Redwolf947
Well-known member
Awesome, I really want to rebuild an engine some day. I think it would be fun!!.. Keep the pics coming.. Take care and have fun!
Mike
Mike
Above 1200 Sq/FT The Warthog Hidey Hole
- Thread starter jbmatth
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Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
Well not much to report, I didn't get a ton of time to work on the cobra engine. I did get the last two rod bearings installed and torqued down. I installed the timing gears and chain. Before installing the timing cover I coated the gaskets with spray on gasket maker just because I despise oil leaks.
That needed to dry overnight so I turned my attention to the seats I'd picked up this past weekend. I found a guy selling leather seats for the front of a ZX2 (my Lemon car), for $50 and being in good condition they were worth a shot:
Installed now and I drove it again today. The part I'm still getting used to is they are noticeably taller than the cloth seats I removed.
JB
That needed to dry overnight so I turned my attention to the seats I'd picked up this past weekend. I found a guy selling leather seats for the front of a ZX2 (my Lemon car), for $50 and being in good condition they were worth a shot:
Installed now and I drove it again today. The part I'm still getting used to is they are noticeably taller than the cloth seats I removed.
JB
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Good thing you aren't my size or you would have to cut a hole in the roof.Well not much to report, I didn't get a ton of time to work on the cobra engine. I did get the last two rod bearings installed and torqued down. I installed the timing gears and chain. Before installing the timing cover I coated the gaskets with spray on gasket maker just because I despise oil leaks.
That needed to dry overnight so I turned my attention to the seats I'd picked up this past weekend. I found a guy selling leather seats for the front of a ZX2 (my Lemon car), for $50 and being in good condition they were worth a shot:
Installed now and I drove it again today. The part I'm still getting used to is they are noticeably taller than the cloth seats I removed.
JB
drivesitfar
Well-known member
JB: i've always preferred leather seats to cloth, but dang you change seats in your car about as quick as I change my shirt and pants.
congrats on more progress on the Cobra's engine.
more pics and progress reports as you have time and keep up the good work!!
congrats on more progress on the Cobra's engine.
more pics and progress reports as you have time and keep up the good work!!
Drives, the seat swap was pretty easy, 4 14mm bolts with a cordless impact for each seat takes 2 minutes if that, one wiring connector on the drivers seat and you are rolling along. What slowed me down was the leather drivers seat had tan trim rather than black so I had to swap that over which was 4 more Phillips head screws. All told 10 minutes from opening the door to shutting it.
I like leather too for many reasons, but normally it is because you can get them heated and more importantly cooled. That is my personal favorite!
I'll try to grab a status photo tonight but it is kinda hard to tell that much is getting done at this point. I'll be installing the water pump and mocking up the oil pan as well.
JB
I also meant to say rebuilding an engine isn't all that bad (coming from the guy who hasn't attempted to start one up after a rebuild), as long as you take your time and order parts after you verify you know what you need. I'm glad I waited until I pulled this one apart before ordering bearings because my crank was sock size but the rod bearings were .010" smaller.
The most work will go into the heads, as I mentioned before I'll be doing a port/polish/gasket match on the intake and exhaust side. I'm also replacing the valve springs and retainers along with lapping the valves a bit to make sure everything is good there.
JB
86turbodsl
Well-known member
I found a guy selling leather seats for the front of a ZX2 (my Lemon car), for $50 and being in good condition they were worth a shot:
Installed now and I drove it again today. The part I'm still getting used to is they are noticeably taller than the cloth seats I removed.
JB
That's a great deal on leather seats! I've always been a fan. A little hot in the summer, but durability is king in my book. Well done!
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
I am a GM guy, but they use the crappiest leather on their seats. I always try to find fabric sests to put back in my trucks. I sweat a lot and the leather just disintegrates under me no matter how often I treat it.
The leather seats in my '95 C1500 are in great shape for the most part, but it was garaged up until about 4 years ago and it only has 85,000 miles on it. My 2006 Silverado leather seats were only leather on the centers, the outer portions are all pleather and they did break down quick.
JB
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
JB, for what it's worth my '87 Corvette was blowing a small cloud of blue smoke on startup but wasn't using a lot of oil. Obvious problem was valve seals. I replaced the seals while the heads were on and "while I was in there" I replaced the valve springs and replaced the stock 1.5:1 rockers with 1.6:1 aluminum roller rockers (and tall aluminum valve covers "while..."). The blue smoke was gone and my ****-dyno detected an overall performance bump. The valve springs were a surprise because I could actually feel a difference in effort compressing the old and new ones.
