Just ordered my Rebello 3.0, now what

[Kurbycar32]

Yup call Dave.  I specifically asked him for "any settings that would not match the service manual".  He gave me some valve lash specs and advised using oils high in zinc, as well as some guidance on timing.  Other than that he said it was stock in terms of service and repair.  He did not perform a break in on my motor, im not sure about motors that are dyno-tuned.

[oranngetang]

I suppose what I was getting at is I wouldn't expect any noise from excessive lash with a warm measurement of < 0.010". I'll try and get in touch with Dave this next week. Most of the valves seemed to be ~0.007" ISH, though it seemed highly dependant on cam position, as if the base circle on these isn't very uniform, unlike the stock L24 A cam.

 

The engine was dyno tuned, broken in and retorqued, I imagine lash was also adjusted after. Hopefully this is just a trait of the engine and nothing unusual!

 

Snowing another 10cm today, so that might have been the last trial until May anyway!

 

 

Kurby, did Dave indicate a preferred weight or base timing? Mine was shipped with the distributor advance dial set in the most retarded position and was initially popping through the carbs. I havn't been able to find my digital timing light to check the exact advance, and there are 4 marks on the pulley, soo... anyway, I'd like to compare notes

 

Did he mention Rotella oil at all? I hear lots of fellas running it becuase of the additives most oils no longer contain, though it's generally a high weight and designed for diesels.

[Zed Head]

Just curious, but how did they dyno-tune the engine and end up with the distributor fully retarded?  Wouldn't they give you timing specs. as part of the "tuning"?  What's the point of the tune if they don't give you the numbers?

 

And shouldn't the engine still have good break-in oil in it?  Or did they drain it before shipping?

 

And you would think that if there was odd noise that they would have heard it while dyno-tuning and breaking in.  Lots of "doesn't make sense" here.

[madkaw]

I'm with Zed- it seems CRAZY that you don't get that info with the engine. Too many unknowns for an expensive HP engine.

Bad timing can cause a lot of noise

[Kurbycar32]

I pulled out my notes.  Dave says the valve lash is .007 cold and timing should be set at 33 degrees at 5,000 RPM.  He sent me a picture of what he recommends for oil at least during break in:  "Lucas engine break in additive with zinc" with pennzoil gt performance racing motor oil or motorcraft synthetic blend

[oranngetang]

I did get a dyno sheet, but buyer-beware, it had a name on it other than mine, and a displacement that didn't make sense. I contacted them and a new dyno sheet was sent, with the my name and displacement changed, however all other digits and values remained the same; while some of which still seem askew, you probably can't fault me for my skepticism, right?

I spoke with Dave today and he confirmed 0.007" cold at the valve tip, and not to use the vacuum advance, as well as the same oil information he gave you. Though my dyno sheet shows 0.010" cold, and 36 Degrees, but at what RPM. 4000 is the number I guess, or 5000 if Kurby calls Close enough, I was more concerned about the breaking in and actual figures to give me an idea of how it should feel.

It is possible the distributor moved during freight, or maybe, it's set back on tooth on the spline? Is that possible?

Kurby, there was mention of a Mobil 1 15w50 that contains more additives than other grades as well.

Yes, the engine was drained of fluids prior to shipping, and as for my wondering about the noise... If it's 0.010" at the valve tip, that probably explains a little bit of it. Other than that Dave says this is a very loud cam, and the reason he puts up with it is because of the power it makes; which is fine with me.

At this point, I'm still very happy with the engine unless it decides to crater on me at which point my mood wont be very great.

The engine seems to like a couple of degrees more advance than it had, as it does spit out the carbs and seems to have a little more jam. That said, the carbs must have taken some bouncing on the delivery wagon, because the floats were pretty far out of alignment, enough so that the rear grose jet wasn't closing at fuel was squirting out of the overflow. Also, I've had the vacuum line hooked up, which I'll now plug off and reevaluate, sometime in the spring...!

In the end it seems Dave and his crew build a nice torquey little engine and you do get what you pay for from an NA. However, I can't help but feel you only get answers to questions or solutions to problems you directly ask for, which isn't necessarily a bad thing given his L-series literate racing clientele. For guys like me just starting out with these cars it's been a little frustrating at times, but I would do it again if the delivery time-frame was closer to reality.

For anyone reading this thread with the hopes of buying from Dave, also send an email or call to Eiji with DSI, you might be as surprised with the response you get.

[madkaw]

WOW-still seems like an awful lot of guessing for me. As far as ignition advance timing figures --Does Dave recurve the dizzy? If not, all advance should be in by 4000rpm easily.

Spitting carbs could be ignition so you should be sure with it before taking apart your carbs.

[conedodger]

I have had to do everything I can to slow Dave down. Racing season is over and he can build an engine like the 3.0 liter in 2 weeks. Less, if the stars align. I would be very careful with going off on your own on valve settings before any new engine is broken in. That cam can get tore up in very short order. Likewise on using anything but recommended oil. I use Brad Penn but we'll have to see what happens with the formula after the sale of the company goes through.

[oranngetang]

That's the time frame we discussed when I ordered, plus freight. I was expecting 4-6 weeks and it took over 6 months, which is nothing short of astonishing.

[oranngetang]

What weight of Brad Penn are you using?

[conedodger]

20w50

[gnosez]

I have had three different engines build by Dave and had issues with every single one. The dyno sheets are suspect but the lash of 0.007 is correct though I got 0.006 for the 3.2L. I had to cut a feeler down to fit into the smaller opening.

 

The 3.2L or should I say 3.1L based on the measurements taken after we took the motor apart 2 weeks ago dyno'ed at 358hp by Dave but only 273rwhp on a chassis dyno. That much hp loss would equal enough heat to fry my tranny and/or diff, so we just threw his dyno sheet away.  All three engines were broken in and Dave recommended Penn oil. I normally run 100 or more octane gas so when it started to make detonation like noises I was on the phone with Dave a few minutes after turning off the engine. Another dyno day. All good. Four 30 minute sessions over two days at The Glen and all but the rings on piston #6 were toast. What caused this to happen, no one knows. What are we going to do to prevent it from happening again you might ask. We've installed a cockpit fuel pressure gauge, a second O2 sensor, reconfigured the fuel delivery lines and filters, and installed EGT sensors. Next up is a different dizzy. We will replace the N42 head Dave did and the Mikunis he supplied with the E33 head and Solex carbs from the original #33 Bob Sharp car.

 

I'm waiting to see if the sonic test shows we can go out another thousandth to accommodate the coating we'll apply to the existing JP pistons (no Dave didn't coat them). We'll rebuild it as I don't want to wait 6 plus months for it to return nor pay Dave to do something we can do ourselves at this point.

 

Once this is done we'll take it to Williams Racing and have it tuned on the engine dyno. It will be set up to run middle of the pack times but made to last a full season. I can only hope those in front of me have engines that fail.