Hope you have a speedy recovery Tom.

Did you come up with an engine color? I was thinking to paint mine Chevy orange.

Chris

Thanks guys.

I was up late last night after spending the last few days in bed.... started to feel like myself to the point of trying to plan out my upcoming work week as well as maybe even getting some engine time in over the weekend... not so fast mister... spent the majority of the day in bed. Tomorrow will mark day five of full-on, d*** knocked in the dirt, sickness. Hoping tomorrow will begin the “crawling out of the basement phase” of this thing. I know it hits everyone with different degrees of severity, believe me, avoid it if you can.

I did manage to pick up some heat exchangers from Mike Mello so the day wasn’t a total wash. And some of my oiling system parts came in this week. I’m looking forward to getting back to work on the project.

Engine color... I went with black for the short block. I had to fix some spots on the oil pans where scratches turned into tea problems with rust and splits of the factory coatings. I repaired the damaged areas, treated the metal, and then used a truck bed liner paint to revolt the pans. It came out pretty well. Since the pans were already black, I figured it would be easier to go with a gloss black on the block. It came out looking nice.

I’m ready to put the heads on the completed short block and start measuring for pushrods. I just need to get back out there.

LOL.. some of the auto-correct in that last post!

Still down but not out. Hoping maybe to get the heads on this week if I can. I had some ARP head bolts that came with the heads but they showed some corrosion damage so I went ahead and ordered new sets. Once the heads are on, the rest should go pretty quickly. I'll test run in the garage, then I'll get some dyno time scheduled to get it dialed in.

The other short block should be done next week. They've been down with the virus too. Thankfully, everyone has recovered,

Heads are on and torqued. That was an effort! If I’m up to it, I’ll measure for and order the pushrods today.

Engine color...
 

Trying to figure out the direction. Here are some semi mock-ups.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...72b66a57c.jpeg
Black block, coated heads, natural intake.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f8691c8df.jpeg
Merc blue.

Josh and I were thinking maybe black on the intake also.

Thoughts?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...cbf696c94.jpeg
I like the all black look. I used header paint on the heads this time and it has held up much better around the exhaust ports but it’s flat. You are getting close now Tom, just in time man. Spring is coming soon

Pretty sweet looking Roscoe!

I was going to leave my heads as they are. They're anodized with exception of the ends and I like the look. I'm stuck on black or clear-coated natural.

Wish I was a lot closer. I got word today that the other short block is ready so I need to pick that up as well as the other set of heads. If I can get some time to clean up the motor plates, I can get this one on the ground to get the other one on the stand. Pushrods should be in Friday along with my HVH spacer and some gaskets. I still need to figure out some plumbing.

Lots of work to do and the stamina isn't quite there yet but I'm trying. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Black on everything but the blue valve covers would sure make them pop. Or, go all black, I look that look too.

Port engine short block is home. Heads should be ready Friday or Monday. Time to get cranking!

Cam and lifters in, timing set installed and ready to be degreed. Verified deck clearance. And my cylinder head guys called this morning to let me know the other set was done. I'll pick them up at lunchtime. This one will go together quickly I'm thinking.

Cam degreed and on the money. Oil pump and windage tray installed. And my heads were done a day early so I picked those up. They look great!

Tomorrow and Saturday, I should receive all the extra parts I ordered:

- ARP bolts for intakes and carbs.
- Oil system plumbing.
- Head gaskets.
- etc.

Spent some money this week!

I promise to get some pics.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...22e7d126b.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...234d08b97.jpeg

Getting there.

You go!!!

It’s all coming together!!

Today, FedEx dropped of a whole bunch of stuff that I needed. It was like Christmas! Lots of fittings and stainless ARP hardware. If I can get the short block painted over the weekend, I’ll be able to get the heads installed then measure for pushrods. Moving right along!

I found that I’ll need to order valve covers. The ORM Gen VI pieces will not fit with my studs/poly locks. I priced sinew ones from CP and Teague.... ouch! I might look into some cheaper aluminum valve covers. I think they’ll fit with my headers but I’ll need to test. We’ll see.