I suspect your port matching work will produce a dramatic improvement, even more than the springs.
I think this port job is turning into a while I'm in there moment Bob. I suspect any gain would come from the 6.6% increase in valve lift from the rocker arm change. The only reason I'm changing the springs is because it was recommended by Comp. Also the springs play a huge role in valve-train stability at higher RPM's. As you mentioned I'll likely get a much better improvement from the port work. Speaking of which...
I started off by putting machinist die around the exhaust ports then gently installing the gasket and marking the perimeter:
Here you can see the line with the gasket removed:
Repeat for the intake side:
*Safety Tip* Note the goggles in the background, I wore those the entire time and wouldn't ever do this job without them! There are metal splinters going everywhere and I've been blowing black snot out all morning from working on them.
I then spent a few hours with a carbide bit and my die grinder to get the intake side to here:
I later came back with another bit to clean up the ridges and work on the area just inside the valves. Something to note, on SBF heads the push rod hole is very close to the intake opening shown on the right in the above photos. You can' take too much off or you get into that hole so be careful. I don't know how many hours I have in porting these heads but it is significant probably getting close to 10 now, and I'm still not quite done. Here is a hint at how much metal I have been removing:
From what I've read I could expect to see flow increases nearing 20% on the intake and slightly more on the exhaust. Fingers crossed that is right because that could really make a nice seat of the pants improvement with this engine and it'll look identical on the outside other than a fresh coat of paint.
JB
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TMcCay
Well-known member
Nice work JB. Dirty and messy but you will enjoy the results.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Ewwwww black snot. Thanks for not sharing pics.
Not much to report, the temps. have dropped quickly and I haven't done as much as I need to in order to finish these heads. I did clean up the welding table where I ported them though. Now it is time to clean them back up, lap the valves, and start assembly. For reference here is how many shavings I was able to pick up when cleaning:
Saving weight:
I'm really looking forward to getting this all back together but have been swamped at work as well.
Keep Moving Forward,
JB
Saving weight:
I'm really looking forward to getting this all back together but have been swamped at work as well.
Keep Moving Forward,
JB
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Super ligerria. Or however you spell it.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
feel Italian.
JB
So that means it will either break down every 30 miles, or randomly burst into flame???
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Did you own a Fiat X1/9?. We had four so between them we could go 120 miles. The flames behind your head are not obvious at first but you always pay attention to honking horns behind you.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
JB: you blowing black snot got me to thinking that maybe i should remind you that even wearing a painter's mask when doing all that would be a lot better than nothing. what you breath can shorten your life and you've got a lot of grand dadding to do in your future i'm guessing while you are driving your hot car around with them.
cheers and have a good weekend!!
oh and BTW nice work as per usual.
cheers and have a good weekend!!
oh and BTW nice work as per usual.
It'd be like a British car again.
I've always had a hard time hearing horns in that car for some reason.
Drives,
You are correct I really should have been wearing a mask. I have a pretty good half face respirator that would have worked great. Truth be told, I didn't know there was that much dust in the air from my last bit of work, the first two weren't nearly as bad as that last day. I'll know for next time though, never can be too safe...well if I'd have played it safe I wouldn't have my beautiful daughters.
JB
drivesitfar
Well-known member
JB: when i read your post about SAFETY I had to smile or maybe LOL. 
we have 5 kids and the 3 i'm responsible for causing/making. in my case I did throw caution to the wind and had the preventative on the dresser.
keep up the great work on the Cobra!!
AND wear your mask cause you might want to partake in some more of that other activity in the years to come.
we have 5 kids and the 3 i'm responsible for causing/making. in my case I did throw caution to the wind and had the preventative on the dresser.
keep up the great work on the Cobra!!
AND wear your mask cause you might want to partake in some more of that other activity in the years to come.
