Some time ago, I came into a stash of spark plugs. I must have over a hundred NGK, Champion and Bosch plugs. All new in their little boxes just waiting their turn to ignite some fuel and burn it down the track.

In preparing to take this car to a rolling road or dyno as it's also know as, I started sorting out some different plugs I'd like to try, mostly various heat ranges as well as brands. When I got the car, it had NGK B6HS plugs in it. I've learned more about spark plugs in the last week than I had my entire life. 

Everything from heat range and why it matters to materials, indexing and reach. 

And reach is what this blog entry is to be about. Reach and why it matters. When I first pulled the plugs out, I must admit I thought they looked short. This being a full blown race car, I thought there must be some reason have yet to learn. I looked through my stash of spark plugs and saw I had quite a few NGK B7H, B8H and B9H plugs. Quick search of NGK's website and I found B means 14mm / 13/16” hex size, 7, 8, 9 is the heat range and H is the 12.7mm (1/2”) thread reach and S is Standard Type (2.5mm Center Electrode) Great, I thought. I have a few "colder" plugs I could try out on the dyno.

Then I began to think about REACH. The 1/2" reach just seemed too short. I took three different plugs and put them in a Spitfire head I had on the shelf. You can see in the photo, examples of REACH.

In the #1 cylinder is a NGK B-7H with the same reach as a B-6HS which is what was in the engine when I got it.

In #2 is a NGK BP6HS which means it is a Projecting Insulator Type thus the P and the S at the end means it is one unit hotter than a 6 but not a 5. A bit confusing but more on that later. 

Next, in #3 is a NGK BPR6ES - So B=13/16” hex, P = Projecting Insulator, R = Resistor Type, 6 = heat range, E =  3/4” thread reach, S = a bit hotter than a 6 but not as hot as a five. 

And #4 cylinder is empty. 

Here is a pic of the three different plugs

And here is the head that came with the car as well as the plugs.

Seems I need to change to the "E" 3/4" reach plugs as from the Factory.

A little help from my friends

So this past weekend found me at Harris Hills Road track just south of Austin, TX. It was a great "test and tune" day I have been needing. It was really a rush to go WOT and not worry about the neighbors calling the cops! Harris Hills Road is a great track too.

On track at Harris Hills Road

I have to thank all those that helped me get there, and those that helped me get around there.
So in no particular order I want to thank Brenda, Rick, Fernando, Robert, Dave, Bill and Rod.
I couldn't have done it without all of you.

Bill adjusting the timing

So, what did we accomplish? After unloading and suiting up, I took her out for two laps. I realized I'd left my "safety" pins in the fire system and thought it might be a good idea to pit and remove those. I have yet to get a routine down. Sputtering in, Dave suggested we "adjust something", not just go back out and burn expensive fuel! He suggested adjusting timing or jetting. So I asked Bill to get a wrench and the stubby screwdriver and let's move the timing one way or the other. Turns out Bill retarded the timing and I went back out. She seem to run a little better so after two laps I came back in and had him retard it a few degrees more. She ran a bit better so we retarded it a few degrees more.

This time it seemed to get a bit worse so I pitted and had Bill move it back and went back out for a few more laps. She still had no top end. I could get to around 5K rpm if I feathered the throttle but if I just put my foot to the floor she would bog down. At this point, I came back in and had Bill change the main jets from 130's to 140's. 

Trying to figure out what we figured out...

One thing I should mention is after about the second or third run, Bill and Dave noticed fuel leak (again) from between the carb and the manifold. Bill tried to tighten the bolts but it still was leaking. I'd put a new anti-vibration mount and rubber washers but it still leaked. I'll tackle this issue in another post but I think a little porting is in order. Also, Dave and Bill notice an oil leak. Two actually, one near the front of the engine and one towards the rear. So with the fuel leak and the oil leaks, Dave thought it best if put her back on the trailer. He did said go out for three more laps which I promptly did!

