Lookin' great, Rick! Can't wait to see it going down the track.

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I have more parts ready for paint. The underside of the trunk, and the hood and splash pan are ready to go to the paint booth. Ryan's old head (which was my head in the 70's) has had it's new valve seats installed and new valves put in. It is already ported some and has been cut .100

I plan to take off work Friday and try and get the motor in the car.

Rick

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Well,

I got the "new" engine I bought last summer torn apart and a new camshaft installed. I knew I would not have enough compression for the new .513 lift cam I had reground to work correctly, so I saved it for a later build. I have a .490 276 duration MP cam that I installed instead. It was installed at 98 (4 degrees advanced). It is interesting that this cam was way retarded when I lined up the marks. I actually moved it a tooth to get it close, and then installed my offset bushing. You just can't go by the marks. They are too often not even close!

I also got Ryan's head back from the shop which I am going to used for a while. It has new Engine builder valves and was planed .090. The pistons are down in the hole-.166 so my compression ended up at 8.7 CR. A little lower than I would have liked but we will see how it works out.

Sad part was that when I went to put my pan on, I forgot that I did not have a gasket. No one had one at 5:00PM this evening, so hopefully I can get one first thing in the morning. Then I can bolt on the head and set the engine in the car.

I still need a driveshaft. We had a spare here for Ryan's Dart, but at the moment it is playing hide and seek with us! And it is winning. If you are anywhere here close and have a spare for a reasonable price please drop me a PM.


Ran the aluminum fuel line outside for my vent. terminated through the old fill neck hole that I made a plate for. Fuel filter is on the end under the car


Block has new cam & lifters and was painted black


All new seats and new Enginebuilder valves

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Looks fantastic, Rick!

What length driveshaft again??

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I measured 49 7/8" But I could be give or take a 1/4" either way. FABO says 49 1/2". Anyway, I am going out to look one more time in my garage and at Ryan's house for the one we pulled at Mason Dixon last year. It should be here somewhere. I figure I will need to cut one down either way.

Rick

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Well,

There is good news and there is bad news. Good news is I have made a major amount of progress on the Valiant. the bad news is that I will not be ready for Mason Dixon. I appreciated all the encouraging words over the past 6 months but it just ain't gonna happen. Have you ever got to the place where the pressure to get done is taking the fun out of working on the car at your own pace? That is kind of where I am. Plus I have a lot of other home and family things that need to have some of my attention too.

So my plans are to back the pace off to what I want to do, and keep plugging away. I may have it done for Elk Creek, maybe not. But I have decided to go ahead and have the outside painted. Then that is done. It will probably go back to Robbie right after Mason Dixon to get "shiny" Underside of hood, trunk and the splash pan were painted this morning.

This will allow me to help get Ryan's Dart ready and maybe even get my 2 barrel and HEI on my truck.

Hope I haven't left my Slant 6 family down?

Thanks for listening,

Rick

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Rick,

I totally understand where you are coming from! I have done this to myself in the past and it sux. Take your time and enjoy it. You are close enough now that you can get it running sometime this year and enjoy the ride and the wrenchin' in style.

We all still love you!

BTW, the only driveshaft I have that could work is 52.7" long, so would need shortening. Let me know if you want me to bring to M-D.

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I am still going to try and get the motor in over the next couple weeks and then go from there. I will let you know about the drive shaft before the race.

Thanks,

Rick

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

IIRC, the shaft I had done for my car is 49-1/2".

Totally understand about the project burn-out. Been there too many times to count and will be there again I'm sure. It's amazing how fast it can turn from fun to excruciating labor too.

Real life doesn't really have to have deadlines like a reality TV show.

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Deadline + hobby = hobby no fun. I'm sure we all get enough deadlines at work.

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Missing driveshaft has been found. No, not at my house, but at Ryan's house. Guess how he found it? Are you ready? He asked his wife!! And she immediately said "Oh yeah it is out on the porch behind the chair" So the moral of this story is that if you want to find something quickly, just ask your wife. If you want to wander around looking dumb and wondering, why did I throw away a pefectly good driveshaft for 3 weeks don't ask her! Love ya son!!
Rick

PS I only Raz him a little because I do the same thing all the time!

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

I went up in my garage attic and pulled out some more parts that go on my Valiant and found 2 very nice door panels. They were pretty warped up and dirty but the vinyl was still nice and stretched. So I scrubbed them down and they cleaned up very nice. I also made the backs wet (hopefully for the last time) and then I put them both together and clamped pieces of plywood the whole way around the outside perimeter. I left them clamped like that for 2 days and "Shazzam" 2 nice flat door panels. Then I got me a $8 can of vinyl dye and dyed them gloss black. They look pretty nice! Plus $8 is a lot less than I just saw them on E-Bay for! $320- ouch !!

Rick



Almost too nice not to use in the original colors.



But, I needed them in black



Also picked up the Splash pan, Hood and Trunk lid from the paint shop. Boy does that splash pan look good in person. I will be more than pleased if the whole car comes out that good!!

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

I have pretty much been idle on the Valiant for the last couple weeks. Been working on Ryan's Dart, disassembling the tug tranny, and working on the Mason Dixon Race.

But I did pick up some cheapo gauges at Carlisle to put in my homade dash and I installed the new trunk seal. I hope to get the trunk mounted in the next couple days. (Maybe after the race).

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Very nice!

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

I might have to invade your house, Rick, to see this evolving beast!!

Looks great.

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988