Very nice Mark, he did a great job on the roll cage, and the chute mount!
Congrats on the 8.5 cert, it is awesome seeing it coming together, thanks for taking time to share the pics!

Well things are really taking shape there Mark!
I have to admit that roll cage looks very strong/reinforced!
I can wait to hear it run...& see that chute open! ..8:75 at 188mph!
Who is going to do the machining work on the Dist shaft?

My son has a friend that is a really good machinist. My son is on a business trip so I'm waiting for him to return and get the shaft to that person. Hopefully soon.

Mark

I am no machinist, how difficult is it to turn the shaft end into a 3/8 hex?

For me impossible. For a machinist not too bad. It'* mostly in set up. The shaft has to be properly positioned so the same cut is made on each step, to insure the flats of the hex are all equal compared to the center of the shaft. I'm no expert and I'm sure there is a lot more to it. But it can be done with a good machinist.

Mark

i wouldnt think it would be that easy for anyone, probably hardened steel. i would get a sacrificial 3/8ths allen, cut it back and weld it. i think they have 3/8 hex stock but i think the allen wrench would be hardened too.

These were my thoughts also. My son has already talked to the machinist and he said with the proper tooling, machining the hardened shaft should not be a problem, since the hardening is only on the surface. He did not seem to have a problem with it. If the machining was not possible my next thought was a hex extension and using a possible connector. I'm not sure how easy it would be to weld a hex on and get it straight. Any wobble could be a harmonic that could destroy the unit in some way.

Mark

if they say they can, then i guess they can

After reading this from early post I think you had plan to drive this on the street some
but with the filled water jackets on the block.
The engine oil has no way to cool
The oil cools from splashing on the block and is cooled by the coolant inside the block
so you need to add some big oil coolers or plum one in your coolant system
you could wipe out your motor in as little as 20 miles on the street if you don't

{we have had some street racers wipe out there motors in 10 miles in with filled blocks}

They never said they were going to drive a race motor on the street to us

Regal Guy, thank you for mentioning the oil cooling. I will be running a remote oil filter system and planned to add a big cooler in line. I was playing around a little the other day and had forgotten the cooler as I was thinking about the system. I need to get a cooler. I have two smaller coolers used by a local helicopter manufacturer. But I would rather over engineer than fall short and only discover that because of failure.
I got the front drive distributor shaft machined and fitted to the drive spud. Everything appears to work great. Now it'* time to final assemble the distributor.
This is the shaft thru the distributor but no extension, to show how it fits the drive spud.



The full assembly minus cap.



And a side shot of a spacer and dist. clamp that I have to drill and tap a stud for. Once that'* all done I'll cut the hold down spacer for proper height and it'll be all done. I've added an O-ring to the bottom of the distributor where it bottoms out on the top of the extension to make a seal at that point. You can see it just under the slip collar on two of the pics.



I should take the distributor to have it set up on a machine so I know the exact timing curve for start up.
Next is fill and prime the motor with oil. Set the valves and bolt it all back into the car. I bought a slightly used Centerforce clutch to mock up the whole motor trans but I need a stronger one for the final assembly. So I need to work on finding an adequate clutch before I bolt it all in. I'll probably drop a new dual friction 11 inch in and hope that it is enough. If not I'll have to do something down the road.

Mark