Happy
Canada Day! It’s summertime, and the living is easy.
Expensive, but easy. Well, I got my car
back from the Speed Shop. That’s where the “expensive” comes
in. I heard a small “tic” that
turned out to be a lifter. So I brought it in to a local speed
shop to fix it. As with other things, it escalated.
Since they had to change the lifters, they had to take the
heads off. Since the C heads were coming off, I gave them a
set of KA heads to rebuild and put back on.
I figured that once the heads were off, might as well change
the cam too. This led to the timing chain
being replaced. The head bolts were also changed with new ARP
bolts, since the previous ones were original. KA heads are
the factory W30 replacement heads.
I decided that perhaps a new high output distributor may
improve things and decided to go with that and high output
multi spark control box. I wanted the box hidden, and it is. I had the
differential gear oil changed and the posi lube added.
Turns out the water pump was “weeping” so
I decided to change it out. That had to come from BC taking
a little
time because it was a 455 non-AC car.
Apparently, non-AC 455 cars in 1976 are rare. Turns out,
the pushrods that came with the cam,
were not
hardened and had to be replaced. Since the pushrods weren’t
hardened, the shop didn’t trust the whole cam kit.
They refunded
my money for the cam, lifters, pushrods and the kit to make
the valves adjustable. I decided to go with a custom grind
roller cam
with Howard roller lifters. The new grind is 224/230 (dur
@ 0.050) and .481”/.481” lift with 110 LSA. We
went with Manton
pushrods out of California as they would ship in 3 days.
While I was waiting for the parts to
arrive, I would go to the shop on Saturdays and asked if
I could paint the heads
and valve covers or if they would do it.
They said I could if I wanted to and gave me a spot in the
back. They supplied a work station,
gun
wash, rags and towels so I could my painting. They even took
primer off the shelf at the front of the store (that was
for sale) and
gave it to me to prime the valve covers. I was told that
would eventually need the primer for other work and to just
leave it in the
back.
With production delays around the world
and everything going up in price, I guess I was lucky to
get the car back as soon
as I did.
Now I am ready for the Rocket Round Up. Thanks to Marty and
Gene from ProMax Performance in Edmonton.
Speaking of the Round Up, |I need some
volunteers to step forward as a few of my regulars can’t
make it this year. Call or text me before July 9th at 825-439-1976 if you can help.
For those coming from Edmonton and Calgary
that want to travel in a rolling car show (caravan) you can
meet at the following times on the day of the show:
Calgary: Deerfoot City Shopping Mall 2nd entrance off 64
Ave NE to Tim Horton’s. Leaves at 9:00 am
Edmonton: at the oil derrick at Gateway Park on the outskirts
of the city on the QEII south. Leaves at 9:00 am
Drive carefully and stay safe,
Ken

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