03 Mar 11 07:40, Roger Nelson wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
    RN>> We then tried to cut corners by collapsing the hydraulic lifters,   
    RN>> which was a flop of an idea and I ended up putting solids.   
      
    RW>> I'd hate to think of the position your rockers were in after you   
    RW>> did that lifter thing. Was the rocker even on the tip of the valve   
    RW>> stem?   
      
    RN> We already knew that, so we shimmed the lifters to take up the slack.   
    RN> When that did not work to my satisfaction, I dug deeper in my pockets   
    RN> and bought the solids.   
      
   I always thought that solids were a waste of my time, as they take more   
   maintenence than I want to perform. I had a 30-30 Duntov cam in my 55   
   Chevy and it seemed like after a few days go by, I had to re-adjust the   
   valves again. I hate to think of what it would have been like to go   
   drag-racing with that cam installed.   
      
    RN> Little did I know that I'd end up working at that dealership six   
    RN> years later.  The solid lifters didn't cost as much as my imagination   
    RN> thought they would.   
      
   I bought a Lunati cam and lifters (hyd) yesterday for the Malibu. $195 for   
   the cam/lifter kit with shipping. Not cheap!   
      
    RW>> Was working on a 66 GTO this morning with the same setup. This one   
    RW>> came into the shop for a re-seal, but it had a lot of other   
    RW>> problems that needed to be addressed first. The valve stems were   
    RW>> mushroomed over from the rockers beating on them. We didn't   
    RW>> realize it at the time, but the cam was going flat. All of the   
    RW>> valves, rockers, push rods were replaced. When it went out the   
    RW>> door, the owner called me from a friendly shop up the road and it   
    RW>> had begun to make rocker noise again. I had him tow it back after   
    RW>> listening to it and then replaced the cam and lifters. When we   
    RW>> fired it up today it sounded rightous.   
      
    RN> After we got the solids in and fired up that Corvette engine, we   
    RN> decided to take a test drive from New Orleans to Slidell.  Somewhere   
    RN> along the way there or back, both head gaskets were blown, so we had   
    RN> to pull everything off from the short block up and I installed custom   
    RN> aftermarket gaskets the next day.  I think I forgot to mention I had   
    RN> the heads milled, but it was so long ago, I don't remember the   
    RN> thickness.   
      
   I'd like to know how much was taken off the heads that came with the 400ci   
   engine I bought. The intake valves (2.02") protrude past the flatness   
   of the head into the combustion chamber. That and the pistons came .005   
   above the block surface. When I build them, I like to leave .015-.020   
   clearance in the block. Can't use more than 10.5:1 compression even with   
   105 octane racing gas these days unless you have a computer to compensate   
   for knock.   
      
    RN>   I also had to drain the water and oil out of the pan and   
    RN> flush the engine twice with fresh oil, just to make sure I got all   
    RN> the water out.  As it turned out, that was the right thing to do.   
      
   Could have done it with a quart of oil and the rest kerosene. The kerosene   
   is a good crankcase flusher. And it used to be cheaper than oil. Don't   
   know about now.   
      
    RN>> We also used a burr drill bit to smooth out the rough interior of   
    RN>> the exhaust manifolds.  That was the hardest part.   
      
    RW>> Shoulda done like I did for my first 55, by some Hedman headers.   
    RW>> NOT! After brazing up the cracks three times, I went to those 57   
    RW>> ram exhaust manifolds and sold the headers that Hedman sent me as a   
    RW>> replacement for their junk headers. Learning my lesson from that   
    RW>> episode, on the 56 I used 91-98 Chevy truck headers. They're   
    RW>> shorter and have a ball outlet. The reason the Hedmans cracked was   
    RW>> because the header has to be so long to get past the rear engine   
    RW>> mounts. I removed those and their brackets on the frame in the 56.   
    RW>> The only thing I wish I had done differently was to replace those   
    RW>> feeble front mounts with side mounts, like Chevy did in 58.   
      
