Jc803

iTrader: (2)

So heres the last update for the week since I'll be gone training in the desert for a week. Have a head off engine C style valve spring compressor, valve seal install tool, pushrod length checker tool, a neat looking Lokar dipstick and tube, ARP lube, a digital caliper better than what I have, and some other odds and ends all on the way.

I'm also ordering the Kurt Urban steam vent kit thing. A lot of boosted guys are using them but it wouldnt hurt to go ahead and put one on now while still NA. I tried to get one today but they are closed on the weekend. Anyone know any other dealers to buy it from rather than going straight through them?

So hopefully at least the valve spring compressor will be here when I get back friday and I can take these heads apart then send them on their way to get fixed and I should be back in business.

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

Here's an update/rant. So I normally don't bad talk shops, except MWC, because taking 6 months to get a little suspension to my front door is insanely ridiculous. But now Golen engines is on my list. It started when I went on AFRs website and found certified head repair centers. I called 3 different ones and they openly admitted that they were busy and it would take 2-3 weeks to get to repairing my head. That's fine, I like honesty. The 4th I called was Golen, they said they could fix it in 3-4 days. So I shipped my head off over a month ago ONLY to get ONE rocker arm bolt thread repaired. Seems like an easy fix that should take no time right?

When the my tracking number said they received it I called them to be sure. They said they had it and would get to it the next day. I waited 4 days then called them to see what's up, they said they are getting to it next. Then I waited TWO WEEKS just so there would be no excuse. Then the guy that answered said the head is repaired and finished, but he just got back from a two week vacation miraculously just before I called, and that he still has to inspect the repair then write up an estimate and shipping cost. He said he would get back to me later that day or the next day. I called back the Monday of the next week and was told pretty much the same thing except this time he was dealing with a customer and would call me back in 30-60 minutes.

so I think, great, I'm getting somewhere. That was last week, and here it is, Wednesday, of this week. No call.

I know they have my phone number and email. I had them even repeat it to be sure.

So sorry guy for no updates. I have plenty of MWC suspension that I have taking up space at my place that I ordered back in f***ing June-july. And wanting to fab a nice aluminum ram air intake, and a lot more. But I can't because apparently it takes a month and a half to fix some f***ing threads

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

So guess what. I called again just after lunch and the guy, once again as usual, said its all boxed up and ready to ship but he didn't have the price. He said to let him go find the guy that has the price so I could pay and he would ship it, and that he would call me right back.

I never got a call back. This is the third time now over 3 weeks. So basically its been finished and sitting in a box for a month now and they won't let me pay. Do they not want my money? Jesus Christ. I will be calling every day now instead of once a week.

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

Man I feel for you. I just went through a bunch of customer service issues with another project that I'm doing where I got it stuck straight up my ***. It blows my mind how some people conduct their business. Stay after them. At this point I would not feel bad calling them twice a day, everyday until it was on my doorstep and confirmed that it was fixed properly. If you discover that it still has issues when you get it back, let me know. My door is still open.

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

Since you mentioned that I completely forgot about your pm. At the time you offered I had decided not to fix it because I was supposed to move from ft bliss to ft Jackson in January, but then it was moved to June, so then I decided to fix it again and just forgot about your offer

Long story short, I wish I hadn't forgot.

Good news is Golen just took my payment and they say it should ship tomorrow so we'll see

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

I hope it works out for you. It's really not a big deal to fix these, so you should be good to go.

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

Well guys I finally have some updates! I got my head back from Golen finally after nearly two months I want to say. Have to check the dates. The repair looks good but when I threaded the rocker arm bolt down finger tight there was a little play in to where it would still wiggle around. It torqued down fine and didnt strip the threads so I guess we'll find out.

Also I'm happy I took the heads off. Dont remember all the specs but the old head gaskets that someone else put in, the bore size was smaller than the cylinder bore size. And with the pistons coming out the hole I assume they were slightly hitting the old head gaskets the whole time. Also the thickness was off. I know so many people use LS9 head gaskets no matter what size block or build for no reason. I actually wanted head gaskets that were perfect for my set up. Did the measurements and LS9 head gaskets turned out to be just what I needed bore wise and quench wise.

