Thursday, December 12, 2013

Top secret sneak peeks at building a spicy shovelhead

This blog was originally a tech blog about vans.
Specifically my van.
But, I have been carving away at some neat little projects lately and thought I would give you, dear reader (and there's is only like two of you, so readers), a glimpse at a very special engine I have been asked to build.
I also have been building my flattracker, but that's not I want to show you (right now)...

This project: Build a 93 inch, high compression, competition based shovelhead with a twist. This engine will be built with two FRONT cylinder heads, thereby allowing true twin carbs. Easy to say. Harder to pull off.

Oh, and this engine is for a friend building another sled for Born Free. So craftsmanship and finish is just as paramount on the outside as the quality I am putting into the inside. The last two years I have been involved in some small way to provide bits to machines involved in the Born Free.
I am humbled and honored to be involved now for the third year in a row and stoked to be working on this project!

The engine is a 1967 FLH, 74 ci flatside (generator) shovelhead. Please refrain from calling it a pan shovel, thank-you.

This episode is how to bore a set of cases using a Bridgeport. Enjoy.

It arrived disassembled.  Mostly as the lower, sans wheels and rods. Stick around and you will see why it wasn't complete.
The cases were at one time black wrinkled. I really enjoy wrinkle finish, until it gets dirty, dusty, oily or generally exposed to any element outside. then it holds onto every one of those contaminants and doesn't let go.





The cases were broken down and then walnut stripped in my Trinco blast cabinet. Walnut shells are awesome for this kind of work. They strip paint and gasket material (and the little crusty spots of chopper dirt) off well, but leave the patina on the cases and any cracks will be readily apparent.
The timing hole was stripped out. Other than that, no major issues. Good set of cases. Kind of a shame to modify them. One less pristine set out there I guess ( take that you purists!!)
A little prep, a little weld, and a little mill work to fix that wagon.









Then after being tempted to put them in my dishwasher, I was vetoed by the missus and just solvent cleaned them, with specific attention paid to the inside case surfaces.
Once clean and dry, the masking began.





And the other case was masked.



I proceeded to apply my special sauce. This is a "baked" coating so into my oven it went. (The one in my garage, not the kitchen). This stuff leaves a bit of a fragrance when baking out- the garage stunk for days!









Now, onto the good stuff.... This engine is to become 93 inches. To do that, there are two ways, really increase stroke and keep bore the same (which has it's advantages, namely keeps the case webs thicker) or really increase bore and increase stroke. This engine is getting the big bore treatment- remember in engine building, every build is a compromise in some fashion or another. There is no replacement for displacement, after all!
So, let the chips fly.
First off- fixturing. The cases need to be mated together, so the mating seam was lapped to opposite case so that the cases truly nest into each other perfectly. (And, obviously, the mill spindle is  squared and trammed to the table to ensure perpendicularity.)

Then the case halves are bolted together and fixtured to the mill.

The first step is to indicate off the surfaces in X and Y to ensure the cases are true to the spindle. As these set, they were solid to about two thou. A face mill is used to then clean the deck up and face it perfectly flat. Just a kiss here. No need to take anymore than is necessary.








Once the deck is done, then the bore is aligned to the spindle.


And out comes the boring bar. Little by little, the bore is opened up.


Then after the final bore diameter has been cut, another boring bar is used to chamfer the bore.


After a bit of vacuuming, the fixturing is removed, and the spacer indexed over 45 degrees.
Followed with all the same shit from above, just on the rear cylinder pad now.






After the cases have been bored to size, chamfered, threads chased, passages swabbed and blown out, then I put a little kiss on the outsides to really make em pop.
Stay tuned for more in the next few weeks!



Monday, September 30, 2013

Some random projects in the hopper

 First off, the ammeter. Dodges have a weak link. Seems all the juice to and from the battery goes thru the factory ammeter. Over time, with multiple dash removals and what not, one can cause more misery than its worth by having the ammeter wiring go up in smoke.
so, reading around, some fellows have taken to sticking el-cheapo voltmeters in place of the ammeter.
So thats what I did here.
Basically, splice the ammeter wires together eliminating the hot-spot and just tap off a convenient voltage source to get a more reliable reading.
Just tap into a keyed source so you dont eventually drain the battery down.
If I was motivated I would supply the meter PN and whatnot.
but I am not.
In fact, I am so unmotivated, that the instrument is still uninstalled. Just sitting on my workbench... like so much other crap....

Then theres this.
I have loved these visors for a long time. Had a craigslist moment. you know the type, where you just randomly think of something you could use and go to your local CL and search for what youre looking for?
this was one of those moments.
Hunnert bucks, delivered.
No cracks n' the lites work.

Go me.





So, speaking of CL, I have a bloodhound for an oldman. I mention to him to keep his ears open for any parts vans so that I can maybe get a set of doors of it.
Well, lo and behold, here is this 77 LWB roller and it was like 12 blocks from my shop. No engine or trans, but full of parts inside.
But only had two wheels, so with a little ingenuity, it became a roller.
price was fair for what it was.
And it had SOLID sheet metal. So solid, that I probably should heve resto'ed this one instead of Eddie!
But, that ship has long since sailed.
So I tried to not cut it up, just take a little here and there.
It was so clean, I TOOK THE ENTIRE BRAKE LINES OFF WITH JUST A FLARENUT WRENCH.
And I realized, I have been lucky with my pops' finding me this thing. I would be foolish to send it off to the scrap yard with anything I may need still attached.

so this is how it left last week:

The only things left were pretty integral to it making it down the road. Roofs are common from 71-93 I have been told, so that metal shouldn't be too hard to find.

I tried to get my moneys worth....

So now, as fall sets in, I have a small to-do list of fixing a little seep in the engine, and to begin interior cabinetry and console and maybe get the sound system and lighting up to par.

stay tuned, the three of you who actually look at this thing....