    RN> I kept and used the stock headers.  We also removed the rough edges   
    RN> in the intake manifold that we could get to and then spent a lot of   
    RN> time blowing it out with compressed air.   
      
   My first pair of heads that I ported like that, I used the gaskets as a   
   template, scribed a line around the port and ported the first 1/4 inch or   
   so to match the scribe lines, then left them alone further down, except   
   where I ground off material to clear the bottom of the valves. Did the   
   same thing with the intake and exhaust manifolds. Later I installed a set   
   of headers and the gaskets were the same as what I had used for templates.   
      
   That dropped nearly a full second off my 1/4 mile ETs of my 63 Corvette.   
      
    RN>> Engle 3/4 race camshaft, Mallory dual point distributor started that   
    RN>> engine so fast, you'd swear all you had to do was look at the   
    RN>> ignition key and the engine would start.   
      
    RW>> I had a 72 Chevy pickup like that.   
      
    RN> I couldn't get any vehicle I had since then to start that fast.   
      
   If you wait just an instant before cranking todays fuel injected engines,   
   they start like that. They need the fuel pump to get up to full pressure.   
      
    RN>>   Logy below 40 MPH, but after that, no one could stay with me.  I   
    RN>> don't recall what rear end ratio was in it,   
      
    RW>> Probably a 3.42:1...that's what the 55-57 rear end I have in the   
    RW>> shed says it is. There's a 71 Camaro or Nova rear end under the 56   
    RW>> and I want to rebuild this one and put it under there. The 56 has   
    RW>> 3.08:1 in it and the OD makes its cruise speed at 75mph, a bit too   
    RW>> fast for me.   
      
    RN> In my Mark VIII, I can't tell how fast I'm going unless one of two   
    RN> things happen:   
      
    RN> 1) I actually look at the speedometer or   
      
   That's like my Z28...going 80mph is no different than 30mph.   
      
    RN> 2) a cop pulls me over for speeding.   
      
   I hate it when that happens. 8^)   
      
    RN> So, what I do now when I'm on the highway is use the Ron Popeil   
    RN> method of "Set it and forget it".  (-:  And I always set the CC to 5   
    RN> MPH below the speed limit.   
      
   You could set it at the speed limit and they won't bother you either.   
      
    RN>> but we didn't fool with that and instead concentrated on the engine.   
    RN>> 137 MPH clocked speed and took a mile to stop.  Later on, I   
    RN>> installed dual exhaust.   
      
    RW>> If they had made 57 brakes like those on my Z28, you could have   
    RW>> stopped in 198 feet.   
      
    RN> THAT I would have liked.   
      
   They aren't nearly as good as my Z28's, but the 56 has power front disc   
   brakes/rear drums. But I don't think I'd want to drive it at 137mph.   
      
    RN>> I think I have the 35 lbs you lost.  (-:  I have to get back to 219   
    RN>> or so or I'll regret it if I don't.  At my height it isn't too   
    RN>> noticeable.   
      
    RW>> I notice the lighter weight in my joints and muscles. I don't get   
    RW>> as tired as I used to.   
      
    RN> I still bowl every Tuesday in the afternoon senior mixed league and   
    RN> that night in the men's league.  So far, I'm not suffering any duress   
    RN> -- not even a year and a half ago when my BP was 200/100.  Remember   
    RN> that?   
      
   Yeah. I've been there once and didn't like the feeling. They say you can't   
   tell if you have high BP or not, but I could. Now mine is almost half   
   that.   
      
    RN> As an aside, I've been driving my daughter's 1999 GMC Yukon a lot   
    RN> recently and decided it gives a smooth ride and acceleration.  In   
    RN> other words, I like it.  Too bad it wasn't that way in the previous   
    RN> decade or I'd still have my 1984 3/4 ton Chevy.   
      
   The Yukon and Tahoe are the shorter version of the Suburban/Yukon XL.   
   Rather than leaf springs in the rear, they have coils which rides a   
   little better. I'd like to have one, but I'd hate to give up my Silverado.   
      
                   R\%/itt   
      
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