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.

[Greg West]

Maybe one of the piston ring companies or honing machine companies could run a test for everyone to prove this out. Hone a block to finish size, check all the bores with a PAT machine. Then mount the block to an engine stand and re-run the PAT test on all the cylinders. Compare the results.

[340Cuda]

I think there was a time when a lot of us had setups to connect the race car to the tow vehicle in the pits and warm the race car engine up before we started it.

I think I still have the hoses around somewhere with the quick disconnect ends on them.

[CMcAllister]

Originally Posted by Greg West

Maybe one of the piston ring companies or honing machine companies could run a test for everyone to prove this out. Hone a block to finish size, check all the bores with a PAT machine. Then mount the block to an engine stand and re-run the PAT test on all the cylinders. Compare the results.

Then check it a third time to see if it came back to size, if, in fact, it moved at all on the stand.

[Larry Hill]

Billy the DP Challenger had motor mounts and that the ones I race with. My DP Challenger is not as quick or as fast as the rest of the cars in class and it doesn’t pull the wheels up very high. But what you mentioned deserves some thought. Thanks

[Roy Kinslow]

Originally Posted by Dan Bennett

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.

Another issue that I have heard of with aluminum blocks and big cams is the cold valve lash tightening up to the point that the engine wont start cold unless the valve lash is backed off. This would be a pain that would've been avoided by keeping temps up.