Well, the usual ups and downs - second block is good, but I'm at my third engine machinist. First guy was good, but taking way too long for me so i went and got it. Second guy insisted rope rear main and didn't want to machine for a chev rear main, now on the third and he seems great so far - does what he says, when he says he will do it. I can see why people end up giving up on projects, this stuff is pretty annoying, The engine should be back in the car by now, I had the second block to a machinist at the start of June, but anyway...
One head needs six new valves and some welding to repair where the rampant piston gave it a smack. I have a forged bottom end at the new machinist (Scat 4340 crank, callies rods, srp true flat tops), will choose a camshaft soon. The old solid Clive cam in the 383 was a symmetrical lift cam, it turns out, really old school and a bit fo a beast at .612@50 and 266 duration. Will go a Crow solid roller cam at this stage, even though the pin oiler lifters cost well more than the cam itself.
In the mean time, I have wired in the cabin side of the new Haltech R3, been able to ditch a bunch of wiring at the same time as the Haltech will run it all (EWP, Thermo fans, small fusebox, etc). I also set up a head unit, which connects wirelessly to the Haltech with the Haltech Connect app, allowing me to use it as a gauge, and even tune from in the car in real time. Cheap way to have a full set of gauges, and no need to drag a laptop around with me when I do longer drives or drive and drag events.
Screenshot 2025-08-28 at 9.09.28 am.png 975.7K
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Also been fixing/modifying small things that had annoyed me, it is a bit of a mark 2 build in some ways! Can't wait for the day she fires up again.
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