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Messages - cammerfe

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16
FE Technical Forum / Re: Fabricated Aluminum Valve Covers
« on: January 11, 2024, 11:23:03 PM »
FWIW, some years ago I found a set of what had originated as 'Cobra LeMans' cast covers at a swap meet. They had been milled to remove the fins and lettering. I used them on an engine on which I'd mounted a set of the Dove HD rockers. They used special headbolts to help mount the end stands. I had to re-do the baffles inside that cover the breather holes, but it was a simple fab job to do so. In addition, I usd a rotary file on the inside of the castings where witness marks showed slight interference with the end stands. With that amount of effort over most of an hour, I had a set of blank rocker covers that looked just fine and sealed well too.

KS

17
Non-FE Discussion Forum / Re: Calliope Engine Project
« on: January 04, 2024, 11:22:19 PM »
There is a place here in Metro Detroit that has the ability and willingness to create any sort of billet block you might want. They're a bit pricey but with enough money, anything is possible. (How about 385 blocks and heads with five inch bore centers and machined-in external water jackets. A 4.675 bore requires a 3.6 stroke to produce 494 CID.) ;)

KS

18
FE Technical Forum / Re: Composite Rockers
« on: January 04, 2024, 08:52:25 PM »
I remember around 1990 at Ford hearing about Polimotor  https://polimotor.com/ 

They were building a complete composite four cylinder race engine.  I remember seeing impressive pictures of engine explosions!  Usually all that was left of a failed crank was cotton candy in the block  ;D

If you look at the website, they seem to have mostly given up on composite engine parts.  They are focusing more on metal 3D printing now.

I knew the guy pretty well who was the Ford end on the Polimotor project. He had personal demons and did not play well with others. When Polimotor finally delivered a functioning engine, FoMoCo said, in effect, "Thanks." He wasn't satisfied and raised such a ruckus he was ultimately terminated.

The engine ran just fine, and because the parts were so light weight, it would turn 13-14 K although relatively mild as far as cams-design etc.

KS


19
FE Technical Forum / Re: Composite Rockers
« on: December 30, 2023, 11:21:05 PM »
When the idea is to simply duplicate what has already been done, what's readily available is likely 'good enough.' When one is interested in moving boundaries, experimentation is demanded.

KS

20
FE Technical Forum / Re: Composite Rockers
« on: December 19, 2023, 01:19:46 PM »
Last I knew, Roush was using his own design and manufacture rocker arms in NASCAR. I would suppose others in NASCAR do, as well. I don't believe there's much call for rocker arms in F1, and other venues which use a 4-cam design. MOST designs place the cam lobes directly over the valve and use a bucket over the spring to hold shims to achieve desired lash.

There have been real advances in the use of carbon fiber for such things as connecting rods within the last couple of years. It's necessary to re-orient the layout of the strands to get strength in some complex highly-loaded areas. Rockers are another focused-on area of experimentation.

(It's an area I'm researching.)

KS

21
FE Technical Forum / Re: 427 block with no spacers
« on: December 12, 2023, 11:38:20 AM »
When we crossbolted the C4 block at Roush's Prototype Engine Shop for the series of articles I wrote for Mustang Illustrated Magazine, I used a set of crossbolt caps I bought at a Milan swap meet. The caps included eight spacers. We found, however that to get a perfect fit, we had to make a couple of spacers. The spacers were all hand-fitted, and the tech who did that job insisted that each one go in place with only 'thumb-push' effort.

KS

22
FE Technical Forum / Re: Cammer at MCACN
« on: November 24, 2023, 05:17:37 PM »
Last time I looked, Kaase had them listed starting at 60K

KS

23
FE Technical Forum / Re: Rocker Arm Adjusters
« on: November 19, 2023, 09:27:21 PM »
Production rockers used a screw with an interference fit. When the screw/rocker wore out the interference, it was possible to buy screws with a bit more interference. When those wore out, it was necessary to get a new rocker/screw combination. I guess what you're showing might work, but be aware that the top of the rocker arm has a bit of spine/off-parallel surface that'll need to be finished at 90 degrees to the screw hole. Long ago, Brother Lon and I had the tool-room at T&C Livonia nake up some lock-nuts from Hex bar stock. They were made to fit the existing threads on the production screws. The nuts need to be thin to go into the existing space at the top of the screw. We used a belt sander to flatten the rocker arm surface.

KS

24
FE Technical Forum / Re: top speed estimate
« on: November 09, 2023, 01:51:01 PM »
At one time, here in Metro Detroit, there was a loosely configured group known as , 'The Top Enders.' They met at a Denny's just off of one exit of I-96, over on the west side of Detroit. Arrangements were made and the usual procedure was to go from a hundred up until one car quit.

