I'm Trying to Learn

[pdub]

I've made a big deal here about me being a not-a-car guy like all of you are. It's not that I'm not at all interested, it's just that I just don' know. Followed a different path in life to get where I am.

I think you guys will enjoy this. Our across the street neighbor...remember a couple years ago when he bought a Corvette and I was appalled? Then I bought a Mustang and that was okay.

Anyhow, Superman (he doesn't know that's what I call him) is going to replace the engine in his Corvette over the winter, he's gathering the parts for the job. The engine in it is lame, and he's going bigger. Today called me over for the ten dollar tour and a lesson in car stuff.

Here's the car in his garage.



He got an engine that was once in a boat, a Chevy 350. Some poor guy ran the engine wide open on the water and it broke a rod. So he got it real cheap.

Here's the crankshaft with the connecting rod (what's left of it) still attached,



It banged and busted some stuff inside the block, but supposedly it'll be okay after some machine work.



He's going with a bigger stroked crankshaft to make it be 383 instead of 350 after the build. He'll throw away the old crankshaft and he old cam and get one with more duration - whackata-whackata...

He's already got the aluminum heads, which will shed quite a few pounds off of the front end.



He'll have the heads ported and polished. I learned a whole lot about heads when I rubbed my finger on the inside of the ports. Ahhh, so THAT's what that's all about!

See? I learned more today than I knew in nearly 55 years. In another 20 years, I may apply for my Car Guy Card, but that's a long way off, and a whole lot of learning yet to go.

[DanStokes]

Great learning experience. Nothing like seeing the parts to start gaining the insight. However, if I was your neighbor I'd have bought a either a crate engine or a crate shortblock. 383's are pretty common and therefore quite cheap and then someone else is accountable if there's an error - and there's PLENTY of room for errors! Just one ring gap too tight (for example) and your precious home built engine is history. Still, there's a lot of satisfaction in building a motor from the ground up.

Dan

[studemax]

Bitchin.
Even if it is a bowtie.

[oldsman71]

fun stuff

[pdub]

Great learning experience. Nothing like seeing the parts to start gaining the insight. However, if I was your neighbor I'd have bought a either a crate engine or a crate shortblock. 383's are pretty common and therefore quite cheap and then someone else is accountable if there's an error - and there's PLENTY of room for errors! Just one ring gap too tight (for example) and your precious home built engine is history. Still, there's a lot of satisfaction in building a motor from the ground up.

Dan

He's pretty frugal Dan. He haggled the seller down to $7500 when he bought the car. And he can't sit still. He's gotta be doing something every minute. He's the one guy I can barely imagine ever sleeping. It'll be a great project for him.

It seems to be within his scope of experience. He's been 180 on a racing bike. Wrecked enough to have to get a hip replacement. Doctor told him he'd have to walk with a cane for the rest of his life, but he decided to not believe that and proved the doctor very wrong. His ski boat was another bargain and they go out in it a whole lot.

[pdub]

Bitchin.
Even if it is a bowtie.

Yeah, it is that. This guy has everything thought out. He talked a lot about the rear end. It all ran together in my mind, he took the this-and-that off of there and replaced it with a whatever. I wish I could understand it all.

Somehow, the Corvettes have a huge leaf spring in the rear, not forward-backward, but sideways. Replace that metal one with a fiberglass one, same performance and less weight.

And he knows that the rear end will be the weak point when he adds more horsepower. I asked the dumb question - so put another gear in the rear end?

He said it's not that simple. That's about when our time ran out for the tour, he had other things to do.

I sure don't know. I'm only realizing what I don't know. It's at that early point where all of a sudden you realize how much you don't know. The classic phrase is, "You don't know what you don't know."

And that by itself gets bigger as you chew it.

[Russell]

You should tell him to call you when he works on it. I think its nice to have an extra set of hands when removing and replacing and engine. Its also pretty cool to see one go together.

[skullbucket]

I hope he gets the block line bored since the cranked got jacked.
Iv'e had several vettes and never thought it was a good idea thinking im going to treat those two half shafts like a strait axle.
Thats just the tip of the ice berg.

[pdub]

I hope he gets the block line bored since the cranked got jacked.
Iv'e had several vettes and never thought it was a good idea thinking im going to treat those two half shafts like a strait axle.
Thats just the tip of the ice berg.

Yeah, he said he was gonna get it line bored. And the cylinder that ate the rod has a gouge in it, so he's gonna get that one bored out and put a sleeve in it.

To Dan's point above....since I'm at knowledge level zero, I'm using all of my knowledge to wonder why he didn't buy an engine in a box, even money-wise.

But he's just got to be doing something. His wife calls it tinkering.