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Thread: well, the darn thing is out

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  1. #11
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    Aug 2017
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    These engines/transmissions/transfer case were made with good American steel/cast iron. They are heavy, but they last forever. Once a pon a time, I had friends that raced the local dirt track circuit. We raced in the Sportsman division, so we used a 355 SBC, with a 525 lift cam. We did have a spare engine, but we used it in the truck used to pull the car to the track. The spare utilized all the same hook ups that the race car did, minus the transmission. The season championship night came, and we went out for the heat race. The engine in the car developed a head gasket leak, and was down on power. We decided to perform an engine swap before the feature race. Four of us attacked the car and the truck at the same time, for the engine swap. Two of us prepped the truck for the removal, and two on the car. We took two floor jack handles, and made a cradle to lift the engine out. Two guys per side lifted the engine out of the car, and set it on the trailer. Then we went and pulled the engine of the truck. The truck was much more difficult, because of the height of the truck compared to the car. We were able to set the engine in, plumb it, and have it running within an hour. We made it out on the track and placed third in the feature. The only problem was that we had to put the original wounded engine in the truck, just to get home. It was a long night. In a related story, we were preparing mid week to run a 100 lap memorial race, that had a descent pay out. We were prepping the engine for the race, and found an issue with the passenger side head. We looked under the bench for our stash of engine parts and only found a one ported passenger side 305 head. We were in crunch time by this point, so it was decided to go for broke, and install the 305 head. The budget was already gone through with shock and tire purchases, so there was no more money left, or enough time to prep a new head. We assembled the engine, then loaded up the car. We pushed the car to the weigh scale, and opted out of the mud laps. The first start of the car was when we went to the heat race. The engine sounded odd, but ran with plenty of power. Since we didn't go out for mud laps, we had to start at the rear of the field. He quickly weaved his way through the crowd of 10 cars, within the 10 laps. As soon as the checkered flag dropped, he shut down the engine, and was pushed into the pit. We went through and adjusted the valves with it hot, and then let it rest until the feature. For the last race, we started at the mid pack, outside row. When the green flag was dropped, the car took off again. He quickly ran toward the front, and maintained a sizable lead. Over the coarse of the race, the engine did fine. Towards the end of the race, the engine started to puff a bit out of the right side header, when the throttle was released. The longer the race went on, the more the passenger side head was smoking. The lead was starting to diminish, but by the time the checkered flag, the second place car was hot on his heals. He was able to hold them off, and win the race. When we tore down the engine, the passenger bank piston rings were pretty much burnt up, and the crank bearings showed much more wear than the left bank. The difference in compression between the two sides, made the engine unbalanced. It was a good test of theory, with an interesting outcome.

    An engine hoist is worth its weight in gold. I use mine for way more than it was designed for. Pulling bodies off the frame are a snap with an engine hoist. I work alone, so I use it to make up for a second set of hands.
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