Happy Days

[Ronnie Russell]

After much expense and time, I have finished the two motors and am now ready for the long, cold winter. Will try to post a couple of pics. , but not sure if I remember how. Orange motor is 409 - 4 in. stroke , 817 heads, etc. black motor is new motor for Chevy II , will go in the car over the winter. Finished up Friday, was real happy to have beaten the cold weather. Standing there in the shop, doing a little clean-up, wife walks out and asks, " where is your truck?" That is when I noticed it was gone. Stolen right out of my driveway. Crime has now struck Ladonia, Tx. Still cant believe it. It was just an old truck with 200,000 mi. on it . Wasnt worth much. Why steal an old truck? I dont get it. Oh well, will spend the winter driving old country roads looking for something to put my new street stroker in. Happy days to all...

 

[jim_ss409]

The motors look great!

Too bad about the truck though.: Maybe someone just took it for a ride and then left it somewhere. With a little luck it might show up.

 

[JimKwiatkowski]

Ronnie,those are 2 fine looking 409's .To bad about your truck,probably a couple of kids out for a joy ride .Ronnie you have cold winters in Texas ,you need to come live in the north country for a couple months to enjoy your Texas winters

 

[MRHP]

up north

Try driving 8 hours north. Now that is winter. I was making snow balls today! Really! Was going to make a snow man but I got cold.

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Okay, You guys win. I wont complain about winter anymore. Im a " hot weather guy" and anything under 70 degrees is too cold. Dont think I would enjoy the winters up there.

 

[hrlykngt]

.

motors look great Ronnie, what intake do you have on the orange motor?

Sorry about your truck, hopefully it will turn up ok.

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Harley, Its just a low-rise Offy that I found at a swap meet earlier this year. BTW, thanks for all of those great jokes. I enjoy them a lot.

 

[Mr Goodwrench]

Grrrrrreat looking engines ronnie, as far as the truck at least you guys in texas have the right to carry :takethat

 

[JIMS409]

Nice Work Ronnie! The Black one has that "stealthy" appearence. Maybe that truck WILL find it's way home.

 

[Rockfish39]

Bummer!!!!

Ronnie,
Sorry about your truck buddy! : Even though it was old, it probably still feels like you just got kicked in the chest. I hope that it turns up soon.
The 409s look GREAT!!!!! Love the Orange one!!!! :

Rock

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Two new builds!

A pair of fresh "W" engines, what could be finer???

I hope both go to deserving vehicles. Sorry to learn of the truck. It wasn't me . I do hope that it "finds it's way back home" and get the "409 treatment" .

Cheers!
TomK

 

[hotshoe]

balancers

ronnie,
what balancers are you running on those engines and are the timing tapes allready on them when you purchased them? valve cover on black engine is that a stock item? nice job they look great!!
kip

 

[Fathead Racing]

Heads?

Ronnie, are the heads gasket matched? Ports look great! I'm in the process of gasket matching right now. Someone said you can hit water real easy in the bowl area ?? Are the ports and bowl area that thin??:eek:

 

[Ronnie Russell]

hotshoe, The balancers are Summit brand- 400 small block- external balance- As you know, Summit does not manufacter anything, they re-box. Dont know who actually makes them, but they are SFI approved and have bolt in weight. This particular balancer is $220 compared to $100-$200 more for the "name" brands. I put the tape on myself. Index it with head off. Find true TDC then install tape. The timing pointers come from Showcars. First time Ive used these pointers, fit the timing cover perfect and provide easy to read marks. Valve covers are Lamar Walden. Top quality pieces. Wished I could afford some for the orange motor. Ray, Gasket matching the ports is uncomplicated. Sure you have done many in the past. With 690s it is not necessary to remove metal from the port walls. You cant improve them enough to gamble on going too far. If you do spend time in the bowls, put a lot of attention on the short radius. Little heads are a different story. I was advised to smooth the floors and not remove material. Roofs can be worked alot and need to be for more volume. As far as bowls, I go real conservative on 690s. Because of the value of the cores I cant force myself to be aggressive. Mainly a good smooth blend. On the little heads I did get aggressive in the bowls. with the seats cut for 2.19s it required a lot of blending. I contoured the guide bosses to get rid of the stock flat ends wich appears to me will make flow better. Did I go too far? Only time will tell. If I did, I am depending on my K&W block seal to bail me out. I have yet to see a water leak, either external or internal, that it wont fix. I use it as a $7 insurance policy of new engines. A weak spot in a gasket? A tiny crack that the machine shop missed? Probably not necessary, but better to safe that sorry.

 

[hrlykngt]

balancer

I thought the 409 was internally balanced, like a small block or 396/427 motor. The 454 and 400 being externally balanced.
I ran a standard flywheel on the motor I had in my 61. with a stock 409 balancer. I never had any trouble from it. Was I wrong?

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Harley, Both of these motors have 454 GM crankshafts. Requires external balance.

 

[hrlykngt]

re

Thanks Ronnie,
I realized after I got offline yesterday that you had said they were stroker motors. I was still asleep when I was looking at the posts.