Call me crazy - Ranchero's (again)

**Luva65wagon** · August 27th, 2015, 06:47 AM

Dennis,

Not a roller motor, no.

Rail rockers use the valve stem as the locator to establish the geometry between the rocker and lifter for the pushrod to follow. Nothing else is needed to maintain this path. Add now the guide plate midway between the two and these guides would need to be spot-on in the center of the path, and clearly that isn't the case.

You use one or the other: guide plates with hardened pushrods - or rail rockers. But not both.

All-in-all a very silly mistake. Something I should have caught. I guess I'm posting all of this to show the world I'm not perfect after all!

**Luva65wagon** · August 27th, 2015, 06:52 AM

Oh, and basically the goal is to have the rocker stay in the center of the valve stem. Rail rockers accomplish this. And guide plates without rail rockers accomplish this as well. Using both is a fatal redundancy.

**SmithKid** · August 27th, 2015, 12:37 PM

Very glad you have a "handle" on it and the engine doesn't have to be completely torn down. Flush, flush that motor (I know you already did).

**Luva65wagon** · August 27th, 2015, 04:15 PM

Gene,

I've removed as much as a I think I can by flushing it, but I also have a filter magnet coming, which sticks to the end of the filter. Hopefully it will hold anything that remains in the filter. Sadly, any damage that was gonna happen has now happened - so I'll just see how it goes.

I did order yet another 5 quarts of the hi-zinc Lucas oil and will probably waste what I just put in there (that'll make about $75 worth of expensive oil flushed away in the past two weeks). I do have a very good Amsoil filter (filters out any particles above 1 micron) and I might push it through that and get it clean enough to use again.

I'm still tempted to take that 71 302 block over to 'that' local machine shop and have it cleaned up, bored, and new cam plugs installed. It's worth more to me done than as a core. Maybe slowly build it into a short-block a piece at a time - just in case. Besides, I worked so hard at digging it out from under the bench! Who knows, maybe build a 331 stroker!

OK, maybe not.

**ew1usnr** · August 27th, 2015, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by Luva65wagon

I also have a filter magnet coming, which sticks to the end of the filter.

What type of magnet did you get?

I googled "Oil filter magnet" and saw this:

Oil filter magnet M-GPlus.jpg

See: http://www.pro-magna.com/

It is just a magnet that is inserted inside the oil filter.

With my luck it would fall out of the filter somehow and jam the oil pump.

**Luva65wagon** · August 27th, 2015, 07:50 PM

It's an external one. On Amazon for about $15. It goes right on the end of the filter.

**Luva65wagon** · August 29th, 2015, 10:39 PM

Managed to get it back together and running today before the wind came and the power went out for 3 hours. It's running well, but it did before as well. Didn't get it out on the road because the weather, but I expect all will be fine.

Hope all of you weathered the storm and have power again if you lost it. And Dennis I see something maybe heading your way too, so batten down the hatches and let us know how you fair.

**ew1usnr** · August 30th, 2015, 05:25 AM

Originally Posted by Luva65wagon

Managed to get it back together and running today before the wind came and the power went out for 3 hours. ... And Dennis I see something maybe heading your way too, so batten down the hatches and let us know how you fare.

Hello, Roger.

Thanks for asking.

I read this in the news this morning:
"SEATTLE – Powerful winds toppled trees and power lines across the Pacific Northwest on Saturday, causing two deaths in the Seattle area and knocking out electricity to nearly 500,000 customers."

Dang! That must have been a surprise.

Down here, it rained almost every day in July and August. Tampa flooded a few weeks ago and there is still standing water everywhere. That has made the mosquito population explode. We are supposed to get two more inches of rain over the next few days and it will be interesting to see what happens. There is nowhere for the water to drain. Every ditch and retention pond is already full and the water table almost right at ground surface, meaning the ground is mud.

Florida flood warning.jpg

On a Falcon level, this has been frustrating. I have been going through Falcon withdrawal for two months now. I want to drive my little "Sunbeam Tiger-ish sports car in my mind" , but not when the streets are covered with water. We have an 80% chance of rain today with an expected one inch of rain. And a 60% chance of rain everyday for the next ten days.

Maybe I should get a snorkel kit.
Snorkel.jpg

**SmithKid** · August 30th, 2015, 02:10 PM

Dennis, we've always thought we have almost continual wet conditions here in the NW. Enough so that we always joke about our toes and fingers becoming webbed like a frog. Maybe you guys should be working toward that on the evolutionary side too.

**Luva65wagon** · September 26th, 2015, 09:45 PM

After driving the Ranchero post-fix more and more the loudness of it began to grate on me. It was simply loud to be loud. I had already installed a pair of resonators to muffle it some, but it wasn't enough. So I installed today, with the help of Gene, a pair of Borla mufllers. Wow. What a difference. Now it's throaty without being loud.

If anyone wants a pair of louder stainless mufflers, let me know. You're welcome to them. 2.5" offset in/out. Less than 1000 miles on them.

**Nathan289** · September 26th, 2015, 10:03 PM

If its too loud you're too old

Just kidding..

**BadBird** · September 26th, 2015, 10:25 PM

No he isn't. Kidding that is. LOL. Larry

**Luva65wagon** · September 26th, 2015, 10:47 PM

No he wasn't. I think that statement came up a few times today... how old I'm getting, that is.

**Nathan289** · September 27th, 2015, 08:46 AM

I grew up with a poster on my wall of a guy sitting in a recliner in front of a stack of speakers.. actually they looked like marshal amp stacks.
He's wearing goggles and his face and hair looks like its getting blown back..

It says if its too loud you're too old..

My comment is a joke.
I have the same problem on my wagon and its just a boring 6 cylinder. The universal muffler i installed that looks like the old one i removed is loud and sounds like a tractor.