Maybe? It might have been the result of taking your foot off the brake all of a sudden, causing the front of the car to become unsettled for a second before engine braking brought it down again?? That doesn't sound right to me though.. Not Sure if the engine braking would throw the nose back down that hard. It basically looked like you were tapping the pedal a couple of times making it look wallow-ey. The front end would go down-up-down in corners.

Not that you're superstitious, or in need of luck, but I'd be happy to ride shotgun at Buttonwillow, you know, "just in case."

Matt

I think it's me setting the front end with throttle input.

Bring a spare set of drawers. :lol: :unibrow:

It could be hard to sell if it's wrecked while trying to catch a glimpse of an old yeller Mustang taillight....

You guys are going to be really embarassed when I beat you in your RACE cars. :P

Amen brother. That says it all right there.:thumbsup:

Contrair there buddy. Your the one with the big horsepower and the fancy suspension. :D
I'll have to admit, you did pretty damn good last year at Buttonwillow. I was pretty stoked to see those lap times from you. It's always good to have someone run faster than you because it reminds you that you still have work to do and builds the intensity level.
I wasn't ready for you guy's last year but I dont think you'll see any excuses coming from me this year. Prepare for some healthy competition my friend. :cheers:

.......... well...... somebody has to be last.......




:woot:

I really like the place. I hope to shave off a little time myself this year. :cheers:

I'll volunteer for that---under commit---it's a lost art in this hobby/business. :lol:

Dub a D

How about some real tech instead of Better Homes & Gardens. :unibrow: :cheers:

That little guy on my shoulder has been telling me that I need to check some vitals. I'm figuring 3500-4000 street miles and around 24 events on this engine with just regular maintenence. I run a mild solid roller in my mill but they are known for eating lifters regardless. The valves are heavy and I turn mine to nearly 7k damn near everytime I drive it. High rpm is the norm at events.

You can wait for catastrophic failure or you can put your time into preventitive maintenence. I'll tell all you newbies and oldies. These cars aren't low mainence regardless if you actually use them. I picked up a valve spring tester from LSM(A great American company). The tester allows me to check the springs by removing the girdle. I'm looking at seat pressure. My engine is spec'd to have 260 lbs on the seat and 640 on the nose. It's normal to see the springs lose 25-30 lbs initially. Well, after the formentioned, I have a couple exhaust valves that are living on 180lbs! No Bueno. The intakes are all in great shape. Clearly, the heat from the exhaust has diminished most of the exhaust valve springs.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/DSC_0056.jpg
Here's where I think a lot of big block guys go wrong. If the valve springs are ready for replacement, what about the lifters? I have a set of Isky Red Zone lifters in this engine. I'm going to take the horse by the reigns and send them in and have them rebushed with a set of their easy rolls with NO needle bearings. Common sense tells me that if the valve springs are toast, it's time for lifters.

Once I found that I had low spring pressure on a couple valves, I wanted to check the vitals. I ran a COLD compression check. While it should be done with a hot engine, I feel a mechanically sound bottom end should check out cold. It did, with less than 5% variance from cylinder to cylinder. My lowest cylinder got a little wet with gas from bumping the engine to check valve spring pressures. The rings look to be sound.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/DSC_0062.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...9/DSC_0067.jpg

So, I'll have Jason Pettis order a set of new springs and he recommends checking every spring at installed height to make sure there are no manufacturing flaws or wrongly packaged springs. Not surprised with my boy. Check EVERYTHING. I'll send my current lifters out to Isky and have them rebushed. Then, I'll be ready to have all kinds of fun with a clean conscious. :D

Good call. Looks like you stretched it out a little longer than you should have. I'm at about 6 road course events and not even close to full days at half of those with very few street miles. NYES told me to check valve springs and lifters after 1 season and bring the motor in after 2 seasons for freshening. 2 seasons would be about 16 events so hopefully I'm good but now you got me thinking.
Thanks for shedding a light.

I'll ship you my LSM valve spring tester. I really think between it and a compression check, it's a good litmus test.

Cool, thanks. Can you bring it to Buttonwillow? Planning on 2 or 3 events before Buttonwillow. Including Buttonwillow that should put me at an honest full seasons worth of runs.

Yes sir, I'lll bring it with me.

Thanks bro. I was just checking my spec sheet.......220 seat pressure, 580 open.

