More Information -Engine

In February 1989, the work on the engine began. The engine presented a number of challenges. All I had were photos taken of the engine in the car with the hood open and only showing the top parts. I also found a Hot Rod from 1961 that showed an older version of this engine that Mickey Thompson built with a small 2-71 blower.

The block was honed, and a new piston was purchased. The heads were overhauled. I measured the cylinder volume and the heads to determine the compression ratio. I wanted it to be 7 or 8 to 1. However, it turned out to be 9:1, and there was no way to reduce it. Due to the high compression ratio, the engine will have to run on pure racing fuel. In most cases, this will not be a bad thing, as this car will probably not be driven very often. The pistons and rods were balanced, and the engine assembled. There were a number of items that had to be worked out. The first was how the alternator was held on the block. It had to clear the blower drives. Second item: how was the block cooled? All I could tell from the photos was that there were two hoses running from the radiator to the block, and you could not tell what they connected to on the engine. The blower intake manifold did not have any water crossovers. We determined that the coolant must have been circulated by using the holes in the heads. I designed a pipe connection to fit on the alternator side, and we opened up a hole in the power steering bracket and made a pipe connection for that size. After this was completed, a special bracket was designed and built for the alternator. Finally, the belt drives were on and in the correct place.

After the blower and drives were installed on the block, I attached the carburetors. When I started the engine, I only had two carburetors. These were Carter YH side drafts. I contacted Jon Hardgrove, who sells kits for rebuilding carburetors from his shop in Eldon, Missouri. I have known Jon for many years, and he has helped me out with many problems. I gave Jon the tag numbers on the two carbs I got with the blower. He had records from Carter on all the carburetors that they made. In looking up the numbers, he found that these were special for a blower application. All the specifications for the parts were in the records. He had the tools to make what was needed and made rebuilding packages for me. I then rebuilt all four carburetors and painted them with wrinkle black, which was used in 1963.