I would think the cam and valve overlap would play a part in that also...

Charles

The higher the elevation, the less dense the air, and the more compression you can get away with for a given octane rating. FWIW...

True Leon. My problem is the coming down to see you peeps at sea level.

I would think the cam and valve overlap would play a part in that also...

Charles

Correct Charles. Compression is two different animals. We are talking about static compression here. Mine, at 10.1:1 will make it harder for the starter to kick the rotating mass into motion when you turn the key. The dynamic compression is what the engine is working with while running. The static compression is higher as the cam takes away from the big number. I just don't want to use race gas ever. You never know when the government will take that away, the way lead went away. Then the closest thing we could come to race gas would be 100 LL AVGAS. We'd have to "know" someone at the fixed base operation so we could pull up to the pump and fill up. Big money too! :tapemouth

Picked up the engine from work yesterday afternoon and had a couple of hours to get it home and in the car. Will try to get the manifolds and carbs, belt driven equipment, rad, etc. back in tonight when I'm home from work.

 

Lots of silicone to scrape off the gasket surfaces and had to rob all the studs off my old engine. No idea why someone removed them from the Rebello engine. Flywheel fit well, but the dowels on the fidenza were kind of weird. I ground the bases down leaving a burr and tapped them in with some locktite... The crank still had a brass bushing in it so I just retained that and assembled the clutch. I hope the new parts work properly with the release bearing I have. Will do some trials on jack stands once the drive shaft is in and hopefully go for a stroll this evening before it dips to -20 C this week...

 

Noticed right away the head ports have been polished a bit, not sure if this was robbed from another car and its a free value-added bonus or if it was part of the actual build.

Nice, congrats.  By the way:  What is the that white stuff on the ground next to your truck in the driveway? 

Thanks, but I don't really consider this any sort of accomplishment at this point. The white stuff is the reason I ordered this engine over 6 months ago, only, to avoid it, not drive in it. Thankfully that's all that's left of it right now, so I have a couple of days to try and get the tires turning before it's parked for another 8 months.

 

Need Kurbycar to post some pics of his. I feel like I might be winning an unspoken race right now.

 

 

 

Yes you dirtbag you finished your engine bay and mine still looks like crap.  Like you, I also missed my install window.  I made the purchase knowing that during the summer I would be working a 4x10 schedule with 3 day weekends and my wife and kids would be on vacation in Canada.  Leaving me essentially home alone with nothing else to do and a limitless supply of help from friends.  Now I'm back to 80 hour weeks and weekend activities filled with either more work or social events so i only have about 3 hours of work into this since probably August.

Then the closest thing we could come to race gas would be 100 LL AVGAS. We'd have to "know" someone at the fixed base operation so we could pull up to the pump and fill up. Big money too! :tapemouth

100 low lead is already on its way out, though it will take a while.  Special unleaded replacement fuels are already being tested by the FAA and alternative engines are being tested as well.  Miniature turbo diesels are showing promise in certain small aircraft.  It would definitely be wise to stick with a motor that runs on pump gas.

 

Hypothetically if you had to lower compression couldn't an oversized head gasket or shim solve that?

Congrats! At least one of us has gotten a motor back. Hopefully he will be finishing mine soon.  

The bay must show better in the photos than in person. Truthfully the car needs a paint job and some bodywork. That stuff was going to be my fall/winter project after having the summer to find all the mechanical ailments. I'm planning on a career change and will be moving in the spring so this may turn out to be a project that won't be complete for many years now.

Same issue of all work and no play now, when all I had planned this summer was Z wrenching and kayaking.

Attempting to upload from phone.

All of that said... it's almost ready to start. Put 10 L of 94 in it, filled with oil and coolant. I need to bleed and adjust the clutch hook up the plug wires once the fuel is primed through... might even run tomorrow... maybe. Need a driveshaft too.

Kirby, I think it may have been worth the wait. It's snowing out and the car was somewhat impossible to steer but it still pulled, hard, and under 5000 rpm so far... I hope it dries up a little tomorrow before this insane storm front buries this part of the country in -29 C (-20 F) ugliness in a couple of days.

You'll be pretty happy when it is in, I think....

Here is where i am at the moment.  Good progress stripping the engine bay, and i have about 4 hours blocked out for more progress this weekend