Leave it to the Pettis Apprentice to get deep into some preventative maintenance. Nice segue from our sh!t talking as of late.

Timely for me, I just finished reading a Circle Track Engine Building book tonight and one of the points I took from it was investing in even a cheap valve spring tester (recommended a $75 Moroso) and they said while it may not be dead nuts accurate, that's fine because it will be consistent and show variances that are the key to preventing a problem like you talk about. I see that LSM piece is quite a bit more than $75.

2 questions... and I don't remember how big your cam lift is, but you do rev reasonably high often.... have you considered shaft rockers?

And whose fuel log is that? I am looking for one....

It seems to be really accurate. At 260 seat originally and a normal initial loss of 25-30 all the intakes are in the 230-235 range which adds up. The real key is to calibrate it on a fresh engine. I considered the Moroso unit but I don't think they will clear the tall poly locks with a stud girdle. Maybe they make one but I didn't look to hard.

I absolutely considered shaft rockers. At the time I couldn't stomach another $1200. :lol: I haven't found the girdle to be a headache adjusting valves. It fits really well and doesn't change the valve adjustment. On the flip side, I haven't been that thrilled with the consistency of the valve adjustment. Shaft rockers are definitely the way to go. When it's time to freshen her up, different heads may be part of the equation so I don't really want to make that investment right now. I'm at .660 lift. Tiny little big block cam.

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performan...59829/10002/-1

What duration at .050 are you running? Whats lobe center and installed center?

Hey! That is my spot! :lol:

Top secret.

LOL. yeah right....like your the only guy that has built a big block with power in a specific range. :lol:

Although, I dont think I'd give up my specs either. :)

It's no secret he already gave up the secret. :D He figured if he said it in the middle of a Ford thread nobody would pay attention. :rolleyes:

LOL, thanks buddy. :thumbsup:

I think it was only a secret because Gaetano asked about it. :lol:

Or,Todd didn't have the cam card handy.:willy:

Knowing Todd it's likely pinned to this shop wall. Or in his wallet.

Thats what I was thinking

Hasn't Todd changed the cam 2-3 time's.:D

Prolly. But doubtful he'll admit it. He isn't as "full disclosure" as people think. :D

****, I have no secrets. There has never been a reason to change the cam. Pettis nailed it.:unibrow:

I did pull the top end apart, pull the intake, and inspect all the lifters tonight. I was about to lose the lifter on number 6 exhaust. The roller is sloppy but all the needles are in tact. Magically, it was one of the two lowest spring pressures. I dodged a bullet. :wow:

Glad you caught it before it was to late.

I'll give you three guess's at my duration @ .050

Todd that's awesome that you caught it.Is there routine maintenance schedule that you follow on checking major parts or just something you do after giving her a hard beating( the car that is). Shane

Ok I'll bite. But first..Do you use Viagra??



TODD, good thing you caught that lifter, they eat up the insides if they let go, been there done that.. Also I believe that not just the roller bearing takes a beating on a R lifter but the whole body itself. I never trusted rebuilt lifters, but that's just me and my eng builders opinion.

Way to much. :unibrow: :lol:

That's a tough question. I really think you have to find your own maintenence schedule based on your own abuse and use. Jason and I had discussed me doing all these things this Fall and he thought it was fine. I really don't think he realizes the extent I'm using the car. I got lucky, it was to long on a solid roller in a big block chevy. That being said, some guys could go a decade until they get to this point.

I can tell you this, if I keep up the schedule I've been runing for the last 3 years, it will get valve springs every year. I'm sure there on some LS guys chuckling right now. I've seen a fair share of them scattering all over the pavement over the last couple years. Anytime you get away from stock specs, you lose stock reliability. This is a lesson for everybody that is abusing their equipment.

F-me. Anybody else want to hop on before the train leaves the station. :rolleyes:

Thanks Jerry. I'll talk to Jason about that. That was already swimming around in my head.

Not happenin....:unibrow:

Also ask Jason if he believes that.. very low RPM or idling kills SOLID roller lifters faster, They tend to bounce and that does more damage then high RPMS. And for what it's worth I ran Crower SS rockers and stud gurdles seeing RPM's as high as 8500 over and over and never had an issue and my valve adj stayed very true also

Solid rollers were meant for racing where you tear things down and check them periodically. You did the right thing. :thumbsup:

My builder said 10k mi max then throw them away and buy a NEW set.