1969 Dart Street/Strip (Re)Build
Spent some time this weekend getting valve lash set. I haven't done it in quite some time and my intention was to set it hot, come back and re-check it the next day when it was cooled to see what the cold lash was so I wouldn't have to set it hot all the time. Weirdest thing is that when you read online, people say it should be around .005 (give or take depending on what the setup is) smaller than hot. When I checked when it was cold, I couldn't measure ANY difference. Has anyone had this experience before? I did this on the driver's side so I set the passenger side cold at .020/.022 which is what COMP says to do hot. I don't get it.
I also tried some of those oil absorbing pads on the oil pan. I really thought this would do it, but I thought wrong. I had that stuff shoved up between the oil pan and inspection cover and even had a flap on a second piece that extended past the bell housing a couple inches that would hopefully catch anything beyond that. So here's what I had. Looks like pampers for hot rods lol.
I pulled the timing out of it back to around 28-30 degrees, grabbed my fire extinguisher and took it out for a drive. Drove it for about 10 miles, got on it pretty hard trying to get the heat to it. No burning or smoke yet so I had hope. Went a few miles out of town and launched from first gear. 1st was spin city. 2nd spin city. 3rd started going. Last time I pedaled I glanced down and speedo said I was doing around 85. It really shouldn't be spinning at that speed IMO. Had 28 lbs in the tires so that didn't help probably. I had the shocks set to extend as easily as possible but the car just didn't seem get up on it's *** and go. Maybe it's because there's not nearly as much travel with this suspension as there was with the torsion bars and it just doesn't appear like it's getting up there. I nailed it from 2nd earlier and it didn't spin much and went. I'm not sure why it spun through 1st and 2nd from a dig but grabbed from a 2nd gear roll. But after that run, I could smell something was getting hot. Pulled over and checked underneath. Oil was dripping about once per second off the flap that was sagging and saturated. WTH!? How can I be losing THAT much oil!? There must be a hole in the sealant on the back of the pan or something. When I get on it, the oil sloshes to the back and runs out at a fast rate is all I can come up with. This is irritating as hell. I could maybe add some more pads between the engine and trans pans but I'm wondering how long that will even last. I might have to pull the engine out after all. *cry*
Spent some time this weekend getting valve lash set. I haven't done it in quite some time and my intention was to set it hot, come back and re-check it the next day when it was cooled to see what the cold lash was so I wouldn't have to set it hot all the time. Weirdest thing is that when you read online, people say it should be around .005 (give or take depending on what the setup is) smaller than hot. When I checked when it was cold, I couldn't measure ANY difference. Has anyone had this experience before? I did this on the driver's side so I set the passenger side cold at .020/.022 which is what COMP says to do hot. I don't get it.
I also tried some of those oil absorbing pads on the oil pan. I really thought this would do it, but I thought wrong. I had that stuff shoved up between the oil pan and inspection cover and even had a flap on a second piece that extended past the bell housing a couple inches that would hopefully catch anything beyond that. So here's what I had. Looks like pampers for hot rods lol.
I pulled the timing out of it back to around 28-30 degrees, grabbed my fire extinguisher and took it out for a drive. Drove it for about 10 miles, got on it pretty hard trying to get the heat to it. No burning or smoke yet so I had hope. Went a few miles out of town and launched from first gear. 1st was spin city. 2nd spin city. 3rd started going. Last time I pedaled I glanced down and speedo said I was doing around 85. It really shouldn't be spinning at that speed IMO. Had 28 lbs in the tires so that didn't help probably. I had the shocks set to extend as easily as possible but the car just didn't seem get up on it's *** and go. Maybe it's because there's not nearly as much travel with this suspension as there was with the torsion bars and it just doesn't appear like it's getting up there. I nailed it from 2nd earlier and it didn't spin much and went. I'm not sure why it spun through 1st and 2nd from a dig but grabbed from a 2nd gear roll. But after that run, I could smell something was getting hot. Pulled over and checked underneath. Oil was dripping about once per second off the flap that was sagging and saturated. WTH!? How can I be losing THAT much oil!? There must be a hole in the sealant on the back of the pan or something. When I get on it, the oil sloshes to the back and runs out at a fast rate is all I can come up with. This is irritating as hell. I could maybe add some more pads between the engine and trans pans but I'm wondering how long that will even last. I might have to pull the engine out after all. *cry*