In regard to land speed, it's of note that the two fastest street-driven cars in the world are both '05-'06 Ford GTs. The M2K car went 300.4 MPH in a measured mile in Texas a couple of years ago. A 'Gas-Monkey'-sponsored GT went just over 310 in a mile in Florida a few months ago. There have been claims of a bit more but they have not been done with proper measuring clocks and/or were done with a running start. For example a 'one-off' Bugatti Chiron was clocked at about 314 on the VW test track in Germany, but that car was doing about 200 when it got onto the mile+ straightaway and in the mile it only attained the extra 114 before having to shut off to be able to make the upcoming turn.

Both Ford GTs were running turbo'd versions of the original factory four-cam engine on methanol. It's estimated that both engines were making about 2500(+) horsepower at the rear wheels. I wonder how much it's going to take to go 350?

KS

25
FE Technical Forum / Re: top speed estimate
« on: November 08, 2023, 04:07:33 PM »
To add depth to the discussion about going fast, A friend and I decided to spectate where land speed racing was taking place. Since I live in Metro Detroit, I quickly discovered that it's about 1700 miles to Bonneville, and, because the group that had, in times past, used the low-tide sand on Daytona Beach before the speedway was built, ended-up using the WWII airport at Maxton, NC, we could watch one mile standing start racing on pavement  a thousand miles closer to home. I'd been told that one could do trial runs, at relatively low speeds, without much safety preparation, so I brought my helmet along, "Just in Case..." I found that the cut-off point for modern factory equipment is set at 125 MPH.

My daily driver, at the time, was an '02 Lincoln LS. For those who may be unfamiliar with that part of the Lincoln line, it was a re-bodied version of the small Jaguar sedans put together after Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Land Rover were acquired by FoMoCo. MY LS Sport came with Michelin Tires on 17 inch wheels, a 240 CID four-cam V8, and a slightly more agressive tune in the ECU that included a delete of the engine speed limiter. The factory speedometer read to 160. On our first trip to Maxton, I'd already put on a set of Michelin Pilot Sport P2s on 18 inch wheels and done a a fairly comprehensive re-tune of the ECU. Ignition timing, fuel delivery and automatic upshift speeds had already been altered, as well as transmission line pressure. I'd also installed a factory  trunk-lid spoiler Brother Lon had removed from something-or-other. I installed it at a much more agressive up-angle. With that much done I went out on a section of expressway that had never been connected properly in North West Metro Detroit. Although open to traffic, it ultimately only connects to two-lane and doesn't have an over-abundance of traffic. There were no other cars to be seen when I ran it up to 150 and found it to be absolutely rock-steady. On our first trip to Maxton, we found it easy to exceed the mandated 125 MPH in the measured mile.

Back home, I installed a full eight-point roll cage, a belly pan from the front all the way back to the rear-axle kick-up, removed the cats and gutted them and put in a full length 2.5 inch exhaust system to go with the new headers. I also installed a mandatory fire-supression foam generating system and a six-point comp seat-belt system. Elbow tethers on the mandatory fire-suit tied in to the belt to stop potential flopping if there were to be a mishap.

We redid trhe factory fuel system to enable the use of C16. I put a five gallon fuel cell in the trunk to hold methanol and a nitrous oxide spray system to go with the methanol. The ultimate result was a one mile standing start national record in 'E' Fuel Competition Coupe/Sedan at 140.106. The record still stands to this day.

I have a new car in the planning stages at present. The East Coast Timing Association is now operating in Arkansas.

KS


26
FE Technical Forum / Re: top speed estimate
« on: November 02, 2023, 06:26:13 PM »
I knew the Executive Engineer at T&C Livonia, where I worked at the time, and he released to me a then-not-yet-in-regular-production big in-'n'-out Toploader to replace it.

That would have been a Big in Small out, No big in big out until 66.

All sorts of things were around if you knew where to look and who to talk to. Bruno was always very kind to me. Big in-'n'-out. ;)

KS

27
Non-FE Discussion Forum / Re: Fuel system plumbing "trends"
« on: October 30, 2023, 01:36:45 PM »
My '64 Custom/427 came from the factory with a sheet-metal canister holding the fore-mentioned Fram cartridge filter. It was placed between the factory fuel pump and the fuel log for the carbs. When I put the 427 in my '67 Cougar, I put one of the fancy Fram housings for the same cartridge in place as well. As I remember, I attached it to the AC compressor mount.

The fuel system for my land speed car has a fuel cell in the trunk for the methanol.  There is a filter mounted at the outlet to the fuel cell to protect the adjacent electric pump. there is another filter just prior to the delivery system on the engine. As mentioned above, the first filter is designed to protect the pump from any of the anti-slosh foam in the cell that might come loose. The much finer filter under the hood is extra protection for the various orfices in the delivery system at the engine.

