Heckeng Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Heads are on but not torqued. I got the pushrods ordered, and valve clearances checked. We're on our way now. Tomorrow I'll get them torqued and the intake and carb on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 nice progress Scott....won't be long now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 How much longer for the push rods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Pushrods were ordered from Summit so i would guess they might be here monday? I am wondering if all of the snow and ice will mess it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Productive day today   I have ordered pushrods from Summit, they will hopefully be here Friday or Monday.  Only hiccup was that the hole that my alternator bolt goes to in the head was 3/8's not 7/16 so I had to adjust that but it is all good now.  Getting closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL M Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Looking real good, I love the way Aluminum on black looks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 I am (I think) all ready for startup finally. I found out tonight that I am out of gas in the garage, and I also need a new battery as mine has apparently gotten lazy from lack of use and decided to kick the bucket. This is the second Optima Red Top I've trashed. I think I'll get a normal battery this time. Â If all goes well, tomorrow I will have it running. . . fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Hope it goes well. I bought a red top last summer, did I make a mistake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Good luck Scott with start up. Do you use a battery tender I hear they work good. I use one on my tractor and have gotten an extra year out of that battery this year will be 2 extra if it starts in the spring well see. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyKenny Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Make a video of start up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 I have one but I don't use it on the gel cell, that is what fried my first one. This time I will be getting a regular battery so I can utilize the battery tender. It seems like about half of the people who use the BT on a gell cell battery end up frying them. I was one of the unlucky ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Mike, they are good batteries as long as you use them regularly and don't use a trickle charger on them. The battery tender I have cooked the gel and trashed my first red top. This second one just died on its own from sitting for a year I guess. It always did real well as long as I drove the car regularly. Nice thing is they don't leak or anything, bad thing is they are more temperamental than lead acid batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I didnt know that now I do. We learn something new every day Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Auto Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Mike, they are good batteries as long as you use them regularly and don't use a trickle charger on them. The battery tender I have cooked the gel and trashed my first red top. This second one just died on its own from sitting for a year I guess. It always did real well as long as I drove the car regularly. Nice thing is they don't leak or anything, bad thing is they are more temperamental than lead acid batteries. Â Had a good bud in the shop last week that had a Red Top. Towed it in and the two month old battery was a total loser. Loaded the battery in my truck aand sent him back to AutoZone to get it warrantied. Bolted it in, checked the charging system, threw in a set of Mosers and some 3.73s and away he went. Twenty minutes later he calls and said he saw smoke under the car and he is dead on the road. I drive out to him to find the positive bat cable is glued to his left side header. Battery number two, trashed beyond repair. A normal lead acid battery will recharge on a stuation like that, but not the gel cell. Not sure why. I swapped a battery back in and got him home. Â But my last yellow top Optima went 9 years, the replacement has been in there for 3. Â Now to pick on your build Scott. Everything looks great but that plastic fuel filter will get you tossed by any tech inspector. Â Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 it didn't seem like the red tops would hold a charge very long when I tried them. Finally went back to the 1000 Marine Interstate's and they hold up well. Never tried the yellow top but I think they're supposed to have a longer more constant power output compared to the red top high power quick discharge.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreese Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Looks awesome Scott. I'm digging the fabbed aluminum V/C. Video please!!!! That engine is gonna rock!!! Â David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Can't wait to see and hear it fire up on video...no cheating and staring it up off camera and then doing a pretend first start up for the camera... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72MC Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Originally Posted By: Heckeng Mike, they are good batteries as long as you use them regularly and don't use a trickle charger on them. The battery tender I have cooked the gel and trashed my first red top. This second one just died on its own from sitting for a year I guess. It always did real well as long as I drove the car regularly. Nice thing is they don't leak or anything, bad thing is they are more temperamental than lead acid batteries.  