one thing or another....

[the armourer]

Just heard back from my machinist. Six of the con rods for the 383 are egged beyond resizing. So now I need to score a set of rods. Just another unforeseen expense. On top of that it's been pouring rain here most of the afternoon. We planned on moving the Dodge today to a place to pull the blowed up 318 in it now, but the rain made the road to the shop impassable towing a car trailer. The parts house screwed up ordering the rings for Dearborn Dave's daily driver, so the engine is scattered around his shop and there's no room to even get my block on the stand for a prep cleaning to at least get the crank bolted in. Things just haven't worked out today as planned. If it ain't one thing it's another.

[the armourer]

I'm a happy camper. We started reassembling the 383 tonight. Got the crank in and hopefully tomorrow night we'll get the pistons in. May even get the cam degree'd in. It should be a short block by Sunday. There's still some port work left on the heads, but they should be ready to go to the machinist Monday for the hardened valve seats. It's all coming together, slowly but surely.

[the armourer]

Got to installing rods and pistons tonight. Got 6 in and discovered that my machinist got the rod on backwards on one and missed a bent rod on another. I'm glad we did a visual double check. So I got to track down a rod tomorrow. Hopefully the short block will be wrapped up by the weekend. It was fun however to watch Dearborn Dave install the piston rings without a ring spreader by using just his thumb nails and making the whole process look easy. I swear, his finger nails must be made of kevlar or something. And we did manage to catch the rat that has been roaming Dave's shop for the past few weeks. It got itself caught in a spring trap but the furry bastard was so big the trap didn't kill it. So Dave took it outside and gave it the coup de gras with his .45. This whole project has been one long, strange trip. Sometimes I feel the Horsepower Gods are out to get me.

[HUMVEE Driver]

Isn't work like this a roller coaster ride of fun and misery? I can relate, my friend. Except the part about shooting a rat. Though that was probably fun, too.

HUMVEE Driver

[the armourer]

Isn't work like this a roller coaster ride of fun and misery? I can relate, my friend. Except the part about shooting a rat. Though that was probably fun, too.

HUMVEE Driver

Absolutely correct, Dave. But things usually go a bit smoother on my builds. Oh well, that which does not destroy us makes us stronger. And yes, popping the rat was stress relieving even though I didn't pull the trigger. I wanted to shoot it with my AR-15, but Dave already had the single action loaded. There wasn't much left to bury.

[the armourer]

Got a new rod and got the backwards situation corrected on the other. The machinist said he intends to have the heads finished by Friday. So with the blessings of the Gods Of Internal Combustion, everything should get buttoned up by Saturday or Sunday. Just found out Dearborn Dave has a digital camera, so maybe some pics can be arranged.

[the armourer]

Got the heads bolted down and if everything goes according to plan, we'll be finishing her up this weekend. The headers are on the way and I still need to locate a light-weight starter. We still have to swap the guts out from the small block trans case to the big block case also. Oh to hear the rumble of a vintage V-8 once more. Pics are definitely forthcoming. Dave wants to show off his 390 side by side with my mill.