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The excitement is building

Haven't ordered the next pair of rear tires yet . . . I may have overly optimistic expectations of longevity.

Just thinking about the cost of replacements may help keep my lead foot a little lighter on the go pedal.

Well I hope that works out better for you than it does for me. If you got it, flaunt it I always say. :thumbsup:
 
Weekend Update . . .

The weather cooperated and after a trip to the hardware store to replace some tools that seem to have gone AWOL, a few bits of hardware, and a nourishing breakfast at McDonalds, it was day 2 of the 632 adventure.

With the engine now sitting solidly on the stand with the flex plate attached, I dropped in the starter, but had to remove the shim so that the pinion would engage the ring gear to the proper depth. With that done I checked the tooth depth with a big paper clip, and it was fine.

With the starter secured, the fuel pump was next, . . . . I'm running a mechanical, Holley's biggest, which went in without issue using an ARP pushrod.

The front drive assembly was another matter . . .

While the water pump went on without issue, the bracket that mounts the alternator to it doesn't seem to be the right one. . . . and the belt seems too short . . .

Or . . . Blueprint Engines machines their tall decks to use standard deck accessory bracketry. . . .

Which would be my luck, since I ordered the tall deck front accessory kit. . . . anyway . . .

The new pulleys all mounted up fine and I really like the look of the 8 rib serpentine belt.

Took the opportunity to replace the original balancer bolt with the new ARP one before mounting up the crank pulley.

I'll call tech support this week and get it sorted out, overall . . I really like the mid mount alternator position . . shows off the heads and valve covers nicely.

I was a little disappointed that there was no vacuum port as it arrived, and no provision for one either.

Since I have power brakes and need a vacuum switch to allow the lockup converter to function properly, I bought a 1" carb spacer and drilled and tapped it along the rear for some vacuum connections. The distributor has a vacuum advance, but I'm not yet decided about using it.

I had to make up some seriously longer carb studs to accommodate the spacer and extra brackets for the throttle and return spring assembly and the regulator mounting. Used some 5/16" stainless steel all thread with sst hardware and it all works like factory stock.

As I was getting to the last few things on my to-do list, I filled a filter with oil and added 7 quarts to the engine, spun the oil pump with my handy dandy primer tool, and put the distributor back in.

The oil level on the dipstick is right at the full mark, but it's a bloody mystery to me as to where the dipstick is supposed to attach to at the upper end . . . There's a bracket there that just waves in the breeze and the stick sits right in front of an exhaust port . . .

Another thing to ask tech support about . . .

Overall, it was a very satisfying weekend with a lot of progress, with almost everything wrapped up until a couple more parts get here,

I cut a little piece of wafer board from the original crate and fitted it to the engine stand so I can put a battery in place to see how it cranks.


Front Drive 1r.jpg

Front Drive 2r.jpg

Front Drive 3r.jpg

Right Side 1r.jpg

Right Side 2r.jpg

Right Side 3r.jpg

Rear 1r.jpg

Rear 2r.jpg

Rear 4r.jpg

Batttery Base 1r.jpg
 
How are you planning on ventilating the crankcase?

How is it to turn the engine over on the stand with that handle, looks like it could be a struggle?

I sure like that looks of a single plane intake manifold over the dual plane. Besides you should have
plenty of low end torque, but then again, what are you going to do with the extra top end ??? :):eek:
 
How are you planning on ventilating the crankcase?

How is it to turn the engine over on the stand with that handle, looks like it could be a struggle?

I sure like that looks of a single plane intake manifold over the dual plane. Besides you should have
plenty of low end torque, but then again, what are you going to do with the extra top end ??? :):eek:

If the breathers on the valve covers prove to be inadequate, I'll have to work out something . . . Hopefully, I don't need to go to a vacuum pump setup like the race cars have.

I have not tried to really rotate the engine on the stand with the yellow handle . . . . that handle is really short . . . I have used the jack handle from the cherry picker before to make small nudges, as it's about a foot longer.

With everything assembled, I don't foresee having to rotate it going forward.

