Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I cant believe you still have the protective tape on the bar, come on man, scratch it up! its a racecar!

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I just hate to see Autumn digging through that "off brand" tool box. (j/k)

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Keith, I don't know if you've ever seen the colored carbon bar protectors from Greg at Ultra-carbon? They are crazy nice and are going on SOON!

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

:D:D:D Someday I'mma get a nice one like that Antron Brown guy has!

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I have jerry bickels on mine. They look great

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Not sure if this will play but here's a video from Greg's FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/greg.shampi...6418183758488/

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Valve covers are done enough to test. Didn't make it to the hose and fitting store today, I'll do that Wednesday so we start getting the e-vac lines made up.
https://i.imgur.com/Q9jbIFq.jpg

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

the link worked fine I haven't seen them before, what color are you going with?

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

She says silver/black.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Good luck on your dyno work today, Todd.

Dyno testing is all about managing disappointment.....;) -Al

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Dropped it off this morning, won't be all finished up till next week. I hope, as with every day of my life I come away with an education here.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

You bet, buddy...that's what it's all about. :) -Al

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Todd and Autumn,


Where are you doing the dyno testing and what kind of dyno system do they have?


Good luck on what you learn.



Regards,
HB2

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Doing this at a friend of mines shop. I think it's a Superflow dyno.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Todd
You going to experiment with different cams on the dyno as well?

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

No, I believe this is a well sorted out combo, I just need to find what I did to lose some power and some tuning info for down the road.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

So, I should have all the parts gathered and ready to go tomorrow. It's on the cart, so as his schedule permits should be making some noise this week.
https://i.imgur.com/twbhnEb.jpg

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Good luck with your testing to you and Autumn sir.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Thank you Mr. Keith!

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Best of luck doing your testing. When we raced,I enjoyed dyno testing
as much as or more than actual racing. The last dyno session we had
was at FJ Smith's with our comp engine. Spent the better part of one
day there. A fond memory for sure.
Jimmy

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Jimmy, I'll assume this will be the first of many Dyno outings I hope. First engine Dyno for me so I'm pretty excited. Should have it on tomorrow and make some pulls Thursday.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Todd, an experienced dyno operator will be invaluable to you. They understand trends and can give insight as to what the engine 'wants'. We're lucky to have have access to two great dynos and smart, smart, operators: Matt Steen and Jason Verke at Victory Engines in Marshall Minnesota and Bob Sherwood's private dyno here in Sioux Falls, S.D. On the last session, I learned a lot about oils and fuels, for example. And QJets in particular have certain characteristics at high rpm that the BSFC can help identify.

If you've never dyno'd before, it can be a bit unnerving at first. When the brake loads the engine and the rpm's start to climb that first time.... :eek:

https://i.imgur.com/0LhVB0Yl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bmySGI7l.jpg

All the best for an informative session. :) -Al

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

AI, I know I'll be better informed at the end with much more to be learned later.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Aaaand we broke it.
https://i.imgur.com/9GOekUO.jpg

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Well, on a good note...you found why you were down on power.

Everything still inside the block?

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Yes, still intact and idles fine. Destroyed some bearings thats for sure.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Ouch. Sorry to see this.
Your first post in this thread says, "It's not really a build". I think a new motor makes it officially a build.
Look at it this way; just about the whole car is new. Now you'll have a motor to match.
Good luck, hope it's not too "painful".

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Dave, well, I don't think it will be too terrible. It does still turn over remarkably well with what seems to be some excessive end play, hope we can save the crank and rods. Springs on the heads look to be set up poorly so I'm sure valvetrain will be dealt with now too.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Todd,
Sorry to hear the news. Just curious, did you do a leakdown on the engine prior to any passes upon purchasing? Have you checked leakdown since the dyno? Not that it matters now, but that is another logged item after every race that I perform on mine. Hopefully it is not too bad to get it fixed.

Good luck.
Sean

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

That looks pretty minor compared to what some have done. Glad it was caught before " catastrophic failure" occurred. Please keep us in the loop on your findings and the rebuild.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I would take that ANY day, over my daughter oiling down her own tires and red-hot exhaust in the top end lights at a buck-fifteen.

None of the important stuff (heads, intake, etc.) were damaged- you'll come out of this okay.

Did it wipe the cam?

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Sean, thanks. I leaked it down before the dyno and it was 4%. I don't think it will be too bad, either way it's gotta be fixed. I'll know more early next week.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I agree Tim, it was caught early for sure. We're leaving for the D2 banquet tomorrow morning so nothing will get sorted out this weekend. Plan is to get going on it Monday so we can order parts and get moving forward.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

My thoughts exactly, nobody hurt so it's all good. All the important stuff is good to go. The cam looks good from what I saw, pulled some lifters and they looked perfect, should get it pulled apart Monday.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Checked some stuff and pulled everything apart today. I honestly have more questions than answers at this point with some of the weird stocker stuff but oh well. The reason for the tear down was low oil pressure, well the two rear main bearings were the culprits as you will see. The reason? Well I'm guessing it was the valve springs, or more so how they were set up, a stack of shims and no locator, the damper (with no locator) was bashing the shims and sending metal through the engine. I'm guessing some got through the filter. Also has the wrong retainers for the springs. Springs were pretty soft but hell maybe they are setup this way to loft the valve open or something with this square cam. One thing I didn't count on were the janky cylinders in the block, almost look rusted near the top of a few of them, we'll clean them up as good as we can... we gotta race.
https://i.imgur.com/hggrNKd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HbwD7b7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8dLpkoE.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/IIwBb6K.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yRsbY5t.jpg

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Todd,
Were you able to get any power numbers out of the engine before the "discoveries" ?
Glenn

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I believe comp cams has locators,might have to be machined to fit heads. Look at short height valve locks too.What spring pressure are springs at? What fuel are you using?

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

No Glenn we weren't.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Glenn, I think the springs were 350# open, I'll have to look at the notes tomorrow. I should stick a pic of the cam info on here and see if anyone knows who did it so I can call them to figure these springs out. I think the standard is about 200# and 400#. Fuel is VP C12.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Todd,
I used to use VP C-11 and had to do major repairs to heads and cylinder walls after the motor set for some time.
I was told that the problem was from the VP fuel.
Luckily I had changed over to Sunoco before NHRA had made their switch. Never had any troubles with my motors during the down time with Sunoco.

VP is great fuel, I just had not been told to foam the motor after races.

Good luck sir.