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dsb's chevy gasser build

75K views 787 replies 17 participants last post by  dsb 
#1 ·
Well, time for me to join the party. My first stint on here I was building a 1949 chevy styleline 2 door gasser. Ran into money problems and went back to HD choppers. Well, sold my bike and decided I was going to go another direction. I started with my running gear first since that is where most of the money is. So, without further ado, here we go!


For the motor- it is a mid 70's 350 bored .040. Camel hump heads with screw in studs, comp cams muthr thumpr, Edelbrock air gap intake, edelbrock carb, new pistons, polished crank etc...

Wheel Tire Motor vehicle Automotive tire Hood


Transmission is early 80's TH350 with 56000 miles on it. I put a B&M shift kit in and a new pan. Should be in good shape there.....

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Motor vehicle Wood Gas Engineering Machine


Rear end is out of a 1997 Trans Am WS6 with 15x10 wheels on it.

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Front tires are morose drag skinnys

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continued next post....
 
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#489 ·
Ok. I think I got it. I do much better with pictures than with just words, but I found a couple of parts that makes sense. I will pist them up once I make sure they will work. On another note, my head bolts seem to be leaking into the valve cover area. I coated them when I put them in but I guess not well enough. What sealant do you guys use?
 
#500 ·
Never heard of any new cars getting "tablets" in the cooling system? But I'd bet it's more about stopping electrolysis than about sealing new systems. From what I've read about the GM "tablets" they're to prevent electrolysis from eating tiny holes in a cooling system. I never add anything to my cars except 50/50 water and antifreeze. Most antifreeze has stuff in it to help prevent electrolysis these days.
 
#501 ·
OK, let's see if this passes muster. On the top you can see the plan for adding a mounting part for the 4 heim joints. These will be right by the axle. The bottom pictures are just showing 4 heim joint welded on the bars and will connect to the part on the axle. I will keep the current mount up front and add a shackle. question is, how long of a shackle do i need?


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#502 ·
Interesting read-

Courtesy of Eric & AJxtcman.

From GM Techlink March 2004:



Cooling System Seal Tabs What’s made of ground-up ginger root, almond shells and binder? And causes confusion in auto service departments?

Some people call them coolant pellets, but the proper name is Cooling System Seal Tabs. And we hope to clear up some misunderstandings about them

How They Work
Seal tabs are dissolved in the engine coolant and the resulting fibres circulate through the cooling system. At a microscopic level, the tabs break down into irregular, long, thin fibres. When a small leak or seepage occurs, the coolant carries the fibres into the opening, where they cluster up and jam together. (Think of logs and branches in a beaver dam.) This mechanism is very effective at stopping leaks. Any fibres that make it to the surface will crust over and enhance the seal.

This sealing method is useful only for small-scale leaks and seepage, and tends to work best in conditions where the surrounding parts aren’t moving. The seals tend to break down in areas between metals that are expanding and contracting with temperature changes, for instance.

A Secondary Benefit
The traditional green-colored coolant, used until DEXCOOL® was introduced in 1996, contained silicates, which deposit on cooling system surfaces. The tiny fibres from the seal tabs acted as scouring pads, removing silicate deposits from the water pump seal faces, which contributed to longer water pump seal life.

Side Effects of Seal Tabs
In addition to the benefits of sealing small leaks and scrubbing silicates from water pump seals, seal tabs also have some side effects.

After awhile, a brown, dirty-looking stain may form on translucent coolant bottles. Residue may form on the backside of the radiator cap. And deposits that resemble rust may be found in the cooling system.

These are not problems, in the sense that they cause no physical harm. But their appearance can be alarming, especially on a new vehicle. Both customers and well-intentioned technicians can be misled by these deposits.

Another side effect comes from overuse. When seal tabs are used in the prescribed amounts, they will not cause restrictions or plugging in an otherwise properly operating cooling system.

But, if a little is good, a lot must be better. Wrong!! Overuse can lead to plugging, especially in the relatively small tubes used in heater cores.

Some History
There was a time when seal tabs were installed in every new vehicle, at the factory, to account for the inevitable small leaks that occur in castings, joints, and so on. By the mid ‘90s, manufacturing and machining techniques had improved to the point where the seal tabs were no longer needed on a universal basis.

With the introduction of long-life coolant, silicate deposits were no longer a concern, so the scrubbing action from the seal tab fibres was no longer needed.

TIP: GM plants, as well as other manufacturers, still occasionally use seal tabs to address specific concerns.

Today’s Recommendations
In short, GM no longer endorses universal use of seal tabs. Procedures in SI have been specifically written to discourage their use in most cases.

When a condition appears in which seal tabs may be beneficial, a specific bulletin is released, describing their proper use. One such bulletin is Customer Satisfaction Program 03034, dated 7/7/03. This applies to specific 3.8L engines only, and is in effect until July 31, 2005.

TIP: After performing the procedure in the bulletin, be sure to install a recall identification label to the vehicle to indicate that the seal tabs have been installed.

TIP: If seal tabs were installed in a vehicle at the factory, it’s OK that the proper amount of tabs be installed if the coolant must be drained and replaced.

What’s a Recommended Dose?
TIP: Use this information only when instructed to do so by bulletin or SI procedure.

The proper number of Cooling System Seal Tabs depends on the capacity of the vehicle’s cooling system. Use between 1 and 1 1/2 grams of tabs per liter of cooling system capacity.

