Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 21:03:49 -0700
From: Mike West <mwest@CDSNET.NET>
Subject: Random . . stuff . .

  Just some random news from the Far Northwest (but not too far).

 Some time past, I posted about Baja Buddy and his locally grown
hydraulic lifter setup.  Oil passages all machined out and Ford lifters
fitted. An Engle hydraulic cam.

 He finally has that together and is doing the final shake-down thing.

 Has a set of Kadrons on it. 1776 cc. Jetting and stuff.

 Had it all ready to go, took it out for a quick trip, blew the fan
up. (type1 fan shroud)

 Pieces flew off the fan hard enough to do physical damage to the case and
jugs. Not too serious but impressive.

 Totally wiped out a doghouse shroud with flaps in it.

 He mumbles about "damn brazilian parts". He doesn't actually know but
the replacement is pure german.

 Talking to my Flaps, he says they tried a cogged timing belt with
appropriate pulleys once and that was all it did. Destroy fans.

 The belt needs to slip when you have those hi-revving machines.  :=)

 Dick of the above, had a new engine and a fresh power fan belt, which
he no doubt had as tight as he could get it.

 I'll get all the dope and do a report when he gets it smoothed out.

 On the personal front, I just lost a fender. The dumb kid story.

 I had just cherried out all four fenders last summer and was plotting
on the paint.  I was less than cordial about the damage.

 He suggested I was making him feel bad.

 Never underestimate the size field it takes for a 17 year old to turn
the family pickup around in.  As you can see, I still have much to
learn.    :-)

 "MY FLAPS LEARNS THE HARD WAY"

  My flaps decided to start building engines at home.
Why split the profit with them other pukes?

 So now he's mumbling about "goddamn parts" of all nationalities and
mainly remanufactured.

 His latest was with a bent crank.

 This is from his "Own Handpicked Crank-grinder".

 Mumbling about "cheap but they don't checkem, I thought they checkedem".
:-) (total glee from listener)

 Been telling him about that stuff for over a year. (gloating chuckle
here)

 That does not mean he will be more concientious about his parts and
single handedly improve the quality of life as we now know it.

 It most likely means he will drag all those parts he took home, back
to the store and not build any more engines.  :-)

 Back to the Bajas,
Dick has an unusual Crankcase ventilation hook-up.

 The "dual 58's" he has hanging off that machine for carbs don't leave
him much hope for vacuum off the intake header.

 This thing has an air-cleaner bigger then the gas tank and is a dune
buggy. Twentyfiveninetyeight cee cee's or some big number.

 Got guages worth more than my whole car.  :-(


 He pulls a vacuum for the crankcase from the merged header "merge
point". Where you would put the O2 sensor, if you had one.

 It's a pitot tube into the center of the exhaust, then a check valve,
then the flex hose to the fill tube on the case.

 One of the old timers told him he'd need that to keep "blow-by"
to a minimum. Seems to work.

 I'm scheming on shortening some push-rod tubes.

 The ones I need are about 1/4" longer than the old ones.

 The new ones only come a full inch longer.

 " Forty-two dollars?!"  . . . V-dub ! . . . Not the Porsche Stuff!"

 The push-rods and swivel feet are a substantial chunk of change if
you're building a beater.

 I should have stuck with the chrome tin.   :-)

 Now I have to build some kind of machine to shorten the damn tubes.

 Mumble . .   Mumble  . . . . .

 west