By: Jim Opaka #620
A few weeks ago, my 97 Ford F-150 Truck with 80K miles and a 4.6L developed a miss in the engine. There was also a consistent pop through the exhaust that pointed to a valve either stuck or not opening. A free Auto Zone engine scan revealed a miss-fire in cylinder #1. Starting with the obvious first, I changed all the plugs, wires, and coil packs (since it was time) but it still didn’t correct the problem. I took it to a friend of a friend who is a mechanic at a major Ford dealer. He ran a scan and compression test. He determined that the #1 cylinder was not firing and the #2 had low compression. The opinion of the mechanics there was that there was probably some lower end internal damage. Bottom line is that I would need an engine rebuild, salvaged, or remanufactured replacement. Price - about 2 to 4 grand depending on which route I go. Not good news. Wanting a second opinion, I took it to another Ford dealer across town. They gave me the exact prognosis and options. More bad news.
I did a lot of research about the engine on-line and looked at bone yard,
remanufactured, and crate engines options. Having attended our last NICC
meeting, which was held at Built-Rite Engine Rebuilders in
Bill was in the middle of finishing a Cutlass build so he took the truck to his house. Over the next few days he began diagnosing the problem. He prefers cylinder leakage tests over compression tests as a more accurate gage of engine condition. Yes, there were issues with Cylinders #1 and #2. He pulled the valve covers off expecting to find a broken spring. What he found was that the rocker arm had fallen off the #1 intake. The valve was obviously not working properly in that state. No broken springs and resistance tests on the other springs showed no problems. No valve problems and no damage. He re-installed the rocker arm, put on new valve cover gaskets, re-set the computer, re-ran the cylinder leakage test – which now came back normal on both cylinders – job done -problem solved. Amazing! I went from 3-4 thousand dollars minimum to paying for a few hours labor and a new set of valve cover gaskets. Excellent news!
Honesty, integrity, skill, experience, professionalism, easy to work with, and nice people to do business with. Everything we expect and demand as consumers, especially when it comes to our classic cars. Bill, Scott, and Jim at Built-Rite Engine Rebuilders demonstrated all of these qualities – and more. They are “car guys” who will take care of car guys. They will have all of my engine work in the future and I highly recommend them to any NICC member or anyone needing engine work or building an engine.
SHARP CONCEPT CARS ARE
COMING OUT: ARE WE ENTERING ANOTHER
MANUFACTURERS WAR FOR STYLE & POWER
THAT WE HAD IN THE 60'S???
Want to see a video of the unveiling of the Concept Camaro from Chevrolet? Click the link below and see if it is something that will keep Chevrolet right up there with Chryslers offerings and Ford's Mustang.
Camaro Concept Detroit Introduction
The initial reviews by the Automotive press seem good. Autoweek On-Line has a review of the concept cars and they seem to like the LS-2, 400hp, 6-spd. manual trans car. Apparently the chief designer, Ed Welburn, owns a yellow & black 1969 Camaro SS. Check out the link below for the article.
Autoweek Concept Camaro Review
Oh yes, a little bird from up North tells me he's been told a Chevelle concept car may be coming out soon . . . I could live with a '70 retro, LS-2 with 6 speed manual.
The Dodge Challenger Concept car is out, and if you want to see a 5 minute video on it, click on the link below:
Dodge Challenger Concept Car Video
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COOLANT RECOVERY TANK FOR CHEVELLES -By Terry Schattl, #465
Several members at the Culver’s cruise asked about the coolant recovery tank that I put on my 1970 Chevelle. This is an easy, low cost addition/modification that looks stock and works great. You will end up with a fully functional modern closed-loop, coolant recovery system, that also meets NHRA drag strip requirements for a coolant "catch can".
I pulled some info from Chevelles.com forums to put mine together and here is the result. I didn't have other year Chevelles handy, but it should fit any year that has about 1 square foot of space available on the passenger fender that has a curvature similar to the 1970 Chevelle/Monte Carlo/El Camino.
