Build Project: Midnight Panic

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Then this days off my header parts showed up,
The engine I am building for this truck will run Blue Thunder aluminum heads, & even tho it is a big block Ford these particular heads use a big block chevy exhaust flange pattern, you would think this is convenient since a lot of stuff is made for the BBC, however the Ford spark plug placement does not work with a standard BBC header flange,
So I ordered a set of Dynatech BBC header flanges, based off the pics I seen they looked like there may be access to the spark plugs with the way the flange was cut, I also ordered a BBC 2.375" primary header weld up kit, a hand full of J-bends & a set of 5" collectors,

When everything showed up I was disappointed to find out that while the quality was nice, the holes for the port/primary were nearly big enough for a 2.5" tube, (way to sloppy for 2.375 stuff)
So I dug the flanges out that came with the weld-up kit, & event though the primary holes were closer, they were still sloppy, & the mounting bolt holes were way over sized,

A 7/16" bolt fit perfect where a 3/8" fastener is supposed to be used,

I realize it's not a bad idea to have the bolt holes a little over sized for heat/expansion, a drill size or two would be fine, but a full bolt size, that's a bit excessive. Combine that with the fact I would have to cut the flanges apart & make them individual port flanges to have access to the spark plugs, it was just easier to start from scratch & build my own one piece parts that actually fit.

Access to spark plugs too!

 

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Headman Hedders brand has always been my go to for header weld-up kits, but I have notice sometime over the last few years the quality has gotten pretty bad, the last two sets that I have used had lots of tooling marks & crimps in the tubing.

I just don't understand why it's so hard to get a quality off the shelf part, (custom headers are not off the shelf, but all the parts I bought to build them are)

Even though it was more work, I was able to use quite a bit of the kit, it just took a bit more time fixing tubes where needed, & I'll have to deal with a few tooling marks here & there I suppose,

This project could have had probably the easiest set of headers I've ever built, but,,,,,that's not really how it panned out,

Every tube on a set of headers has it's challenges, but to me making that first cut & picking what direction you're going to take is always the hardest, I can stare at a rig & think about the process for hours before doing anything, so to me that first tube is the biggest step.

After that it just starts to flow along,

Being a supercharged application getting the exhaust out, & paying attention to where your'e building a heat source is about the only thing a guy really has to worry about, a "tuned header" & matching primary tube lengths, or having the perfect collector combination is really not a big deal,
That being the case a guy could keep the headers dead simple, (I could have just done zoomies in about 2 hours) but I chose to go the other way, slightly complicating the project,
The primary placement in the collector wasn't done for any tuning purpose, or cause it fit best or looked the coolest, I just wanted to see if I could do it,

Unfortunately I ran out of time before finishing up the headers, I did get this side pulled back apart & the primary tubes mostly welded out, & cut to matching lengths, so next days off I can get them welded to the flanges & collectors installed before moving on to the other side,
.

 

[Sterlingfire]

Damn this thing is sick... your attention to detail is amazing.
Will you come finish my pos??? You could just do it quick, i don't need it to be as insanely bad ass as yours is, finished is enough for me:rolleyes:

 

[wvracer821]

I envy your dedication to detail and quality craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing the build with us and keep up the good work.

 

[WaterH]

Those headers are turning out real fine! There doesn't seem to be anything your not good at. If you are good at paint, your going to piss me off.

 

[Firstram]

Did your lateral links start as hex stock, or did you have to machine the flats as well? Beautiful work either way

 

[Skipped_Link]

Damn this thing is sick... your attention to detail is amazing.
Will you come finish my pos??? You could just do it quick, i don't need it to be as insanely bad ass as yours is, finished is enough for me:rolleyes:

​

Shoot I need someone to come finish a couple of my other projects,

Those headers are turning out real fine! There doesn't seem to be anything your not good at. If you are good at paint, your going to piss me off.

I can shoot paint decent enough, I hate body work tho, I have a friend that can knock body work out like nothing, but he doesn't like to shoot paint, we make a good team on some projects,

Did your lateral links start as hex stock, or did you have to machine the flats as well? Beautiful work either way

Yes, 7/8 hex stock turned down til the flat was gone in the center.

 

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The wife & kiddo had a birthday party to attend yesterday evening, so I took the opportunity after work to fire up the tig & finish up these primaries, then tack them to the header flange,
Now I can jump right in to the other side next days off.

