DeTomaso Mailing List: October 97, Message #161
     



From: 	pantera@pobox.com (David Doddek)

Subject: IT LIVES!!

Date: 	Tue, 7 Oct 1997 01:43:17 +0000



Its Alive . . . ALIVE!!!!   UU-AA-HHAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!



As you may have guessed my Kitty is purring again.  For those of you who do

not know, I dropped an exhaust valve in August and the rest of the engine

did not survive.  Well, here is the story of the recovery (right from the

intensive care section).



Well I looked and looked for another engine.  Man those clevelands are

getting hard to find.  I then loacted one locally from a guy who I had

bought a set of heads off of in the past.  Some work travel cut into my time

working on the car though.  Keep in mind I had a deadline in getting it

running which I ultimately did not make.  WAAAAA!  But I tried any way.

Before I bought the engine I wanted to look around and go to one of the

biggest midwest swapmeets around.  I found nothing after searching 10 acres

of stuff.  With a week to go I shelled out the 500 bucks and brought my nice

new(?) engine home.



I unload the pile of grease, or, er, engine from the truck and go to bed.

It was late.  The next day I inspect it and say OK it needs cleaned.  So I

clean and clean and clean and clean.  Man was it dirty.  First I notice it

has some pitting in the cylinders from where rust developed while it was

sitting one time and then was run.  Now that had to be good  on the rings.

Little did I know.  I take a bearing off and have a look at the crank.

Score city with the bearings through the copper.  I asked the guy later and

found out he always had a knock in the engine.  Now where do you suppose

that knock came from?  I had a set of bearings and thought well I will just

change them.  Long story on why I had the bearings.  I then think about the

crank and realize that with its condition it will soon ruin the new

bearings.  But I have no spare crank.  Although I do.  I have the crank out

of the blown engine.  Do I ever hope it is not bent.  The problem solved.



I start to take the crank out and press the pistons down to replace the

bearings and they just about fall out of the cylinders.  HMMM rings must be

REALLY worn.  Well Damn, Now I need new rings.  I call autozone and they

have nice new Hastings Cast Iron rings in stock.  These are the ones that

cut hard and seat in a hurry.  Just what I need to fix that pitting in the

cylinders.  Ok, now I have to take out the pistons, clean them, hone the

cylinders, remove the ridge, and put them back.  Well I do all that and then

from the honing the block needs a good washing so I pull the cam out.  Guess

what?  No the cam was ok, but the bearings were shot.  I did not have time

to take it to the shop so I have to change them my self.  But I dont have

any cam bearings, or do I.  I have the ones in the old engine which are

still good.  But I have no cam bearing tool.  But I have a lathe and some

metal.  Thus I make a cam bearing tool, press the old ones out and press

them back in the new motor.



Now I work like mad to get the engine back to gether for the gathering the

next day!!  So I work all day and evening and into the night.  By the way,

Paul, while the motor is upside down I apply liberal amounts of Oil to the

bottoms of the pistons.  Just had to say that for your benefit.  At 1am I

give up and just drive the tbird the next day.  Which by the way had the

battery go bad while I was in a gas station 3 hours from home.  I get back

and finnish the installation next week.  By now I take my time finnishing

the used engine.  Dont finnish till the next saturday night about 10PM.  I

turn the key and Wala, sucess, success.  Boy do I love fuel injection.

Running fine, not overheating good oil pressure, no noises.  I check, no

major leaks except for leaving the dipstick out.  Could the part left out

reflect the type of mechanic?  I go to stick the dipstick in and if any of

you know where it is, well, I short out the regulator and burn it out.  OK,

I have to drive my car.  So I start it up, lights very dim and no covers any

where over the engine including the one in the car.  I pull it out of the

garage and head down the road.  Smile ear to ear.!!  It is here to terrorize

the streets again.  And I know my neigbors have to love it, because I did

not put the turbos back on since it is an 11:1 engine so it is plenty loud.



Next day I button it back up and go driving around.  Runs fair but needs the

EFI tweaked to compensate for the different cam.  This is a 1970 300HP motor

from a Mustang.  Basically stock except for the intake.  I have not got on

it yet but it seems to have adaquate power but not as much as the turbo motor.



I do have one question though.  I have an odd vibration at 2500 RPM that I

did not have before.  It is not severe and feels more like a missfire rather

than a vibration.  I wonder if the crank WAS bent.  Any one ever have

experience with an engine with a bent crank?  What kind of vibration will it

cause.  It did not turn with any difficulty when I was assembling it so I

dont really think it could of been bent.



Well any way, it runs and I have to take it easy till broke in.  Man, it is

hard to drive that car show.  Can barely keep below 4000 rpm.



With a running Pantera again.



David Doddek     pantera@pobox.com    www.pobox.com/~pantera    217-422-3722

69 EFI Fairlane, 89 T-bird SC, 74 Twin turbo NOS EFI Pantera #6825

If you are going to go fast, go real fast.