new guy mistakes in this hobby

[grumpyvette]

new guy mistakes



heres a few first timer mistakes I see ALL the time, IVE even made a few like them 35-40 years ago!

(1)
not supporting a car your working on correctly

(2)
relieing on guys you don,t really know well to assist you or give advice

(3)
\buying stuff that looks "cool" but that won,t realistically work on your application

(4)
selecting a cam for your car based on what worked in your buddies car by selecting the next larger one from the catalog and expecting to kick his butt because of that cam choice with no knowledge of what REALLY matches your combo

(5)
buying an intake and carb combo bases almost 100% on a magazine test on a car with an engine that was not even close to your combo

(6)
renting tools when the rental cost quickly adds up to more than 1/2-7/8ths of what the tool COSTS NEW

(7)
not owning a decent welder and paying exorbitant prices for minor work you could do for next to zip with a welder

(8)
TRUSTING verbal instructions will be followed at machine shops

(9)
trusting ANYTHING a machine shop does without checking carefully

(10)
not getting detailed receipts and pictures of all parts signed for and dated for parts left at machine shops.

(11)
not buying the correct part and trying to make do with something cheaper that you know is not fully adequate

(12)
believing most of whats in magazine engine build sheets is ACTUALLY what went into the engine or resulted in the dyno results

(13)
getting in over your experience level and not knowing enough to ask for help

(14)
not buying or renting the correct tool for the job

(15)
failing to read and follow directions ,make the phone call,and ask the manufacturer questions and take the time to research the answers when you've obviously screwed up or reached a point where your not sure what your doing

(16)
not researching a realistic total budget before buying expensive parts on a project

(17)
not joining or forming a local hot rod club so resources and knowledge and parts and experience and tools can be readily available to the group, and not jumping in to help the other guys every single chance you get

(18)
wasting time and money on what you currently have VS working toward owning and building what you REALLY WANT, to own and drive

(19) expecting components to be free of machining chips, dirt or packaging contaminants as they come out of the carton, or expecting to bolt on components without cleaning and careful inspection or to do it successfully without reading the directions

Procedure

OK step one ,if you've ever installed a new cam, or cylinder heads etc,you NEVER start an engine with a new cam or cylinder heads until you've verified ALL clearances and valve train geometry are correct, and you must clean and inspect components before assembly!
and you, need to have pre-lubed the engine, while slowly manually rotating the crank until all push-rods show oil flow,at the rockers and the gauge shows a minimum of 10 psi, its very common for new cylinder heads to need minor touch-up work with a die grinder to blend port contours or to remove machine work debris before they can be used, even on high dollar heads, and the cheaper heads can need a good deal more clean-up and port blending and even casting flash removal, so inspect and clean and verify before you install any component

 

[grumpyvette]

we all are forced to work with a realistic budget, but at times I see guys plan and sellect parts not so much for the ideal, or to build what they really want but so that they can speed up the process or get SOMETHING RUNNING.........now theres always something to be said for having a running car vs a bunch of parts cluttering up the garage for a few years, but WHAT WILL YOU ACCOMPLISH if you BUILD SOMETHING YOUR NOT PROUD TO OWN???


finding a dependable , experienced,and honest machinist is damn hard
yeah! I got into an argument with some slick shyster in a machine shop in Hollywood Florida once 15 years ago, who charged me extra for deck plate honing one of my last 455 Pontiac,engine builds before i moved up to loxahatchee.
when I knew he only had deck plates for small block chevy and ford engines, I told him to shove the extra cost up his $%^& unless he could show me the deck plates he used and of course he could not do so!
I never went back to that shop after that, and I had one shop drop aluminum heads in CAUSTIC SODA BATH to degrease the heads ....totally ruining the heads,(he replaced the heads but would not cover all the previous done machine work :cry: :evil:
example

lets say what you really want TO INSTALL, BUY OR to build a IS killer big block engine for your car, your NOT really satisfied with a 500hp crate engine, you want some bragging rights, AND AT least A 540-572 DISPLACEMENT AND 650-750HP!

http://www.theengineshop.com/prods_pages/108000.htm
http://ohiocrank.com/enginekits.html
http://www.shafiroff.com/sportsman/540_810.asp

a quick look shows your in the $10,000 range


so you start thinking, I know where I can find a
454 4 bolt block for $500, Ill build a 496 stroker....
Ok lets look at that, keep in mind you want no less than 650HP, youll use good FORGED parts and not crap and save a bundle.....

