Chris has set a very high goal, but we are going to do are best to achieve it.
We are getting down to crunch time and while we thought we had a solid plan, things have a way of unraveling quickly.
So, the plan was to build a solid bottom end and use the full drag race, ported & flowed cylinder head with some really big valves & cams that Chris has been using all along. Well, a couple of weeks ago Chris pulled the head to send to to me from the test engine he has been using and found a cam lobe had died. So, the head arrived, I was able to get the cams sent out right away to Web Cam and they said one one lobe damaged they could get that turned right around and shipped out last Friday. Well, the cams shipped today, but I can tell you that is much better service than I ever received from Mega Cycle.
Now, since the head was on the engine and running, we figured fix the cam & drop it onto the new RPM long block...
Well that came to a screeching halt this afternoon. Since the head was sitting in the corner until I got the cams back for the install I never even looked at it, but I probably should have...
So, today I flipped it over one to find either too much timing, not enough cooling or too much nitrous has started burning the head away between a couple of exhaust seats.
So, tomorrow will give me some direction on plan B regarding the head.
We had a little snafu and got the incorrect piston ring pack and the correct one will be ordered tomorrow. Man "XC" & "XG" sure sound a lot alike when ordering according the the vendor.
Chris was hoping to use his big bore case, but since someone welded some strengthening gussets on the front of the case, the gasket surface is severely warped as you can see by the black ink left behind from a flat sanding block. Then there was the custom case studs someone made and modified the case to fit that I was not comfortable with.
I had a fairly new XJR1300 engine that we are using for the base of this project.
So, Chris already had a race prepped, balanced & nitrated crankshaft as well as a fairly new set of Carrillo connecting rods. I decided to have the big end of the rod checked & re-sized. The Carrillo rod bolts hit the inside of the case due to the physically larger rod & 12pt rod bolt. I turned the head of the bolts down for clearance so the new case did not have to be modified.
I also had the crank rebalanced based on the new pistons & lighter rod bolts. If you look closely you can see some of the rod edges relieved and all of the small ends were lightened to the lightest rod. The pistons were also balanced to the lightest one. My balancer is not one to add weight, but he likes to take away whenever possible and he is so meticulous that the new drill holes & grind marks you see on the crank counter weights were all that was required to get it perfectly balanced.
Bottom end going together
As work progresses over the next week or two, I will try and update as I go along in search of 200.
Man, September 4, 5 & 6 is coming up quick...
Randy - RPM
