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Messages - GerryP

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1
FE Technical Forum / Re: speedmaster aluminum heads and roller rockers
« on: April 24, 2026, 06:03:02 AM »
I'm not advocating China parts, but you have to be pragmatic about it.  If we closed off all Chinese production, there would be no Walmart and no Amazon.  A manufacturer who steals designs should not be rewarded just because they can undercut the original R&D manufacturer's price.

2
FE Technical Forum / Re: speedmaster aluminum heads and roller rockers
« on: April 20, 2026, 05:12:12 PM »
The parts are really core to the maintenance of the FE in the sport.  I wouldn't rule out farming out the casting to an overseas enterprise and doing the machine work in your shop.

3
How unfortunate.  Providence would be for you to open your own foundry for your and other small businesses.  But I understand the age issue and the competing maturation issues in taking on such a bold adventure.

4
FE Technical Forum / Re: aluminum block mains
« on: April 01, 2026, 01:04:06 PM »
Any metal hole grows with heat, alum or iron, as do the cranks.  I can't hear the video where I am watching it, will watch later, but I would not equate a bore size change alone into oil clearance

Plus, the metal grows in all directions, not just out away from the bore.

5
FE Technical Forum / Re: Let's play Guess The Casting
« on: March 31, 2026, 04:24:04 PM »
Thinking Autolite inline with symmetrical ports.

6
You could do a hard fill on the block.  You could use a ceramic sealer on the water jacket.  Or you could stitch seam the crack.  I'd probably do the ceramic seal as my first choice, with stitch the block as my second.  The hard fill has some cooling considerations where the other two don't.

That's really not that bad.  If it's not cracked in the crank saddles, you are usually able to repair the block.  Lastly, don't trust your eyes.  Get the block Magnafluxed.  There could be other cracks hiding that you can't see.

7
FE Technical Forum / Re: Modifying solid roller lifter
« on: February 17, 2026, 12:30:34 PM »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ryZOXGhaU

Fast forward to about 9:30 mark. 

I’ve had to do this on every set of BAM lifters I’ve used.

Masterful, Brent.  A perfect demonstration of the problem and the solution.

8
FE Technical Forum / Re: Overheating 427
« on: February 11, 2026, 08:18:16 PM »
A laser thermometer can tell you a lot.  You can get them for less than 20 bucks.  That will help you understand whether the problem is on the cooling side, or the engine side.  With that, you can look at the temperature deltas between the radiator inlet and the radiator outlet.  A normal spread is around 10-15 degrees.  A narrower delta, like less than 10 degrees, means you don't have sufficient cooling capacity which can be too small or inefficient of a radiator or inadequate airflow through the radiator from a faulty fan or drive assembly.  A wider delta -like too cool- can point to restricted flow, meaning coolant is spending too much time in the radiator. You also want to check the whole surface of the radiator.  You are looking for wide temperature variations that tell you where there are restrictions. 

For the engine side temps, you want to look at what temperature you get at the water pump inlet and the manifold temperature ahead of the thermostat.  The delta is very similar.  Retarded timing or a lean mixture will give you a wider delta.  Low block pressure can do that too as low block pressure can allow steam pockets to form and once you have steam pockets, you aren't cooling that piece of metal.  You get low block pressure from a slow or inefficient water pump.  Also, don't run straight water of any kind.  Water has high surface tension and the electrons don't like to get friendly with metal components so you get poor surface contact.  Use antifreeze or a surfactant to break the surface tension.

9
FE Technical Forum / Re: Cam Grind Suggestions
« on: January 25, 2026, 05:35:03 PM »
...
I do know there will be 50 guys that say they last, and stuff has changed, but I am not a fan for a street strip vehicle.

Running a solid roller on the street is just putting the Devil on the door.  That's just my opinion.  They last anywhere from 1,000 miles to 100,000 miles.  There are more consistently reliable choices.  Hydraulic flat, solid flat, or hydraulic roller for a street car.  Again, consistent reliability.

10
FE Technical Forum / Re: Cam Grind Suggestions
« on: January 25, 2026, 03:50:53 PM »
What is the projected life of a solid roller on the street?  ...

This comes up a lot.  The answer depends upon where you ask the question.  I look to a bigger brain trust with Speedtalk.  Here's a link to this question:  https://www.speed-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43176

If you search the site, you'll see it's not the first time the questions has been asked and bench raced.  In that particular thread, there is a response from CamKing.  He is a cam grinder and designs custom pieces for many of the NASCAR and other race series teams.  But with anything, it always depends on how the particulars stack up for you.  Maintenance is very important and has a lot to do with valvetrain life when working with a solid roller.

11
FE Technical Forum / Re: fire jumping plug wires
« on: November 24, 2025, 03:15:51 PM »
Was it a cool, damp night with the temperature near the dew point?  It's not unusual to have a corona around the plug wires or any high tension wire under the right climatic conditions.  If you have a condition where the resistance is very high in the high tension side, it causes an increase in voltage and that can cause the corona.  As others have stated, with all new components, you need to tighten up the gaps to reduce the juice it takes to jump the gap.  If it persists, you need to measure resistance on the plug wires.  Normally 2kOhm per foot of plug wire or less for a good wire.

12
FE Technical Forum / Re: Cast Iron Welding Block Repair
« on: September 15, 2025, 03:15:06 PM »
That's the sort of thing that would be a perfect brazing candidate.

13
I use Viton o-rings for the needle and seat assembly.  I got a bag of fifty for very cheap.  You should be able to find Viton seals for the transfer tube.  Sort of one of those reinventing the wheel deals.  Surely your effort is a unique solution but might not be very necessary.

14
FE Technical Forum / Re: cross bolt conversion cost
« on: August 04, 2025, 05:36:45 PM »
And then, there is the air cooled VW or the Porsche flat six.  Bedplates are also common on diesel engines like the earlier Ford Power Stroke.

15
FE Technical Forum / Re: Summit branded distributor
« on: July 29, 2025, 05:49:36 AM »
I've used those aftermarket Durasparks, but one thing I discovered is that many of them won't accept a stock small cap without machining the bodies. The several I've bought, all chinesium, all had cap-adapt for the larger caps. They worked fine, and they are very inexpensive.

...

That is true.  A little time with a flat file is all it took for me to get a small cap to fit.  I guess chucking it up in a lathe will get you a cleaner result, but with the cap on, you can't see my ham-fisted effort.

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