Today was spent working on the Cigarette. We now have most of the hydraulic lines run. I need to get a rigging template from Latham, and then we can drill the transom. We finished up fuel lines too.

Productive day!

I have seen a bunch of builds with the valve cover spacers. I don’t know if they would provide the clearance you need but it may save you a few bucks. The e tops are very tight to the covers and I learned that many tall ones will not fit (the hard way). Plumbing! Those damn fittings will eat you alive and you are always short one. You will thank yourself at the end for spending the money now. Keep up the good work Tom

I need to stop posting updates from my iPhone. The autocorrect is annoying. Or funny depending on how you look at it. :)

I’m still on the fence about the valve cover situation. I broke off the drippers on one of them and it seems to fit, but I haven’t rolled it yet over to see if anything hits. I’d rather not shell out $700 just for valve covers. I was thinking a set of Billet Specialties aluminum valve covers might fit. I can get them for a good price. I can mock up a header to see before ordering.

The other short block is finished and ready for the heads. My gf and I are celebrating St Patrick’s Day tomorrow so I won’t be working on anything until Thursday or Friday. Just enough time for pair to dry. I’ll order pushrods this weekend. Almost done!

Not sure if you guys saw my head bolt washer slipping situation in the tech forum... what a pain in the a-ss! Fortunately, I got it all taken care of and the heads are on the port short-block. This week I'm going to have the intakes blasted clean. I think I'm going with black but I still haven't made my mind up yet. Still not sure about valve covers.

I'm telling you Tom, everything black with the blue valve covers will make them Pop!!

We'll see... I'm still on the fence.

I'm really liking Roscoe's all black set-up. Definitely growing on me!

I had to go read your head bolt post in the tech section to catch up. I have never experienced that washer spin problem (that I was aware of) . I will be much more wary in th future and I agree with SB that the onus is on ARP if this’s a common problem. Glad that you got it ironed out. The devil is in the details and I know you aren’t the guy that will overlook any. This is a great thread for future DIY’s to reference.

You would definitely know it if the washer started to slip. When you’re cranking down on 50# and the torque wrench all the sudden turns easily, that’s it!

Still lots to do but I’m really enjoying it. The next focus will be dressing the transmissions. They're in good shape though I might throw a rebuild at them along with some upgrades. Probably not needed. I’ll need to look at timing. I could always do them next season (I do not mind pulling engines). We’ll see. I really want to update the cooling lines and get some fresh paint on them.

I hear you on the black, that's what I did!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...fc98ce85ed.jpg

Going black...


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b0ad69a31.jpeg

I was contemplating going with Sniper EFI, but I was approaching 3.5k in parts to do it.

I sent the other Merlin intake out to be blasted so that I can paint. The valve covers also went to the powder coater... going with gloss black. In the end. everything will be a mix of black, polished aluminum, and blue/red AN fittings.

The end still seems so far away!

In other news... we got the steering pretty much done on the Cigarette. That was a project. I think we have maybe two or three Saturday’s left to button things up and then she’s done. Hopefully. I know Wayne would like his boat at the marina.

Hoping to have the 311 back in the water before July 4th. So much to do.

I asked the on the General Tech forum...

Any ideas on how to setup the bypasses on the heat exhangers? Merc uses has a restricted outlet on the thermostat that runs to the exchanger. I’m going to use a single outlet from the manifold. Can I tap into the heater recirculate on the side of the circulation pump? Seems to do about the same thing just at the pump vs the top of the intake. It is on the feed side of the pump. Maybe go from the heater outlet on the intake?

So the heat exchanger operates just like a radiator except that it’s cooled by water, not air. The bypass is constant through the cooler and out of the exhaust, regardless of temperature. The coolant side just circulates inside the block via the pump until the thermostat opens and sends hot coolant into the exchanger. I don’t have any bypass on my system and it works better than raw water. I think you must be trying to plumb this with your existing thermostat housing and that won’t work. The thermostat exit goes straight to the exchanger just like a car. On another note, I think you you are much closer to the finish line than you do. Only 50 more trips to the parts store and you’re done. And Black is beautiful! Good choice.

