Author Topic: TRACO Fans  (Read 173799 times)

MO

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #135 on: January 22, 2013, 03:38:13 AM »
Your use of "Mr. Pigpen" brought back some memories of Travers. One of his pet peeves was not to call him "Sir" or "Mr", he'd reply that from past military experience, both were synonymous with "As_hole" or "F_cking Idiot". - LoL

That's funny, I remember my drill sergeants favorite saying was "don't call me sir...I work for a living"

Pigpen

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #136 on: January 24, 2013, 04:52:50 PM »
This is the TRACO emblem I remember....


Jon Mello

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #137 on: January 25, 2013, 04:14:47 AM »
I think that's the Traco logo from the 70's and 80's. I've got a little bit different version of that sticker somewhere. I'll have to see if I can find it over the weekend.
Jon Mello
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firstgenaddict

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #138 on: February 05, 2013, 04:20:03 PM »
I see there is a socket head cap screw in the balancer ring to keep it from "spinning" on the hub.
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Jon Mello

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #139 on: February 09, 2013, 05:26:22 AM »
I understand screwing the outer part of the balancer to the inner hub to keep it from coming off at sustained high speed but it would seem to be incapable of dampening any torsional vibrations from the crankshaft like that.
Jon Mello
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69Z28-RS

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #140 on: February 09, 2013, 02:25:54 PM »
If it were a locking down of the outer mass ring to the damper hub, I would agree with you Jon, but perhaps if there were a larger hole thru the outer ring than the screw inserted, leaving a vibrational gap region around the screw shaft, the screw could resist a total slippage, but could still allow the mass damper to damp out high freq vibrations and harmonics.
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Jon Mello

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #141 on: February 10, 2013, 08:27:16 PM »
Thanks for the thought, Gary. It doesn't look like there's any clearance around the head of the cap screw in the photo and it even looks like it's staked in place so as not to back itself out.
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Pigpen

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #142 on: March 11, 2013, 11:41:25 PM »
I have no idea what that cap screw is doing there, but I agree with Jon that it would render the dampening action null.

I've never seen that before, it was not a TRACO practice to do that.

Pigpen

Jon Mello

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #143 on: June 10, 2013, 04:22:41 PM »
An ebay auction (#151061102844) for a Racer Brown roller camshaft used by Traco in their 215 Olds race engines. Super rare item these days. Thanks to Robert Lodewyk for pointing this out.

Text from the auction reads as follows...

This is a very early steel billit roller cam and lifters ground by the original Racer Brown in Ca. for TRACO who built 215cu.in.aluminum Olds engines for Bruce McLaren's sports car racing.

The #55 grind is considered the slalom,road race cam. This has to be one of the earlyest roller set ups because of the unusual lifter and retention system.

This is collectable or usable in vintage road racing. This is a solid roller lifter.

Buy it now and get the CAR&DRIVER also
Jon Mello
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kgu

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #144 on: June 11, 2013, 05:51:15 PM »
With reference to reply # 70 and #71:
    I am pretty sure the track was Donnybrooke and Gene I remember quite well when you arrived because George finally turned his attention onto to you instead of us! Thank you for that! LOL. You solved the problem and we (the crew) were all rewarded, one at a time with one lap around the track. It was INCREDIBLE! I climbed into the car for my turn and laced my arms and legs through the roll cage and remember being thrown back and forth and side to side the whole lap. He did his best to scare the s--t of me - and he did! Roy Woods had a buddy visiting (we rented the track for the day) and Roy bet him (big bucks) he would not go around for a "second" lap. Gene, you probably remember George doing one lap and Roy's buddy walking straight to Roy and counting out the bills. It was quite a memorable day.
      Gene, it was a pleasure to meet you that day and each time after that when we went to the nearest airport to ship and pickup engines we thought of you.

                                                                         Ken Ulrich                               

Pigpen

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #145 on: June 13, 2013, 11:52:07 PM »
Off topic....

So life taught me another valuable lesson last week, never too old to learn (the hard way)!

One of our family cars blew a head gasket at 62,000 miles and naturally out of warranty (12 years old with a 10 year warranty). An embarrassing thing to happen to an old mechanic.

