DeTomaso Mailing List: April 98, Message #57

>Dan... as for the hardened seats... Dunno... I assume they're stellite,
but
>now I gotta' go call Kip tomorrow and find out for sure! And the reason
>they were put in was because Kip told me the exhaust valves had >receded
into the head pretty far. I only know what I've been told, but it >sounds
like an issue to me! The engine had 33,000 miles on it.

Let me know what Kip says.  Most replacement seats are plain cast
iron.  Stellite is very hard and difficult to cut a seat into.  Dad's '37
Chrysler has stellite seats and we used up several stones doing the valve
job.  My aluminum Buick V8 heads have seats that appear to be 
steel.  Not quite as hard as stellite but not as soft as cast iron either.
After they took the lead out, they began induction hardening the seats
in cast iron heads.  Anyone know what that process entails?

BTW, it looks like the Motorsport aluminum heads have cast iron seats.

>And I boo-booed in the previous mail... The oil pump is a Melling unit.
>TRW50086 equivalent. And there I go looking stupid again... High >volume?
Dunno... What I do know is that the previous pump in my car >would peg
the oil pressure gauge at 100psi until the engine warmed up >and then it'd
run 80psi or so on the highway. Kip said this unit would be >a little lower...say
80psi start up. Didn't ask why... (And yes, I trust the >gauge. It's a
mechanical VDO unit.)

Watch the cold pressure.  I've seen several cars balloon oil filters and
one split the case.

>Things I've noticed and asked about so far... The pistons go in only one
>way. There's only one cutout on them, so it has to be in the right way!
>And yes, Dan... They are supposed to take advantage of the quench. >I've
talked at length with Kip about the compression ration of 10.8... I'm 
>a little concerned about the possibility of pinging, but he doesn't think
it 
> will be a problem. I know... Different ignition system, Kirby!!! Later...

That brings up a question.  The Keith Black hypereutectic flat tops only
have one valve relief, whereas the TRW forged flat tops have two.  What
sort of valve lift/duration is safe with the KB pistons?   Is the second
relief in the TRW piston there for exhaust valve clearance or is it so
they
can be installed in either bank?

I was interested in using the KB108 pistons but they list compression at

11.1:1 with 63cc heads but my Aussies are closer to 57cc.  The TRW's
are rated at 10.63:1 with 63cc heads.

Thanks for the info Kirby,
Dan Jones