What's on your "bucket list"?

[rayjay]

On another note,,,,have been watching a video of an Honda cbx,6 cly,,,,teardown and rebuild on you tube,,,,sitting in the elements for thirty years,,,,bent #1 cylinder rod,,,,found a large box staple inside the engine????Really good video,,,,multiple parts,,,,lots of great detail,,,,

YouTube has basically replaced the TV for me. Other than F1, NHRA [ which is going downhill fast ] and specials like the PBS Space documentaries I don't watch TV. I can watch YT for hours . We should start a YT thread listing our favorite channels.

 

[normaldave]

"Bucket List" -The Final Chapter.

For those who have been playing along, thank you so much on behalf of Joel's family. Your support and enthusiasm spurred us on, when the situation looked bleak. It was a wonderful outcome, but not without struggles along the way.

Procession:
The Patriot Guard Riders showed up in force to escort Joel's remains all the way from Rome to Canton, and the Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery

Led by this special Patriot Guard Hero Escort Dodge Charger. Note the Air Force Seal on the fender!


I had the honor of driving the hearse, carrying Joel's ashes behind the Patriot Guard Riders, along with his best friend Ryan (the plumber who helped on the project)


When I came thundering in driving Frankenstein at the funeral home, most vehicles were already in line. As I rounded the building approaching my spot, I had to "blip the throttle" of course, to clear a path. The funeral director told me that the family said "He'd know which truck it was" when I arrived. He told me they were right...

I've seen these escorts before, but being part of it was the most amazing experience and honor I've ever had. I'm tearing up now just writing about it.

Floyd County Sheriff Deputies mounted up in mutiple white Dodge Hemi Chargers to clear the path. Let me tell you folks, you ain't seen nothing like it. When I can feel the wind blast of a Hemi Charger blowing by me at ~ 100mph to catch the next intersection, and it shakes Frankenstein the truck, now that's moving on!

They played leap frog, closing intersections all the way from Armuchee, through Rome, and out to the County line

Sheriff Burkhalter's boys were the ultimate professionals, each standing at attention, arms crossed behind their backs, outside their patrol car as the motorcade went through each intersection.

When we hit the county line, all the patrol cars had gotten back ahead of us on Hwy 411, with every Deputy standing outside his vehicle in full dress uniform saluting the flags of the Patriot Guard, as they passed, and then immediately switching to "hand over heart" after the last flag passed, and my "hearse" passed with the family following immediately behind me. "In God We Trust' indeed in Floyd County, and thank you to Sheriff Tim Burkhalter and his excellent staff!

People stopped everywhere, even divided highways, tractor trailers, several people got out of their cars, stood at attention, a cement truck driver, a young man in a convertible. I was told these were likely other Veterans. It didn't matter that they didn't know this young man, all they needed to know was that he got up each day, went to work, and helped weave the blanket of freedom we sleep comfortably under each night.
Patriot Guard Mission Call for Joel Newsum: (be sure to track these folks down and tell them thanks)
Patriot Guard Mission

As we entered the Georgia Veterans Cemetery, the lead escorts broke off, and and we were directed to a staging area, on the way there, there was a single Patriot Guard rider to escort us, the sole defender, he was an Air Force Veteran, who had the honor of riding with the official U.S. Air Force flag on his bike along with the United States Flag. I got out of the truck to thank him, I'm pretty sure I just stood there and blubbered something stupid. He just said, "It's my honor and privilege sir".

The Service:
Our time arrived, and we were led to an outdoor pavilion. Frankenstein was to stop about 30 feet behind the funeral director car. Every Patriot Rider stood guarding the entry to the pavilion Their bike U.S. Flags by there side. The American Legion VFW from Rome, stood across the drive in full dress. Commands were issued, attentions snapped, arms in order, and Joel's cremated remains along with his father's (James Newsum USN WWII) were escorted under the pavilion, with two tri-corner flags, followed by family, then attendees.