TIP: Cooling System Seal Tabs are packaged in two sizes.12378254 Small tabs (4 grams each) 5 tabs per package
3634621 Large tabs (10 grams each) 6 tabs per package
 
#509 ·
OK Dave lets see if I can describe this. Up front I'd want something more than 1/4" plate, with a shackle on each side. I'd use some rectangle box tubing, so a shackle on each side of it would be as wide, or wider than the single front heim end. If it's wider you can always used spacers between the shackles and the front heim to make it fit the shackles.
I'd keep shackles to around 3" on hole centers. No reason it needs any longer. I used 1.25" x 1/4" bar stock to build mine, and of course grade 8 bolts and hardware. Use nylock nuts so you can leave them just snug, and not create a bind.
I'd want a double shear mount at the rear, so one of those plates wont work. You need a pair for each side, so the ladder bars slip into the plate in double shear.
 
#510 ·
OK, I think I understand all of your ideas and instructions. So, on the rear, I will need 4 plates with adjustment holes to slip the heim joints into and weld them to the part of the bars welded to the axle. Let me do some shopping and I will post up what I think I need.
 
#512 ·
welp, I resealed all of the head bolts and while I was doing it, I think I figured out how the seeping occurred. I drove the bolts in too far. so I did some measuring and figured how many turns into the block I should have and sealed the shit out of them. I am letting is set for a few days before I pour the coolant back in.
 
#513 ·
Dave, I'm curious as to what you mean when you say you drove the head bolts in to far. SBC head bolts have a torque specification of 65 pounds and I don't know how you would be able to drive them in to far. Since there are 3 different length bolts you would know if you had accidentally put one of the medium length bolts in one of the shorter holes at the front and rear of the middle row of head bolt holes.
 
#515 ·
OK, my bad. I didn't remember you saying in your thread that the block was studded. But that makes it even stranger because the studs are meant to be installed to the end of the threads so they can torqued even though the heads will have nuts to torque the heads down.
 
#517 ·
I had studs in my BBC in the Falcon, and did as Steve mentioned. I coated the threads with sealer, and simply hand tightened them down until there was no threads exposed. Mine were ARP and that's what the instructions stated. Then I slipped the heads over, and followed up with their torque sequence. ARP stated with aluminum heads to tighten them in 3 stages, and after running the engine to go back and check the final torque setting once more.
 
#518 ·
well, tonight will be the test. I am going to pour the coolant back in and see if it seeps again. While I had everything loosened up, I decided to buys some roller rocker arms to replace the roller tips I had in there. Anyone want roller tip rocker arms cheap? LOL
 
#523 ·
OK, tried to officially start it this weekend. everything is hooked up, made my spark plug wires, made sure I had fuel coming up from electric fuel pump. Oil is dead on, has coolant back in and found out 1 thing-

Battery is too small to turn the motor over. Got 1 or 2 burps out of the pipes, but it is just not spinning the motor fast enough. It is the smallest cheapest battery I could find at wal-mart to finish my electrical. I knew it was too small but wanted to give it a go anyway. I am assuming the compression is a little high as it barely made it around the dial 10 times before the battery quit. What size do you all run in your high performance car? Those 2 burps through the headers sure sounded good!

Next issue may be timing. This is the harmonic balancer I have. I times the car and set the valves based on the 0 mark on the balancer to the 0 mark on the timing tab. Although you cannot see it, if you roll the damper over some more, there is another line that says TDC. Is that what I should be setting the valves and timing off of?


Peripheral Automotive lighting Watch Automotive tire Communication Device
 
#531 ·
OK, tried to officially start it this weekend. everything is hooked up, made my spark plug wires, made sure I had fuel coming up from electric fuel pump. Oil is dead on, has coolant back in and found out 1 thing-

Battery is too small to turn the motor over. Got 1 or 2 burps out of the pipes, but it is just not spinning the motor fast enough. It is the smallest cheapest battery I could find at wal-mart to finish my electrical. I knew it was too small but wanted to give it a go anyway. I am assuming the compression is a little high as it barely made it around the dial 10 times before the battery quit. What size do you all run in your high performance car? Those 2 burps through the headers sure sounded good!

Next issue may be timing. This is the harmonic balancer I have. I times the car and set the valves based on the 0 mark on the balancer to the 0 mark on the timing tab. Although you cannot see it, if you roll the damper over some more, there is another line that says TDC. Is that what I should be setting the valves and timing off of?


View attachment 107877
How are you choosing cylinders? To set valves. I just did a sure fire way told to me by an engine builder and it works with any motor firing order. In your case on zero set #1. 1/4 turn clockwise then set #8, 1/4 turn and set #4 and so on. On the 8th 1/4 you will reach back to zero again and #8.
adjustment like this : roll the push rod as you tighten the rocker nut. When you can’t turn the pushrod anymore stop and give another 1/4 turn on the nut. If you have any questions ask now before you hurt a valve.
 
#524 ·
What size battery cable did you run for hot and ground? That could be restricting amperage, and more likely than too high a compression.
I never scrimp on battery size, or battery cable size. And I also make sure my battery cable is the extremely fine strand as coarser strand has more resistance, even in equal sizes. I run 2/0 welding or battery cable for all my cars. Battery size rarely changes the price much, and at my local BiMart store all the batteries are $79, so I buy the largest one that fits my battery boxes. That's usually one specified for a early 70's Camaro, Chevelle, etc. I like them because they have posts, and bolt on side mounts. I use the bolted connections for all my cars also, as I can crimp on lugs to the cable for an even better connection that wont corrode.
If it's having trouble starting, you should be able to jump it from one of your other cars, and that should do the trick IF everything else is sized correctly. The starter wont know the difference and will get it's cranking amps from the jump battery.
 
#525 ·
Also make sure you have a good ground from the battery to the chassis, from the chassis to the engine block, from the block to the body and that they're all tight. Last week I got a call from my cousin because his gasser had developed starter problems; cranking way to slow. I told him to double check all the cable connections. He got back to me and told me one of the cables going to the master shut off was loose and after he retightened it everything was good again.
 
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