I have NEVER cracked a piston when pressing the pins out. Yes, it's possible but out of hundreds I did -never had one crack. It's all in the support of the piston.:drink:

Hey Ron, or anyone, do you know anything about fuel cell rules? I decided that in the name of safety we'd replace the stock stamped metal fuel tank with a smaller foam filled cell (pretty cheap really). But are there any restrictions you can think of about how and where they're mounted etc.?

1.4 FUEL SYSTEM All fuel tank filler necks located inside trunk must have filler neck vented to outside of body. Vented caps prohibited. All batteries, fuel lines, fuel pumps or filler necks located inside trunk require complete bulkhead of at least .024-inch (.6 mm) steel or .032 (.8 mm) aluminum to isolate driver compartment from trunk. Fuel lines must be located outside driver compartment. Fuel tanks must be within the confines of the body.

Got it. Sounds like I can just get a fuel cell and strap it in the stock location.

Re: Battery
I have a legit battery box, but didn't releaize that a bulkhead was required between the back compartment and the front to rear mount the battery. Mmmm. . .

I'm not sure what has to be done with the fuel cell. I know it has to be inside the car but I'm not sure what has to be done with the hatch area. I'll ask the next time I go to the track.

With the battery you don't have to have a bulk head as long as there is a vent tube on the box to the outside of the car. There are only a couple of companies that make NHRA legal boxes. One being Taylor which is what I have in the Chevelle and the Cobra. It also has to be mounted so that one of the hold down bolts goes the the frame or subframe.

Oh, and if it is in the back we have to have an external shut off switch that is clearly marked.

Picked up the internals today.

Ron, I decided to get another set of rings (while we're at it). Can I drop off the pistons and new rings with you tomorrow at the cruise and you can install the rings at your leisure in preparation for assembling the bottom end?

What rings are they and are they file fit rings? Did you find out what the ring manufacturer recommends for ring gaps with a blower? We need to check the end gaps before we install them on the pistons.

They are these.

No, but the pistons have the same rings on as when we removed them from the engine. I don't know if Joe had the engine built with the blower or added it later. Joe?

Did you get this exact part number which is for a 4.000 bore? Wasn't the block bored .030? If so, these are the wrong size. If you have the correct size rings the next step is to check the end gaps which you do by installing the rings in the block and use a feeler gauge. Considering the low boost we'll be running and the fact that this will be a drag race engine I would set the top ring around .020-.022 and the second ring around .012-.014. What do you think Glenn?

Make sure you have the correct rings first and then we can arrange a night for me to come over and we'll check the rings and start building the short block.