Plastic Fantastic 2

[SuperBuickGuy]

on with other stuff... e.g. a horn....edited

lights need to go up and down, so I'll make a panel that holds the steering cover in place but also is the switch to move them up and down

limit switches


attach straps to tow from

back
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and grills

and mark the starting point of suspension adjustment (this is from balancing the car)

and front signals

what's remarkable, though, is how many honey-do lists I have... this trailer needed lights rebuilt... so alas, rebuild we did

 

[mfain]

I'm going to the Optima Challenge in Vegas this weekend to spectate. Anything you need me to look at for you?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm going to the Optima Challenge in Vegas this weekend to spectate. Anything you need me to look at for you?

Given I have no idea what, who. Who are the people are most helpful and who might it be best to avoid.... after all, the people who are there will likely also be in California... I haven't heard a negative word about anyone, but that is the only question I can think of.... who can I ask questions? and who should I pay really close attention to their technique?

so to follow up on the trailer, there is reason...
I hate the camera, but the general idea is I severely overloaded the trailer and my Kioti tractor loading my shear up to get fixed....

in other news
now to figure out how to fasten it

 

[bobs77vet]

is that front tire on the tractor smushed to the point of being flat?


what does that shear weigh?

the grilles look good

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

is that front tire on the tractor smushed to the point of being flat?

maybe

what does that shear weigh?

a lot

the grilles look good

thanks

I leave the backhoe on the tractor because it weighs some ridiculous amount (like 1500 lbs) - so I have a counter balance.

I don't know what the shear weighs but I know the tractor weighs 7000 lbs and that I was lifting the rear tires off the ground....


and the ground is still kind of squishy, so while it was flattened, it was also making divots in my driveway

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

oil pump

I have no idea what this fibrous crap is, but it shouldn't be there

for those who wonder, the larger oil filter hits this bolt.... it's not there anymore

nothing looks out of place in the old pump - but it's done, I'm sure they'll make a car out of it


that's as far as the pan comes out but the new pump is in place.... tomorrow assembly and figure out how to seal this.... it won't be easy


my thought is the fibrous crap would have eventually washed away - there was also some sludge in the pan from the assembly lube.... I suspect those two things were my low-ish oil pressure at idle.... I'll find out soon enough if that's true

 

[bobs77vet]

is the fibrous stuff lint or fabric from wiping down passages ?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

is the fibrous stuff lint or fabric from wiping down passages ?

Or dog fur.... we have that in abundance at my house.... I wish I knew where it came from, I cleaned everything (including the new parts) before installing with brush and solvent.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm going to put this here in the Road to Optima, but also cross post it to the project page.

Saturday afternoon, I took the car out - so far, I've been driving like a saint but things happened (things), and I really got on it 4th gear 5600 rpm. On a public highway.... moving on.

I think that before I go racing (not Optima), that I need to spend a lot of time making this thing go through the air better. It feels solid but...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

some have asked what I'm going to do about the vent if it rains.... eventually, it will have shutters, for now, a cap

this how you cut straight lines when your shear is in the shop


and

voila


it holds down with zip ties or similar.... and will have weather seal around the outside to keep it from vibrating the paint off

I may even put "remove for flight" on the panel... but that's later, I have several more things to do...
back to the grills

tacks for the win

just drilling and painting left... I may epoxy for s&g's then screw it in place... we will see

 

[bobs77vet]

they make cool dzus fasteners for aircraft and i have seem some really nice hood pins

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

attaching


weather seal underneath ..... it just has to keep the majority of water out - I'll cover the air cleaner too
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[SuperBuickGuy]

the biggest 'it sucks' about living where I do is I'm the only guy who's building his own stuff.... when I get the wrong parts or whatever, I'm days from a retail solution.... which usually isn't a problem.

but problem


and the other 'issue'... the intake pushrods, I ordered the wrong ones... should have ordered 3/8"x8.350x.135.....edited


bright side is the girdle seems to fit.


I may have a solution tomorrow - there is one store that's 1 1/2 hours away - but stocked? yeah, we will see.... if not, Summitedited

 

[rtj]

Well I'm impressed, I know I would not have tried an engine build.

Have you searched to see if these heads are prone to causing the issue? The C6 z06 was plagued with valve issues and someone mentioned there was also a head machining error compounding the problem.

 

[mfain]

Well I'm impressed, I know I would not have tried an engine build.

Have you searched to see if these heads are prone to causing the issue? The C6 z06 was plagued with valve issues and someone mentioned there was also a head machining error compounding the problem.