The GM parts are still available as of June 2003: (prices may vary, but still cheap). Bill or material list:
 | GM p/n 14070997, plastic coolant recovery tank, $19.04 |
| GM p/n 15630112, coolant tank cap, $10.64 |
| GM p/n 10409635, radiator recovery cap, $12.50 |
| 12-18 inches of 3/8 hose and 2 hose clamps |
| 2 screws - # 10 to 1/4 with washers - either sheet metal or nut/bolt combo |
The only modification to the tank is to cut off one of the three mounting tabs, as you won't need it to mount it in the Chevelle. You will have to drill two holes in the inner fender to install it, but it looks like it came from the factory. Don't forget to replace your stock radiator cap with a "coolant recovery" one. The radiator cap listed here is from a 1984 Caprice and fits the Chevelle radiator and works just fine.
- SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT ENGINE OIL FOR “KEEPER CARS” -
Ed Kollin was a research chemist at the Exxon engine test lab and is now director of R&D for Lubrication Science and creates designer lubes to solve special problems. He tells about one ingredient that swells up oil seals to keep them snug. He addressed “keeper cars”, those between 20-50 years old. The problem is these cars don’t get driven much, maybe once a month and what oil should be used? Ed’s answer was “I could design an oil for this application”, but for an off-the-shelf solution he would chose a “heavy duty” oil intended for diesel trucks. Instead of SJ on the can, look for combinations that begin with C (for compression ignition). CG-4 is the latest, preceded by CF-4, CF-2, etc. While the oil part of these diesel oils has the same lubricating qualities as passenger car oil, the diesel oil get bigger doses of the additive packages. Up to 80 percent of ZDDP (the primary anti-wear and anti-oxidation additive, but when it goes through a catalytic converter, it hurts it). 30-50 percent more detergent, dispersant and corrosion inhibitors. The downside to this is that the nitrogen compounds in the high dose of dispersant may cause some seals to leak, but if you change your oil a lot, your engine should be clean. The good news? If you have sticky rings – erratic compression, blue exhaust smoke, this high detergent oil will quickly free them up. For corrosion, he says, heavy-duty oil is the silver-bullet solution. It’s blended to neutralize the sulfuric acid produced by high-sulfur diesel fuel.
There are some good tips from someone who has spent his life making engine oil to meet all the changing characteristics of the modern internal combustion chamber operating in an ever tightening emissions world.
One quote worth noting. “Fuels today, in many cities, have oxygenates, ethanol or MTBE, as a sort of political remedy for carbon-monoxide pollution. Fuel gets in the oil. You can have 5-10 percent dilution. These oxygenates are tremendously corrosive and they attack gaskets, seals and certain metals. No problems for automakers; they choose new polymers and alloys that are immune to these attacks. But what’s to prevent the attacks, and the corrosion, in older engines?” Another consideration for regular oil changes on our “keeper cars”.
Learned something new. When looking at the SAE engine oil rating what does the S in SJ mean? “S” stands for “Spark Ignition”. I would have never guessed.
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JOHN SONNEFELDT IS NOW AT DETROIT LOCKER -For those who know John, he is one friendly and nice guy. Over the last 6+ years that I’ve known him he has always had the "greener grass" type of job, i.e. I was jealous; Auto Meter Rep to racing, then Union 76’s racing rep to NASCAR and now Detroit Locker has decided to tap his contacts as they try to expand their product into the market. John has many contacts and they’ll benefit from the exposure he can help them get. Currently they are developing a prototype Detroit Locker for the GM 12 and 10 bolt rear ends. Can you believe they didn’t have one? They will now. John has dropped off one of these prototypes at Moser Engineering and told them to install it in a rear end and beat the snot out of it to test the quality. So far John said they love it and the abuse hasn't impacted it. Production is ready to go and John is going to give a demonstration to us at a meeting in the future. He's already suggesting we sell our Eaton units. Also, John has Detroit Locker involved in the Hot Rod Power Cruise for the first time; hard to believe they were not involved before, eh? It is nice to have John involved in something like this and some of the NICC members may be switching to Detroit Locker from Eaton and Auburn. John emphasizes that the Auburn cones wear out and the Eaton posi's need rebuilt. The Detroit Locker is an "install and don’t worry" product. John may make a presentation at a club meeting.
