The latest on my car is, I talked to several people about the rack. Should it be replaced or repaired? The consciences is, repair it. Kevin “Outlaw” Gray recommended repair and so did “Sonny” at Pro-Fab. Kevin removed it today and will re-install it after it is fixed. Sonny will make and install a Teflon bushing to replace the original bakelite bushing.
After the work is complete, I will probably take it to Joe Louis’ Car Care in Plaquemine, LA on LA-1, for an alignment. Joe is very good with race cars.
I warmed the engine and drained the oil and reset all my valves. I had one lash cap that was broken into three pieces. All of the pieces were trapped on the ledge of the valve cover. The top of the valve stem was not harmed and a new lash cap went right on so I could reset the lash. None of the other lash caps looked as if they were having any problems.
I will keep an eye on the valve train a little more often than I normally look at it. This was probably caused by me making a mistake when I set the lash. The lash on almost all of the valves was too loose, anywhere from .001″ to .007″ off. My hot lash error is normally no more than .002″ off. All of the exhaust valves needed to be reset and they were from .004 to .007″ off. Most of the intake valves were from .001-.004″ off. Again, none were too tight. To find all three pieces of that lash cap was a blessing.
Looking ahead, if the car slows down, then I know I have too much cam. It if goes quicker, it is either just right or I may be able to put more cam in the engine (which is what I had in there before the last rebuild). Remember, my goal is to run 8.99 in the heat of Summer.