This is never a good sign

Once home, I put her on jack stands and crawled under her. The leak from the from appears to be the oil cooler hoses needing tightening. The rear leak looks like gearbox, as oil is dripping from the "weep" hole in the bell housing. I recall the bottom bolt in the bell housing had some blue RTV on it and I pulled it and put some gasket sealer on it. I don't recall if it had a copper washer on it but after finding the misplaced copper washer on the rear engine oil seal, I should have checked. A rebuilt kit is on it's way and this weekend will find me pulling the gearbox out.

Running much better than where we started

The oil pan lip was dry as was the timing cover and when I checked the oil level on the dipstick, it was at the full mark.  I was quite happy to see that! I pulled the carb off and I found a couple things that might be the cause of the leak. I bought this Weber 45 DCOE back in around 1987 or 88, I was living in Daytona Beach at the time. It has seen many, many miles. I noticed the mounting holes to be a bit wallowed out. Also, when I put the anti-vibration mount on the manifold, it really doesn't line up with the ports.
I'll look into that this weekend as well.

A little help from my friends

And again, thanks for all the help from my friends!!!!

Pushing a bit too far

So I order new shorter pushrods from SMITH BROTHERS PUSHRODS. Like a lot of the custom parts in the motor they are truly works of art I hate to have to cover up. Form and Function I guess.
None the less, they worked perfectly. She fired up and idled right down.

There was stil a bit of a misfire and after some fiddling and fussing it appears the Pertronix unit gave up the ghost. A quick call to my good friend Mike McPhail to see if he had a replacement unit. He did as well as a new Pertronix distributor. My thoughts were go with the new distributor to rule out and dizzy wear that might be in the old one. I must say though, the "old" one sure looked new.

So now with new shorter pushrods and a new dizzy, I fired her up and she roared back to life. She still seemed a bit rough at idle. I then turned my thoughts the possibility I might have an air leak somewhere. I sprayed some WD40 around the intake/exhaust manifold gasket, no change. Next, I thought about the leather seals on the throttle shaft of my DCOE. As this carb had been sitting on my shelf for ten plus years and the seals were NOT part of the rebuild kit just maybe they were dried and leaking. I took a bottle of 90 weight gear oil and carefully poured some oil around the shaft ends and worked the throttle back and forth. Not sure but it sure seemed like that did the trick!

She idled smooth again and seems happy now. Time will tell.

Pushing me too far

How this car ever ran is beyond me! The pushrods are too long. The valves can't close all the way, the car should never have been able to run. Yet it did...
It's always funny to me how life plays little tricks on us. Checking to see if we are paying attention or  just trying to "phone it in". Case in point, these pushrods. I remember popping the valve cover off and looking at the rocker arms. I noticed the adjustment screws were all the way out. So, I remember trying to see if there was any valve lash, and, on number one rocker, there was. On the firewall, someone had written in sharpie, .020 INT and .020 EX. I thought this was kinda cool but also took it to mean, someone had checked the clearance.

Since #1 did have some play, I just went on looking at other stuff, put the valve cover back on and got her to fire up and run "screaming demon". Just kind of back-burnnered the valve lash as I had much bigger problems like a leaking fuel cell and an upcoming race.

SO fast forward to now, after tearing into this motor to fix some of the issues that crept up on me. I button her back up and now mind you my method for removing and replacing the rocker shaft is to evenly loosen the four nuts that hold it down. Been doing it this way for thirty years and have never bent a rocker shaft. The idea is if you do not disturb the adjustment screws, when you torque it back down, it she have the same clearance. SHOULD

When I took the rocker shaft off and the pushrods out, I checked the lifters and noticed four of them where a bit "scuffed" so I replaced them. after assembling all the bits and pieces of the motor back together, I fitted a new Payden head gasket and torqued it down to 50ft/lbs. Next I put the pushrods back in and torqued down the rocker shaft. Filled her with oil, water in the radiator, fuel in the cell and tried to start her up.