So I put the heads back together, cleaned everything up, put them in, torqued them down, put intake on, fuel injectors, harness, and a few other things. Hopefully I'll have it back together and running Friday.

There is one thing I caught a snag on thought. I installed the Kurt Urban vapor thing, and there is a threaded AN fitting coming out the side of it to run to the radiator. I need an AN fitting with a smooth end on it for a hose and clamp to go on instead of threads. Anyone know what kind of or size fitting I need? Not sure if its call ORB or what

Heres the KUP system. If anyone knows what size and kind of fitting it us that would be great.




Heres what I got back together so far

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

I believe the kurt urban kit uses -4 an straight cut oring fittings into the distribution block. I was trying to find you a -4 an female to hose barb fitting, but to my surprise I could not find one over at summit. So a little digging and I found this little gem. Its expensive but would work perfect. You would discard the fitting supplied with kurts kit. Then thread this one directly into the port you wish to return to the radiator. It's a -4 an orb (straight cut oring) male to a 5/16" barb. This will allow you to run a regular 5/16" rubber fuel line to the rad or water pump or where ever. This little bastard was a chore to find. lol

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aei-15628/overview/

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

Of course you could get to the same barb fitting by running a series of cheaper adapters, but it would look like ****. Your car is too nice to queer that up.

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

Thanks a bunch Blown06. That really helps me out because even when I get everything put back together one little fitting is going to keep me from running it. And Merry Christmas bud.

Need to get this thing going then put all the MWC suspension on. Two guys that work at a "performance" shop called me out and talking crap. One has a ragged out monte carlo with a 150 shot and stalled auto. Other one is a SRT 8 Challenger with a supercharger. Both guys best times are 11.7!! LOL. So my simple N/A manual car is going to beat two with power adders, take their money, and ruin the name of their "performance" shop.

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

No problem man. Let me know if I can help you out with anything else.

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

I got it back together but with some aggravation. First thing is, using the fitting Blown06 found wouldnt work. Before I bought it I tried using a 5/16" line on the radiator and it was too small. Couldnt find the right size fitting so I have to chain 5 together to get exactly what I needed. I can probably find one but I'll do that later, I just did it to get the car running.

Next the fuel pressure sensor also broke. Cant find one anywhere locally, and to be honest I'm not sure which one I need. I've seen a few online with the same connector but they range in price from $20 to $140. Guess I'm going to buy a $20 one and hope it works. For now I just found a brass plug to cap off the fuel rail to get it running

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

I also need some input from you guys. I've read so many pages on what plugs to use on a 11:1 CR 408, and its 50/50 between the TR55 and TR6. What do you think and what plug gap would you recommend

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

I would think it would be fine with a 6 heat range. Gap it around .025 and forget about it.

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

First off, plugs. I had TR6 in it, checked the gap and they were at .048. It was running rough since I put it back together. Put new TR6 plugs in at .040 and now it runs like a champ.

Also I got around to putting some of the MWC suspension in I bought back in June. Heres some pics and also some problems I ran in to and some tips, since no one puts stuff like that in their build threads and it drives me crazy. Hoping to help some of you guys out and give you some heads up.

Here it is all done minus the coil overs and steering rack linkage. If you keep reading I'll explain why those are not in. And a tip: the stock brackets that the upper A arms bolt onto, the ones that the top of the shock bolts onto, two of the holes will need to be dremel'ed or drilled slightly larger for the bolts to go through. Also, the paint is so thick that you'll have to dremel the paint out the bolt holes on half the bolt holes in the kit for the bolts to go through. I didnt mind though, only takes a second and thick paint is good.



There is a good amount of weight savings. Didnt weigh everything but picking up both stock and aftermarket spindles with the brakes and rotors bolted on you can feel it. And I could barely pick up the stock k member with lower A arms attached but the chromoly K and A arms were a breeze.



