Buford T Justice -- the full tour

[dieselgeek]

^^^^ Thinks project cars build are straight forward. Bahhahaha!!

I can't wait until TC tries starting up his turbo engine for the first time. Don't get me wrong, I want to see him do it, but this is when all those marketing claims get tossed in the shitter

[Leadsledcaprice]

Can't wait to read the results when the story gets put up. Glad its all going well! I'd hoped the weather would break long enough to get the car out yesterday while it was still warm, but I had no such luck.

[andy30thz]

So now that this portion of the program is complete.... What's next? Gears?
I kind of wish we had a chance to talk before you got the 700r4. Because you plan on gearing the car, would a built 200r4 been a better choice? The 700 has a big spread from first to second, where the 200 is much closer.
The 700 clearly has the advantage with taller rear gears, but the 200 could work better with lower gears.

I doesn't matter now!! The 700 is in the car! Long live the TCI 700r4!!!

So the next question is what gears do you go with when you have a deep first gear in the trans? Because you have overdrive, I immediately think the deepest gears possible with a reasonable cruise RPM.
BUT with the 700's 3.06 first gear, would something like a 3.42 rear gear be a better bet for all around perfomance, not just drag dedicated?
Also, I'd love to hear what autocrosser's think! How does an auto trans work there? I'm thinking you'll need to manually shift it? Can this trans take a manual down shift at speed? Or would you use first to get it out of the hole, lock it into second and leave it there?
Rear gearing also plays a role here. I'm assuming with the stock gears you'll be in and out of first getting around the course. With 3.73's or 4.10's you might be able to use first out of the hole and never need it again.
Is this TCI trans ready for that kind up and down shift abuse? Or is it built more for hard upshifts only?

[Brian Lohnes]

Autocross courses, with rare exception are second gear deals. Put the shifter in 2nd and leave it there.

I think the math with a 3.73 gear in the car cruise RPM in OD would be like 2200 and with a 4.10 they would be like 2400. 4.10s would be better to get the big heap moving.

Hey, who says I'm done with the engine portion of the program. -- There's more fun to be had on the rollers but I really need to get exhaust on the car and I also need to replace the oil pan gasket. When we swapped the cam, I didn't realize that there was a one piece gasket in there and we snapped the front seal portion off when removing the timing chain cover. I have pulled it apart trice since trying to get it to seal, with no success. I am going to try to get that handled before Wednesday when I head for Florida for our NHRA pre seaon testing live broadcast at Palm Beach.

[andy30thz]

Yikes... I didn't realize the one piece pan gaskets can break like that?
Just changed the oil pan on my dad's truck and used a one piece gasket. I want to swap the cam in the spring, have any advice how to get the timing chain cover off without messing it up?

Changing the gasket on BTJ is going to be a pretty big pain in car isn't it?
There won't be a bolt unturned on this thing before too long!

4.10's for Buford, no question. As the mod motor Mustang guys say, "Don't fear the gear"!

[oldsman496]

Nitrous? It NEEDS a 250 hit.

[Deaf Bob]

Yikes... I didn't realize the one piece pan gaskets can break like that?
Just changed the oil pan on my dad's truck and used a one piece gasket. I want to swap the cam in the spring, have any advice how to get the timing chain cover off without messing it up?

Changing the gasket on BTJ is going to be a pretty big pain in car isn't it?
There won't be a bolt unturned on this thing before too long!

4.10's for Buford, no question. As the mod motor Mustang guys say, "Don't fear the gear"!

Grind/snip a 45* cut on the corners where the pan meets the block on the timing cover.. You will be able to ease it over without dropping the pan.. Or ruining your gasket..

[milner351]

I've managed to preserve the one piece gasket when pulling timing covers - but I got lucky - sealer in a tube FTW - and the bevel / angle cut Bob describes sounds like a good idea as well.

Can't wait to read the story.

[Barry Donovan]

another great article..

time for a cam.

I got to the snipping of egr part, the welding...
the cam has got to go. in fact it could be the wobble sending stuff flying.

I have been there with that generation. that 197 could be 380..you got nice stuff now, just needs cam.

[Brian Lohnes]

Thanks Barry!

The latest installment!

http://bangshift.com/blog/project-buford-t-justice-we-go-on-hot-pursuit-of-horsepower-our-9c1-caprices-350-gets-woken-up.html

The mistake I made with breaking the gasket came in the false assumption I had thinking it was a multi-piece job with the independent ends. When I loosened the bolts on the timing cover and dropped the pan down a little, I pried on the cover and the gasket snapped like nothing.

I am going to do the pan gasket tomorrow, I hope. I should be able to get away with pulling the distributor, jacking the motor enough to slide a couple pieces of 2x4 in between the mounts and sliding it out. Here's to hoping!

[TheSilverBuick]

I refer to the FB comments about the distributor on the wrong end of the engine As a note, I remember the comment

[TheSilverBuick]

Yes, needs a caption. I bet a string of swear words!

And this looks like all my work areas too =/

[Monk]

Work benches....we need work benches.

[Beagle]

Good progress Brian. The manifold shot is where I completely FAIL - that mill would have to come out and be washed. Good focus!!

[Deaf Bob]

Work bench?
55 gallon drum with a small square of plywood
2-3 tires/rims stacked up with a sheet of plywood.. Not too large or it'll tip over...