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Engine Calculator

bric — Mon, 24 May 2010 23:01:42 +0000

It has recently been realized that the engine calculator designed and posted some time ago was never announced to being completed. In that light, please find the aforementioned here, as well as a link from the actual engine calculator main page here. This should be fairly helpful in determining static compression ratios and some other miscellaneous conversions.

Dialing In a Bellhousing

bric — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:41:02 +0000

It has come to my attention that I mentioned dialing a bellhousing without ever explaining what that is exactly, necessitating this post.
To dial in a bellhousing is to center the nose-cone hole to the center of the crankshaft rotation. To do this one can either remove the flywheel and clutch of leave it on, though for adaptation purposes it is much easier and definitive with the clutch removed and the flywheel in place. This allows for the maximum surface area to attach a dial indicator base to. Which brings me to the necessary equipment for this little procedure, which is a dial indicator and a base – preferable of the magnetic type. Mount the bellhousing like you would normally, and affix the dial indicator to the flywheel, maintaining an off-center orientation so as to get a good reading. Put some preload on the indicator and spin the motor over. Watching the indicator will tell you where the hole sits and to what degree it is off. If it is more than .010″ you should probably look into getting some offset pins to better align the bellhousing.

Dana Disassembly

bric — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:40:50 +0000

Today’s topic differs from some of the more ‘old school’ topics normally covered, but most of the information herein can be transferred to most Dana assemblies. The 9.25″ rear differential used in 90’s era Dodge trucks has a basic assembly, though it can prove difficult to remove. What goes wrong with these differentials is housed in the center section, among the shims used to correctly space the limited slip gears. One of these shims on each side is load bearing – taking the majority of side loads incurred from cornering forces, otherwise known as lateral movement. These then wear and crack, sending little pieces of shrapnel throughout the assembly. Luckily there is a magnet to catch most of this, however, the longer this continues, the worse the damage.
That said, to disassemble, one must remove the cover plate, remove the rear wheels and brakes (for ease of removal, though this can be done without the removal of the brakes), and remove the retaining pin in the center of the housing. Once this pin is removed, push either axle inward, remove the C-clip, and pull the axle out; repeat this process for the other axle. once these are removed, one can attempt to remove the differential assembly simply by pulling it out. If it does not come out easily, one must turn the adjusting collars in either axle, which necessitates a special hex tool. Once it is all removed, it is a simple matter of replacing the shims (which are not just shims, but that’s another matter) and reversing the same steps to reassemble the rear end. Don’t forget to fill the case with gear oil though, or you’re back at it shortly.

Transmission Support

bric — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:53:54 +0000

In the interim of finding something more interesting to write about, we shall look into the removal and installatin of a manual transmission on pretty much any car. It is a fairly simple procedure, yet one that most people decide not to tackle due to the daunting nature associated with transmissions. In reality all one has to do is appropriately lift the vehicle, unbolt the u-joints at the rear end and slide the driveshaft out. At this point the trans fuid will drain, most likely all over you, but it may be stopped with a plug or simply drained. Then if one so decides, the bellhousing provides a good place to support the rear of the engine, facilitating the removal of the transmission crossmember, the speedometer cable, the shifter (an important piece that one) and then the four bolts securing the transmission case to the bellhousing. One can then simply slide the transmisison out with a bit of grunting, and get on with whatever reason the trans needed to be removed in the first place. This whole process can be accomplished in just a few hours. and the installation is simply the reverse. And don’t forget to fill the trans with fluid/oil, that can be catastrophic.

Power Potentials

bric — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:49:29 +0000

Today we will be looking into the theory of the power behind the engine and how to get the most bang out of a given engine. There are a few things that need to be outlined first. One is that an engine that revs higher has a greater potential for power – to a point. Two is that shorter stroke equals higher revs. Three is that hemispherical combustion chambers are the most efficient. And four is that a balanced motor is a balanced motor, regardless of any preconceived notions of piston weight and rotating mass.

Now that we have the prerequisite conditional assumptions out of the way, we can get on with the theory behind the maximum power output of an engine. Common engine build involve the finding of an adequate producion block and modifying it through a stroker kit and a bore job, coupled with a set of aftermarket heads to produce the desired combuston ratio and a power adder as desired – a.k.a. a blower, supercharger, nitrous oxide injection, alcohol injection, and the like. This produces some problems however. One of these problems is that there are only so many combinations that one can obtain with parts off the shelf, the other is that there is a serious detriment to the power output possible of being attained. Most high end engine builders then machine a longer block with a larger bore that keeps the crankshaft throw to a minimum; reference pro stock cars. If one were to take a stock 426 Hemi and put it alongside a pro stock Hemi, you would notice that there are a few differences, mostly with the heads, but also the block is longer by a fair amount.

The real difference here is the maximum power output, as there is only so much that an engine can be bored. If one were to start machining on a block and bore the cylinders to whatever desired size to obtain a higher power output, one would run into a thinning of the cylinder walls, causing a distinctive weakness in the engine design, as the cylinder will not be able to maintain the pressures required, resulting in a blown out wall, possibly more damage. To rectify this problem we need to elongate the block. This is highly expensive and specialized due to the machining and casting involved. It would also require the forging/machining of a set of heads to match the block. In short, this is not the everyday engine build but it is necessary for the pursuit of power. If one were to combine an engine with the firing order previously discussed (http://bricrods.com/2009/06/engine-efficiency/) in this particular lengthened design, and a set of high flow custom Hemi heads with a pair of plugs per cylinder and a well designed intake (which we will get into in another post) one would have the makings of a serious contender on any front.

Just as an aside, there would be massive potentials for torque in this engine as well.

Hot Rod Futures

bric — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:48:53 +0000

The future of classic car restoration is often up for debate, with most people chosing to take the side of the continuing growth in the market and the prolonged increase in value of rarities. While some of that may hold true, I believe that the true valuation of the rare cars will come to light as the market reaches an equilibrium. Like anything else, the classic car market is subject to gross overinflation of material valuation, with the people having the most money to play with raising the price of the everyday car greatly above its fair market value. Standard economics applies here, and sooner or later (reference the latest Wall St. bust) the markets will come crashing down and leave us with a fairly assessed valuation on the cars we are interested in.

That being said, what one needs to look for in a car is one that is cheap according to the market and cheap according to what it willl take to restore it based on the final price able to be obtained once the markets stabilize. The trends usually are based upon first cars, high school aged persons. The desireable cars of their day will be the desireable cars of years to come. Reference the muscle cars of the 1960’s and 70’s and their being desireable at the present time. The rules of engagement stay the same, the desireable cars are the special edition ones, the GT or Saleen Mustangs, the turbo Supras, the high end of the everyday cars. The TA’s of the late 70’s are the up and comers now, with the mid to late 90’s Mustangs to see their day soon.

All this will lead to the changing of the way cars are modified, a topic for another day.

VW Information

bric — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:49:19 +0000

There is a special niche for volkswagen lovers, and it does not necessarily include buggy lovers. However, I do have a thought on the drivetrain for both classes. It involves the mating of a 200 mm flywheel to an average motor and early transaxle. It can be done and does not need a vehicle specific bellhousing or transaxle; it does however necessitate the enlargement of the transaxle housing for flywheel fitment. Just keep in mind that anything can be done, just let us know what you desire.

Bric Rods

bric — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:59:53 +0000

This being the site of Bric Rods ~Customs~ you will find updates of current projects, as well as past works and future probabilities. Most, well really all, of these will be accompanied by multiple photos documenting the work throughout the build process.