin 302 can surprise you. The real downfall of a high rpm 302 is if you plan on turning the bottom end 8500, you damn sure better have a 8500 rpm capable valvetrain, which gets expensive. John

I'm really gonna miss watching pmum wheel one of those Vipers. He was an exceptional talent. My prayers go out to his family and friends. Go racing John. With something in his memory. John

What part of Mark's car isn't immaculate? His LT-1/JTR setup is the nicest V8 Z I've seen. It makes mine look like a rolling junkyard. The thing is wicked fast too. I wouldn't pit beside him if he wasn't a such a good guy. The Hooker/Scarab may be a little easier & cheaper, but the results obtainable with the LT-1/jtr are exceptional. John

Ferd, I've got one I can send you. Mine came with both and I used the small one. Shoot me an email. John jwtci@rfci.net

A "Turo-flo" like came in 2 or 2 1/2 ton trucks? John

Mike, if you want to make a 2 day deal out of it, I'm going to a event at CMP Sat & Sun. You can check out the track, spend the night with me, and head back Sun. CMP is probably 2 1/2 hrs south of chapel hill, so it would be a longer trip. Be careful around Chapel Hill. Lots of weirdos there. John

Glad you got it fixed. Jon nailed that right away. John

If you have a bleeder on the master, bleed it first, then the slave. This is a two person operation. 1. Depress & hold clutch pedal. 2. Open bleeder slightly, allowing air/fluid to escape. 3. Close bleeder before air/fluid stops flowing. This keeps any air from being sucked back into the system. 4. Release clutch pedal & return to #1. Repeat until no air flows from the bleeder, only fluid with no bubbles. Keep plenty of fluid in the master reservoir. If you suck it dry, you introduce more air into the system and get to start over. Bleed the master thoroughly, then do the slave. Be patient, bleeding a clutch always takes longer than doing brakes. You may have to do it several times. Remember brake fluid can damage paint. Good luck, John

I think it's a light car/wide tire problem. My car, with 225 Yoko AVSI's, is downright spooky to drive in the rain. I was at Roebling one day when it was raining, and it was awful. Every car in my group passed me. John