Mopar Muscle Association UK

He He all the original parts are still numbers matching Ivor the problem is that they are on about twenty other cars?

Excellent Bob

Well done, car looks really good, all that hard work has paid off.

When`s it`s first run ???

Bump Thanks Dave it looks OK but it need to run OK that is the scary part.

Bob, despite the crappy speakers on my pc that sounds fantastic !
can't wait to see(and hear) it in action
Cheers Doug

Thanks Doug, the thing that surprised me was how quickly the engine picks up.
The rockers have given us a last minute problem we removed one of the rocker covers and found 2 of the rocker adjuster nuts and the top of the adjuster laying on the heads.
The rocker gear is Koffel so I called Scott Koffel in Ohio and e mailed him pictures. He confirmed the roller rockers were there early design and if the rocker adjuster snaps below the rocker then there is to much adjuster protruding and you would need longer push rods, they recommend no more than 2/12 threads protruding below the rocker.
In our case the adjuster had snapped level with the top of the rocker and the cause is over tightening of the adjuster.
the adjusters are 3/8 dia at the ball and were a Crane cams item.
The other issue was the tower studs were to long and spacers were needed to tighten the stud nuts and these spacers were not fitted on the original set up.
Scott remembers his father building these combinations back in the 90's and told me they were actually 457 ci and had a compression ratio of between 14 and 15:1 so it is important that the rocker gear is set up spot on due to the massive pressure on the exhaust valve.
He has agreed to send me a complete set of adjusters and hardware so we can set up the top end to the original specs.
A nice touch he put me on to his mother, who is in her 70's, to take my address and payment details.
She was a very nice, septuagenarian who was very lucid and new all about race engine components, I must say a very accessible and helpful family.

Knightcharger wrote:Thanks Doug, the thing that surprised me was how quickly the engine picks up.
The rockers have given us a last minute problem we removed one of the rocker covers and found 2 of the rocker adjuster nuts and the top of the adjuster laying on the heads.
The rocker gear is Koffel so I called Scott Koffel in Ohio and e mailed him pictures. He confirmed the roller rockers were there early design and if the rocker adjuster snaps below the rocker then there is to much adjuster protruding and you would need longer push rods, they recommend no more than 2/12 threads protruding below the rocker.
In our case the adjuster had snapped level with the top of the rocker and the cause is over tightening of the adjuster.
the adjusters are 3/8 dia at the ball and were a Crane cams item.
The other issue was the tower studs were to long and spacers were needed to tighten the stud nuts and these spacers were not fitted on the original set up.
Scott remembers his father building these combinations back in the 90's and told me they were actually 457 ci and had a compression ratio of between 14 and 15:1 so it is important that the rocker gear is set up spot on due to the massive pressure on the exhaust valve.
He has agreed to send me a complete set of adjusters and hardware so we can set up the top end to the original specs.
A nice touch he put me on to his mother, who is in her 70's, to take my address and payment details.
She was a very nice, septuagenarian who was very lucid and new all about race engine components, I must say a very accessible and helpful family.

thats mint bob, this baby should really move when your on top off it,

Thanks Dunc it has been a long build and these niggles are a pain but at least now we will have spannered every nut and bolt on the car and engine so we have a better understanding of the combo.

Knightcharger wrote:In our case the adjuster had snapped level with the top of the rocker and the cause is over tightening of the adjuster

It's hard to believe that the steel adjuster gave way, before trying to strip the thread out of the aluminium rocker

Knightcharger wrote:The other issue was the tower studs were to long and spacers were needed to tighten the stud nuts and these spacers were not fitted on the original set up.

The spacers were on the original setup, although they may of disappeared before you became the owner.

Knightcharger wrote: it is important that the rocker gear is set up spot on due to the massive pressure on the exhaust valve.

They were K1000s fitted on there, I always used to loosen the rocker gear when not using the car, to save the springs

Glad to see that Scott sorted you out, he's a lot easier to talk to than Dave

jerry wrote:

Knightcharger wrote:In our case the adjuster had snapped level with the top of the rocker and the cause is over tightening of the adjuster

It's hard to believe that the steel adjuster gave way, before trying to strip the thread out of the aluminium rocker

Knightcharger wrote:The other issue was the tower studs were to long and spacers were needed to tighten the stud nuts and these spacers were not fitted on the original set up.

The spacers were on the original setup, although they may of disappeared before you became the owner.

Knightcharger wrote: it is important that the rocker gear is set up spot on due to the massive pressure on the exhaust valve.

They were K1000s fitted on there, I always used to loosen the rocker gear when not using the car, to save the springs

Glad to see that Scott sorted you out, he's a lot easier to talk to than Dave

hey jerry
you know this engine then,

Cannonball wrote:hey jerry
you know this engine then,

Jerry don't, but I do said Mark . . .

jerry wrote:

Cannonball wrote:hey jerry
you know this engine then,

Jerry don't, but I do said Mark . . .

Yep Mark I thought the rocker would give first on the other hand they are solid lumps and it may have been progressive, if you inspect the remaining adjusters some have a section about half a turn of thread missing so I assume they are on there way out.
I must say that Scott Koffel and his Mother were very very nice people to deal with and very knowledgeable he told me that after they could not source enough of the thick 400 blocks someone cast some aluminium blocks and used the same combination of an offset ground Hemi crank and chevy rods to create the stroker. this was early days but would love to get my hands on one of them.
With regard to the studs it will be interesting to see what Scott sends and if they fit without having to use spacers.
I will let you know in the next couple of days.

Some members are probably not aware but MarkLindsey AKA Mark Cavandish AKA Cav has been serving in Afghanistan, well after 3 days travelling he arrived back today and dropped in on is way home
to check on our work on the Bee.
Well done mate! and we are glad you are back in one piece.

New Rocker hardware arrived from Scott Koffel, Today was a good day, removed plugs reset the lash, re phased the dizzy, adjusted the timing to 34 before and set the MSD up to retard 20 degrees below 800 and bang it fired up and runs sweet.
It is almost time to party in the pits wahoooooooooooooooooooo

Great news Bob ,Soon be pounding down the quarter mile
Cheers Doug