Keep it coming…

He must be working at his job or so deep in his shop with the door locked. Are you getting food and water through a small prison meal port?

Nah, PorscheDude, I've just been working, waterskiing, etc., etc.
I'm trying to find a good solid block of time with which to get things accomplished, but life keeps getting in the way. I'm hoping to dedicate Monday to finishing the valve to piston clearance check.

Don't forget your air baffles...

Hey Detroit, you said you’re working for the Tower. Is that the three glass towers on Jefferson with the Marriott Hotel inside?

I’m not at all familiar with the plant locations, but I stayed in the Marriott a cold of nights. I was looking to by a 69 Yenco Camaro. The owner lived a couple doors down from Edsel or Shoreline Drive. Ai must say that is a very dreamy drive from the GM glass tower to the lake. Wink-wink.

@mikedsilva, thank you for the oversight. I haven't forgotten the air deflectors. You'll notice the drain back tubes are missing also. I've assembled it this far in order to do a valve to piston clearance check. Once confirmed I'll strip it back down and put it back together with the sealant, gaskets, etc.

@porschedude, I haven't been in the Renn Cen since GM bought it. Powertrain world HQ used to be in Pontiac, which is ten minutes north of me. But... For some mystifying reason they moved us back to Warren several years back. It's never made any sense to me. All of our dynos are still in Pontiac, as well as (prototype) engine build. All that said, I only go into the office one day a week...
Did you happen to take a tour of Edsel Ford's place? It's worth the five bucks. Super cool residence.

No wonder the guy has money, he charges to tour his house. I must try that myself ;). Not knowing Detroit’s layout, we may be talking about two houses. I drove by Edsel Bryant Ford II house. Edsel (II) and I call each other bud and dude. Hah! That’s a stretch.

Alright, I've made a mistake, and could use some advice...

I finally managed to get this thing built up enough to check the valve to piston clearance. Finding the time has been challenging of late, and I had to make a few more tools. Specifically, a couple of dummy chain tensioners and a tool to grab the nose of the cam to prevent it from spinning when I pulled the dowel on the cam sprockets. They were easy to make, but still ate up a bit of time.
Anyway... I timed the cams, double checked them, triple checked them, and was quite pleased with how close I managed to get to the specified 4.5mm of overlap for my chosen DC40's. Not that it matters as I've stripped the whole thing back down to pistons and cylinders.
This is where I realized I effed up. I had the heads pulled off when it dawned on me that I had just plain forgotten to install the exhaust rockers... Duh.
So... Do I put it all back together, and do it again? Or, have I gleaned enough data from the intake side to infer that I've enough clearance on the exhaust side?
The pistons are Carrillo 9.5:1.
I cannot provide an exact intake valve to piston clearance, but it is greater than 3.5mm.

My latest homemade tools.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1694435789.jpg

Damned close to 4.5mm. The other bank wasn't far off either.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1694435789.jpg

You know the answer Detroit. You’ll never live with yourself if you don’t recheck the exhaust valve to piston clearance. I think I know you and you may be cut from the same fabric as I (Aerospace Design Engineer) read “Anal Retentive”. I have had many a Homer Simpson expression “D’oh” in my hobbies, as well as work. As long as the Woo-Hoo’s follow the “D’oh,s you’ll be good.

By the way, I need to make something like your tools for my build.

Still want to find the gathering spot for Porsche cars during the Dream Cruise! Will be back again next year! :)

Coming along very nicely.. I think you might have to put it back together but it will be worth it..

Are you planning to post your final cost figure for this "budget 3.0 build"

I'd be curious to see what it cost you overall. I just got a 3.0 Targa and haven't dug into it yet.

@Itzame, I hadn't thought about posting my net expenditures, but it would make sense. I initially kept track of all the costs on a spreadsheet, but kind of lost my way on that. I've kept all receipts though, so just need to add it all up.
...And then check myself into the nearest hospital.

I kept track of mine on a spreadsheet. It's really scary. The trips to Cinque Terra, Amalfi, the alps, etc, that I could have taken make me cry.

So, yesterday I called the cam man himself, John Dougherty. After discussing my situation he concluded that I'll have plenty of exhaust valve clearance, so I guess I'm free to assemble for good. I still have a niggling feeling that I should go through the process again just for confirmation, but...

Hahah! I am finishing up the remodel on our house so trust me, I know about keeping track of the spreadsheet costs.. or lack of!! I will be doing the same thing here shortly and the number will probably not sit well with me but oh well.

If you end up seeing what it costed you, I'd be interested in hearing that for sure.

I'm in Cleveland so if you ever wanted to rebuild another one with some margin for you, maybe I can be your first customer! Just a thought :)

I got my cams and rockers back from him a few weeks ago. I went with a 964 grind. How about you?

Detroit, if John D says it’s okay, I would not worry about it. However, your final safety check should be after you assemble the cam housings and cams and set the timing, then go to the overlap TDC and screw in the adjusters until the valve Contacts the piston. Count the number of turns it took to touch the piston. Each turn is 1mm. You should have 1.5mm or more. I like to go back and forth from TDC checking several points to be sure that the clearance is adequate through that period of overlap.

@ItzaMe, I just did a rough tally of what I've got into this thing thus far. $11,135.
That includes estimates of the powder coating and case cleaning.
It does NOT include the cost of the engine itself, the Webers, the exhaust, oil tank and lines, or motor mounts. Nor does it include the clutch and flywheel which I have yet to purchase. Same with the wiring harness. I'd put a copy of the spreadsheet on here, but I'm (A) not that computer savvy, and (B) don't know that my suppliers want all their information published. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

@porschedude996, DC40's are my chosen cams.

@PeteKz, Thanks for the tip.

Umm.... I forgot that I also bought a 123Distributor, coil, and wires for this thing. Can't remember what I paid for it all. I'd have to look through my credit card statements.