 

[WaterH]

Do you purge the inside with argon? I found that makes welding stainless tubes so easy to tig. The insides are very smooth. It could be you are so good at tig it's not an issue for you because the inside bumps are a result of overheating the weld. (Which you probably don't do)

 

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I did actually purge these, they are not stainless, the material is actually pretty crappy mild steel, but still, like you said purging the inside still makes for a better finish inside, & only takes an extra minut or two to setup.

 

[ConwayMuddy]

Shoot I need someone to come finish a couple of my other projects

Location? I will gladly quit life and come work for knowledge

 

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I wouldn't say this week was super productive,
First day off was spend building the second header & getting it welded up to the same point as the first.

Here's what the inside of the weld looks like when back purged,

I don't have a picture of a non purged weld, but they are pretty ugly.



Then over the weekend I somehow convinced my wife that taking a couple hundred mile trip to go look a lathe would be a good family holiday getaway, luckily the lathe was close to where she has family, so we spent a few days away from home, & I drug home a new tool,

With an event coming up in Mountain home Idaho, & our local event the following week, I don't think I'll be back on this project until the middle/end of October, maybe after a short break I'll be back to making good progress.

 

[backchat]

Waiting for Midnight Panic updates is akin to waiting for Binky updates.

Always appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

[ridenby]

Thank you for posting this . Well worth the price of admission.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Thank you for posting this . Well worth the price of admission.

Absolutely!!

 

[gt1guy]

Square edge on the tubes butted hard against each other for welding?

 

[csutton7]

I'm speechless--flat out amazed....

 

[ConwayMuddy]

Bump for updates.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Bump for updates.

X2

 

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Been a crazy couple months with Idaho top truck challenge, then prep & competing at the local event here, (HDTT)
ITTC has always been one of my favorite events, but the last couple years have been even more fun since Allison is allowed to ride with me in events like the tow test & sand drags,

She likes it when the nitrous turns on,

[video]https://www.facebook.com/100000115412521/videos/pcb.4956740087673123/4956732164340582/[/video]



We had a good run going & in the lead for the overall win, but on the final event (rock course) I broke the rear drive line, taking out the trans pan short of the finish line, We still podiumed in 3rd overall & had a great time,

Once back home it only took an afternoon to have the buggy ready for the next event, so I put a little more time in & finished the headers for the Midnight Panic project, which consisted of collectors & a couple bungs for the O2 sensor, & crank case evac,

.

 

[Austin]

Been a crazy couple months with Idaho top truck challenge, then prep & competing at the local event here, (HDTT)
ITTC has always been one of my favorite events, but the last couple years have been even more fun since Allison is allowed to ride with me in events like the tow test & sand drags,

Thats badass

 

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This lead into the HDTT event, & the final event of the year for me,
No issues with the buggy this time, & ended up with a first place overall finish,

One thing handy about some of these events is logistics, I've had a set of aluminum MRAP wheels that fit the Axletch 4000 sitting around for this project, but I wanted to get the O.D. green paint stripped off of them first, Lucky for me I was able to haul them to ITTC in Idaho, where my buddy Cheston picked them up & took them back to SLC with him, over the two weeks between events he dropped them off at Armor Coating, had them stripped, then picked them up & brought them down to HDTT with him,

After the event here I cleaned the wheels up a bit & mounted up a set of slightly used cut 54" Baja claws, they'll probably mostly get used on the buggy, but if there is ever a need for a DOT or less aggressive tire on this project, these will be the ones I run.

And about the last of the updates for now would be finally after about 10 weeks the fiberglass hood finally showed up, I haven't mounted it yet, just set it in place to keep it out of the way for now.

.

 

[WaterH]

Headers look great!

I have one one of those aluminum mrap wheels. I never realized how it would look with the paint off.

 

[bdkw1]

DOT tires means it needs a license plate.........

 

[Austin]

DOT tires means it needs a license plate.........

Not necessarily, some off-road events require DOT just as a means to level the playing field a bit.....

 

[bdkw1]

Not necessarily, some off-road events require DOT just as a means to level the playing field a bit.....

But weekend coffee runs would be so much more fun......

