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Sunday, July 7, 2013

# 7 Cylinder and Door Panels

The issue with #7 cylinder has been resolved.  Matt P and John S helped diagnose the issue and we thought it must be either a missing or damaged intake valve stem seal or a bad fuel/injector.  Both were probable, both were wrong.  When the valve cover was removed I found a dislodged rocker at the #7 intake.

The possibility that normal break-in caused this is highly unlikely.  I found out I could turn the rocker nut with just my fingers and that's wrong.  Rocker nuts have crushed ends and require wrenches for installation and removal.  This one had little to no resistance.  I bought all new rocker nuts and replaced all the existing ones.  I paid special attention to the resistance when removing the old ones and I was surprised that several had little resistance.  The new ones are very tight and almost require two hands to tighten.

Lesson Learned:  Always pay attention to rocker nut resistance during installation.



Our cam card specifies .030/.030 lash on the intake/exhaust valves when hot.  Forum discussions on the National Corvette Restorers web page recommends .027/.027 for optimal performance.  Since a cast iron block with cast iron heads is expected to tighten .003 from cold to hot, I set lash at .030 cold.  I started the engine (it ran great), warmed it up, checked lash and sure enough, .027/.027.  I then checked compression and all cylinders were between 190 and 200 PSI.  We're good!


New Topic

I purchased a used passenger door panel on EBay recently.  I needed this panel because I didn't have several trim pieces, specifically, the hockey stick and the stamped steel upper piece (not shown).



These are the pieces I salvaged.  The stamped steel piece on the far left was sand blasted and painted.  The hock stick was fine as is.  The fuzzy window eyebrow piece, far right, was stapled to the stamped steel at the factory.  I have new eyebrows but I don't have a heavy duty stapler.  Humm...


The new eyebrows came with staples so I decided to use them.  I aligned, clamped and drilled the eyebrow then inserted, bent and secured each staple with pliers.


It turned out great.  One down, many to go.  (Note my fancy 4th of July cast)


Here is the completed passenger door.  The new brow is at the top.


I finished both door panels and they turned out very nice.


New Topic

Al Knoch Interiors finally sent all the seat components.  This Thursday I will drop everything off at a local upholstery shop recommended by several car enthusiasts.  I am told I can pick them up the following Tuesday.  It will be nice to finally get the seats done.

Don't forget, Hot August Nights in Reno, NV is our next car show and we hope to have the Corvette done for that event.  Dennis and Annette K will also be going and they intend to bring their 57 Chevy Nomad.  Should be a fun event.

Thanks for watching.
      

5 comments:

  1. As usual, the craftsmanship on the door panels is excellent.

    I am curious as to where you located the "Cam Card." never knew something like that existed.

    Wilson

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lester (Wilson)!

    Cam cards typically come with all cams. It is either in the cam box or on it. Ours was on it. When I bought the engine from Shaw City Engines the owner made sure I took the cam box. He told me the box had important information I would want to keep. That box sat on my shelf for 4 years. Sure enough, I needed info and the cam card had it.

    Thanks for the comments. I love comments.

    See you in Reno?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Everything looks so professional. I think I saw a note from Gerri that the doctor said to stay off of that foot. Did ya catch hell for that. Miss you guys!

    Max

    ReplyDelete
  4. Max,

    If you look again you will see that I am sitting on a stool, not standing on my cast. None the less, yes, I catch hell for standing on the cast.

    Can not wait till you retire so I can start playing with your toys again. And speaking of toys, I think we should give your golf cart a custom paint job upon your return. Think about it... think about it.

    It was great to see you at Cool Desert Nights. Tell Riva hi.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm expecting a special post that advises us that the car is finished.

    ReplyDelete