New motor should run tomorrow

[Joe McCoy]

Got it all installed and everything modified and mounted. Just need to make the vacuum pump hoses and mount the puck tank and it should be ready to fire up. RM
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n187/RealMcCoy099/motor1.jpg

[Rick Rafferty]

Way to go Joe! Look out - Fire in the hole!:eek:
Looks like your almost there. When are you going to shake it down?
Can't wait to see you and that bad Nova at the track!:cool:

[Joe McCoy]

Well it fired right up but I have a few problems. Cooling issues and it skips and pops a little. Got to work on trapped air in the block and check rotor phase and some possible carb problems tomorrow. It was about 7 when I fired it up and I don't make noise after 8 so things are good but as usual a couple things need some help. I hope to go to Greer or SS and shake it down this W/E then go race at Mooresville the 6th. RM

[Mike Bradley]

Congrats Joe! Good luck with the maiden voyage this weekend. I hope everything goes well.

[Joe McCoy]

Well everything is lovely now. Rotor phase was a mile off so when I fixed that and got all the air out of the system she runs fine and seems to keep the radiator full past 200 degrees so we should be all set. I plan to set up the sus[ension now and go give it a try Sat and see how she does. JM

[Rick Rafferty]

Good luck with the shake down, Joe! Look forward to hearing the results.:biggrin2:

[kartman]

Looks REAL Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Work Joe.

Tony

[Joe McCoy]

Took the rebuilt Nova and new motor to Greer today to shake it down and see how it worked and run. Got there, bought a drum of fuel, gassed it up, warmed it up and after I got back to the trailer I went to start it back up and knocked the teeth off the flex plate. That was the end of my test. Loaded it up and now it's sitting in the shop needing a new flex plate. I'm not a happy camper.

[Joe McCoy]

Ok so I just pulled the flexplate out. It had 7 teeth broken but only half the width of the tooth is gone. Got to checking and I learned some more stuff. First let me say the SFI flexplate I bought new for this motor is not all that great. It uses some sort of cast appearing teeth not steel so they broke rather than bend or chip. It is a made in USA piece too. Next is my high dollar, high power 3.1 hp starter isn't engaging into the teeth totally. I compared it to my CSI mid price starter and there is a difference of 3/16 inch in gear engagement. So I will get a better flex plate and either correct the engagement issue with the high dollar starter or I'll use the CSI starter and get total tooth contact. I also plan to call some friends who have fought this problem in the past and see what they did to overcome it. Someone mentioned a timing retard which I do use. I had it set at 10 degrees retard on start but actually switched it to 25 degrees of retard yesterday before I left the house. Several guys told me to trash the retard or be preparred to keep kiling starters.....LOL. I guess I'll keep searching for answers. JM

[2camaroracing]

Hey Joe sorry about the flex plate issue was really wanting to here good thing's about the new set up i to dislike the timing retard system even though we have no where the motor you have i run my timing at 32 an the engine starts alot better without it tried it did'nt like so i trashed it good luck with what ever you do
Billy

[Rick Rafferty]

Hey Joe, sorry to hear about your challenges but I know you will overcome it all soon. Hope to see you in Pageland in the next few weeks!

[Joe McCoy]

Well the retard issue is one thing but after laying under the car the past 4 hrs I can tell you not all starters and flex plates are equal. My new flex plate positions the starter ring closer to the starter than the TCI, Pioneer and any of 5 other unknown brand flex plates I own. With this flex plate I am getting almost total tooth contact with the CVR starter and more than enough with the CSI starter to the point it will actually push the flex plate backwards before it bottoms out. I can correct this with shims the CSI starter came with. In fact the starter gear is only .035 away from the flex plate gear which is too close. I plan to install the shims between the starter motor and the mounting block to get more clearance so it can't possibly hit. This has actually been a pretty interesting problem and I learned alot I never knew before. Ever see sparks coming out from under a car cause the starter hit the flex plate? I have but never understood why til tonight......LOL. As far as the retard issue I plan to work on that tomorrow too while the trans is out in case it eats another flex plate. Lots easier to replace with the converter and trans laying on the floor.......LOL. RM

[Jamey Abercrombie]

Hey Joe,

Glad to hear that you may have solved your flexplate problem. I bought one of those no name SFI flex plates a few years ago and it seemed to work great. When I pulled the motor out this winter and looked everything over I noticed that the teeth on the flexplate had been rubbing the mid-plate. I don't know if it was that way when I installed it or not but needless to say I had to buy another one. As is often the case, it's cheaper to buy the good parts once than it is to buy the cheap part and then the good part to replace it later.

We have a club meeting tonight at Freddie's house. Come on over to Chester and hang out with us if you have time.

Can't wait to see your Nova make a pass.

Jamey

[Joe McCoy]

I would have liked to come hang out with you guys Jamie but I got to finish the car this evening. I fooled with it all day and it seems fine. Starts fine, no kick back at any temperature. Talked to MSD and they said the slow starter was probably why it was kicking back. Got it back together now so I'll finish buttoning it up tonight. Tell the guys I said Hi and hope to see them soon. JM