The LS7 Z06 problem was indeed a machining issue. Some of the heads coming from the Canadian company that cast and machined the heads had some of their equipment out of calibration and, for a period of time, some valve pockets were not concentric with the valve guides. This caused the valve stems to wear excessively, and in some cases, would put enough strain on the valve head that it would fail. I have 2 sets of LS7 heads - one was perfect and the other had to be re-machined to center the valves. GM estimated that one out of every ten heads built between 2008 and 2010 had this problem, but the failure rate seems a little higher than that to me. My heads that required re-machining were built in late 2010 (Sep) and factory installed on a 2011 motor. I pulled the heads with less than 3000 miles on them when a "wiggle" check revealed excessive valve guide wear.

 

[69427]

Well I'm impressed, I know I would not have tried an engine build.

Have you searched to see if these heads are prone to causing the issue? The C6 z06 was plagued with valve issues and someone mentioned there was also a head machining error compounding the problem.

The LS7 Z06 problem was indeed a machining issue. Some of the heads coming from the Canadian company that cast and machined the heads had some of their equipment out of calibration and, for a period of time, some valve pockets were not concentric with the valve guides. This caused the valve stems to wear excessively, and in some cases, would put enough strain on the valve head that it would fail. I have 2 sets of LS7 heads - one was perfect and the other had to be re-machined to center the valves. GM estimated that one out of every ten heads built between 2008 and 2010 had this problem, but the failure rate seems a little higher than that to me. My heads that required re-machining were built in late 2010 (Sep) and factory installed on a 2011 motor. I pulled the heads with less than 3000 miles on them when a "wiggle" check revealed excessive valve guide wear.

Thanks for mentioning what the LS7 head problem was. I've read no shortage of posts (elsewhere) complaining about problems with those heads, but I never saw a single post that actually identified the cause/reason for the issue.
I appreciate it. :thumbs:

 

[phantomjock]

Great updates- sorry been away a bit - in Annapolis - trying to pass the sailboat along to another cruiser. Been in the 30s here - even tho the wx has improved in Fl I could be making some progress.:noworry:

The grills look nice - have you considered using some flat black rattle can?
The Australian outfit that makes "mini-lite" replicas may be back in the swing of building wheels. You could probably specify the offset/BS - and they look sooo cool and old-skool racer.

Cheers - Jim

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

why am I taking a picture of the oil pan? to show I managed to reattach it without a leak? uh. no.Ever wake up in the middle of the night and think "did I tighten the oil pump bolt?"then spend a solid 3 days deciding whether it mattered or not..... it was snug, not 65 ft lbs

and I'm not blowing another motor on an oil issue... at least not a preventable one
last time I got it apart without having to change the gasket... not so much this time

I think I figured out the problem with the lifters... look at the wear marks at the end.They would have been fine if they were the 210 degree tips but because that tip.... also see the wear mark in the exhaust rods? I also ordered adjustable guides... and longer pushrods (intake, I already have longer exhaust)

then signal time


all pretty


and there we go

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[SuperBuickGuy]

Great updates- sorry been away a bit - in Annapolis - trying to pass the sailboat along to another cruiser. Been in the 30s here - even tho the wx has improved in Fl I could be making some progress.:noworry:

The grills look nice - have you considered using some flat black rattle can?
The Australian outfit that makes "mini-lite" replicas may be back in the swing of building wheels. You could probably specify the offset/BS - and they look sooo cool and old-skool racer.

Cheers - Jim

I decided I didn't like them 'flush' so onto the next revision

I love mini-lites but not sure I like them in an 18" or larger size.

I still have the bent wheels - timing to get them back is problematic.... and I do like the look.... be pretty easy to get them straightened now...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

next day means next day if there isn't someone else to blame.... which means I don't have pushrods or valve covers... but I have plenty to do.

I worked on the trailer a minute - but mostly it just needs a bath and it's ready to go.. in other news

linkage needed adjusting.edited Love how easy Hurst is to adjust
stick a 1/4" bolt in the middle

then find out why your reverse doesn't go easily (that was the only issue other then a linkage spring has joined the nether.

next was bleed the brakes with DOT 4 fluid

thankfully my tools suck

what was interesting was the front system was a bit low.... no leaks, so probably just residual air bubbles...edited


I also got as far as I could without the intake pushrods


hopefully tomorrow ... UPS claims there was severe weather in Illinois but whatever it was didn't make it to news here...editededited