Outer Limits 4x4 Board

i started my newly built 383 today and it has brand new pacemakers on it. as soon as it started the extractors got extremly hot and started glowing. i got worried so i shut it off.

just wondering if anyone knows why the exhaust glows like that?

it had a sticker on it saying something along these lines:

'pacemaker pty ltd, copyright.... blah blah blah.... design of pre heating materials.'

is there a coating of hardener you need to heat before you can use them?

it happened in like 30 seconds so its really suss.

thanks,
MaccA

383FJ45 wrote:i started my newly built 383 today and it has brand new pacemakers on it. as soon as it started the extractors got extremly hot and started glowing. i got worried so i shut it off.

just wondering if anyone knows why the exhaust glows like that?

it had a sticker on it saying something along these lines:

'pacemaker pty ltd, copyright.... blah blah blah.... design of pre heating materials.'

is there a coating of hardener you need to heat before you can use them?

it happened in like 30 seconds so its really suss.

thanks,
MaccA

Glowing in 30 seconds?

There sounds like something very wrong... I'd be callin a few zaust places on Monday...

might be a long shot, but it's not a coating that glows when hot is it? Might be a safety measure.

Sounds a bit strange if it was only like 30 seconds...

its straight gas, could the timing be out of something? i tryed it again but it just backfired through the carby. it was running fine except it had really hot exhausts.

heavily retarded timing?

could be because it was a ballpark guess at what to set it at. i had it 180 degrees out so i put it where i thought it should go. ill get a timing light tomorrow. running my cam in is my biggest worry. (and why the exhaust is glowing)

well at least somethings retarded (could be the operator)

MaccA

You can set it without a timing light. try about 6 degrees BTDC, unless you can find the factory setting, or someone here can pipe up?. Project a mark on the crank pulley at 6 degrees, set this mark to the pointer on the block, turn on ignition (watch this if gas is released though) undo lock bolt on the dizzy, rotate to advance the dizzy until you hear the crack of a spark under the cap, lock down the dizzy at this setting.

not a bad idea. i got a bit frustrated with it so i got pissed instead of fixing it. ill get it goin tomorrow and let ya know how i go.
thanks for the tips.

MaccA

P.S. twin carbs take up alot of room around the distributer and make it a bastard to fiddle with.

P.P.S. do you know much about glazing bores?

Had this problem before.....

I'd take a stab in the dark and say you aren't running an engine fan for cooling by the sounds. It took about the same time for the set we installed on "ChevyMQ"s rig to do the same and he had no engine fan at all, yet mine never glowed at all but I run a fan.

We overcame the problem by sitting a large fan under the rig, blowing air up past the extractors.
Normally you cant see them glow when ya driving it but they do glow to a certain extent ....... take a drive @ night with the bonnet off, that 'll scare ya !!!

I also asume they are brand spankin newies.... the coating should be heated then cooled several times firstly so the coating is "fired" .... similar to pottery ..... expect lotsa smoke from the coating and dont breath it in either what ever ya do ....its highly toxic, expect sever headaces & vomiting to the point of dry reaching if ya cop a big lung full. I've had headaces last 5 or 6 days after getting a lung full !!!!

best way to "fire" or "run in" the extractors is by short running the engine till they start to glow and then shutting it off till they cool ( cool enuff to leave ya hand on for say 30 secs), then fire up the engine again....repeat 6 or 7 times..... mind you this isn't good for a new motor or camshaft !!!
Alternativly get a fan or fit an engine fan.

As for the timing.... that will depend on the specs of the camshaft you fitted. Look at the sheet of paper that came with the camshaft.... there should be a recemended degree set written on it, if not then start around the 6 degrees BTDC (BTDC = Before Top Dead Centre) and increase as required...8 degrees BTDC ..... 10 degrees BTDC, shouldnt need to go past 10 degrees !!

I have a simple rule for timing marks on harmonic ballencers.....they're shyte !!!.... here's a fix or check up to do ...

disconect the coil so there's NO SPARK..

pull number 1 sparkplug out....

stuff a wad of paper into the hole so the thread is fairly well covered.... use a screwdrive to make sure its in tight...

crank engine over bit by bit till you hear the "POP" when the paper wad flies out....stop cranking imeadiately....

place a screwdriver into the sparkpluhole so you can "feel" the top of the piston.... at this point you may need to wind the motor backwards or fowards slightly by hand till the piston is at TDC ( Top Dead Centre )

Now check the marks on the harmonic ballencer against the timing indicator, if its a good ballencer it "should be within the thickness of the line on the harmonic.... if not get some masking tape and some "whiteout" and paint on a new line that lines up with the TDC mark on the indicator.

reconect coil and refit spark plug....

check timing.

DONE

Ive seen reco harmonics up to 30 degrees out and so called new units up to 15 degrees out...... pays to check

Handy hint for the future...
Use this process and you will never be 180 degrees out when you fit a dizzy !!!


Kingy

p/s ...... hows the hangover ???

haha no hangovers for me. um i run a electric fan so yeah not much movement of air.

and yeah brand spankers. lotsa smoke and a few backfires. the cab filled up with smoke. not a good smell.

but the exhaust was that hot that it backfired about 5 secs after i shut it off. and a rubber hose that was about 100mm away from the pipes got burnt and set fire lucky it wasnt needed or attached.

i have a brand new harmonic balancer. and i didnt have a indicator on the timing case so before i put the heads on i marked where TDC was.

gas has to be a few degrees more advanced than petrol too. ill try a few things tomorrow, and if not my mates cousin where i got all the machining done can come round and see it.

if not ill have to get drunk again

MaccA

V8Patrol wrote:Had this problem before.....

