Lookie what $5000 buys you....

[91r/t]

#s 2, 4, 6 and 8 are in.




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Looking at the inside of the block, I wondered about the rough casting flash.

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How many guys take the time to smooth these areas over? I always clean up casting flash on the outside of the blocks. I often cut off nubs and smooth down the parting lines.
Finally, I looked through my stash and can't find a plug to fit the back of the cam journal. I did a search here. I found a thread where it was listed as being a 2 9/64" size. Dorman # 555 070.

Kern, when I did my 500" stroker build I took the time to deburr all the areas of casting flash inside the block when I was clearancing the block for the stroker rod swing on the lower cylinder walls. Does it do anything???....F*&k if I know lol, but I went nutso on that engine doing anything and everything I saw/heard/read about to ensure it was the best I could do. Build is looking damn good so far man. Keep up the good work!

 

[Kern Dog]

It is too late to deburr it now with the crank and pistons in place. I can't risk getting shavings in places that I cant wash out.
I would have liked to have done it before the final cleaning. When I dropped the engine off for machine work, it was pretty grungy so I didn't notice all the casting flash. It would be nice to have radiused the edges....I agree, it may serve as nothing more than to look better.
The block looks better with all the sharp edges smoothed over. With the oil pan and valve covers on, I don't worry about getting shavings inside. In the past, I used to spray the engine paint directly on the bare cast iron. This time I'm going to spray a light coat of etching primer. Hopefully this will help the Hemi orange paint stick a little better.

 

[Kern Dog]

I have a new engine harness that I ordered from Evans Wiring. I bought one with the pigtails for factory electronic ignition.
Today I checked with NAPA and an O'Rielley auto parts stores to check availability of a rebuilt 1972-76 400 V8 electronic distributor. Neither of the stores had one nor could they even get one. The same year 440 RB version was available though. I do NOT want to run an MSD.
For years, Rick Ehrenberg has stated that the Mopar Performance electronic distributors are essentially "scaled down" Mallory built units with flimsy weights and springs. The timing is unstable as a result. I have a MP unit in my red car and I agree that the timing does seem to bounce around a lot.
He suggests to ditch the MP unit and look for an OEM distributor and recurve it.
Summit has THIS one.....
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pro-440-431

They claim "Mopar Licensed". I have heard of the manufacturer before....

 

[91r/t]

It is too late to deburr it now with the crank and pistons in place. I can't risk getting shavings in places that I cant wash out.
I would have liked to have done it before the final cleaning. When I dropped the engine off for machine work, it was pretty grungy so I didn't notice all the casting flash. It would be nice to have radiused the edges....I agree, it may serve as nothing more than to look better.
The block looks better with all the sharp edges smoothed over. With the oil pan and valve covers on, I don't worry about getting shavings inside. In the past, I used to spray the engine paint directly on the bare cast iron. This time I'm going to spray a light coat of etching primer. Hopefully this will help the Hemi orange paint stick a little better.

Yea definitely not worth it not getting shavings in the engine. No way you can deburr that **** and not have that **** fly everywhere in the engine. Not worth it at all. I did that once and found material in the lower main bearings so I will never again try that ****! I bought a new set of main bearings after that and recleaned everything out of paranoia and won't try that **** ever again that's for sure! As for distributors, I run a firecore billet distributor in my stroker and it seems fine timing wise and I like it.

 

[hunt2elk]

I got talked into using a MSD distributor on my last motor and really don't like it. Would probably pull it if I didn't have so much $ into it. I run Firecores on my other cars and would take one of those distributors over a MSD any day.

 

[91r/t]

Here is a link to the 383 firecore unit on Mancini's page.

https://www.manciniracing.com/maravaadeldi1.html

 

[Kern Dog]

Adjustable mechanical advance? That sounds interesting. The 493 in my other Charger has a narrow advance curve of 14 degrees to get me a 19 initial and a 33 total. This 383 may need something similar.

 

[hunt2elk]

Adjustable mechanical advance? That sounds interesting. The 493 in my other Charger has a narrow advance curve of 14 degrees to get me a 19 initial and a 33 total. This 383 may need something similar.

Yes, very easy to adjust. And so are the springs, unlike the MSD.

 

[Kern Dog]

Wow. That is helpful. I will check it out.

 

[Kern Dog]

I went out and popped in the rear plug that blocks off the cam journals. Plenty of sealant there now so there should be no risk of leaks.
Then I unpackaged the camshaft. This is a Comp Cams hydraulic flat tappet 270/470 Magnum series. I started to slime on the assembly lube and felt a few sharp edges. I actually cut my hand twice!

 

[Kern Dog]

Look close. I cleaned off the assembly lube and the fabric from the towel snagged in several places.

 

[Kern Dog]

At first I figured I'd just file down the edges but .....No. I shouldn't have to do that. What if I took it a bit too far?

I don't know much but it seems that if I hadn't caught this, the slag could have damaged the lifters, sent small bits of the metal in the oil where it could have chewed up the crank bearings. WTF ??
SEVEN lobes had areas like this. I can't blame Summit, I blame Comp Cams. I'm going to look for a replacement. 1 Wild R/T suggested a Lunati. I had a Lunati Solid in my 440/493. Great performer too. I still have it with the lifters in order but it is too much for this 383. It has the following specs:

 

[Hosehead]

Wow!

 

[66 Sat]

Kern, are you going to degree the replacement cam? I'm installing one at the moment and was going to get a guy out to do it for me. Just interested how many you've done over the years and whether you've ever had an issue just installing it dot to dot.

 

[Kern Dog]

The only cams that I have degreed are the two solid lifter ones that I have used in my red car. Otherwise, it has been the dot to dot method.

 

[Kern Dog]

Stepping away from the engine for a few moments....
The wiring has to be fixed and functional before I try to start the car. The Bulkhead plug has some evidence of trouble from the past:

Common problem, right? My red car somehow escaped this problem. I converted the red car to a voltmeter. I'm at the point where it might make sense to do that now since I have the gauge cluster out. I do want to replace that bulkhead plug though so I grabbed one a few weeks back and pulled the wires from it.

I'll go ahead and change this out soon.

Here is the original gauge cluster in place:

I pulled it out to get started on some changes.

 

[Kern Dog]

I marked a couple of the wires for an easy reinstall.

The Dimmer switch is going to need some Evaporust!

You can see that the Ammeter connections have been worked on.
That wire you see goes to nowhere.

 

[Kern Dog]

The cluster is out.

Looks G R E A T , huh?
Lucky for me, I have some spares.....

The top one was bought at a swap meet years ago. Middle one is from this car. Bottom one is from Ginger, my red car.

 

[Kern Dog]

The gauges from Ginger looked the best of the bunch but the Oil Pressure gauge quit working awhile before I replaced this cluster. As I looked closer, I saw that the electrical pin for that gauge was missing. I must have forgotten that from when I changed gauges in 2015.
I soldered another pin in place, polished the clear plastic and painted the face plate.

In keeping with the "Low dough show" here, I simply painted the thing satin black.

 

[Kern Dog]

This is how they looked before I repainted the face plate, That clear plastic cleaned up really nice.