Maybe Blake Machine in Phoenix can help with the rockers. We went with T&D Machine products and their site has all of the specs listed. We were able to find off the shelf arms with roller shaft and tips. Have never hurt one. Doug
Went with the single cam design as these old long stroke/long rod engines are not going to turn 7000 rpm or so.
No need to spend the money on a high rpm engine if the lower end blows at maybe 6,000 or so. The old 320 inch Buick doesn't have 9 main bearings like the old Packard straight 8 flathead did.
Cam followers instead of rockers would be another approach that I should explore down the road. I am trying to keep the modifications and costs down.
There is a bit of a problem with the rocker design and it involves how to make them. If you were to make forgings you need forging dies ($$$$). If you cast then you'll want to make them of cast steel not gray iron.
Thanks for your response.
Maybe Blake Machine in Phoenix can help with the rockers. We went with T&D Machine products and their site has all of the specs listed. We were able to find off the shelf arms with roller shaft and tips. Have never hurt one. Doug
i wasn't suggesting that for rpm purposes, i was just thinking more for parts reduction.
wouldn't you also design for lighter spring pressures for the valves with a cam directly actuating the valve tip?
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir Lenin
Government schooling is about "the perfect organization of the hive."
H.H. Goddard, Human Efficiency (1920)
Attached is a Buick 320 drawing of the head gasket. This is a .STP CAD file that can be opened by virtually any CAD software. Oops, looks like this file type isn't allowed to be sent. Dang, I was going to give this away. OK I'll just send a .jpg (pictorial) file. Bummer!! If anyone would like the real CAD file, just e-mail me at: dlomshek@pittstate.edu.
No, I am not trying to invent gaskets, but for anyone contemplating radically modifying a 320 cylinder head or playing with the idea of building/designing a new one this CAD file allows you to easily obtain all of the hole sizes and spaceings etc. This is not just a picture; it's a real drawing accurately created.
It would be so fantastic to have access to the old cylinder block drawings. Better yet, would be if someone had created a modern CAD file of it. You would either have to have original design drawings or an old block to cut up and measure to get dimensions to create the 3D CAD file. The amount of time/effort required would be staggering.
dlomshek
Thought some of you might like to see what it's like to go 200 mph on the Salt Flats with an old Buick straight 8. The track was extremely rough and pot holed and I couldn't get on the throttle until I got into third gear. Even then, I had to do it slowly or risk turning the car around backwards. The potholes were deep and we have removed the rear suspension to accomodate the 9" Ford rear. [We ran out of gear in the Dana]. We will change this for next year. This is long and should be edited for the end but it really shows how rough it was this year. Doug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXLmRteIBIs
looks like she's tail happy.
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir Lenin
Government schooling is about "the perfect organization of the hive."
H.H. Goddard, Human Efficiency (1920)
Surprisingly the four corners are nearly identical in weight. New suspension next year will help. It wasn't a real fun ride, but it's what we had to work with.
yeah, but the front tires are undriven, right?
you're not concerned with "handling" in the sense that someone on a road course or even on the street is. you want a significant bias in that car because you REALLY want to preference it for straight line stability. kind of like how circle track guys bias the car to turn left, only you don't want it to turn at all.
therefore, you probably actually want a rear bias for your static weight in order to give the thrust input ( rear tires ) a shorter lever to the CG point.
i'd be looking at a Dodge Daytona type tail, mostly for the twin vertical stabilizers. you'd have to be very careful not to put excessive downforce into the spoiler as it's positioned *behind* the rear axle. what this means is that aero downforce at speed would tend to use the rear axle as a lever and lift the nose.
34946c02e8bd98cfd059092c40add53d--dodge-daytona--dodge-charger.jpg
spoiler or wing downforce really needs to be applied between the axles ( or at least vertically over the rear axle ) so you don't have to worry about that unloading effect to the front end.
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir Lenin
Government schooling is about "the perfect organization of the hive."
H.H. Goddard, Human Efficiency (1920)
The steel head got too time consuming and it's still on the shelf of projects for the future. Frank has been too consumed the present racing stuff to look at it. "Someday".
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