 

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Last couple sets of days off were spent working on outside projects before winter really hits, This week was transmission assembly week, I actually had a couple C6 transmissions that I needed to build, one for this project, & freshen up the spare for the buggy,

The one for the buggy actually worked fine, I just wanted to go through it before installing it with the new engine hopefully later this winter, So really it was just a matter of disassembly, cleanup/inspection, & reassembly with new frictions, steels, & seals,

The transmission for this project on the other hand was a whole different story, Basically starting from scratch, I had bought a few parts here & there, stuff I knew I would need like the #9 roller bearing kit, a couple overhaul kits with the "high energy" frictions/steels, & gaskets. A new reverse pattern valve body, I even picked up a billet forward drum since it was a smoking deal (normally $750, I got it for a couple hundy due to a couple cosmetic scratches that kept the dealer from selling it as a "new part" even though it was brand new)

I started by dragging in one of the "Bigfoot" transmissions, with the intentions of using it as a parts donor for what ever else I needed, After tearing it down I just couldn't bring myself to parting it out, it wasn't in bad shape at all, it had some really cool modifications for its purpose, & was generally just a cool piece of performance history, (Bigfoot no longer runs a C6)

So I cleaned it up, replaced all the piston seals, & reassembled it, I'm calling this one my "nostalgic spare" If I really need to use the transmission it's ready to go & will bolt right in the truck, but I'm ok with it just sitting on the shelf just like it came out of the last Bigfoot truck it was in. I am going to use the shorty tail housing & drive coupler from this transmission since they are tough to get & it's basically an external bolt on part.

Only down side is I was back to square one on a donor trans, & a few parts I want to run are not in every C6 out there, & some, like the 5 clutch direct drum are just flat out not common at all,

This lead to the disassembly of nearly all my cores, & even a couple my dad had laying around,

This was before pillaging dad's stuff,

All said & done I ended up with a bunch of average C6 stuff, a couple desirable 4 pinion low/revers planetaries, a semi rare 4 clutch direct drum, & one coveted 5 clutch direct drum.

With that much stuff scattered about, & seeing what all I had on hand, I did take a day & rebuild one of the cores as a nice clean stockish short shaft 4x4 transmission that my dad said he was in need of for one of his projects,

I pulled what parts I wanted out of the pile, & the rest went into the "transmission cabinet"

 

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Building a C6 to handle 1000 HP is really not that hard, 5 clutches/steels in all the clutch packs, set at the correct clearances, a wide second gear band along with an R code servo & E apply lever, Then a couple oiling mods, & the right valve body, you end up with a dirty tough 3 speed automatic using stock hard parts,

However this project being closer to the 16-1700 HP range & likely to be over 8000 lbs, I figured I better try to step it up a little bit,

Getting 5 full thickness clutches in any of the C6 packs pretty easy, even a 3 clutch direct drum only requires a new snap ring groove & you're in business,
But I really wanted to try & get 6 in all packs if possible, (Alto makes a "HP series" which uses thinner clutches/steels, but I've heard they have their own issues)

I started with the direct drum since it is the trickiest due to clearance with other components,
In the previous post I mentioned the factory 5 clutch direct drum was rare, & as I just mentioned the 3 clutch drum with the addition of a new snap rig groove does the same thing, However the reason I looked so hard & why the factory 5 clutch drum is more desirable is it's supposedly made of a tougher material, Plus it has to be better not having a second groove in the drum,

There is an aftermarket drum available, but it is billet aluminum & is pretty high dollar.

To get 6 full thickness frictions & steels in this drum I had to machine a step where the snap ring rests on the thick outer pressure plate, this provided the additional room needed, but allows the pressure plate to sit higher in the drum, this causes clearance issues with the forward drum which splines into the direct clutches, so the overall thickness was machined down to just clear the forward drum when in place,

The parts of a direct clutch assembly before soaking the clutches & putting everything together,

Next up was the forward drum. Normally a cast iron part, Later I think they went to a better nodular material, I've read that with high line pressure, to much clearance & fatigue the end of the drum can break off at the snap ring groove, I've personally only ever seen one of the older style broken, & it was in a truck I'm sure seen some abuse,

For this application I think the billet steel drum is worth the money, I lucked out getting one at a good price,
6 frictions in this drum was a little easier, a step in the pressure plate was requires, but I didn't have to reduce the over all thickness,

I spent several hours going through the parts cabinet trying to find the very best parts I had to complete this part of the stack, everything from the nicest planetary/ring gear sets, down to the thrust washers,

After each drum was assembled, & clearances were check, everything stacked as an assembly & set off to the side.

