As a lot of the veterans to this site know there was a time last year after I put a "newly built" 428 CJ in my car that I had severe over heating problems. From my initial start up I had trouble with heat. I spent hundreds of dollars trying to make a poorly built engine run cool enough to drive. Everyone here had some very good suggestions and I tried them all. But, the bottom line was that my engine was never going to be right for several reasons (mis-matched parts and a general dis-regard for tolerances).
NOW THE GOOD NEWS. After the above engine ate up all the bearings and lifters I started over. I bought a good 428 CJ block from one of our local Ford guys and gave it to Carbone's machine shop to build for me. All new parts were used except for the rods and crank. A great deal of care was taken by Steve and Kent in the line boring, decking, surfacing, balancing, etc. The engine went together beautifully. The first fire was sweet music the way it rumbled with an attitude.
Over the last four or five weeks I have driven the engine in excess of 800 miles including almost 200 miles under race conditions. After each
oil change I would examine my
oil and the contents of my System One filter. Nothing more than normal wear have been observed. I even went as far as having my
oil examined by a chemist to let me know how much foreign material was found in my oil ...negligable.
Over the last two weeks we have had several days in the mid to upper 90's and I have been at numerous LONG stop lights and my temp gauge never creaped above 200 degrees and usually it stays at 195 degrees (I have a 195 degree thermostat). Even when racing my temp never exceeded 200 degrees and my oil pressure at idle is about 40 psi and runs up to about 80 psi as my rpms increase. My oil temp stays right at 250 - 260 degrees.
In short I am very happy with my engine and I want to thank Carbone's Machine Shop here in Tulsa for their good work. I would highly recommend Steve and Kent and I would encourage anyone wanting a good engine build at a very fair price to contact these guys. As many of you know they do stand behind their work 100%.
Carbone's Machine Shop & Racing Engines 918-835-6596
I believe giving credit where credit is due and their attention to detail and care certainly deserves mentioning. Thank you both.
Clois Harlan
Giving credit for Staying Cool...
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