Thread: Spitfire / Hemi build

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Well it’s alive ……Really wasn’t planning on it taking 3 ½ years but life happens.


CVC by M Patterson, on Flickr

I still want to build a Poly at some point and I might have a line on a 57 354 Spitfire but I’ll have to wait and see what pans out.

I’d sent out a pair of stock valve cover and 6 pack air cleaner lid to be powder coated and even got my granddaughter to paint the lettering on the valve covers. They’re not perfect but I figure getting my teenage Granddaughter to even come out to the shop is still a win. For now though I decided to use the finned aluminum valve covers that I’d had on the 57 Plymouth.

SVC by M Patterson, on Flickr



Overall I’m happy having another HEMI. Last week was filled with the little aggravations that can sometimes plague a project. It wasn’t so much the engine itself, which went together nicely. A lot of it was things associated with the run stand. Seems like when I moved it to the back shed a few years ago I didn’t figure I’d ever have another engine on it so I had ended up stripping almost all the wiring for the Chrysler Electronic ignition off of it. The fuel pump had gone bad along with the radiator cap (that didn’t show up till the engine got to 190 degrees when I was doing the cam break-in). That was all in addition to the carburetor issues I’ve already posted about. Over all the cam break-in went well in spite of everything. I did have a couple of timing cover bolts that leaked coolant, naturally one was behind the water pump that I couldn’t get to without pulling the pump but it wasn’t horribly painful…..just aggravating.





I might have gotten a little over-exuberant on the cam selection but I sure like the way it sounds.


https://youtu.be/sg3Ns4OV3w0



I still have some dialing in to do, and also a brace to build for the air cleaner, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.



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