Not a good pic comparison of stock vs aftermarket but you get the idea



Now for the BS that had me almost throwing stuff. First problem was where the shocks bolt on to the lower A arms. There was a rod going through the bottom of the coil overs with two holes in it to bolt them down to stock A arms. I took the C clip off and pulled the rod out because as you can see from the pic you dont need it. But I quickly realized that with the rubber on the sides its too wide to fit on the A arm. If you were to take the rubber off then it would be too narrow so that left me saying "WTF"



And even if it did fit width wise the hole is way too big for the bolt thats supposed to go through. I called MWC and they said that I'm supposed to take the rod out like I did and put in some kind of bearing in its place then the coil over would fit right. But I dont have the bearing I need so MWC is sending me one free of charge because Viking was supposed to give it to me but they didnt.



Now the biggest problem, steering linkage. With my order I was supplied with linkage to go from the Flaming River manual steering rack to the stock steering column. But as you can see from the pic it doesnt fit. On the right is the stock linkage. The end of the stock linkage obviously fits the stock column, but you cant put the end of it on the new linkage because the joints arent the same size, and even if it did fit it would be too short.



So I say, oh what the hell, I have a 5lb aluminum steering column from Burkhart Chassis and steering linkage to fit it to the Flaming River rack. I'll just use that. Nope. Put the column in and tried to test fit the linkage together before welding and the linkage hits the damn headers. So now I have one of two options that I havent figured out yet.
A. Get a third joint and weld it on so the linkage bends around the headers, but run the risk of the whole thing spinning in circles instead of staying in place, or
B. Get the same pipe thats going through the column but a foot longer then cut it to size to where its going just past the headers and that way I only have 2 joints.

I'm still debating...



Then the 3rd problem I ran into. The supplied bolts that connect the outer tie rod ends to the spindle are too short. They're 1/2"-20 x 2 1/2". They only screw about 3 threads into the lock nut. And of course my local Lowes doesnt sell any 1/2-20 bolts so I'm going to order a couple online. You'll need 1/2"-20 x 3"

Edit: Found some zinc plated grade 8 bolts for you guys whos hardware stores doesnt carry fine thread 1/2" bolts
https://www.boltdepot.com/Hex_bolts_...ow_1_2-20.aspx

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

Making progress man..........now aren't you glad you stuck with it?

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

I never was going to sell it or anything. But yea over all I'm glad I got it running again. The mature thing to do would have been continue saving every penny until I get out the Army, move, and find another job. But between the car being my stress reliever from work and those two guys at the "performance" shop calling me out I found the motivation to get it together and give everyone here one more slap in the face before I go.

Plus I have a shot at my goal I've had for years since I've lived in El Paso. 10s NA with manual trans, 91 octane, and at this near 6,000ft DA. And the way I see it, the deeper I am into 10s the closer I'll be to 9s at the Orangeburg track in SC with a DA below sea level. Have a feeling all I'll need is a auto trans, brake, stall, and some E85.

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

A big shout out to Burkhart chassis. They're sending me the steel tubing that runs through the steering column but a foot longer this time at no charge for the part or shipping. They didnt even want the old one back but I'm going to send it back anyway for doing me such a huge favor. So that should take care of one of my three problems.

And I got my hands on the two bolts I need for the outer tie rod ends so problem number two is taken care of

Which brings me to a shout out for Midwest Chassis for sending me, also at no charge, what I need for the Viking shocks that Viking forgot to give me to connect them to the MWC lower A arms. So problem number 3 is also taken care of.

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

Looks good... You're about there!

The steering shaft that came with the front end kit will indeed fit in the factory column. You have to remove the clip that is inside the tube and the new shaft will slip inside the column instead of outside like the oem setup.
Header clearance is always an issue. It can sometimes require a extra joint in the shaft to be ideal routing and clearances, but that method requires an additional support joint or bushing that is mounted off the frame or k-member.

Keep us posted on the car's performance!

Jc803

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the info about the steering shaft. Never thought of that.

And I'll let you guys know what the new times are. After I get it back together and aligned all I have left (for now) is fabricate an aluminum ram air box with an opening much larger than factory or slp. Have the idea just need to make it