CAV #67 Build Up....

Tom_Hughes · 02-21-04, 02:46 PM

Hi Folks,

Thought I'd post where I am at. The car hit the LA doc's just over 2 weeks ago Thursday. Bob Lacy met the container the next Tuesday after it cleared customs and slapped some tires on the car. I asked for Goodyears, and he kindly oblidged me. I had wanted Halibrands in a bad way, but since it came with BRM's, I am on the fence. It does look damn nice. Bob said he'd send the dealer a set of Halibrands, and I could take my time making a decision. Rather kind of him!

I had really wanted the Smith's gauges upgrade package, but after doing the transxle upgrade, decided the standard CAV gauge package would be 'good enough' for me.

From there, Bob quickly loaded it into a transporter to Mustang Oklahoma, home of SC Motorsports. It arrived in Mustang late Thursday, just before the SAAC show in Vegas. Fist chance I could get to Mustang (I live in DFW) was this past Monday. Time for a 6:00 AM raod trip! I got to Mustang by 8:45. Damn, it was pretty... I quickly opened the door... Much to my suprise,,, Smith's Instruments! FREEBIE! THANK YOU BOB LACEY! The chrome bezels just make all the difference in the dash! I snapped a bunch of pic's so I could show all the 'non-car guys' what I just bought.

While there, I checked out the Keith Craft 331 Stroker sitting there. Awesome. Hopefully, they will have most all that is needed and they can start wrenching on it next week. I know, you can't rush genius, so I am trying my best to be paitent. It ain't easy!

More to follow!

Canuk40 · 02-22-04, 10:41 AM

Hi Tom, You're gonna love this car, plus you've got a great support system behind you. Please post some pics when you've got a chance.

Tom_Hughes · 02-22-04, 11:52 AM

Can do Ian,,,

Just have to figure out how. All mine are 5 megapixel shots and are about 1 mb each. From what I can see, we are limited 10 about 100K. I'll dig into the editing software in the next few days & figure out how. Thanks for the encouragement!

JOSEPH · 02-22-04, 01:45 PM

Hi Tom, Great news. I have CAV MONO #8 and know exactly what you are going through. Bob Lacey will continue to take great care of you. Great company to do business with. Good luck with your best buddy. Joe [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

dave harris · 02-23-04, 01:40 PM

Tom, Congratulations - the waiting will get really difficult now that it's so close!

Question on you 331 stroker - I'm considering using a Keith Craft engine as well and wondered how you specified the front cover and water pump to them so that you got the "shortest" available? (or is this not an issue on a CAV?).

thanks

dave harris

frknfast · 02-23-04, 02:35 PM

Hi Tom. Congrats!! I've been where you are last summer. It's worse than the old Heinz Ketchup "anticiaption" commercial but well worth the wait. Good luck with the final build. All should go well. Bob and Ian are great for reference. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Tom_Hughes · 02-24-04, 12:26 AM

Hi folks,

Thanks for all the kind words & encouragement. It is appreciated!

Dave, as fo the motor, I don't know what to tell you... I was a big fan of the TFS Twisted Wedge Heads, but Keith believes in AFR. I like solid lifters, they (Keith & my Builder; Mitch Hughes-no relation) like the roller. I went with the roller just to keep noise down, but to me, there is no prettier sound!

As for the water pump/timing cover, I actually cut a deal with Mitch to use one of the motors already built he had available in his shop. He buys them in bulk from Keith. I am just going to difer to Mitch on the waterpump. The motor was already built and has the timing cover installed. At this point, I don't know if I am going to get a V-belt set up or the serpintine. I don't even know which side outlet I am going to use. I have spoken with Keith 3 or 4 times in the past few years, and he's been great to work with. Also, he has the latest & greatest equipment in his shop. It is very impressive. If you want, send me a PM with your e-mail, and I'll keep you up to date as things progress.

