I’ll bear that in mind. My V8 in the square body is still running decent (knock on wood), it’s just an old 70s low compression engine. Actually I think the 4.3 in this 2011 pickup has more horsepower than my 350.
I agree them 70’s chevys motors were quit gutless, it made it easy on the manufactures, untill they had to made gas milege emmissions,maybe.
Now that I know I have the low compression heads and dished pistons I could just do a head swap to some 64cc heads and get some power back.
The 1976 SBC engines used a flat tappet cam didn’t they @tcholton717 ? I don’t want to fool with a cam right now.
I don’t know about a 76. I’ve never torn down a SBC that didn’t have hydraulic’s though. I have read that swapping the heads for the 305 HO heads, I think they used in some Camaros, will bump up the CR quite a bit but I can’t see how without changing the pistons.
I would check the lift on the cam, that era GM had soft cams, I’ve changed them as low as 30k miles. That went on for about a ten year window.
If it’s any amount CC less than what I have in my 350 it’ll bump it up.
I’ve heard swapping to vortec heads is a good way to do it but then I’d need a new intake.
Yeah maybe I should check the lift.
The first iteration of the fuel economy/EPA standards went into effect in the early 70s. Automakers got handed a double whammy of fuel economy, which requires lighter vehicles, and safety rules, which required heavier cars, then the whole lead paint thing. None of which anyone really had any real idea how to do it, or paint tech to do it, and a policy of “oh we want this done now!!” plus the labor costs. It was a recipe for disaster.
I was about 12 year old in 1971, though i remember going low compression had somthing to do with emission, but it probley had nothing to do with MPG.I gess they learned a lot since then, gaining better MPG and cleaner type emissions since 70’s engineering for sure.
All the older chevy v8 i tore apart, had low lift cams, and or soft cams and hydrolic lifters, trucks were much cheaper to buy back then too though. You could put some 10:1/2 to 1 compression pistons in a motor and still burn regular 87 octain gas,i think or maybe mid grade fuel, any higher compression and you need high test fuel or premium grade, or even airplane gas if go high compresion, Probley work good on wood gas on higher compression, but not so good on regular grade gas.YOU PROBLEY NEW ALL THAT.
I’d like to have all the money I wasted in the late 60’s through early 70’s running Sunoco 94 in my cars and motorcycles. I could have used it to poison myself with even more crappy McDonalds food.
My 3D printed gauge pods are holding up well, same for the sticky Velcro patches holding them to the dash. Carbon fiber PETG filament. Installed an oil pressure gauge in the 2011 because my cluster doesn’t have it. This is the pressure after the engine is totally warmed up and idling. Cold startup pressure is about 50 PSI
THAT looks ok I think,its been so long since I had a oil PSI gauge though at IDLE, My old Camaro pro stock race car had about 50 or 60 hot at half throttle or revved up a little bit of a while. IT may have hot idles at about 28 or 30 psi- though I had new crank bearing’s and new HP oil pump.
COULD you tell me what or how a psi gauge can be printed, sounds not possible, GESS I don’t under stand 3 D printing at all.
The gauge isn’t printed, just the gauge pod that holds the gauge in place. I bought the gauge kit itself from GlowShift and I originally was going to put it in the Square Body until I realized I’d need more adapters and it was easier to just repair the old mechanical gauge metal tube.
I didn’t wanna waste it so I put it on my 4.3L at the oil filter housing so I can keep watch on my pressure, truck didn’t come with an oil pressure gauge. I also didn’t wanna drill any holes so I found that gauge pod design with a flat bottom and I used some 3M Velcro tape to stick to my dash.
THANKS for the update on your latest wood gas project, are you planning on having the square body truck running on wood before winter this year. AND what do it cost to do 3 D printing, or is there a machine to buy.?? THANKS CODY.
You can have someone else print it for you, I don’t know how much that costs. You can also buy a 3D Printer for pretty cheap nowadays. Once you’ve got the printer it kinda pays for itself if you look for the free designs on Thingiverse. I’ve 3D printed gaskets for the truck and they held up great, they act like a Phenolic spacer and a gasket at the same time. I had to design the gaskets in CAD though.
I hope I can have the square body done this year. I’ve been working at a snail’s pace lately. Might run it on Charcoal while I work on the WK gasifier so I don’t rush it.
Edit: It’s basically like picking up another hobby, though. Some headache and frustration involved with it especially if you have to design your own parts.
THANKS CODY- I may check around and see if I can find 3d printer guy near ME and learn more. I hope to get my toyota cab,flatbed, at leiste all ready for gasifier before winter,So I can drive it in and out of the shop,so in am not with out a shop space for fixing other broke vehicles,for this winter, we might get a snowy winter if predictions turn out accurate.GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT.
Kevin look and see if you can find any “Maker Spaces” they usually have a 3D printer you can use. Printing takes hours depending on the size of your item though.
THANKS for INFO reply, I need to do the research on 3 d printing, I see as of checking today, that metal parts are made via metal powder and heated, melted,injected, taking up to 7 days, that sounds strange , other than it seems to make highly accurate perfect parts/medical, tools or parts. ECT .