Had a good bud in the shop last week that had a Red Top. Towed it in and the two month old battery was a total loser. Loaded the battery in my truck aand sent him back to AutoZone to get it warrantied. Bolted it in, checked the charging system, threw in a set of Mosers and some 3.73s and away he went. Twenty minutes later he calls and said he saw smoke under the car and he is dead on the road. I drive out to him to find the positive bat cable is glued to his left side header. Battery number two, trashed beyond repair. A normal lead acid battery will recharge on a stuation like that, but not the gel cell. Not sure why. I swapped a battery back in and got him home.  But my last yellow top Optima went 9 years, the replacement has been in there for 3.  Now to pick on your build Scott. Everything looks great but that plastic fuel filter will get you tossed by any tech inspector.  Andy  I have had my first yellow top Optima for 4-5 years. No problems. I chose yellow over red for the reason Davey gave. Yellow is "deep cycle". Plus when I got mine, red and yellow were the same price and I think this is true today. Yellow seemed like a better value.  Engine is looking good Scott but, I tend to agree with Andy on the plastic fuel filter. But hey, I have been known to overkill everything. I have three filters in my setup. One between tank and fuel pump, one between fuel pump and regulator and one between regulator and carb.  OK, back to your beauty. Looking forward to some track results. Keep iup the good work. - Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Well, I guess I cheated a little. I got home late tonight with my Optima that turned out to be good--not sure what was going on there, it may be my charger unfortunately, and a 5 gallon gas can. I put the battery in while still dressed in my work clothes and then changed, and got the gas in and carb primed. Started it right up, but not on video. It wasn't too exciting at first anyway. It did not want to idle very well at first but I think that was because the lifters had not gotten pressurized with oil even though I primed the crap out of it. I even turned the motor over while priming. Anyway, it settled down and I got the timing adjusted but by that point the garage was so stinky with fumes I had to go in--my eyes were hurting and I'm sure I killed some brain cells with the fumes. More tuning tomorrow on the carb and I'll get a video hopefully tomorrow or Sat. Â Now, why is everybody picking on my fuel filter I actually like that style because I can see what is going on in there and they filter pretty well too. I do understand that they aren't as nice as a nice little billet AN version but I don't have enough room there to fit an AN filter and the fittings required. I do have another big cannister filter between the fuel cell and the mechanical pump but I like having a filter after the pump too--just in case. I'll look at Summit and see if they have any nicer nipple style filters I could switch to--just for you guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 great that got it fired up Scott!! The Morels's usually take a few miles to settle in. To Andy's point about the plastic filter the tracks don't like them, could give you some grief of it that's all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 I've actually been to 3 tracks in MO and none have had any issues with them but maybe that is just MO! I found some billet ones that will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Scott, my batteries on a couple of the vehicles that I don't drive often would go dead, granted mine were lead type batteries but I put a disconnect on them and problem was solved...as I type this I just remembered you do have a disconnect sticking out of the back of your car right? Do you turn it off when it sits for a while? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Auto Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Scott, I run these little billet filters to keep the track inspectors looking elsewhere on the cars. They run -6 AN fittings on both ends and the replacement elements are only $10. Â It is right below the MSD and right above the fuel pump. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Here you go guys, I took a quick video when I got in from work. The volume of the video wasn't really representative of what it was like in the garage for some reason. Â I just got the engine timed, carb roughly adjusted, and plug wires made up late last night. I warmed it up for a bit before I did the video today too so I wasn't revving a cold engine. I tried to show the pulses coming out of the exhaust, they are very strong, I believe stronger than they used to be, I would guess due to the increased compression. Â I found out my idling problem--forgot to attach the brake booster vacuum line, and I had a spark plug wire not firing. Got those fixed and it is much better now. I have one small antifreeze leak between the intake and water pump to fix but I think that is it knock on wood! Â Now I just need it to rain a lot to wash all of the chemicals and salt off of the roads. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black07ss Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Great job!! Sounds Sweet!!! By the way that has to be the cleanest garage I have ever seen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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