Larry, I see there is a station in Elkridge, MD(among others).
There are other alternatives to dealing with low quality fuel other than zero decking too. I have dealt with it simply by purchasing a stock 428 lower end and installing 6x heads on it. I used the lower compression 6x's. The engine only had 8.5 to 1 compression. It was a very simple engine that you could put together in your garage without any extra machining. It was very powerful and burned the lowest octane I could throw at it without a ping. I used to take it to the track and burn Nitrous Oxide when I wanted a great time slip. Fast on the street and super fast at the track with Nitrous. It's a very dependable engine because it's still in the 69 that I sold it in. After I beat it for 5 years and now 10 years of cruisin' the owner still raves about how good it runs on the 'even worse' gas now.
Elkridge is 100 miles round trip and two hours driving from here. The others listed are that area also. My plans are to drive this car to Ocean City, Maryland, Hershy PA car show, etc. I'll need to have no worries over octane.
The original numbers match engine is nowhere to be found. I have a 71 YS engine with 96 low compression heads. Those are big valve 96cc heads, thread in studs etc. I don't think the motor has ever been apart, but I don't know that yet. It does need to be cleaned up. The compression comes up significantly in one or two cylinders a small bit of oil added through the plug hole. I think it would be foolish to do a frame-off restoration and not freshen up the motor and move it's performance up a notch too.
My dilemma is which way to go with the rebuild. I can go to a 455 or 462 stoker kit which will bring my low compression motor up from it's stock 8.2. Or I can deck the block and mill the heads and stay at 400 cubes. I want to stay original in many, but not all regards. I want to stay with the stock radiator, not some shiny aluminum job.
Quote:
=Fbody69 Here's an example of what you can expect out of stock engine. Please excuse my clumsy shifting.
That's what I'm after Jim. I just want to do it on 91 octane pump gas I can buy everywhere. And I'm confident thats possible at 9.2 CR.
Originally Posted By yellowbird
'69 needs a more stock approach. With low mileage it may not need more than hone and rings, I hope. If it needs a full rebuild I have my choice of restored stock #62s or 87cc heads, ready to bolt on. Choice of stock logs or factory long branch or ceramic coated repro long branch. But my inclination is to leave this car as close to factory as possible.
'68 resto has a 4 speed trans and will retain stock config.
I see an advantage to staying with the stock high compression heads that are correct for that 69 engine. That keeps the engine appearing correct. But then the engine is subject to detonation because of its 10.75 CR because of the available fuel that is contaminated with ethanol. That issue has to be solved too. Detonation isn't just inconvenient and annoying, it's damaging. This can be solved by bringing the deck to zero while bringing the compression ratio down to 9.2-9.5 by using custom pistons that reduce compression and also achieve zero deck.
Jim Hand's book, page 28 he discusses dropping CR from,10.5 down to 9.2 by dishing the pistons. He gives to explanation of the machine work and suggests machining a D-shaped cup. Jim Hand writes of a D shaped piston relief:
Quote:
This will allow the exploitation of the quench pad area of the combustion chamber. By computing the volume of the cup to achieve the desired compression ratio and positioning the cup directly under the open part of the chamber, maximum advantage of the pad is maintained. By doing this you can utilize maxiumum compression with less chance of detonation. This is recommended for maximum engine efficiency.
I think this is more correct than putting a 1970 455 head on a 1969 car that has a number matching motor. If the motor really cleans up with a hone, put the original pistons in storage and it can always be put back.
Plug in some Compression Ratio comparisons into the script at
[url=http://www.bgsoflex.com/crchange.html][/url]
You loose 3% by dropping the compression ratio. I think you can still enjoy the car at 3% less horsepower unless the car's purpose is winning at the track. You'll likely loose much more than that detuning the stock 10.75 CR enough that it doesn't ping on 91 octane. I think it's a very reasonable trade-off.