The manifold is an Edelbrock Victor series, I believe it's this one: Edelbrock # 2897 Super Victor II Intake Manifold for 10.2” Tall Deck BBC V8
. . . the carb is a 1250 Holley Dominator.

I posted the dyno sheet back in post 137, but it makes stupid mega torque all the way thru the range, over 700 from 3000 rpm where the data starts to over 6200.

Doing a little quick math . . . I should have a better HP to weight ratio than a 200# guy on a Hayabusa . . that oughta piss off the local ricers
 
Sick engine "D"! I was thinking the same indy. Needs to be 3 x that easy. I'd worry about the stand possibly turning over as well. Did you grease the shaft of the head before you put in the stand? I use to have a nice stand with a ball bearing head years ago. Loaned it out and I guess I lost track of it. Now I'm stuck with nothing but the widow makers myself.
 
That's a seriously nice piece of tyre frying kit right there Island Girl. How many "gallons to the mile" will it get? ;-)) enjoying watching this all come together.
Regards,
 
Sick engine "D"! I was thinking the same indy. Needs to be 3 x that easy. I'd worry about the stand possibly turning over as well. Did you grease the shaft of the head before you put in the stand? I use to have a nice stand with a ball bearing head years ago. Loaned it out and I guess I lost track of it. Now I'm stuck with nothing but the widow makers myself.


I put a little red assembly lube on the rotating head shaft, but never expected to have to rotate it anyway.

I actually ordered one of these to test run it on:
I'll have to make a whole post about that adventure . . . but after all the grief, I believe it shipped out of Miami on last Thursdays' boat.


If it did, and it does get here, I'll be sure to post some pics and do a review
 
Considering that these big inch motors are lucky to see anything more than single digit MPG, I better start looking for a second job for once this gets on the road :D

You already have the CNC .. just have talk up with the local hot rod guys and start making parts for people.
 
I was looking at one of those stands but changed my mind. Hope you read the negative reviews on that stand and are prepared for the problems that others have had with it. :( Or maybe those 777's will be smiling at you. :)
 
I was looking at one of those stands but changed my mind. Hope you read the negative reviews on that stand and are prepared for the problems that others have had with it. :( Or maybe those 777's will be smiling at you. :)


A lot of the reviews were pretty thumbs down, but I think a lot of guys also had unrealistic expectations.

You can't expect much at that price when most others are a grand or more, . . . . It's a generic cheap Chinese knockoff POS . . . I'm expecting nothing more

As long as it survives for some break in time and getting the timing set, I'll take that as a win . . .if it needs a little "tweaking" to get it usable, I can work with that too.

Keeping my fingers crossed,
 
Almost On The Way . . . .

If you check out Spirit Cars on Facebook, they talked about my car this morning on their "Live at 11:05" video. Looking just as nice as I was expecting

It's going to ship to Miami tomorrow, I'm crazy excited after waiting patiently since I ordered back in August. ( I know that's a long time, but I did request a couple changes/upgrades that added top the wait)

It should get there in time to sail on next Thursday's boat.

Don't know if a FB link will work, but here it is: It's in the video posted today.

Spirit Cars

BC gets the engine / trans combination wrong, but it was still super cool to see my car on FB.
 
Hey, Thanks everyone!

Should get here and clear Customs just in time for my birthday, mid Feb.

I'm going to check with Josh first thing this morning though, just to be sure BC misspoke about being a SBC with a 350 trans setup . . . I'd die if it got here and wasn't right.

It was planned/ordered as a BBC with 700R4 from the get-go, so no there should have been no chance for confusion there.
 
Excitement IS building!!! Should be a super fun project to assemble!
 
yes BC did misspoke. Your frame is setup for BBC/700R4. I just went a checked and the front is extended for clearance for the big block. When considering all the other frames that are here are 350/350 it is just custom to think that sometimes lol.


Thanks for checking.

I figured he just misspoke, but BC is such a guru at this stuff, I doubt he misspeaks from what his eyes see very often, hence the concern.


Breathing a sigh of relief . . . .
 

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