[NorCam]

Enter 2018

A little update for the 68. Back in early 2017 I pulled the original motor out of it and put a fresh 360 solid roller motor in it for the summer. Great build that made some great power but a little too radical for long highway cruises. Being that the bulk of my cruising involves highway runs to and from neighboring towns, I've decided to go back to a hydraulic cam to put less load on the valve train.

When I pulled out the old 350 that was in the car for about 30 years, I freshened it with a balanced assembly using a forged 1182 crank, a set of pink rods, and the old TRW 11:1 slugs with new rings and bearings. The old 462 heads were treated to a little port & polish work while screw-in studs and guides were added with Comp Magnum rockers. I used a Crower 00471 Hydraulic Roller for this build and it's still lumpy enough for the folks who like bigger cams but responsive enough to get this little 4 gear cruiser moving along.

I ran the motor in this week and Mike Thorpe came over last night so we could adjust the valve train, tune the carb in a little bit, and do a few checks during its second run. Mike's now rebuilding the 4053DZ carb that used to top this 610 intake and that will be added to the motor once it's installed back into the car. No leaks or issues with this hot little small block, so the next move is to swap it back into the 68. This one should make an honest 425 horsepower while being a bit more forgiving on valve train parts with longer distance cruises.