Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

...likewise if you were .010" under the max allowable lift (and probably more than .010"). your car wouldn't be any slower. My opinion is of all the aspects of a cam, the lift is the least critical. I know I was shy upwards of .020" shy in my D/S AMX on occasion and when I got it right I was hard pressed to tell the difference.

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

Something racers should keep in mind is spare rocker arms in case you break one. Here is a point that is sometimes overlooked.

You have set up your valve train for lift within the specs but you break a rocker arm. Will the rocker arm you install in place of the broken one meet the lift spec? While setting up your valve train, check a few extra rockers to keep as spares. Be sure that the spare rocker will meet the lift spec no matter which cylinder it is placed on. In teardown we may check any cylinder and that does not necessarily mean it will be #1.

Travis

(Disclaimer: Opinions expressed by me on this forum are exactly that, my opinions.)

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

Wade, That's why its called Class Racing. You, your car, and your whole racing program displays nothing but Class. Although its unfortunate that you were found on the wrong side of the of the edge, it was an honest mistake.

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

Good point I am just finishing up doing my lift measurements and sure enough 1 or 2 rocker arms were .002 - .004 over the max lift. Had to do a little juggling to get everything in spec. Actually didnt think about measuring some spares, break one in eliminations you barely have enough time to change said rocker let alone measure it (been there done that)!

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

Travis made a very good point about rocker arms, i was in teardown a few years ago and
just ripped the rockers off in a hurry not paying attention to where they came from and got
them mixed up, well my lift gets checked and came out exactly on to the thousandth but
the thing was .06-.008 to the good at home and i couldnt figure out why my result was any
different. now all rockers come off and get set in sequence as they vary a little.

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

Too bad Stock isn't ''just a bracket race''. You wouldn't have had this happen ;)

Sorry to hear about this Wade, I know you'll be back, fast as ever at the next race.

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

I took a check ball out of a valvebody and layed it in the pushrod cup of the Comp solid lifter I used to set my total lift with at home. It measured 1.8035. The placed the same ball on the Smith hydraulic and it mic'd 1.954. Over .150 taller. I'll go back and shorten the close ones and we should be ready.

Thanks to everyone for the pep talk and compliments.

See you guys soon.....

Wade

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

One more thing to remember.....not all dial indicators measure the same. When I worked for the Dept. of the Navy I used to calibrate all kinds of precision tools. The standard or tolerance of a dial indicator is plus or minus .001 (one thousanth) of an inch. Some "OFF BRANDS" are allowed .002 plus or minus so use a quality brand such as Starrett or Brown and Sharp. If you check dead on at home there is always a chance you could be one over during tear down. Its best to be a few thou. under to be safe. A couple of thou wont make your run faster but it could get you DQed.
Same deal when C C'ing your chambers and runners. ALWAYS use a certified burette and rubbing alcahol with some food coloring in it and check your heads while at room temp. Hot cylinder heads could make your chambers come up a little short if your close to begin with.

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

I agree with Terry on this one. Years ago with the Hemi. We worked for weeks to get everything right on. Shortening push rods, grinding valve tips, shimming rocker stands, etc. Everything was just about right on. We had to knock the oil out of the bearing with a mallet before checking the deck height.
We were lucky and never got tossed. A thousanth of an inch isn't going to make you go any quicker but it can get you tossed.

Re: My Teardown @ St Louis.....
 

Totally agree with Terry on the burette & fluid issue. First time I tore down my Mustang in 2004, I ended up .4 of 1cc shy on combustion chamber volume. To their credit, the NHRA Tech guys let me clean any carbon from the piston top, and re measured it several times, but it kept comimg up short. Turns out the alcohol my machinest buddy used in his berette was dollar store stuff, between that, and changing the spark plug heat range, it put us under the min spec. Got disqualified, and had to leave the track without getting any money back, and had to arrive with the heads off at the next race for inspection, before being able to compete again. We just had to sink the valves a tad to get back in spec, but the embarrassment of being caught "cheatin`" was no fun at all. The teardown was entirely expected too, as we were setting a record that had been at a minimum for some time, so obviously we THOUGHT that everything was on the up & up.As Mike Carr mentioned, that never would have happened at a bracket race!