Yep, I'm still here, been pretty busy all in all, but still plugging away at the engine rebuild. I did take most of the weekend off to do a little race in Springfield, Mo. at Bass Pro Shops. It was my first half-marathon in 4 years and felt "good" to do another, but hurts like crazy at the same time. Being at Bass pro they brought out some of their stuffed animals for us to admire:
I did manage to get all of the valves lapped, seemed to go pretty easy and they all looked good after just a few minutes:
It was then time to install valve springs, retainers, and keepers. I didn't realize when I ordered the kit that the springs were actually triple valve springs, it took some doing but I did get them installed. Well all but 3, I wasn't installing the valve stem seals the right way and broke 3 of the first 4. These seals are Teflon (PTFE) and being cold they broke really easy. I have new ones on order and will have them tomorrow to finish that up:
Here is the engine as a hole so far, I have both heads installed and torqued down to spec in the proper sequence. At least if my google fingers weren't telling me lies:
That is when I got really nervous, I found this on the floor:
I couldn't remember what it came from or why it was on the ground. Posted it on a book of faces group I'm a member of and was reminded it was a cam alignment pin. The cam kit came with two and this one wasn't needed. Next on the list is porting the intake, installing lifters and pushrods, then onto the intake and finely paint before install. Getting closer and exciting.
JB
I did manage to get all of the valves lapped, seemed to go pretty easy and they all looked good after just a few minutes:
It was then time to install valve springs, retainers, and keepers. I didn't realize when I ordered the kit that the springs were actually triple valve springs, it took some doing but I did get them installed. Well all but 3, I wasn't installing the valve stem seals the right way and broke 3 of the first 4. These seals are Teflon (PTFE) and being cold they broke really easy. I have new ones on order and will have them tomorrow to finish that up:
Here is the engine as a hole so far, I have both heads installed and torqued down to spec in the proper sequence. At least if my google fingers weren't telling me lies:
That is when I got really nervous, I found this on the floor:
I couldn't remember what it came from or why it was on the ground. Posted it on a book of faces group I'm a member of and was reminded it was a cam alignment pin. The cam kit came with two and this one wasn't needed. Next on the list is porting the intake, installing lifters and pushrods, then onto the intake and finely paint before install. Getting closer and exciting.
JB
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Nothing scarier than finding random parts. I love it when I find a stray o ring. No amount of asking can provide a definitive answer as to what it fits.
I've been having to put in entirely too many hours at work lately so I'm moving a little slower than I would like. I did manage to finish up the head install work, dropped the lifters in after soaking them in oil for a few days and installed the intake manifold with Cat. She seemed to enjoy using the torque wrench, but 18 ft-lbs was all she could muster. Sadly no photos as the girls were up early and ready for breakfast.
In other news a buddy rented a trencher and mini-skid steer to do some work and was done with it, I offered to fill them with fuel if he let me borrow it on Sunday. I also picked up 2 20' (6.5m) pieces of 7" OD pipe, I needed to do something about this:
That was from when Andy helped me with my drainage and water intrusion issues. It has been working flawlessly but it was time to put in the drainage pipe so I didn't have a dip on entry into the shop:
That was after many trips pulling sand and dirt out near the entrance to the pasture, I then tried to clean out the ditch, didn't work so well and wife had to pull me out twice:
That was really all I was able to accomplish after spending all of Saturday at work. I did look at a new trucks online and was shocked at how expensive they had become:
For slightly less money I could get this and have way more fun!
Sadly I don't have the money for either so I'll just keep dreaming.
JB
In other news a buddy rented a trencher and mini-skid steer to do some work and was done with it, I offered to fill them with fuel if he let me borrow it on Sunday. I also picked up 2 20' (6.5m) pieces of 7" OD pipe, I needed to do something about this:
That was from when Andy helped me with my drainage and water intrusion issues. It has been working flawlessly but it was time to put in the drainage pipe so I didn't have a dip on entry into the shop:
That was after many trips pulling sand and dirt out near the entrance to the pasture, I then tried to clean out the ditch, didn't work so well and wife had to pull me out twice:
That was really all I was able to accomplish after spending all of Saturday at work. I did look at a new trucks online and was shocked at how expensive they had become:
For slightly less money I could get this and have way more fun!
Sadly I don't have the money for either so I'll just keep dreaming.
JB
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realvc
Well-known member
I have a 1999 Chevy Z-71 with a little over 200,000 miles on it. When I check out the newer than mine used trucks the prices are insane to me. The trucks that are newer and at a reasonable price have way more miles than my truck.
You are way a head of the game since you can do your own mechanic work.
I plan on keeping mine going as long as I can since I don't see them getting more affordable any time soon.
Vince
You are way a head of the game since you can do your own mechanic work.
I plan on keeping mine going as long as I can since I don't see them getting more affordable any time soon.
