• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

427 engine (part 2) - RHS block

Well, Aaron Scott replaced the valve covers that Chris Hardwood originally put on the new engine with the ones that are there now. The ones that Chris put on were too tall and were interfering with the alternator mounting. Since that took place, only the tech at the local Chevy dealership has done any mechanical work on my car that had any opportunity to remove the valve covers. Except for me, of course, and I have not taken off the valve covers at all.

At this point I really don't care who might have done the damage, but I do wish people would just own up to their mistakes.
 
Might as well post some pics I took of this Monster LT1-S triple disk clutch going in my car.

Monster_LT1S_triple_01.jpg




Monster_LT1S_triple_02.jpg




Monster_LT1S_triple_03.jpg




Monster_LT1S_triple_04.jpg




Monster_LT1S_triple_05.jpg
 
Ah! I found a pic of some Granatelli brand valve covers and they looked REAL similar to mine. So I did a search on this thread for "Granatelli", and sure enough, I made note of when Aaron Scott put them on the car and noted that they were, in fact, made by Granatelli. So I'll shoot them an email to see if I can get replacement gaskets from them.

As for replacing the valve covers, that won't be so easy, since Aaron had had a connection welded onto the passenger side one to connect a filtered air baffle so excess pressure in the engine during boost could escape in a controlled manner. Not to mention that it appears that replacements for the Granatelli brand have a $700 price tag on them. :ack2: Sure would feel stupid to have to replace them just because I couldn't find replacement gaskets. I would likely have to figure out how to make the darn gaskets myself.
 
navy2kcoupe said:
I just LOVE how the Monster Clutch in the last photo says "LUK"!
Andy
Click to expand...

Yeah, I noticed that. And I think the disks may be stock GM parts as well. Looks like Monster buys some off the shelf components and manufacturers others for the entire assembly. :shrug01:

As long as it all works together like it should, that's good enough for me.

I do like the fact that all three disks are arranged on a central hub so that the installer doesn't have to try to align three separate clutch disks onto the splines of the torque tube input shaft. Makes things a lot simpler that way.
 
I guess that shop isn't in much of a hurry to get my car out of their service bay. Been there over two months now. Not that I am rushing them, but I sure hope they aren't going to be charging me by the day being in that bay on their lift all this time... :ack2:

As for the valve cover gaskets, I talked with JR Granatelli via email, and apparently what they use is a strand of o-ring "cord" for the gasket. It is a round rubber material (3mm in diameter) that is glued into the milled groove and cut to size.

So I have some on the way and will run it to the shop next week. JR said that the reason the cord is square shaped on my valve covers is because the heat from the engine over time formed it that way. :shrug01:

He told me that they don't make the valve covers any longer because the Chinese made products just drove them out of the marketplace.
 
Well damn... I got in 20 ft. of the 3mm o-ring cord I ordered off of Ebay the other day, but when I measured it, it turned out to be 2.8mm instead. So I contacted the seller and after comparing measurements, he admitted that he had some mislabeled cord that was sent to me. So he shipped me out more of it that he said he measured himself. Got that in today, and guess what? Yep, 2.8mm. Yeah, I know what you might be thinking. "Rich, maybe you are using some cheap Harbor Freight calipers that are measuring inaccurately." Nope. These are Mitutoyo calipers I am using, not the cheap non-name brands.

Now coincidentally enough, I got in more of the o-ring cord that I had ordered earlier directly from China. I decided to order from two different source for some reason, but perhaps that was my "Murphy's Law defense psychic warning system" kicking in. I measured this cord and yep, exactly 3.0mm in diameter. So it is not my caliper that is the problem.

There is still another wrinkle, however. I asked the tech where my car is located to measure the milled groove in the valve covers and he came up with 3mm deep and 3mm wide. Eh? If that is accurate, then I fail to see how 3mm diameter o-ring cord is going to work as an effective seal when the covers are bolted down to the heads. The o-ring will be merely reaching just the lip of the milled groove and likely won't work as any sort of seal at all, I would think. Unless there is some sort of magic going on there that I don't understand.

Why are sometimes the simplest things the most complicated trying to resolve? I just need valve cover seals/gaskets! This shouldn't have to be rocket science!!!
 
mrr23 said:
silicone the groove and stick the cord in.
Click to expand...

Well, it depends. My valve covers might be an earlier design than JR Granatelli realizes while I was discussing this with him. He told me the grooves should be 2.30mm in depth and 3mm in width. But the tech at the shop said he measured 3mm x 3mm on the grooves. If that cord doesn't stick out of that groove, then it won't be forming a seal when the valve covers are put in place. It will really only be metal to metal contact without the rubber cord actually doing anything to keep oil from leaking past it.

I just have to see how they fit, I guess. I'll probably run out to the shop this week, and depending on whether things are in progress to being put back together again, and time is now an issue, I may just bring the valve covers back home and then figure out what I actually need to do the job.
 
I took the o-ring cord I have gotten out to the shop today, and it appears they will do the job. The actual 3mm stuff I got from China seems to fit the best sticking up above the milled groove enough such that it will form a decent oil seal. I offered to bring the valve covers back home and put the seals in myself but the tech told me to not worry about it, he will do it.

He also told me he was planning to start putting everything back together again this time next week, so hopefully everything will go smoothly and work like it is supposed to afterwards. I really hope that new clutch works as well as I have read it does. And with any luck the drivetrain noises and problems will be behind me and I can just drive the car without worrying about a strange noise being an early warning of something about to break or fall off leaving me stranded alongside the road.
 
Well the shop was supposed to start putting my car together on this past Monday, but I haven't heard anything from them. Darn I hate to be a nag, but damn.... Going on three months now that it's been in the shop.
 
Rich, after this latest go-round is completed, if you have anymore problems with the block or drivetrain, maybe it's time to just say that this Z06 is "snake bit" and move away from it. Seems sad to me that people will tell you what you want to hear, then do something completely different. As for myself, I think I would be butthole deep to a giraffe in lawsuits by now............
Andy
 
Funny you should mention that, Andy. I was telling Connie just the other day that this is going to be the last gasp in getting things right with that car. I know I can look at this as just a hobby, to putter around with in the garage, but damn... Enough is enough, already.

As for the lawsuit path, nah... I don't have a whole lot of faith in the legal system. As one of my attorneys once told me, "legal" and "fair" do NOT mean the same thing. I saw how things went with Chris Harwood when I went to the local sheriff's department to file a complaint against him. And when I filed a complaint with my credit card company concerning Aaron Scott, that didn't go all that well, neither. So that just does not seem to be a wise path to pursue. IMHO.
 
Rich Z said:
Been reading over this thread starting on when my car got towed to Aaron's shop on September 17, 2010. I'm up to February 7, 2011, and had to stop reading... A root canal without any novocaine couldn't be any more painful....
Click to expand...

Been reading over this thread trying to figure out what I did when I relocated the MAP sensor for the tech now working on my car. Honestly it is absolutely no less painful today in the least.
 
Rich Z said:
Been reading over this thread starting on when my car got towed to Aaron's shop on September 17, 2010. I'm up to February 7, 2011, and had to stop reading... A root canal without any novocaine couldn't be any more painful....
Click to expand...

Been reading over this thread trying to figure out what I did when I relocated the MAP sensor for the tech now working on my car. Honestly it is absolutely no less painful today, over 7 years later, in the least.
 
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