block $500
rotating assembly, damper flywheel,clutch, bell houseing $2000-$3000
brodix or AFR heads, valve covers, port work, $2500-$3100
hydrolic roller cam & hydrolic roller lifters,pushrods, rockers ETC, $1200-$1800
oil system $350-$600
intake , port work,$300
machine work ballancing gaskets etc, $1200
carb, $400-$970

hell, it won,t take much to be at $8600-$11,000 so it quickly becomes obvious that you saving a bunch building a 496 vs BUYING a 540bbc is pretty much wasted effort!

what IM getting at here is that PLANING your goals and the path to reach them takes some thought and research, and one of the worst things you can do jump into it with a few parts and start building and spending your hard earned cash without thinking it thru carefully

keep in mind a small block may cost slightly less but everything still applies

I know so many guys with $10,000-$15,000 invested in 468-496bbc engines, engines that won,t come NEAR being what they could have built or bought if they had PLANNED it carefully

price it out yourself...
http://www.flatlanderracing.com/home.html

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10002


http://www.summitracing.com/

http://www.dirttrackthunder.com/

http://www.dougherbert.com/

you should PLAN better, thinking ahead to reduce wasted expence,and add EACH component with the true finished car goal in mind rather than waste time and effort & cash on intermediate steps that need to be replaced, example, lets say you have a perfectly good 396 chevelle,or a 350 corvette, drive it while you save and assemble a decent set of heads, or a spare engine, or a short block, swap those parts in, as you feel its to your advantage, if you want to, KNOWing that the intermediate combos not IDEAL, untill its complete, but DON,T buy parts or do mods that won,t be in the finished projected combo if you can,t reasonably expect to recoupe a decent percentage of the cost selling the parts latter, as its usually a huge waste of money.
example if you KNOW your going to want a set of brodix 2 extra heads on the finnished goals engine buying a set of oval port edelbrocks at the local swap meet may not be a good IDEA unless your getting them at a price that your realistically sure you can resell them at a proffit or at least no loss.
you can buy the single plane EFI intake that fits the large rectangle port heads and install it on the stock oval port heads with the rectangle gaskets KNOWing its a miss match, but don,t buy a oval port carb intake then swap to that rectangle EFI UNLESS your getting them at a price that your realistically sure you can resell them at a proffit or at least no loss.

no ones suggesting you can,t play as you go along! Im just saying keep your losses to the bare minimum, and keep the GOAL firmly in site

 

[grumpyvette]

YOUR FAMILY comes FIRST
but that doesn,t mean you can,t have toys or projects, your entitled too (some sanity and entertainment, stress relief)
set aside a small amount you can afford, for your project in a seperate account or coffee can in the garage,EVERY WEEK, THATS THE SECRET,HAVE a set goal, a parts list, supliers and costs and check off each component as you get it! and build your car! consider that $10, or $50 you can easily afford each week as previously SPENT before you get crazy. your project will eventually get built.....
look this whole thread is basically based on the fact that 90% plus of the guys do it the way you guys that do alittle at a time as the budget allows, describe (add a bit at a time,as you can afford it, learn as you stumble thru)
and WASTE a HUGE amount of money in the process, IM not saying thats wrong! Im just pointing out that SMARTER APPROACH,is thru doing alot of research,planing and thinking BEFORE spending money, that will result in far less expence and a better final product, THE real secret here is to LEARN while HELPING & WORKING ON EVERYONE ELSEs car, WATCHING THE MORE EXPERIANCED GUYS, and LEARNING THRU THIER MISTAKES AT THIER EXPENCE, then building a killer combo from what youve learned while helping a whole lot of other guys while you & they, LEARN what works and whats wasted effort.
I take a good deal of time here, HOPEING to bring you guys up to speed, and learning from the more experianced guys while IM HERE, so take advantage of the mistakes and what I and the other more experianced guys have learned the hard expensive way......theres lots of guys that know more than I do and a whole lot that know less, but as a group we can do a far better job than any one guy could hope to do!

remember when you were 2 years old and mom said don,t stick bobby pins in the ellectric outlets.....there was a reason then, and theres a reason for what Im saying too!