Not what I expected –
Sorry, no pics tonight – I left the Nikon at work.
To update, my dyno session of three weeks ago created a friction fit between my #1 intake valve and its too-close-for-comfort guide. I expected to find a gnarled up cam on the corresponding lobe. While it’s polished a bit more than the other lobes, it doesn’t appear to be damaged.
What I wasn’t expecting to see was galling on the 1 and 2 exhaust lobes, just as it lifter approaches the top of the lobe. A similar galling exists on the back side of the # 3 exhaust lobe, also toward the top.
From the base circle to the ramps, the wear is very even – something I was worried about given the rather radical lift I was asking the tappets to accommodate.
The lifters look good, save the #1 intake, which seems to have a bit of a burr on the chamfer – that’s what my fingernail tells me, anyway. Compared to the other seven, it seems a little coarse, but compared to a brand new one, one that isn’t broken in at all, I can’t tell a lot of difference.
It’s a tough call – truth is I keep pulling parts out before they completely fail, so I don’t have much experience on what would be considered “normal wear”. The other option is let it break and perform an autopsy, but then you have to try to figure out which part is which in the oil pan.
The new valve and guide arrived today – I’ll be packing it up and shipping it down to Fordboy, along with the lifters for his opinion. I’m also going to send the cam down for a more experienced analysis, and then it will likely go out to Dema for repair – or maybe not.
On another note, I stopped by NVR racing today to check out their dyno facility. It’s a Superflow SF-902. They were knowledgeable, and answered a boatload of very specific questions I posed to them. They’re a full service shop, but on the way out, I was stopped in my tracks by a 12 cylinder short block I simply couldn’t identify.
Testarossa.
Which reinforces something I’ve come to understand and only recently really appreciate. C&S did my machine work, and last year, a customer had dropped off a Duesenberg head by Mel for repairs and a valve job. Just up the street is the driveshaft shop that repaired mine last year, and there were some very esoteric pieces waiting for pickup on the shelf. Streets Chassis and LA welding are both on the northwest side of the Milwaukee metro area, and MG Limited is a twenty minute drive south of my house.
I am surrounded by a score of really outstanding racing shops, and I’m beginning to realize just how lucky I am to be doing this in this town.
Topic: Milwaukee Midget (Read 3318893 times)