Kind regards,

Tom_Hughes · 03-24-04, 10:57 PM

Hi all,

I have been seriously busy. I am in sales, and our fiscal y/e is 3/31. I have been trying to close all the deals I can. Things have been hectic on the car as well. Most everything is there and ready for assembly, but the dealer is doing two cars at once, and want to do mine second. Well, that's ok, you can't rush genius! That coupled with the fact I am obsessive compulsive on details I have been trying REAL hard to be patient! The transaxle took a while to get my hands on. Bob Lacey had a Getrag built for me that is a hybrid. It has the preferred gear ratios, but a ring & pinion form another unit so as not to run at 3K+ at 80 MPH. The belts & pulleys have been a challenge as well. The motor from Keith Craft is set up for 28-ounce imbalance, but it is a 4-bolt crank pulley set up. We ditched the idea of serpentine, to go with V-belts. It was tough to find a 4-bolt pulley set up for V-belts. Since the AC was set up for a V-belt anyhow, this seemed to be the best approach.

Insurance was a real treat. Some folks wanted 1,100+, which seemed high for a 70K stated value policy. Others did not do 'kits', others would do kits, but not factory built cars! YIKES... I went with ANPAC (Thanks for the suggestion Ben!) They (Parent company is American National Insurance Company) were a customer of mine and spent money with me. Only fair I should reciprocate. I hope to be road worthy in the next 30 days or less, but who knows. The old 'so close, yet so far away'... With the pulleys issue solved, we should be rocking & rolling... Oh, yeah.. Almost forgot.. I wanted to do a ZF, but did not want to wait till I could scrape the extra $$$, so get this. The car I took was set up for a ZF box! Now they have to retrofit it to take a Getrag. Does that suck or what? Just my luck guy's. I'll post some pics. Finally got some in small format.

Tom_Hughes · 03-24-04, 10:59 PM

My neighbors will S&%# when they see this pull up out front...

Tom_Hughes · 03-24-04, 11:00 PM

Another 'open' pic. The car came with the BRM's. I gotta have the Halibrands!

Tom_Hughes · 03-24-04, 11:02 PM

I wanted the louver vents, but the ovals may work better in Texas when it is 113 degrees in the shade. Bob said he'd fix me up with a set of the louver vents to try out.

Tom_Hughes · 03-24-04, 11:22 PM

Mitch had two of the Keith Craft 331 Strokers. One of these will be going in my car, but w/o the Webers. I am going with an aluminum intake & a 670 Avenger.

Tom_Hughes · 03-24-04, 11:24 PM

I guess a few folks will be seeing this end...

BuzzClarke · 03-25-04, 10:10 AM

Tom:

Less than thirty days to go is torture.

Mine goes on the road in the next couple of days. I'm dying a slow death here. I don't think I'm going to muster much sympathy though.

What is the expected performance of your motor?

Regards, Buzz

Tom_Hughes · 03-25-04, 10:28 AM

Buzz,

I know what ya mean... As for the powerplant, Keith Craft says +/- 425 HP at the crank with a very flat torque curve. Last 347 I had in a 65 Mustang with a 715 Center Pivot on an S2MS intake, with a mild solid lifer cam going through a Tremec 5 Speed and a 9 inch rearend pulled 350 rear wheel HP on a chassis dyno and 350 foot pounds of torque. If you shoot low, and say there is only 15% drivetrain loss, that would put that motor right at 402HP at the crank. The motor only had a few hundred miles on it at the time. That was not a Keith Craft motor, but a Coast 347 kit in a Boss 302 block with trickflow twisted wedge heads. I hear the AFS' heads are MUCH better. We'll see.

Tom_Hughes · 03-25-04, 10:34 AM

I still had the pics on my office PC. This was the set-up on the Boss 302/Coast 347 motor.

PATGT40 · 03-25-04, 10:36 AM

Nice car Tom. Yours to Buzz. Building and owning a CAV is quite an experience. My car is equipped with a getreg right now, but I finally found an excellent deal on a ZF box a couple of weeks ago. I am planning the conversion now and hope CAV can supply most of the parts I will need. I will be looking to sell my complete getreg set-up in a few months if anyone is interested. Good luck, guys!
Pat

dave harris · 03-25-04, 10:47 AM

Tom, I will be using a Keith Craft engine as well and would love to know the part numbers / where you found the v-belt pulleys for your motor - I too have been having problems with that!!!

thanks

dave harris

Tom_Hughes · 03-26-04, 03:25 PM

Ok,

Here is a shot of the interior showing the Smith's Instruments. To steal it from Jesse James from Monster Garage, these were a FREEBIE! Thanks Bob!

Tom_Hughes · 03-26-04, 03:42 PM

And, one more, a bit closer in...