I'd take a stab in the dark and say you aren't running an engine fan for cooling by the sounds. It took about the same time for the set we installed on "ChevyMQ"s rig to do the same and he had no engine fan at all, yet mine never glowed at all but I run a fan.

were yours brand spankin new?

i have a picture of a ford engine that has its extractors glowing. mine were about the colour of the first pipe in the picture.

were yours brand spankin new?

yep ... brand new block huggers


shyte hot pic !!!!!! ... no pun intended !

V8Patrol wrote:

were yours brand spankin new?

yep ... brand new block huggers


shyte hot pic !!!!!! ... no pun intended !

haha. yeah few degrees in them.

im gonna ring pacemaker tomorrow and abuse them. why wouldnt they treat them in the factory?

my engine wasnt running proper but i put the air filters that came off the car my carbies came from and now it runs sweet. its gonna fly.

tryed a fan under my car, was working until i spunge a water leak. gonna steal my mates thermo fan and run it under my car and just tuff it out. til the cams run in. how long did you take to run your cam in?
i was thinking 15-20mins.

once i get to drive it i wanna do a few laps around the block then maybe shoot up to shepparton or something. every 10 mins ill change from 5th to 4th to vary the revs and slow down a bit to vary the speeds.

MaccA

Most manufactures recemend 15 > 20 mins @ 2500 rpm...

The Thermo fan should help but "hard" wire is for the inital running in period..... better still fit an engine fan.

At a guess I'd say you'll have overheating problems once the rig is on road. Chevs do run a hotter block than most other motors and if they arent cooled well its a recipie for disaster...... thats just my experiance with the 5 or 6 odd Ive done !!

Your running in program sounds ok, .... I would highly recemend fitting a mechanicle temp guage for the trip. They arent dear and they give a far more accurt reading. I run the std temp sender in the top hose and a mechanicle sender in the head, it amazes me the different readings I get at times.

With the run in schedule you have planned, vary the revs a bit more than just 4th to 5th while driving @ 100 kph... try dropping your speed down to 70kph in 4th and then accelerate back up to 100kph b4 hitting 5th again.... Dont "mat" the throttle like your drag racing, this will dump excessive fuel down the engine and you run the risk of "washing" the bores/rings of oil and thats not a good look... best way is to increase throttle pressure as the rpm increases

Basically , if you "nurse" the motor during run in you get a wimpy motor that only performs at a set rpm and even then its a lower performance than a std factory unit..... in other words ... make it work hard.
Brand new motors are "redlined" within the first minute of fire up at the factorys..... m/cycle engines are a real eyeopener for this.... they select 1st gear and redline it, 2nd and redline it, 3rd and redline it, 4th and redline it, 5th and redline it, & the same for those bikes that have a 6th !!!

I used to race bikes quite a few years ago and when ever we fitted a new motor the "run in " was a scary one ... leave the pits and keep the revs around the 3 > 4 thousand rpm for the 1st half of the track ... then up to 6 > 7 thou .rpm for the next 1/4 ..... and then flat out.... once ya hit the main straight ya drop it back a gear and hold it for the full length at redline.. !!!!
Belive it or not this worked, and is still done today by the major manafactures. I only ever had 1 blow and it let go mid main straight..... was a short walk to the pit garage but the fans loved it !!!

Now thats good advice, thanks V8Patrol. Nobody wants a 'wimpy' motor

yeah im a mechanical guage man. didnt glow that bad today. but started another fire. stoopid chevy rocker covers. was pissing out oil real bad. but at least i have 70PSI oil pressure that actually works.

varying my speed like that was in my plan. but i was just gonna drive normal around and not really thrash it. out of all the people ive asked they have all had a different theory on running in. hopefully i can get the silicon out and fix my oil problems. then i can drive to the murray to watch the southern 80 this weekend.

hey what sort of LPG convertor and mixer (IMPCO, OMVL, LANDI RENSO)are u using and is the setup off a previous motor and what sorta motor, a glowing exhaust can be a sign of a lot of things such as timing being to far out, cam timing being to far advanced or too much cam over lap, a restriction in the exhaust system and air/fuel ratio to lean,

Your problem sounds like ur A/F is way too lean, and the backfire through the carby is a common sign for LPG motors that ur LPG setup is too lean,

yeah was way too lean coz the filters werent on. so it didnt have as much vacuum in the carbs. there is plenty of gas on tap.

i run twin gas research carbs with twin converters (came off my mates engine that is exactly the same as mine except his isnt a stroker. but his is a 350 bored out to 360cu inch). 400CFM primary 440CFM secondary (nothing else will really handle 400hp). timing was very very retarded. backfire through carb was because of holding primer on while cranking to richen the mixtures.

it doesnt have a wild cam in it. just a torque cam, i set it to what the specs said to. no need for a big cam as the motor doesnt need alot of cam to make lots of power.

i think it was just bad timing + lean mixtures as you said. runs beautiful now. (the engine not the oil out of the rocker cover )

thanks heaps for all the input and ideas fellas.

MaccA

383...youll have to get some pics up

its mainly all carby now plus theres about 50 billion hoses around and im not real proud of my rushed wiring. (ill go get some for ya tho see if bros cam is workin.)

MaccA