She coughed snorted and blew fire out the carbs, Good thing Brenda wasn't out there for that. It was kinda cool looking but also a bit scary to see fire burning in a carb throat in the garage. So, I fought it for about the next three hours and played with the timing and idle adjustment, fuel pressure and did get her to sort of run but really really rough.

Enough for one weekend and it would be a week before I could get back to her. During the week I thought about it more and started to think more about those pushrods. I remember thinking they looked like stock rods. And I remembered how the adjustment screws were all the way out.  I had a set of shortened pushrods, well I had seven because one got bent because a lifter stuck in the bore on a new rebuild I did years ago. That's another story. Anyway, I figured the number one valve had clearance, at least some, so I'd leave it in and replace the others with this set of seven.

Dropped them in, adjusted lash, which now I was able to do. and...
SHE FIRED RIGHT UP!!! Idles great, revs up nice and she is roaring again.

but what I don't understand is, the old pushrods didn't grow. How is it that this motor ever ran to begin with? Yes, I did replace the head gasket but it is a stock item. Best I can tell so was the one I took off. It can't be .050" thicker. There were no shims under the rocker pedestals. I never changed the rocker adjustment screws, Hell, I couldn't have even if I had wanted to because they were backed all the way out to begin with.

So I bought an adjustable pushrod and need to check the rocker geometry. Then, I will order a set os shorter pushrods.

Shipwrights Right

When Bobby "pawned" this car off on me, he did say "No warranty". I have to keep remembering that he had the car for five years or so and a lot of the build out was ten or more years old. So what does this have to do with Shipwright's disease you may ask?

Follow me on the case with the gearshift bushing I replaced this weekend:

new bushing installed

Owner finds oil leak
Owner removes motor.
Owner tears motor down, replaces, bolts and gaskets and seals.
Owner buttons motor back up and tries to install motor with transmission still in car.
Owner decides it would be easier to mate gearbox to motor instead of motor to gearbox.
Owner removes gearbox. Mates motor to gearbox.
Owner lowers engine and gearbox into engine bay.
Owner realizes shift lever won't clear firewall. It did with motor not attached to it.
Owner removes shift lever.
Owner realizes shift lever bushing is crumbling and needs replacing.

Motor and gearbox going back into car

Point here is the gearshift bushing really was fine until it was disturbed. And it shows the "cause and effect" that happens when you start tearing into a motor. You set off a chain of events that sometimes feel like they are out of control and when will it ever end?

Old gearshift bushing and new kit

In the course of this teardown, I've had to make compromises I know I will have to revisit later. There are a couple of bolts that didn't quite tighten up enough to make me comfortable but to replace would mean re-doing hours of labor and buying more gaskets. My hope is they hold for the two races I need to get through. The cam timing needs to be revisited. Or not. A quick check showed it to be advanced about 8 degrees. It seemed to be running well so instead of removing the timing cover and destroying another gasket I would need to replace, I'll get through these two races and delve into that task during the next rebuild. Let's she how she runs first.

As I write this, I think, do I just go ahead and replace the water pump now? I could order a new one and carry it with me to the track. I might have a spare on the shelf but how good is it?
Ahhh Shipright's...

starting a new thread or Shipwright's disease dead ahead, Captain!!!

In tearing down this motor to find the oil leak(s), I had to pull the flywheel in order to replace the rear  oil seal housing. The housing was a source of one of the leaks as someone had put a 9/16th" bolt into it instead of a 1/2". In doing so, it was stripped out as well as cracked. I had a couple of these alloy housings on the shelf so it was an easy fix. I ordered a new oil seal too just to be safe although I really don't think this engine has many hours/miles on it.