Vince
Vince,
I completely agree, just too rich for my blood. I know inflation is a big part of that cost increase along with more technology, convenience features, and safety equipment. But for many of us in the US that is getting close to the price of a house. It actually is almost 3 times the cost I paid for a pretty nice little home a few years back. WOW.
JB
I completely agree, just too rich for my blood. I know inflation is a big part of that cost increase along with more technology, convenience features, and safety equipment. But for many of us in the US that is getting close to the price of a house. It actually is almost 3 times the cost I paid for a pretty nice little home a few years back. WOW.
JB
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I think there is another aspect to the pickup prices. They build in a really big profit margin and then offer you 20% off so you feel like you are getting a deal with $16,000 off. Or they sell it to you for list price and give you a 0% loan for 60 months (or longer) so the monthly payments are close to a second mortgage. I've always bought used and paid cash because I hate owing money. I'd rather drive a paid-for POS than be a co-owner of a beautiful and depreciating brand new POS.
You are very right there Bob, I regularly hear about trucks being discounted by $16,000 or more. Why would someone buy at MSRP then? Even at 84 months with 0% (Offers I've seen before) that is nearly $1,000 a month. On the other hand look at a similar 3 year old GMC 2500 Denali with under 70k miles you are looking at nearly $40k for gas and $45k for diesel.
I'm having a *shakes fist in the air* "Back in my day..." moment, I just can't justify it but sadly with those being so expensive they have driven up the cost of even the POS so high it is hard to justify them. That is when I get back around to just keeping what I have and fixing it again, or building a McLaren engine for the cobra.
JB
drivesitfar
Well-known member
JB: with your skills I know time is limited, but you should buy an oldie but goodie maybe with a cummins engine or I'd prefer a Honda engine since I don't haul cars or that heavy of stuff.
i've been using my 2003 Honda Pilot that I paid about $7 or 8 for with 110k on like a pick up for 7 years now and it has 220k on it and i'd drive it to Portland tomorrow if I needed to and that's about 500 miles round trip.
I know work gets in the way, but your Cobra is coming along nicely so hope you get to drive it a bit before the snow hits and if not it should be ready for next spring and summer.
cheers
i've been using my 2003 Honda Pilot that I paid about $7 or 8 for with 110k on like a pick up for 7 years now and it has 220k on it and i'd drive it to Portland tomorrow if I needed to and that's about 500 miles round trip.
I know work gets in the way, but your Cobra is coming along nicely so hope you get to drive it a bit before the snow hits and if not it should be ready for next spring and summer.
cheers
86turbodsl
Well-known member
Drives,
You are correct I really should have been wearing a mask. I have a pretty good half face respirator that would have worked great. Truth be told, I didn't know there was that much dust in the air from my last bit of work, the first two weren't nearly as bad as that last day. I'll know for next time though, never can be too safe...well if I'd have played it safe I wouldn't have my beautiful daughters.
JB
You can never have enough PPE as far as i'm concerned especially with the metal splinters. DAMN i hate those things.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
For slightly less money I could get this and have way more fun!
Sadly I don't have the money for either so I'll just keep dreaming.
JB
I want to see you pull a trailer with a Mclaren!
Oddly enough I was playing on the Chevy website. The cheapest truck I could configure was still $30k. That was a 2wd regular cab long bed WT trim.
I have never bought a new vehicle. I want to own what I have, not just have the bank let me use it.
The problem with the Cummins is that it is wrapped in a Dodge.
I will get the cobra back together hopefully before Thanksgiving but may or may not get to drive it, an open top car gets really cold at anything below 50 or so.
I felt like I was in everything I needed, good thick gloves, goggles, hat, long shirt and pants. I didn't realize how much fine dust was going to be in the air. I did run a half-marathon since and didn't die so as long as the next metal detector I go though doesn't go off I think I'll be fine.
Still a good lesson for next time to use one though.Not a McLaren, but here is a Lamborghini pulling a trailer, close enough:
Lambo Pulling a Trailer
I haven't ever bought a new one, my wife/the family has, and I've gotten loans for them in the past but I'm over that now. I "should" only have 29 months left before everything is paid off, house, land, and her Jeep, then I'm done with loans...unless I find a McLaren for $60k.
JB
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
I am sure you can get this one cheap.unless I find a McLaren for $60k.
JB
https://www.iaai.com/VehicleDetails?itemid=32103372&RowNumber=0&similarVehicleItemId=&isNext=&loadRecent=true