Ahhhhh. I forgot you're fuel injected.

I figured I wouldn't get to sleep until I got some resolution on this. "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought, cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives". Anyway, I did a bunch of measuring and calculating, and found that I need .106" of peel washer on the camshaft nose in order to lift the eccentric .010" off the cam gear. No problem, I already ordered the peel washers from McMaster Carr. Then I measured for clearance between the slightly raised eccentric to the inside of the timing cover. Got plenty of clearance there. And for OCD sake, I measured for clearance between the slinger and the inside of the timing cover. Plenty there too. The only thing I'll need to check for after I get the eccentric spaced out, is alignment with the fuel pump lever. I can sleep now. Where's my snuggle kitty?

 

 

Oil slinger. Quotes from other sites. Do some research on it.
"Throw the slinger in the trash. When you torque the damper and the spacer crushes the slinger it will cup and touch the chain over time."
"The general consensus of the thread was don't use the oil slinger IF you aren't using the stock nylon timing gear that needed the slinger. You don't need it. Don't use it. If it gets pressed too tighly against the chain then you have metal floating around the motor. Just throw it away. You don't need it. I didn't use one and my motor is fine."
"The primary purpose of the disk is to sling oil onto the morse style timing set which required copious amount of oil to keep the nylon teeth from being destroyed."

We've been building the ford engines eliminating the slinger for 15 to 20 years with no issues."

 

Yep, I've read all that. And I value their knowledge and opinions. But I've already proven that with my setup at least, torquing down the balancer will not warp the slinger. It can't. The two surfaces that sandwich the slinger (crank gear & crank spacer) are both flat and parallel to each other. If anything, they'll ensure the slinger cannot warp and contact the chain. I've looked at several different timing sets. They're not all the same. Some crank gear front bosses are thinner than mine, which would move the slinger aft and cause it to rub on the chain. Some cam gears have the chain farther forward, which would cause the chain to contact the slinger. In those cases, I would definitely delete the slinger. Fortunately for me, my timing set doesn't rub on the slinger.

There's lots of opinions on the slinger's original intended purpose. As best as I can tell, it has at least three purposes. Of those three purposes, only one is eliminated by installing a modern timing set. And that's the need to oil the nylon cam gear teeth. The other two reasons for the slinger are still there. Preventing excess oil from overwhelming the front seal. And throwing oil onto the fuel pump eccentric. If it's an EFI build, then you can eliminate one of those by not installing a fuel pump eccentric. But the front seal is still there.

I could be missing something. I'm certainly not an expert engine builder. But I've done a lot of research, measuring, and calculations on this, and will continue to monitor it during final assembly. So far, for my setup at least, I can see no reason to delete the slinger. And, I'll run this engine on a test stand and a dyno prior to installing it, which will give me opportunity to delete the slinger if it causes a problem. After initial run, and after dyno, I do plan to remove the fuel pump, and run a bore scope inside to check for marks on the slinger.

 

Having a long life that is littered with mechanical failures and observed shortcomings leaves one hopefully with the wisdom to correct said mistakes and shortcomings by vigilant research and listening to the "old timers" who have overcome 70's emissions and positive crank case pressure and who have achieved the joys of a solid timing curve, good oil pressure, and a leak free motor. This is how one achieves mechanical Nirvana. I'm afraid the internet is one of the least reliable sources for Information these days.

 

Scrappy is a Jedi Master, and I her apprentice. I've achieved self awareness, but not yet nirvana.

 

That's what I've come to appreciate the most about my brother Mike his inexhaustible sense of humor. " The force is strong in this one"

Right on target

 

Since I couldn't find any, I'm making a set of oil pan support rails. Plasma cutting free handed doesn't give the best finish, but it'll do. Tomorrow evening I'll dress this one up a bit, and finish the other rail. I nailed it on this one, all the holes lined up without any fitting. Several months ago, I ordered a CNC plasma table, then cancelled it because I decided I just didn't want my shop filled up with it. One day I'll make room and get one. Note the leather covered broke foot in pic #1.

 

That's impressive I bet if you got the CNC machine it would pay for itself rather quickly and while your at it get one of these too.

 

Thanks. I'd like to have that distributor tester just to look at!

I'm glad I decided to slow down this build. There's a lot of little things, like the oil pan reinforcement rails, that I probably wouldn't have gotten around to if I had rushed it. And I like oil pan support rails. They'll let me scrunch the pan down to the gasket compression stops, without bending the pan flanges. Another little detail thing I think I'll do, is to weld on a big filler neck with thread in cap on one valve cover. It's not a necessity but it'll make oil changes easier. The baffles in those valve covers won't allow for a funnel. And it'll look neater'n *****.

 

you're right This way you can savor every bit. It's not like you're going to heading down this path again any time soon, enjoy the ride.
Weekend finds
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tl...354445253.html
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/pt...356058515.html
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/gr...362931180.html

 

I fully expect to head down this path again very soon. But hopefully on a new engine project, and not this one.

 

That's good to here. It's obvious you enjoy it and have the skill set for it. With your attention for detail and Scrappy's help "Delta Force" could turn into something bigger ?

 

Nah, Mantrucket will be tough enough for a while. I really need to get back on the 302 swap into a Jeep project.

 

Hey, I thought you might appreciate this. I just received my new driveshaft for my Bronco and it came with some stickers and I know how much you like stickers. I'm not a sticker guy, but I may have to put that top right one somewhere. lol.