I was asked to speak along with Ryan, then the American Legion took over for military honors. 3 volleys x 7, Taps with a real bugle, Flags opened then folded, (no caskets), then 3 shell casings presented to the family, (Duty, Honor, Country), Presidential paperwork, and more. Then Patriot Guards made presentations, and the ceremony closed, with internment in nearby mausoleum cabinets.

Cont'd

 

[normaldave]

Bucket list-Service cont'd:
Amazing facility. Worth a visit. Look it's JRobertsJ20, in his Jeep truck, U.S. Flag on display, that guy really gets around!

Joel's siblings with Frankenstein. All have served, even his sister married an Army Ranger.

Oldest at age 71 flew his home built Vans R4 plane all the way from Phoenix, AZ!

A gathering at Williams Bros. BBQ in Canton, his sister said for us to "celebrate life".

 

[rayjay]

Really awesome !!

 

[normaldave]

Frankenstein lives, (hopefully for more than a few days this time...).
So my friend managed to pick the "perfect storm" combination of parts that didn't play well together during break-in. The machine shop was stumped, we were stumped, seems most everybody but rayjay was stumped, and I think this build even threw a couple by him too.

We lost two camshaft and lifter sets. I was ready to give up, the family was ready to give up. I just didn't think I had another "try" in me. Woke up one morning, talked with my wife, we decided I had to do something. I had previously just installed somebody else's part choices, and machine shop's work, I didn't do the "build" myself.

This time I decided I would rebuild it the way I would if it were just me, because I had just gone off on my own tangent, taking a big chance with this unknown cause of failure, it was, well...just me. I ordered a Lunati Voodoo cam in a smaller duration, and larger lift, based on a Mopar grind. 268/276 and .474/.513 lift at 106 degrees. I chose some Crower Cam "camsaver" hi-lube lifters designed to shift more oil down the side of the lifter to the face.

Crower camsaver lifters have a "flat" machined on the side to increase oil flow.

I ran across a online contact at Crower camshaft in San Diego, California. He seemed sharp on small block Mopars, so I took a chance and emailed him asking for supporting comments on the "camsaver" lifters his company built, in hopes that I had made a good decision. I included the engine specs and pictures of the damaged lifters and rocker that had a pushrod punched through it just to give him background.

I hit "send" on the email, and I kid you not, within 2 minutes, my phone was ringing from California, "Hey man, this is Shane at Crower, got a minute?". Sure, I stammered, what's up? "I know what the problem is with your motor...I just have a couple questions". Turns out that modern machining of the new crank, rods, and pistons, combined with the high volume oil pump in this old block, created a high pressure point in the lifter galley during prime and break in. Literally hydro locked the rear lifters. Add to that the excess spring pressure, (rayjay mentioned this possibility earlier), of the Edelbrock heads, and the lack of zinc and phosphate in the modern oils all combined to do the motor in. Here is Shane, "relaxing" on the weekend, His small block Dart now runs ~9.80s in the 1/4 mile. He's a mechanical engineer to boot. I'm pretty sure he knows his stuff.

But NE GA Pappy sent the right stuff didn't he? Of course, it was perfect, but was wasted on the high volume (not high pressure mind you), oil pump, and strong valve springs, combined with the Mopar lifter bore layout.

Solution: swap for stock oil pump, install weak 318 vallve springs for break in, do everything else the same, run 20 minutes, shut down, swap back to Edelbrock high performance springs another 20 minutes, idle down, and final tune. Finished the break in late Wednesday night, funeral service Friday, cutting it close.

Finally! It made it to Canton and back without a hitch. Thanks again for following along. I highly recommend Crower Cams, service was above and beyond on Shane's part. Kinda wish I hadn't already ordered the cam elsewhere, but it runs like a scalded dog now with the Lunati cam successfully setup and centerlined.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1155637752064598021

Another big thank you to my wonderful wife, all the friends who helped with this project, NE GA Pappy for special oil and additive, Larry Smith Auto Machine Shop for donating shop time on the 2nd rebuild, even people I don't know, like you folks here on the forum, and Shane at Crower Cams in California.

