6/2/08

Well, Shi-Chi’s head gasket was definitely blown. The number one cylinder had quite a bit of standing water in it. There was evidence of the leakage path as well. Actually, it does look more like a warpage leak than a blown gasket leak. There also appears to have been crosstalk between the cylinders, but I might be high there. Oh, the head bolt next to the water leak was also the tightest of the bunch, further pointing me towards warpage in that area. I suppose I could tell the story of removing the head but the damage report will have to suffice for now. I'm also thinking about replacing the header with an exhaust manifold. That header is nothing special and, in fact, is so crappy it might be a hindrance. Ok, that word does not look right. If something is “hindering” something else, it is a “hindrance”? Where did that other “E” go? There’s no telling I guess. Anyhoo, I'm thinking of putting that ceramic coated manifold on the car. I need to get the header out, test fit the manifold, see what the weight difference is, and make a decision. I like the way the GX intake fits with the manifold and that ceramic coating looks really nice. Besides, it would lend more credence to my “It’s a factory prototype of a joint Lotus/Nissan venture from the late sixties” bullshit story. We’ll see. I think I'm going to blow off Gregg and his machine shop and just take the head I've chosen to Automotive Machine on Carroll Street for the porting and shaving and cleaning and stuff. They are probably who did the work last time anyway. I think I'll have them cc the chambers so I can approximate a compression ratio. I don’t want to get too radical so that I have to run race gas in the thing. But a high CR does make good torque. I'll probably have them ceramic coat the chamber and the ports as well while they are in there. They did the turbo head on George that way, so many years ago. Speaking of George’s head, I'm wondering if I should go with a NISMO metal head gasket when I put this back together. I'd like to install ARP studs but they interfere with the intake/exhaust studs. What I mean is the head has to slide in sideways onto the header before settling into place on the block due to (tee hee, I said doo-doo!) the studs for the intake and exhaust manifolds. I suppose, since they are supposed to be installed finger tight into the block, that the head studs could be threaded into place after the head goes on. Removing it again might be a bitch! We’ll see. With any luck the manifold will snake into place with the head on and not have to have too convoluted a path back up to the zorst. Then again I might just have to remove the alternator and distributor so the engine can slide over to allow fitment of the exhaust. We’ll just have to wait and see about that as well. Sorry I'm not more exciting today, I'm in one of my moods. I keep thinking, “Just how many ‘toys’ do I really need?” I think about Shi-Chi and then think, “If I just got rid of the rest of those projects I could devote all my attention to this.” Of course as soon as I think about getting rid of one I talk myself into keeping it for some stupid reason. I paid $5.00 for George. I've had the Chickenhawk too long and it means too much to me. If I've got those two I might as well keep Johnny. If I've got three then what is a fourth? I might as well keep Herman. I've tried to sell Mr. Wiggly three times with no success, I guess he stays. And so on. Barbecue Bob and Barbara are about the only viable resurrection candidates I can see parting with. That sure doesn’t cull my herd by much. Well, I say that. If I got rid of the dead stuff out back I'd be down to a “reasonable” number of toys, I suppose. See, I just keep doing it! Feh! I think I'm going to walk away from this before I get a headache. Oh wait, too late. So, yeah, I guess that’s all I'm going to say today. Maybe I'll honor y'all with the actual story of Shi-Chi’s decapitation tomorrow. We’ll see.