After looking at the flywheel closer, I realized that the builder had used some Associated Spring Special Alloy bolts throughout this engine and for the flywheel bolts as well. These bolts are a "grade 12" strength, nice aircraft quality fasteners. That being said, the four AS bolts for the flywheel were not shouldered, threads run all the way up to the head. Because the threads run through the fly wheel which is aluminum, they wore a thread pattern into the inside of the bolt holes of the flywheel. Thus enlarging the hole slightly. 

I ordered new ARP bolts which have a shank but when they arrived I found them to be too large, they are 7/16". Calling APTFast, where I ordered them, they confirmed they where the correct size for a 1300 large journal crankshaft. I tried them in my 1500 crank and they fit, I tried them in my small journal 1300 crank and they are too large. APTFast suggested perhaps I have an early large 1300 crank and the factory may have not switched over to using larger bolts yet. APTFast also said he did not have any ARP bolts in the 3/8th" size I need. Arrrrrrrrr!

So now I am at a crossroad, do I have the flywheel bolt holes bushed with some cold rolled steel inserts? Do I have them drill larger to fit the ARP bolts which would mean I would also need to enlarge the holes in the end of the crankshaft, which would mean removing the crankshaft. Do I have another dowel inserted into the crankshaft and use the AS bolts for clamping force? Again, I would need to remove the crank to do this as well. Or do I just buy a new Aluminum flywheel. 

A new flywheel would mean a new clutch as the old flywheel is for a 6.5" clutch...

I feel like it's a case of Shipwright's disease. For those of you who do no know what Shipwright's disease is, it goes like this:

Sailor owns boat. 

Boat has burned out light.. 

Sailor decides to change bulb. 

Sailor notices socket is corroded, decides to change socket. 

Sailor notices wiring frayed while trying to change socket. 

Sailor decides to change wiring.

Sailor notices light switch is corroded.

Sailor decides to change light switch.

Sailor notices ... 

this goes on and on and on and on and pretty soon, the sailor rebuilt

his entire boat because of a burned out lightbulb.

More likely, Sailor NEVER sails that boat again, it rots away

in dry dock because he doesn't have to time/money to fix everything he finds.

And this is where I don't want to end up. Right now, my goal is to finish two more races, get my "Hard Card" and race COTA in Nov. with SVRA. I'm sure the flywheel will be fine, most likely forever. I think I will button her back up, run my two races and revisit it before I race COTA. 

Maybe by then I'll find another Tilton flywheel, or pull the crankshaft and have it drill for the larger ARP bolts or just have another dowel put in. I can then freshen up all the bearings too and while I'm at it I can replace all the... 

Just replace the lightbulb and go sailing, SHIPWRIGHT!!!

No LUCAS here!

One thing I absolute hate working on is electrics. Good thing my brother Mike loves it! I always seem to end up calling him whenever I am doing anything that has to with current, voltage, amps, watts, ohms, etc. Well maybe not etc. but all the other!

As luck would have it, one real pleasant "surprise" was this was done for me. The car had wired in-line fuses to the electrical system. I probably would have never thought to do this till it was too late. It is a real first class job too, the fuses are mounted on the  main switch panel, so that if one blows you can easily see which it is. Each fuse is above the toggle switch it "guards". Very nice touch!

Another nice touch, was the heavy duty master kill switch. It's the real beefy all metal kind. 

The tail light lenses where gone but the lamps worked so I ordered some new ones from Roadster Factory.

For some reason, I can't seem to find a headlight switch...

 Another item I would not have wanted to figure out, a new MSD ignition and coil were also wired in, THANK YOU BOBBY.  Even less appealing to me would have been to get all pretzeled out trying to squeeze in between the roll cage bars to mount the MSD box. It's tucked up so high up in the passenger's footwell you can hardly even see it. I don't even think I have a picture of it because I keep forgetting it's up there.

The electrics all seem to be in perfect order and she always turns over with the push of the starter button. It's super nice to have that sorted out and Bobby even gave me his wiring diagram which I had him sign and it's now hanging on my garage wall. I'll post a pic of it soon.