The last of the clutch assemblies was the low/revers pack, this one was on par with the others in only needing a step machined to raise the pressure plate up the thickness of an extra friction, & plate, plus a little extra clearance,

This set splines directly into the transmission case,

..

 

[WaterH]

Do you have link to your dad's project?

On the trannys, how long is a "shorty" C6? I've seen some real short C4 trannys. Looking at my C6, it seems like I could shorten it quite a bit by getting rid of the governor. (I think that's what it's called) Back when I was thinking about it, seems like I needed a custom shaft. Kind of "over my head", so I kept it stock.

 

[Skipped_Link]

With 1st, 3rd, & reverse sorted the only gear left is 2nd, a band is used along with a servo, both the servo & apply leaver come in different sizes & leverage ratios respectively, Different combinations not only result in different band apply pressure, but also apply & release speed, Use the wrong parts & you could get anything from a slipping 1-2 shift, or 2-3 flare, or even break the case with a big piston servo combined with a high ratio lever,

The "R" servo & "E" lever is a pretty tried & true combo, If it won't hold second I'll step up the lever & give that a try.

For the band itself I had previously ordered a 2-1/4" welded rigid band with the high energy lining,

A flex band is more common, & those can actually be had in a 2.5" wide band, I believe the rigid band is tougher in the long run though.

With all of that sorted I took the best ribbed case that I had, got it cleaned up & started assembling the transmission,

As I mentioned before I am using a shorty tail housing & drive coupler, this setup uses a stock output shaft that is cut off,

I believe there is only one guy that currently builds this setup, I reached out to him & asked if this was his, He said it was not & asked if it was an old Bigfoot transmission, I told him I believe it was, He told me that when they first started running that setup they had a company building the short setup specifically for them, I thought that bit of history was pretty interesting, & I'm not certain, but I think there is some significance to that "001" serial number.



I did not take a pic, but here you can see a stock 4x4 output shaft, the far right is the end that normally splines into the t-case. To use this shorty setup the shaft is cut & the next set of splines towards the left is used,

From the factory that's where the governor is installed, in this application the drive coupler for the SCS splines on there, not only is this quite an increase in output shaft diameter, but I finally have a purpose for all those useless long 2wd & car output shafts!

Once the case was loaded with all the goodies, I moved on to the valve body, My VB of choice for years has been the Broader Performance full manual reverse pattern, they are one of only two places that make a revers pattern VB that applies the low/revers clutch when in first gear. Everyone else relies on the sprag when in low gear, while it is a pretty tough part, it can be broken with big power & a few good whacks of the throttle,
To my disappointment when I drug the new VB out of the box I could tell right away that they have changed their design, The old style was very simple using minimal spool valves, a couple extra passages machined out, a couple blocked off, a custom separator plate, & some modifications to the relief valve, If there is ever an issue it's normally easy to back trace through the fluid circuit & find the issue,

Well, the new VB still has every single spool still in it, a stock separator plate, & a pretty heavily modified lower section, I'm not sure why the change, but it's sure a lot harder to trace a fluid path if a guy needed to trouble shoot an issue.

So I have 3 options,
1, run this VB & trust Broader knows what their doing, (I have no doubt)
2, call Frank Merkle, the only other guy that build this style VB, or
3, build one my own damn self.







After nearly a full day of mapping, tracing, head scratching, & comparing, I think I have it figured out, I'm not gonna lie, it would have been easier to pull the valve body out of the buggy, copy it, & then reinstall it than it was to map it all out,
I did have a Broader forward shift VB to reference & compare to, but you go from PRN321, to PRN123, there's some changes in there,

In the end, I decided to try & build one, then I remembered, I could really use 3.

The separator plates are just .060" aluminum hacked out on a band saw,
Obviously I stacked them & drill all of them at the same time, but that's still a lot of holes, & several different sizes.

Unfortunately that's a far as I got this time around,
With any luck I'll get these valve bodies buttoned up, & get one bolted in the case so I can finally be done with the C6 saga, for a while anyway.