Well...
I did mention at the first of the story last year that Dale was putting together 3 engines in two weekends. I ordered the Hughes STL6872 with lightweight cool face lifters, custom ground on a 110 lobe center. Dale got a spring, locks and retainer package from competition products based on the numbers I gave him, which was .632/.639 lift. Seems the used Racer Brown rockers on Atoetly's SR heads were 1.6 ratio.

and... While they had the pan off it appeared the crank had excessive for/aft movement. Measures out at .009, so now they may need to check the thrust bearing.

Dale is putting a roller in the Gremlin engine, and Darren is putting a roller in the Charger engine...we've lost our way somehow!!

I don't need to tell you guys what to do...... But what "I" would do is check the net lift at the valve(with the correct lash), then double check the spring installed height and see what the actual open/closed pressures are, along with verifying the coil bind height.

A fast rate .421/.426 solid cam with 1.6 rockers is going to be challenging from a spring pressure/rpm/durability standpoint.

Uh oh, it sounds like the old trusty TCI converter might need a look.

When my 360 murdered a thrust we never figured out why and it was REALLY bad. Since drag week 14 was just 7 days away Dad and I just jammed a crank and bearings in it and hit the road. It has done two drag weeks since then and it still measures at .005.

Don't some of the factory service manuals call for .004 to .010 and some call for .006 to .012 ?

informative bump: was Dale able to find Gremlin parts? ....or is he sporting the pirate look this year?

It was probably cheaper to buy the car then the individual parts. Billy delivered it over the 4th.

Whats up with the 67-69 Valiant on the trailer?, parts car?

On the cam situation:
The springs check out ok to handle the added lift, but at .690, they are at 425 lbs.. The "pits" on the lobes are all, while close to the nose, on the backside ramp.

Cab,
While .009 doesn't necessarily spell death to the thrust bearing, we are searching for clues as to why there was a large amount of metal in the first oil change.

Jay,
Dale made a trade for a new grille and headlight surrounds prior to me picking up the green car from John in Tucson. How he proceeds for 2017 might be different than what he does with the Gremlins in the future.

You kind of need that much spring pressure to maintain control of the valvetrain at high rpm's with that type of cam.

How do the bottoms of the lifters look?

Does it appear that little pieces of the cam have just fractured/broken away?

If you're going to swap out the cam, I'd suggest something smoother with a little less lift.

A little less power sure, but you should be able to juice it back up again.

Have you pulled the thrust bearing out yet?
The hopes would be that if the high-ish thrust clearance is the result of wear, that the bearing took the brunt of it and that the crank thrust surface is still good.

Johnny,
The 69 Valiant is a very nice project car. Slant six is gone, but all the AC stuff is still in the car. Originally Sunfire yellow, with black interior. The hideous green is a later scuff and shoot. Extremely solid, virtually rust free, took it back to Oklahoma where hopefully someone will appreciate a truly dry, rot free Plymouth to build into their own.

Fast 68,
I'm sure decisions will be made this weekend..if they drop the center cap, and don't like what they see, I'm sure it will come out of the car.

Dale is closing in on having the 580 nearly finished for the Gremlin, and Darren just modified the K-member and torsion bar cross member to allow easier installation of the engine and transmission in the 73 Charger.

Billy, what happened to your old Super Street Challenger? I know you sold it, and the new owner was maybe prepping it for Drag Week? Did that idea get tossed out?

Hey Billy, cool deal on the Valiant, I'm finishing up one myself, B5 Blue, Pro Stars, Calvert Suspension, 408 with a A500 trans, kinda looking for a few small pieces.

Jeff,
James has big plans for the Challenger, and those plans keep getting adjusted, which result in the completed date being moved out. When I was back there for July 4th, the Koleno block 572, and JW case Glide with Gear Vendors is in place. He recently purchased an RPM Performance data logger with just about every option, and a grid, so Dale has a bunch of wiring to do.

HEY BILLY
Not changing this thread. BUT has Rachael had that new grandchild yet? Us Granddad's want to know how they are doing.
Jerry

Jerry,
Lorelai Grimes showed up on February 20th, then Rachael and Skippy had their marriage ceremony on Apr 29th, even though they took care of the paperwork before the birth.

She's a very happy baby, and hardly ever cries! Since my Grandmother is still alive, as well as Skippy's Great Grandmother, Lorelai makes 5 generations on both sides of the union.

The Belvedere has developed an engine noise, and I haven't delved into it, so it's definitely not going in 2017. With the birth and the wedding, Rachael is out of vacation, but keeps hinting that she'd like to ride along...we will see. I tell her that as a wife and mother, fun time is over now, but she isn't buying it.

62 Valiant
After Drag Week 2016, I took the Valiant down to Tucson for a no-prep 1/8 mile deal, then tried to run brackets on the quarter afterwards, but kept losing fire. We thought we had it fixed by replacing the MSD cap and rotor, but problems persisted. A month later I was attempting to go to a car show and it died in the driveway. As a last ditch effort I reached under the dash where the bulk of the wiring is and shoved it up closer to the ignition box, it re-fired and hasn't given me problems since.

I drove it to Wild Horse Pass on December 3rd for the Street Car Takeover event and ran five passes, but on the drive home it had a horrible exhaust leak, and the tag light wire shorted out, then caught the old cloth style insulation on fire in the trunk, and very nearly melted through the plastic insulation on my main battery cable. A couple of weeks later, I pulled the hood off to replace the header gasket, and found a chunk of one header tube had blown out. It's been sitting in that exact spot ever since.

Today, I jacked it up and put it on stands. Removed the header for repair, and started making a list of other things I need to do. I crawled under to check the tires and decided to replace them. Two Drag Weeks, a couple of cruises and trips to work and back, four races and a couple car shows. I probably should have swapped them around on the wheels earlier and maybe I could've got one more, but since I drive on the same rubber I race on, marginal is probably not a smart idea and that one is ate up! The big surprise was my 9" housing. The last alignment showed that it was toed in slightly on the passenger side before Drag Week last year, and I've debated whether to replace the housing or straighten and brace this one. Today, I realized there was a crack in the weld on that side where the rear cover is welded to the housing. A good cleaning and some JB Weld should get one more year out of her.

Looking forward to checking out that Valiant of yours at Drag Week.... I should have my car running this week and if nothing leaks or smokes want to get it to the drag strip next week-end.

No back brace on the 9" with ladder bars? I bent the tubes on a 8 3/4 over 3/8" forward after only a handful of passes with ladder bars. I could hardly get the axles out.

Fantastic! Good for all of you. My wife's grandmother made it to 102, had everything upstairs until the end.