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Post by chaff on Feb 2, 2013 10:33:32 GMT -6
Where did everyone get their experience building engines, friends, dad, school, trial and error? I don't want to try trial and error so is there a dvd, or good videos on you tube, or good books out there. What are the resources out there.
Any horror stories?
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Post by flipflop on Feb 2, 2013 11:27:25 GMT -6
While at a playday, seting with a friend; I called 5 engines blowing up out of 15 cars hot-laping one at a time and within a 5 lap margin. No others blew up. After the 2nd one he said you cant do that! After the 3rd one he said no one can do that. Then ask me to explain! After the 5th he quit talking to me because I told him his would be next if he didn't get that fresh glass beaded allumium intake off his car. It did and the answers were too hard for him to believe. The heat was absorbed and it vapor-locked at 8,000. Fried #3 rod. Streched and burnt but not a bit of wear. instant electric heat spark to the crank. Oil burnt only on #3 and not a scratch. Family,Country raised,Trade school-3yrs,Dealers,10 yrs drag racing,30 on dirt. Its a gift or curse when science is involved.
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Post by leaf4life on Feb 2, 2013 16:01:39 GMT -6
Father, I learned from him over the years, still builds my motors, getting 2orso seasons out of a fresh motor still making good power. I have a good recepie for making good power and getting longevity out of a motor. It's all in the perpetration and taking your time, checking twice, making sure everything is smooth and happy. I have yet to blow a motor in over 8 years that I have been racing, my father blew one over his 6years of racing.
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Post by street16 on Feb 14, 2013 10:37:51 GMT -6
My father - mostly. He was a professional mechanic, but he wasn't into racing. The racing part we learned trial and error. We've blown a few engines and learned some expensive lessons, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Books and DVD's will give you some good info, but hands on is the best way to learn. Find someone who is willing to teach you - there are more out there than you might think, especially older engine builders that might like having a younger guy to do the heavy lifting.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 12:37:35 GMT -6
Father also. He never raced, but loved to restore cars in his off time. We restored vintage Corvettes and Chevelles. I took the next step into racing. I used to build the Street Stock motors back in the day, but when they started heading north of 550HP, I switched to letting the Guys that do it for a living build ours. I havent blown one since, knock on wood.
Dave.
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Post by Krooser on Feb 19, 2013 22:40:33 GMT -6
I bought an old Clinton one lung lawn mower engine for a go kart project when I was ten. I rebuilt it and got it running. I never got the go kart but I ran the engine in my basement clamped in my dad's bench vice.
My brother then asked me to pull the head off of his '53 Buick straight 8 and take it to the machine shop to have the valves ground. I took it apart, hauled the head to the machine shop in my wagon and put the head back on with help from two friends. My brother, who worked out of town, came home to help me get the car running again. I was 12 at the time.
When I was 14 my buddy and I bought a '56 Plymouth for $35.00, we pulled the heads and did a valve job in shop class at my high school and we reassembled and painted the car. We sold it for $235.00...
The neighbor kids were always working on cars in the alley and I kinda picked up the hot rod and racing bug from them...
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Post by chaff on Sept 28, 2013 9:20:00 GMT -6
I bought "Rebuilding the Small-Block Chevy" by Larry Atherton and Larry Schreib and am reading it now. I would think with several publications they would have more of the errors taken care of. Componentes are misidentified in pictures. In some cases your sent to other pages for additional info, and its not there. Tried to watch the video yesterday and couldn't get it to play. Disappointing so far. There might be some good info there but with the errors it makes me wonder if I can trust it.
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Post by Krooser on Nov 11, 2013 10:40:29 GMT -6
Find one of Smokey Yunick's books…. amazing stuff.
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Post by milkman on Nov 30, 2013 21:56:51 GMT -6
If your set on learning from a book, pretty much anything that david vizard has written is worth reading, I have a few of his books and he knows what he is talking about.
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Post by flipflopoo1oo on Feb 27, 2014 14:08:22 GMT -6
Years of schooling, dealerships and drag racing fueled my heart of the quest for more horses! The rest was 35 years of dirt! While geometry was boring, it helped in 4 years of music and art as well as listening to tune a motor and the prospective of front and rear angles! It is a gift as well as a curse to have to think so much about things but they all matter when you are on a winning team! Dirt cars are the extreme brain sport in my book! Friction is the only enemy I have and Hydrogen is my horse's friend!
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Post by flipflopoo1oo on Feb 27, 2014 14:49:37 GMT -6
I have been in search of a horsepower exhaust closing number that I have forgotten when reading about cams years ago! Cams were designed backwards off of this number to achieve max horse power per application! This brings a new light to degreeing a cam!
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