Did a compression test on my stroked Olds 215, not good. #4 cylinder at 50 lbs.

[Gswest236]

Thanks Jim,
Bevel it just like a tig weld set up.

[88v8]

Getting out of tight spaces may be easier with a load leveller as it enables the engine to be tilted.

[MGBV8]

"One of these days I'll make it to a V8 meet. West of the Mississippi would be better for me."

There has only been one.  That was in Colorado Springs in 2014.  It was not as well attended as those   East of the mighty Mississippi River.


"Carl had a cracked bellhousing before also. I think the early D&D bellhousing had issues."

I have now cracked two OEM Buick bellhousings.  Crack starts at the thin section of the clutch fork window & migrates around.

Fortunately, I had a fully round D&D bell in storage waiting for a new engine.  So glad I measured it before installing.  The Buick bell was a 1/4" deeper.

[Gswest236]

Yes, the load leveler helped a bunch.

[MGBV8]

I just use a big, strong nylon strap under the intake manifold.  It can be slid back & forth as needed.

[Moderator]

"One of these days I'll make it to a V8 meet. West of the Mississippi would be better for me."


There has only been one. That was in Colorado Springs in 2014. It was not as well attended as those East of the mighty Mississippi River.

Don't forget about the 2012 meet in Palestine, Texas and the 2013 meet in Omaha, Nebraska. All of those were great meets! In retrospect, it might've been better if the three western meets weren't back-to-back... but meets are held where someone volunteers to host a meet.

[mgb260]

One of these days guys, I promise I I just don't like to fly and it's always a long drive. Maybe we should do a NW one? Clark County fairgrounds Vancouver, WA. Curtis you are in Portland, what do you think? We could draw from California to Canada and everybody West of the Mississippi!

[MGBV8]

If you can get one, preferably two, to host it & do the leg work.  Just don't expect many of the Eastern British V8 crew to attend.  Not nearly as many of that bunch went to Colorado Springs as I expected to be there.

Yes, Curtis, I forgot which side of the Mighty Mississippi that Omaha was on.  The Lumberjack's last hurrah.  What a great time we had!

Texas is a part of the South to many, so I excuse them for being on the Left side of the Mississippi River.  

[Gswest236]

Beveled!

[mgb260]

Scott, looks like you're ready to melt some metal!

[BlownMGB-V8]

I'd strongly encourage you to persuade the wife to visit her family for a day and use the opportunity to pop it into the oven and set the self-clean cycle.

Oil gets down into the pores of the aluminum casting and will continue to boil out as you attempt the repair. The hydrocarbon gases will interfere with your gas shield (yes, burned fuel gases are an effective shield to keep the oxygen away from the aluminum) resulting in a dirty nasty weld that will be ugly and weak. This is true even when you are brazing which is what you are talking about attempting with the mapp gas process.

You also risk melting holes in it, especially if the metal is dirty. What happens is that you get it *almost* hot enough to get the rod to stick but due to a thin oxide layer it just won't quite do it so you heat it a little more trying to penetrate the surface layer and stick to the metal that is starting to melt underneath and are just starting to get some progress when a dime sized area just drops out on the floor and now you have a hole to patch with ragged oxidized edges. BTDT

Not trying to discourage you though. Here's an old-timer's trick: Smoke the area to deposit a thin layer of carbon. (easily done with acetylene but with other gases you have to find a way to block the air from the torch so you get a smokey flame) Then as you heat the area and approach melting temps the carbon will begin to burn off, and when it finally does you are just slightly below the melting point and at risk. This is the temp where your brazing rod will work the best.

I'd recommend you try to practice on something else first if you can.

Jim

[mgb260]

Scott, since the piece is removeable you can use the torch to boil out any oil and impurities on both sides where you are going to braze. Then use a stainless wire brush to clean, Did you clean with a chemical? Acetone and lacquer thinner are fine but Brake Clean should never be used if welding or brazing as it gives off dangerous fumes. If you did use that, use a fan for ventilation.

[Gswest236]

My first attempt at brazing was a fail! I cleaned the parts with degreaser and yes brake clean. I read afterwords to use only non chlorinated versions.
Anyways, the problem with the Mapp/oxygen torch is you have to run the oxygen volume high and it only last 20 mins or less. So i ran out of oxygen before the area was hot enough. These bell-housings are thick and a giant heat sink. I ran out of oxy right about when it got hot enough. So, I'm going to try again on a warm day when I can put the parts in the sun for several hours (it was 53 this morning) and then with extra oxygen/Mapp at the ready will attempt again. It doesn't help that the metal is saturated in grease/oil. Even after it was cleaned I think the porous aluminum has oil residue.

[Gswest236]

I did manage to get the engine on a stand, so the day had some progress!

[mgb260]

Scott, Engine looks pretty clean!

[Gswest236]

Yes, it's pretty good. We now think it might have sat for a few years after the original owner passed.