So I checked around to find out if this particular engine was prone to head gasket failure or if it was just a fluke.

Turns out that the "Green" (Tree Hugger) coolant being used in most of the newer engines, cars, trucks and larger diesel engines, becomes roughly 100 times more acidic than the older types of coolant used (if left unchanged or untreated) and tends to eat through the head gaskets (and other gaskets) in a fairly short period of time. The mechanic showed me the head gasket and how badly it was acid eaten, the one spot where it ate through was just the first of many places needing only a little more time.

This problem is not advertised as the "Tree Huggers" are lobbying hard to keep it quiet, because they previously lobbied so hard to get the government to force the new coolant onto the engine producers.

Ford has a couple of lawsuits pending against the government to stop using it, as Ford has had a lot of eaten through head gaskets over the past couple of years and it's very expensive for them to replace those under warranty. This is not just a Ford problem, all the manufactures are in the same boat, both domestic and foreign.

Most of the larger diesel engine manufactures now have a stipulation in their warranties, where if the coolant is not tested and certified for Ph level annually, the engine warranty will be void.

The coolant can be tested yearly and if necessary, a "Buffering Agent" can be used to control the Ph. Many of the dealerships are now performing this service, but most private shops are not. Preventative maintenance is not in the best economical interests of most non-dealership mechanics.

So beware and have your vehicles coolant Ph tested, it can be costly.

After a little more research, I found that the new "Green" coolant is no better for the environment than the previous coolants, it still contains Ethylene Glycol at dangerous to animals levels, plus some other (new) ingredients which cause environmental problems, but the "Tree Huggers" are not about to admit they made a mistake, one which is costing the vehicle producers and consumers millions of $$.

Sad, sad times we live in!

Pigpen

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #146 on: June 14, 2013, 04:36:52 AM »
'tree huggers' don't PASS the laws.. our government does, and WE let them.   If we make as much noise as the few tree huggers, we can keep this crap to a minimum... Most of the environmental laws and regs are born in ignorance.... and allowed to exist due to apathy.
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motorman

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #147 on: June 28, 2013, 12:47:52 AM »
I understand screwing the outer part of the balancer to the inner hub to keep it from coming off at sustained high speed but it would seem to be incapable of dampening any torsional vibrations from the crankshaft like that.
pick up a "chevy power book" and it shows how to modify the damer with screws so the outer ring would not come off. did a lot of them back in the day. did you ever meet bill howell your days at traco ?? i went to the TA races thru GM and bill and i would spy on the ford camp by hanging around in their pits.
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motorman

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #148 on: June 28, 2013, 12:53:30 AM »
An ebay auction (#151061102844) for a Racer Brown roller camshaft used by Traco in their 215 Olds race engines. Super rare item these days. Thanks to Robert Lodewyk for pointing this out.

Text from the auction reads as follows...

This is a very early steel billit roller cam and lifters ground by the original Racer Brown in Ca. for TRACO who built 215cu.in.aluminum Olds engines for Bruce McLaren's sports car racing.

The #55 grind is considered the slalom,road race cam. This has to be one of the earlyest roller set ups because of the unusual lifter and retention system.

This is collectable or usable in vintage road racing. This is a solid roller lifter.

Buy it now and get the CAR&DRIVER also

i have a isky 2 gear drive roller cam out of one of jim halls chaparral that i picked up thru GM and maybe i should try and sell it.   :D
new Camaros owned 68 and 69 Z-28. new Corvettes owned 59,62,63,64,65,66,97,99 02,05 and 08. retired race engine builder, former NASCAR tech inspector

motorman

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Re: TRACO Fans
« Reply #149 on: June 28, 2013, 12:24:59 PM »
The earlier chevy rods were too weak and required a lot of massaging to last a race or two, the later (2.1 journal) rods were stronger. TRACO (when possible) used Carillo rods and Bartz used the 427 rods, both worked well.  i built several Daytona 500 engines using the 427 rods in SBC but they also broke and we referred to them as vbince piggens peanut butter rods
new Camaros owned 68 and 69 Z-28. new Corvettes owned 59,62,63,64,65,66,97,99 02,05 and 08. retired race engine builder, former NASCAR tech inspector