Project "Endless Challenge" 4l80E, dry sumped 500 wedge

[Tubbed440]

So I made my first tangible progress in over week today.  Made the oil pan rail with some extra meat on one side so I could make a scraper out of it.  In the second pic, you can see where I need to clearance the pan rail to make room for the nuts that hold the rear main cap in.

[Tubbed440]

Got the pan rail clearanced for the rod bolts and started fabbing the pan itself. 



I think the sump turned out damn good considering it's .060 thick and I don't have a sheet metal brake to bend it.







Welded the back cap on.


I can tell it's been a while since I welded aluminum.  Took me a minute to get back into the groove.  Not my best, but it will definitely hold oil.

[Tubbed440]

Well, I'm stuck at home this Saturday and figured I'd start cleaning up the ports on my heads.  Here's a couple before I got started.  These heads are anything but pretty out of the box.  There's a good amount of core shift in the casting process, so some of the valve seats actually hang out into the port/bowl area.  I'm not doing a major porting job, just merely cleaning things up a bit.



Here you can see the extra casting in the intake ports.  The first hump (closest to you) is for oiling the rocker shafts.  The second one is the boss for one of the rocker shaft bolts.  The third one is for a cylinder head bolt. 



This is what they looked like before I got started.  This is going to be a basic gasket match.



More of the "before" bowl area.



After a little clean up.



I had to work my ass off to get the seats and bowl to blend.  I actually had to use a metal burr on a couple of them to grind some of the seat material off to get everything to blend in.  In a head shop, by a professional porter, the would have opened the bowl area up, removing material from the seat also. 





I've still got some work to do around the guide, but I'll handle that later.

[Tubbed440]

Couple more...



My redneck cylinder head stand.

[conv340]

Lookin good,  I remember the hours it took when I did the heads on the Pro-street Panel wagon I built. Takes a lot of patiance. 
The oil pan is coming out great.

[ntstlgl1970]

Looks good, I wouldn't want to port heads for a living, what a mess.

[Tubbed440]

Finished the oil pan about 30 minutes ago. 





Not so happy with the quality of welding this time either, but it should hold oil.  I need more practice welding AL.

[Tubbed440]

A little more progress for today.  Every little bit helps!  Made some radiator mounts for my overly large radiator.





Did a little better on my welding today.




Seeing as how I have now sold my headers, I can buy my stainless kit and merge collectors.  Before I start welding those up, I have to replace the front frame rails with some that have 2 inches more "kick up" in the front to get the car lower.  I'm going to order some from Alston's chassis works after I call and talk to the guys and see what their dimensions are - if they are not going to work, I'm going to have the tubing bent here in Danville at Jarret Welding.  Either way, looks like it's going to be about $200 bucks.  Money well spent, IMO.  Getting rid of those pinch welded stockers should help shore things up a bit - not to mention make things look a ton better.

[mopar12372]

what engine mounts are you using?

[Tubbed440]

They are the spool mounts that came with the AlterKtion.  I may have to modify them or modify the oil pump mount in order to get the engine to fit back in - but I still have to install the new front frame rails to get to that point.  It's going to get interesting real quick. 

[mopar12372]

thats the problem with people with knowledge everything is corrected and complicated and made to work

[ntstlgl1970]

What's new on this thing? Been kinda quiet lately....

[Tubbed440]

Well, it's been a while.  Still have tons going on around the house, rebuilding the bike again (CR250), riding when I can, etc - so the car has kinda taken the back seat.  HOWEVER - I have been amassing parts as the "car budget" from buying and selling has opened up a little. 

So this is where I stand now - I have gotten these things so far.

Cam, lifters, springs, retainers, locks, and timing set. 
Rocker arms.  Harland sharp
In dash Tach
In dash Speedo
More AN fittings
Fuel pump and regulator ->A1000 with bypass reg
3200 stall lock up converter (for initial testing - I don't think it will hold the HP on spray)
Merge collector kit ->304 stainless
Header weld up kit ->304 stainless, 2 inch primaries
Gear install kit for Dana 60

I cleaned up the garage the other night because it took me 2 hours to find my fuel injection system, so it should be easier to find stuff now and actually work on the car.  Now that I have all the valvetrain, all I need to do is finish cleaning up the other head and take them down to HED to have the valve work done.  After that, the heads should never have to come off the engine again, unless I blow a gasket.   I'm getting ready to post some stuff on e-bag for sale, and with that stuff sold I can get my front frame rail situation handled, along with some new front calipers that will work with my uprights.  Probably wind up being 4 piston calipers, but it's better than the 1 pistons I have now..  When I get that sorted, then the engine, radiator, trans, etc will get bolted in for hopefully the last time (until paint) and the header fab will start.  I'll plumb the car after that and install all the wiring.  If I can keep this schedule and nothing weird happens between now and then, I should be able to hear it run by the end of the summer.  We all know how that goes though.    I could probably MOVE it under it's own power after that with the addition of a drive shaft, but I still need a yoke for the trans at this point.

[Bullitt-]

Love the work you do...hope the Challey turns out as nice as your welds 

[Tubbed440]

Love the work you do...hope the Challey turns out as nice as your welds 

Thanks.  I'm actually in the process of making another intake manifold to test/sell.  I made two more batches of intake runners - and I think I've got the hang of this aluminum welding thing.