Mid- Engine Modified Sports

[fordboy628]

The only way to not screw up is to not do anything.

We've all been there one way or another Neil.

Pete

Neil,

We have all done things like this, either from oversight or overwork.     And we always feel bad or guilty about it, it is just the way responsible guys think.

If the worst thing that happens to your engine is a bit of oil on the floor, well, that's small potatoes.

I've seen guys start engines to bring up oil pressure, and then rev them when the oil pressure did not appear . . . . . .  How smart is that?    Your extraordinary attention to details means you will never be in that club.

 
Fordboy

[Buickguy3]

   Neil,  In my drag racing days I built the engine on the stand and put it in the car and went through the drill proceedure and very low oil pressure. Got out of the car and the entire floor was an oil slick. When the engine was built the back of the block was real close to the stand and had made a mental note to install the cam plug when it was removed before putting on the flywheel. So much for mental notes.
     Doug 

[manta22]

Well. thanks, guys. I feel a little better this morning but I'm not looking forward to scraping up all that Kitty Litter.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[tauruck]

I'll take kitty litter over a dried up credit card any day.

No biggie Neil. At least we know there's oil in AZ.

I'm the world champ at dropping nuts into freshly built engines.

Mazda Rotary peripheral port, Formula Vee and I could go on.

I'm hoping to relinquish that title this time around.

[manta22]

Instead of cleaning things up in the shop, Joline and I drove down to Sonoita for their 100th rodeo. It was a fun day; back to work on the Kitty Litter tomorrow morning.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Peter Jack]

Neil, scoop up the oil soaked kitty litter and then spread some more over the affected area. Do a bit of a shuffle over the newly spread kitty litter and it should do a pretty good job of getting the rest of the oil. Some of us have had more experience with oil spills than others. 

Pete

[tauruck]

I know the forum is a little on the slow side and no hijack intended but I'd love to tell you about my laying down of oil in a race.

I was driving a F2 March 76B at Kyalami (the original circuit) but because the front anti roll bar had cracked the only replacement
was the F1 version. Ken Howes donated the bar but warned that even on the softest setting it would understeer like a SOB so warned me to take care!!!!.
I came from karting, fearless, young and dumb. I went wide into Leeukop, turned in early and let the front end scrub. It was working but as the laps went on I got quicker. I qualified 6th in my first race on a new track but decided to go out for one last attempt to try move up the grid.
I wrote the car off and was out for the season. Non survivable accident, they said. I walked away. Rebuild took from July to January.
New tub, front end etc.
I started last and was up to 12th by lap one in a 23 car field. Next thing I get the black flag. I did nothing wrong and continued.
Eventually they had the flag on a long pole and waved it in my face.

I pull into the pits and the marshals are all over me. I was reported to be leaking oil at every sector. We go over to the car and there's no leak, not a drop, not a sign of oil anywhere. I start the motor for them, got pressure etc but no leaks so I lose the plot in typical  NASCAR fashion and I want to box.


Eventually it all calms down, we load the car and take it home. We go through the routine of putting the car up on stands and stripping. My then mechanic decides to find the leak so he runs the motor and just before he shuts it down he takes it to 8000rpm and here's this syringe type deal of oil coming out of the holed capillary from the oil pressure line spraying oil all over the garage floor. It was so small it never leaked until he leaned on it hard. I was embarrassed but kept the thing in house. We replaced the line and after that the marshals kind of steered clear of us. Funny story but I learned a big lesson.

[Ron Gibson]

Neil
After you scrape up the kitty litter, put down a little parts solvent, scrub with a brush over the entire spill, let stand for a few minutes, then cover with a thin layer of more litter, good as new. Well almost. Been there, done that.

Ron

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I use kitty litter -- but sometimes haven't had any handy.  In those cases I've used sand from the beaches of Lake Superior.  It worked just fine, I'm happy to report - and (except for the cost of transportation) it is free.  And disposal is easy, too -- it sweeps up well and goes into the garbage -- of the firepot of the outdoor wood boiler.  There it gets stripped of the oil and provides some (little bit of) heat for the house.  It is mixed in the ashes for when I dump them every few days.