I just reread your post and realized that I answered the question you did not ask so ....

Figures that I’d use a heat exchanger that makes things more complicated!

My exchanger, the way Merc sets it up, always has coolant circulating from the thermostat housing.

Here’s the parts diagram:


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...be0356533c.gif

The thermostat housing is split so that there is always coolant flowing even if the thermostat is shut. I’d rather not have the bypass but the connections are on the exchanger.

How should I handle?

There’s nothing I can get from parts stores around here. It’s now the “every other day” order from Jegs. Lol

I’m not quite sure what you want , lol

I don’t want Tobias the ugly Merc thermostats housing. Do I need it circulating during warn up or just plug the hose barb on the exchanger?

Tom, I have a dual outlet therm housing that I found at CP. I ran a hose to each barb. There is a bypass from the top of the circ pump to the front of the intake that should allow for movement of coolant until the thermostat opens. It has worked great for me for 3 seasons. Those merc pieces are ugly and expensive I bet.

To do as Roscoe suggests you need to drill and tap your intake manifold for the 1/2" NPT nipple he was talking about. Just like a n auto manifold looks. Pic's available if required.

Yep, I know you had the CP thermostat housing on yours. And you're right, they are pretty ugly. I may see about finding some alternatives. I was putting brackets back on the port engine and tried to see what mounting would look like. I'm not sure I like it much. The thermostat housing I was going to use is a simple swivel 90-degree aluminum piece similar to what CP sells with their kit.

I really didn't want to drill the intakes. I have the tools to do it, but I'd rather not. I could connect the heater core passage to the pump or the heat exchanger. It does the same thing. I'm guessing there's a lot of redundancy in Merc's design.

The other dilemma is trying to figure out how to mount these things. I've been looking for brackets, but they're either NLA or extremely expensive and very hard to get. I saw a really cool set up where an aluminum plate was made to sandwich between the thermostat housing with the exchanger mounted to the plate. Until the accessory drive is all together, that part will need to wait a little.

I didn’t notice that his intake didn’t have that provision. Mine came with it and I just removed the plug

Tom, have you thought about using one of the threaded ports on the top next to the thermostat to recirculate to the water pump. Same as using the traditional location. If you were going to use for a gauge just "T" fitting away.
Just a quick thought.

Yep. That’s what I meant by maybe using the heater core outlet.

Jegs has a sandwich adapter that can support the bypass needs for my set-up.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...70ad92b366.gif
I’ll be able to route to the water pump and the exchanger though I’m not sure of why both are needed.

I also ordered the heat exchanger brackets, bolts and spacers from a discount Merc dealer. Merc was extremely proud of their brackets (almost $400 each). And big names were only taking maybe $20 off. I got mine for a third of the cost wholesale. They have not arrived yet so I’ll wait on giving out the name just in case it was too good to be true.

Making progress...


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b55b201ee.jpeg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...d8cf2dea8.jpeg

The other engine is about the same being ready but I’m waiting on the intake and valve covers to come back to button it up. It’s wrapped in plastic.

If I get some time, I’ll wrap up oil hardware and lines today. I’m lopping off the horizontal shelf where the old filter head mounted. The HP1 head will be bolted to the vertical edge of the bracket, nice and compact. It’ll still be upside down, but I like the presentation and it’s not bad removing the filter if you break the seal just a touch and let it drain back.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...eddb6195c.jpeg

Now I need to order new fittings and lines for trans cooling. The old hoses are nothing nice to look at. Some AN fittings and hose will make it look nice. More 10AN should do the trick.

Dyno time scheduled for mid May.

Also, as others elsewhere have said here on OSO, receiving parts is becoming difficult. A number of things I’ve ordered are backordered. Who would have thought it would be difficult to get spark plugs and distributor caps. That’s just a. Small example. Some things I’ve had to change design plans because parts were on forever backorder.

A sign of the times. Hope it gets better soon.