Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Doesn't changing the rod bolts distort the big end enough that resizing often becomes necessary?

John Dougherty reground a bunch of Volvo OHV B20 lifters for me some years ago. They seemed to hold up better then the current production lifter in SCCA racing application. This may sound crazy, but an old mechanic/machinist showed me how to "reface" used lifters with 400 wet/ sandpaper la...

I've played this game many time with my low budget SCCA Volvo race engines. If the lifter is worn, the cam lobe has some wear too. Still, you may get away with just replacing the lifters. By all means, break it in like a new cam, sure won't hurt. When you assemble the engine put a couple paint or ma...

Just like MadBill says. And if you have excessive wear or concavity on the lifters it's easy to see when you start to polish them.

One issue that I haven't seen mentioned is a tendency for a thin flat windage try with sharp edges at the lovers to develop cracks. In a road racing application where the engine will be run at high rpm for a long time a tray like that would likely have a very limited lifetime. I'm not sure how it wo...

Spring and a hose clamp?

Fuel and EOS may be the answer. These nearly 40 year old injectors tend to leak just a bit.

Thanks for the replies.

Charlie

The goo is all cleaned out and I didn't save a sample so I cannot test it. I do run leaded fuel. Probably 30 hours of track time in this engine and negligible blow by. I thought it may be molly in light of the 4 cam changes that have taken place each with a heavy application of break in lube. I also...

I just pulled the pan off my Volvo B20 road race engine and found a particularly thick layer of gray gooey paste. I've seen this stuff before, but this time it was particular thick and ugly, probably because it has been years since the pan was last off. What is in that Goo? Parts cleaner alone would...

Never had a problem with the LM-1 other then replacing the sensor a couple times. I beat mine up pretty good too, moving it from road race car to car.

Charlie

It is a bit unnerving to watch one's machinist beat on a race crank with a hammer and chisel.

What happens when some of the metal displaced by beating on the crankshaft is ground away when the journals are reground?

How does this work on cast crankshafts?

Things get complicated if two adjacent cylinders have valves open at the same time.

This is a little off topic but I would appreciate the opinion of a try-Y design that a couple road race buddies are playing with. It's a very long try-y. The four tubes off the head are of a length similar to what is found on a 4to1 designs. Maybe 28 inches long. Then two tubes combine and this pai...

This is a little off topic but I would appreciate the opinion of a try-Y design that a couple road race buddies are playing with. It's a very long try-y. The four tubes off the head are of a length similar to what is found on a 4to1 designs. Maybe 28 inches long. Then two tubes combine and this pair...

Dave, thanks for the reply, but I think you read too much into my question. I understand the limitations of a WBO2 and chassis dyno tuning relative to real world race conditions. We never account for all the variables. But, I bet you can answer my question based on experience rather then theory. If ...