KS

28
FE Technical Forum / Re: top speed estimate
« on: October 30, 2023, 01:02:14 PM »
I ordered my '64 Custom/427-T with the mandatory 'HD' suspension and brakes and a 4.11 rear end. It was delivered to me in February and within several weeks I had installed Traction Master anti-spring-wrap bars, created and installed a deep oil pan to limit oil-pressure woes, and put spring jacks in the front coils and a re-calibrated front alignment. Eight inch M&H Racemasters took up residence in the trunk and for daily use a set of tall Atlas Bucrons went on the back to go with the 6.70-15s that came on the front from the factory. In March, we decided to go to Florida to spectate at the Twelve Hours Of Sebring. I swapped the 4.11 for a 3.50 and disconnected the speedo cable to preserve what was left of the 90 day warranty that was specific to the 427 engine. I'd installed a Sun 'Super' tach so we matched engine speeds in 4th gear with a friend's speedometer and I made up a small chart on a 3X5 card and taped it to the dash.

3000 on the tach equated to about 70 MPH. Except when I planned a weekend at Milan or Detroit Dragway, I left the unlocked 3.50 in the rear. I replaced the speedo gear with one that matched the gear and tire size.

The spring jacks in the front coils raised the front of the car by a couple of inches. Conventional wisdom said that raising the front of the car helped weight transfer to the rear and assisted the launch. It helped create the highly desired 'Gasser Look' and the only drawback was at high speeds. Starting at about 130 the front end feel would get light and float-y.

I'd busted off the output shaft in the T-10 trans and ended up walking home one night. I knew the Executive Engineer at T&C Livonia, where I worked at the time, and he released to me a then-not-yet-in-regular-production big in-'n'-out Toploader to replace it. I put it in, along with a Hurst shifter, and including the necessary new clutch disc, throwout bearing and output yoke. (I had to get the last three pieces from a dealer who specialized in big F-Series truck parts.)

I discovered that, when I came upon some sort of chibrolet 'performance' car on the highway, and a challenge ensued, it was possible to shift back into 3rd gear at a speedo-indicated 100 MPH. It not only made for an excellent 'passing gear', it often discouraged the 409 or corvette.

If we actually got it on, I could not only watch the tach, the speedometer was marked to 120, and the needle would go past the markings. Just to the right of the speedo was a red 'idiot' light marked 'GEN'---although the engine came equipped with an alternator. The speedo needle passed between the indicator bulb and the lens and was visible behind the red lens at about 130. If I shifted back into 4th when the needle disappeared, I was doing about right.

Coming back to Detroit from East Lansing one very early morning after taking the girlfriend back to school after a weekend home, I got into it with a corvette. I was probably going about 70-75 and he came up on me at about 80. I pushed it up a bit, and he did the same. Previous experience required me to look over at him with a big grin as I, quite ostentatiously, downshifted to 3rd at 100 and then nailed it. Soon after going back into 4th, I began to notice the float-y-ness but I was only half-a-dozen cars ahead and he hadn't quit.

Luckily we were on a long straight area of I-96, because I didn't let off until I was past 6000 on the tach. The car was so float-y and light that I was steering with only thumb and finger of each hand so as to not put in too much input. With the already-established extra altitude on the front of the car, the air-flow under the car was almost enough to have me doing a wheely.  It settled down when I let off.

The corvette was simply a pair of lights in the far-back distance. God is sometimes extra kind to fools. ;)

KS

29
Non-FE Discussion Forum / Re: There is hope, next generation carguy
« on: October 21, 2023, 04:19:36 PM »
Heo, you are enough reason, all by yourself, for me to come here often, even if I didn't already have a substantial interest in FE engines. The mental pictures you create with your stories, topped-off with your very interesting photos, quite definitely add an extra dimension to an already worthwhile place. ;)

KS

30
FE Technical Forum / Re: REMOVE HEAD WITHOUT REMOVING INTAKE
« on: October 12, 2023, 01:21:47 PM »
Back when my '64 Custom/427 was only a few months old, I let the pump jockey at the local Sunoco station (our regular stop/hang-out) put in a tank of gas. When I left the station I put my foot in it and 'let it eat.' When the 260+ in the carbs ran out, the gas in the tank started to flow and the new load (oops) of 190 didn't like the compression. The result was quite savage sudden detonation. Ring lands on one piston collapsed and seized the rings therein. I immediately began laying an oil fog behind the car from the passenger side.

I was past the 90 day warrantee, but Bill Brown Ford was relatively easy to get along with. They gave me a piston and a set of rings and a head gasket. I managed to get the head off without disturbing the intake. I disconnected the iron header at the 'H' pipe and left it attached to the head also. Everything came off and went back together, although it was somewhat of a struggle working all by myself, bundled up in the unheated garage in the cool of the springtime. It probably worked because I didn't realize I shouldn't have done things that way. :)

KS

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