[manta22]

Thanks for all your suggestions and stories, guys. I'll get to work on the remaining oil. Fortunately that oil cleans up without penetrating into the concrete floor because of the bright yellow epoxy/urethane floor coating.

Joline and I went flying early yesterday morning before heading down to the Sonoita rodeo. A neighbor invited us to fly up to Marana with him and his wife in his Piper Cherokee. It is a nice low-wing, four-place, all-metal plane with a 4 cylinder engine & fixed-pitch prop. We flew to the Marana Airport, a small strip without a tower, and had breakfast at the restaurant there. We taxied out and started to take off but the engine felt rough so before lift-off, Joe aborted and taxied back around, trying to vary the mixture & throttle to clear up the roughness. It seemed a little better so he took off but the engine wouldn't pull more than 2,000 rpm so we circled back and landed- fortunately without incident. I'll credit Joe with good judgment and a calm response to what could have gotten us on the local TV evening news.

There was an FBO there with an A/C mechanic. He found a cracked exhaust pipe with some oil inside and on the fouled plugs in one cylinder. Losing one cylinder on a four cylinder engine is never a good thing.

Sometimes we dodge the bullet.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[manta22]

I got the engine primed with oil and adjusted the valve lash, exhaust= 0.028", intake= 0.026" per Crower cam card. Now that's done.

Since my SBC Donovan block has no provision for a dipstick, I made a sight gauge in the side of my Stef"s deep-draft oil pan so that I could see how much oil it contained. During priming I could see the oil level go way down as I ran the drill to turn the oil pump. Stopping the drill allowed the oil to drain back into the pan and the level came back up. It looks like it sucks about 3" of oil out of the pan, and this is after filling the oil filter (I remembered this time). That is a lot of oil! Has anyone else ever measured this?

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Dynoroom]

Neal, the valve lash on the cam card is for a "hot" engine. Set it .010/.012 tighter cold and it will be close to right when warm. Use about .008 with an iron block and aluminum heads. But with your aluminum block and heads the .010/.012 number will get you within a couple thousandths of the hot lash.

As for oil level, yes, that's why many of us run dry sumps. Add 1 extra qt of oil to the system AND run an accusump. Only other answer is dry sump.....
 

[manta22]

Neal, the valve lash on the cam card is for a "hot" engine. Set it .010/.012 tighter cold and it will be close to right when warm. Use about .008 with an iron block and aluminum heads. But with your aluminum block and heads the .010/.012 number will get you within a couple thousandths of the hot lash.

As for oil level, yes, that's why many of us run dry sumps. Add 1 extra qt of oil to the system AND run an accusump. Only other answer is dry sump.....
 

Thanks for the advice. I knew that the lash spec was for a hot engine but, lacking any other numbers, I decided to set the lash to those figures and re-adjust it when it had been fired up. Aluminum has a higher coefficient of linear expansion than steel so it makes sense that the lash will increase with temperature. I'll re-adjust the lash to your recommendation.

This is only a mild engine for getting the car sorted out. I have another one that is yet to be assembled but is set up for a dry sump. I installed an oil tank in the car already in anticipation of running that engine later.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[manta22]

My valve covers are tall cast aluminum ones made by Dart. There is no provision for breathers on the covers or anywhere else on this engine so I needed to add some. In my "stash-o-stuff" I found some filtered vents from "who knows what" that looked ideal for use as breathers. I cut two 2 1/8" holes in the left valve cover so they would fit snugly and then cleaned both breathers & valve covers with denatured alcohol. They are held in place with epoxy. I also drilled & tapped holes in the covers to install an oil splash baffle under each breather.

I'll do the same thing on the right side valve cover but it will have only one breather; I'll cut a 1 7/8" hole for a threaded oil filler.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Dynoroom]

Neal, not to be a pain in your arse you should consider some type of baffle under the breathers as oil squirting out of the rocker arms at speed WILL leak out of the breathers.  
I found a couple of pictures on line to give you some ideas. I prefer to weld something into place as opposed to having bolts or nuts inside the engine.