I guess I was just paranoid !!!
Near the end of the run the motor flattened out and did a slight sputter, I glanced to the oil pressure and it dropped from it's normal 80psi to just over 40psi, between the sputter and the Oil Pressure drop, I made an instant decision to lift (seeing a few recent oil downs and not wanting to hurt my motor or delay the runs either).. I went through the traps off the throttle at 146.3xxxx on a 147.3xxxx Record,,, Oh so close.
When I made the short shutdown the Oil Pressure was back at 80PSI and the motor was running correct,,, But I was still paranoid,,,, back in the pits. I opened the hood and listed, nothing sounded wrong or even felt wrong,,, I revved her a bit and "thought I heard a slight miss near #5 and #7" pulled the plugs and saw some silver residue on the leading threads.
At this point thought we had melted a piston.. loaded up and came home,,,,
Upon further inspection, nothing major was wrong.
The silver material was not aluminum, it was anti seize on the threads.
No loss of compression, Leak Down test was right on, no problems,
Bore Scope showed no problems.
Top end all fine.
Oil Pressure drop was due to a bad or sticky relieve valve in the pump, new pump on the way.
Sputter was fuel starvation. Floats had been set low on this carb for the other motor 255 CID, this new bigger 370CID needed more fuel...
Going through carb to check for any trash and raising the floats, also checking fuel pressure.
Revved no problem to 8200 on dyno,,, but like the engine builder said they don't hold em wide open for a mile like we do... ??
Hope to resolve these "seemingly small issues" and be back in May.
Yes, I do feel silly for packing it in and coming home, but glad no damage.. who knows lifting may have been the right thing,,, but I sure wanted the extra 1 MPH for the record...
Charles