Scenario....... We're still racing the "Tank Fairlane" but the engine isn't running any where near as well as it used to & the race has changed.
The bottom end man got the rod caps switched & I think one is on backwards. The cam is in the right place but the dowel pin hole was over sized for an advance bushing but that was lost so we have variable valve timing-ish at will. The right head is from a 332 & has 30 degree intake valves & 18 mm plugs & is painted GM orange. The left head is a Holman Moody tunnel port with bad guides but one of the spark plugs has a big crack in the porcelain & a plug wire burned on to the header. It's a 13 to 1 engine but the last time we assembled it we could only fine 7 so we borrowed one from Billybob's 61 but it's an 8 to 1 cast dish. That went in number 1 hole due to the 332 head having a bigger chamber but it was from number 6 in the other engine so it had to go in backwards to get the rod the right way around. Dave ran the valves on the left bank & Bill ran the right side, they think there own feeler gauges are the right size. The intake is for the SCJ heads so you can imagine the port match is a bit off. The distributor is an HEI type from Fine China Performance Automotive Warehouse ($53 free freight on Fleabay), the cast iron gear is knife-edged but no biggie due to the worse cam sprocket dowel hole situation. The Carter Thermoquad carb has been on the engine for a while & doing pretty good everything else considered but not everybody liked it. So the team got together, had a bit of a chat, then voted on the next change.
By majority the decision was made to bolt on a brand new "gold anodized Holley 850 DP". Now the manifold is a spread-bore & the Thermoquad was a spread-bore but the new Holley is a square-bore so we'll have to use an adaptor but at least the air cleaner will still bolt on so that's a plus.
The guys are already arguing over this decision even before the fuel line is hooked up but you can't please everyone & we put it to the vote.
The Fairlane is really a sweet car & I'm a passenger by choice & not by right but not everybody likes it. We'll never get any dyno time with the new carb so the first test will be on the track so we'll have some better idea once we get a few laps on it.
I won't keep in touch, you know where to see it run but in the mean time stop arguing, take a chill-pill with ya beer & watch the race.
Sid.