We're pretty sure our friend would have loved this motor in his old rustbucket truck. Well at least he got to take his only, and final ride in Frankenstein during his funeral.

 

[Cmp1]

Looked like a great service,,,,wish I could've been there,,,,say hello to the family please from a fellow AF Vet,,,,

 

[ddavis1120]

Amazing story!!

Rest in peace Joel!

 

[normaldave]

More project notes.
So any of you fellow gearheads get tired of noisy, leaky exhaust header gaskets? I found the best set out there. Graphite impregnated, torque them to 20 ft/lbs, (not more than that), and you're done. Remflex gaskets.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1157390615111446528

 

[normaldave]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1159174285526781952

 

[gma1320]

Sorry for the loss of your friend and a member of the hot rod community. That is a fine thing you did.

 

[normaldave]

Well Friends, the saga continues, similar to the story of "How the mouse got the cheese".

-My friend Joel, in his will, left the truck, (Frankenstein the monster). and his personal possessions to our friend the plumber. Remember, Joel lived alone, no family.

-The plumber has way more vehicle projects than he can manage already, but he happened to be in financial need.

-I have a '67 Dart Convertible, 273 V8 Power Pak, that has been sleeping peacefully in storage for over 20 years awaiting completion of restoration. The Frankenstein motor will drop right into the Dart, and get it back on the road.

-We made a cash offer for the motor that I "brought to life", and a second offer for the whole truck, as my wife has started to really like the "old rustbucket".

-The plumber sold us the whole truck, he got some relief, we got a truck and/or a motor. Another friend has expressed interest in the truck body, rust and all. We'll see when the time comes.

-My wife wants to drive it to work intimidate staff and students at her school.

-As of yesterday, Frankenstein has returned to live with us permanently!
-Here he is, back in "the laboratory" awaiting a 3/8" aluminum fuel line upgrade to take care of some driveability and vapor lock issues.

-And that's how the mouse got the cheese. Everybody wins, and we are able to continue to honor our friend's gearhead legacy, by keeping his project, "in the family" of his friends.

 

[Cmp1]

Well Friends, the saga continues, similar to the story of "How the mouse got the cheese".

-My friend Joel, in his will, left the truck, (Frankenstein the monster). and his personal possessions to our friend the plumber. Remember, Joel lived alone, no family.

-The plumber has way more vehicle projects than he can manage already, but he happened to be in financial need.

-I have a '67 Dart Convertible, 273 V8 Power Pak, that has been sleeping peacefully in storage for over 20 years awaiting completion of restoration. The Frankenstein motor will drop right into the Dart, and get it back on the road.

-We made a cash offer for the motor that I "brought to life", and a second offer for the whole truck, as my wife has started to really like the "old rustbucket".

-The plumber sold us the whole truck, he got some relief, we got a truck and/or a motor. Another friend has expressed interest in the truck body, rust and all. We'll see when the time comes.

-My wife wants to drive it to work intimidate staff and students at her school.

-As of yesterday, Frankenstein has returned to live with us permanently!
View attachment 981545-Here he is, back in "the laboratory" awaiting a 3/8" aluminum fuel line upgrade to take care of some driveability and vapor lock issues.

-And that's how the mouse got the cheese. Everybody wins, and we are able to continue to honor our friend's gearhead legacy, by keeping his project, "in the family" of his friends.

Great,,,,congrats,,,,

 

[normaldave]

So our friend passed July 2, 2019. Today, we decided to make a road trip to visit Georgia National Cemetery, kicking off Independence Day weekend. His beloved 1971 Dodge D100 led the way.
Hopefully, you can scroll through to the other pictures

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1279163046053675010

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1279168462561120257