[mgb260]

Scott, You don't need the oxygen, Those oxygen cylinders will deplete about 10 to 1 to the gas. You only need about 750F and the Mapp gas is 3600F with air and over 5000F with oxygen. I'd get another Mapp cylinder and the Bernzomatic tip. I'd start on one side and heat until the rod melts a couple inches and then go to the other side then the other side etc,.After you have it stitched all the way around go back over and remelt, then fill holes and any gaps. This is the torch I've had good luck with:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/403968973908?var=0&toolid=10044&customid=ced2917d483413f6506ef96576ad5ec7

[BlownMGB-V8]

Hate to be a broken record but the kitchen oven is your friend. It can burn out all the oil by using the self clean cycle and once it releases the parts should still be hot enough to take care of the preheat, and as you are learning, being able to preheat the parts is a huge benefit, especially when your heat source is limited.

Jim

[Gswest236]

Ordered a new torch and will try it with MAPP gas only. And I did think about the oven preheat idea. I'm sure that would help immensely!

[Moderator]

Jim N wrote:

Maybe we should do a NW one? Clark County fairgrounds Vancouver, WA. Curtis you are in Portland, what do you think?

I'd support the effort, but until I'm retired I wouldn't have time to do the job justice. BV8 meets don't typically need a fairground... but rather a nice hotel or motel all participants can stay at. It should preferably have an on-premise hot breakfast and also a meeting room. Its management definitely must be okay with gearheads congregating around their cars in the parking lot day-and-night. It's best if they even supply a hose for freshening up the cars after driving events. The meets usually start on a Sunday with most people arriving after lunchtime. They typically wrap up with a banquet on Wednesday night, with most people departing the host hotel after breakfast.

I could imagine a meet centered around Gig Harbor, Washington. From there participants might enjoy the drive up to the top of Mount Ranier one day, with lunch and an optional short hike at the top. On another day, participants might enjoy visiting the LeMay Collection a.k.a. "America's Car Museum" in Tacoma. (Other museum options include the Boeing Museum.)  On a third day, participants might enjoy a track day at Pacific Raceways in Kent - I haven't driven on that racetrack but it appears to have a lot of elevation change and the property is pretty (forested). They host drag racing there too. The paddock is nice, and as I recall there are a lot of racing related businesses nearby. (Maybe we could arrange a "dyno day"?) Perhaps we might try to all get on the same ferry at some point and cross into Seattle for some sort of entertainment there. One wouldn't want to visit that area and not see some of Puget Sound, right?

Vancouver is a nice enough town, but it's just a suburb of Portland. I'd probably prefer a town on the Oregon side. We don't have sales tax and most of the things we'd likely want to do are on the Oregon side. Instead or Ranier we'd likely drive up to Mount Hood, and visit its awesome Timberline Lodge. That drive can be a nice loop. On the south bank of the Columbia River you've got a historic/scenic highway, many waterfalls, Roosevelt dam, Bridge of the Gods, kite-surfing & windsurfing, vineyards, etc.  If time permits, there are lovely forest roads back that aren't along the river. (BTW: Mount St Helens is another option from either Gig Harbor or Pdx - especially interesting for those of us that remember its eruption - but there's less to see on the way to St Helens and the excellent interpretave center at the top may be gone by then.)  On a second day we could drive toward the coast, maybe through the Willamette valley. The Evergreen aviation museum is excellent. I know a park that overlooks the ocean which features hundreds of old-growth Sitka Spruce, Firs, and Cedars six feet and sometimes way more in diameter. Back in Portland, we're one of the only cities in America with an in-town International Raceway that's operated as a city park. We could possibly arrange a track day there, ideally splitting the cost with another group.  Both P.I.R. and Kent used to hosts Can-Am races, but P.I.R. has been modernized to keep IndyCars coming... it's a big deal track BUT it's relatively flat, so not so very fun IMHO for track days. However, on Wednesdays all summer long it hosts a cruise-in which draws about 1000 cool cars/week. Live band and food carts. As the Cruise-In slows down, the dragstrip heats up. On Wednesday's they do 1/8th-mile runs whereas on weekends they run 1/4-miles. It's pretty casual. My favorites are the little miniature dragsters for kids, with Briggs-and-Stratton engines. And most-of-all I love dragracing snowmobiles. They run on special racing slicks, and they're fantastically fierce! However, it's very unpredictable who will show up. We wouldn't have any trouble getting our own runs in. Portland has a very big Cars-and-Coffee event too, but on Saturdays so not as conducive to BV8 participation. (This year, June 28th is the all-British day.)

[mgb260]

Curtis. lots of good ideas! My brother lives in Beaverton. Something to think about!

[MGBV8]

You haven't attended in awhile, Curtis.   This will be the third year of it being a full 4 day event.  Also, will be the 3rd year of arrive on Monday & leave on Saturday.

I had a blast at Putnam Park, which is flat.  Even Nelson Ledges was fun, but I much prefer VIR & Road America.  

Here we call those Jr. Dragsters.

[mgb260]

How about Silverdale, lots of hotels and amenities, the town is basically a large Mall. Bremerton Naval shipyard tours and Dragstrip, Drive in movie theater a short trip to the Olympic Peninsula, Port Townsend, Sequim and Port Angeles(also Ferry to Victoria BC). About 3 hour drive to Ocean Shores and the Pacific Coast beaches. Curtis, you got me thinking.

[Gswest236]

You guys definitely need to do it in Silverdale! The Naval Undersea Museum is just down the Hwy as well. I'm 18 mins from Silverdale: does that make me an opportunist, yes!

[mgb260]

Scott, Me too! I'm about an hour away.