Engine assembly bench or engine stand

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by prostockpete1

Mr. Derby ...Bill Jenkins I think pioneered the hooking up the hauler coolant hoses to the race car engine to keep engine hot .. I do remember one year in late 70.s Jenkins pulled in to US Nationals tech in middle of night & turned off the hauler engine & immediately jumped outa the truck & fired up his noisey generator & pluged in 2 block heaters to keep race car engine hot all night & thu all weekend while pitted

Bill had a specific reason for doing this. We talked about it a couple of times. It was due to the ZL1 aluminum block. He said it was a big problem having the cylinders go out of round after a heat cycle. So he decided to keep the block at temp 24/7 and said it helped a lot, but not a total cure.

From working with him, two of his major focuses were carb jetting and ring seal. I remember him asking for an engine to go back for a refresh long before other builders would. And no, it wasn't about making extra money. He insisted on everthing being within his limits, but anybody that knew him would tell you he was totally honest and fair.

And it also explained why some of his pieces were not so competitive after some time. There were two owners I remember who thought it was all bs and wouldn't agree to a refresh when he said it was time. He didn't rant and rave about it, but I could tell he did not like cars with his stuff in them going out there and struggling to qualify.



As for the block heat, he said the aluminum block was never as stable as the iron but it was the best workable solution he could come up with.