Who has had success with a roller cam big block?

[Kern Dog]

I bought a $9 piece of all thread and made a tool to install the harmonic balancer...



I welded a scrap 3/4" socket to help hold the tool in place when cranking down the nut...



I used a bearing to reduce resistance.



Boom....



This will work for big blocks, LA and Magnum engines too.

[Kern Dog]

I am delaying the cam swap a short time while I concentrate on a 360 build of mine. I'm also helping a friend build a 360/408 for his 68 Dart.
Lots of stuff going on here!

[Kern Dog]

The 5.9/408 for Rich's Dart is in....



Body drop over the engine and transmission....





Then of course, I got to work on another project, the only 4 door that I've ever spent time putting together...



Front end rebuild and a BIG sway bar!

[70 sublime]

Why the plastic on the headers ?

[Kern Dog]

The headers were recoated and he wanted to keep them in place until the engine was in place.....He was avoiding scratches.

[Kern Dog]

Another 2 months have passed with no progress.
I bought almost all the stuff to do this cam swap but have yet to dive in to do it. All the valve springs have to be changed and I'll have to shim each one to get the installed height to 1.860, plus or minus .010".
I considered a swap to Trick Flow heads with the correct springs already installed. This would allow me to simply pull these Edelbrock heads and set them aside for my ratty Jigsaw Charger.
New heads and gaskets would have cost around $3000. I tried to justify this by telling myself it would save time and trouble while giving a power increase. Estimates of an approximately 30 HP gain were made and in my opinion, that is a lot of money for such a minor gain.
I decided to skip the new heads. I'll just change these springs with the heads in place.
Comp Cams has a tool that attaches to a rocker shaft. I made my own...





I tried to use this before but the angle of the lever wasn't right. I ended up using this:



It worked but took longer and was cumbersome. Maybe I could modify the lever?



If you have a Sawzall and welder, you can do almost anything.



Repainted....





This ought to clear the power brake booster, master cylinder and be more comfortable in general. I can even slip a cheater bar over the lever if I need more leverage.

[375instroke]

I also bought this battery:

5.5lbs, lol.  That's crazy.  How do you like it?

[375instroke]

How did it work out?  I made something similar, and couldn't get it to work.  It kept pushing the retainer off center, preventing the retainer from lining up with the valve stem as the spring compressed.

[Kern Dog]

That battery is just shy of 7 lbs and is amazing. It runs at and above 13.2 volts. The engine spins over incredibly fast.
I have yet to actually use the valve spring tool. If I get neck deep in the project and have to make revisions, that is fine.
Thanks for checking in.

[Kern Dog]

I have delayed this project for a couple of reasons. One was that I figured that I'd prefer to do it when I'd be less likely to drive the car. That is Winter time due to rain.
I admit though that another reason is that there are a couple of things in this project that I have not done before and I hate the idea of getting it apart then struggling to get it back together. The roller cam setups need a precisely fit cam button arrangement so I have to figure that out. Secondly is the valve springs. I have to change them, get the right installed height, install new oil seals and do this with the heads in place.
Since I didn't know the proper procedure for measuring the installed spring height, I assumed that I had to (one by one) remove the existing spring, install a new spring, check the height then remove it and install the appropriate sized shim, then measure again....doing this until the correct height is achieved.
I was making it harder than I had to.
Instead, I suddenly thought that I could simply pressurize each cylinder, remove the spring, install one of these:



That is set to the number I was given by Dwayne Porter, the one that ordered the cam for me. 1.860. The dial caliper confirms the accuracy:



Here is what I figured: The spring comes out, the measuring tool goes back in, the retainer and locks go back in place. The tool gets adjusted until it cannot turn anymore. The reading is recorded, then the tool is backed off until it can be removed. Let's say the number comes in at 1.890. I have these shims:



Dwayne told me the spec is 1.860 plus or minus .010 so if I am between 1.850 and 1.870, that is within the range.
So, if I measure 1.890 and need to be closer to 1.860. I could use two .015 shims and I'm right on target. Put the shims in, then the seals, then springs and lock it down.....and on to the next one.
The springs: