The Reverends Shop - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

Rev. Ronnie · 01-02-2005, 05:11 PM

My hobby shop. I like to build my own drag race engines and trannys. Boring, honing, line boring/honing, crank balancing, block indexing and blueprinting, cyl. head building and a couple of boring bars and hones for doing my snowmobile cyl's and cases. I'm adding another 2500 sq. feet on this summer for the fabrication and race shop.

Rev. Ronnie · 01-02-2005, 05:18 PM

Rev. Ronnie · 01-02-2005, 05:21 PM

more stuff

Rev. Ronnie · 01-02-2005, 05:23 PM

Race car pic

Rev. Ronnie · 01-02-2005, 05:29 PM

more crap

gman250 · 01-02-2005, 09:28 PM

Holy Crap.... Some **** load of gear in there. Do up a 2 stroker top end between lunch sandwiches. lol
Man, I like a few hours in that garage.

YamahaRyy · 01-03-2005, 03:56 PM

damnnn nice garage bro

03700xckid16 · 01-03-2005, 06:39 PM

build me a 2 cyl 1200cc two stroke for my sled....

Snow Freak · 01-03-2005, 07:20 PM

Wow man quite a shop you have there!! Id like to have that for my bike!(yes my sled too when i get one)

**smallengineguy** · 01-03-2005, 07:54 PM

Nice place! Is that your personal shop, or where you work?

Rev. Ronnie · 01-03-2005, 09:45 PM

Thanks for the compliments!

This is my personal shop at home. I owned a race engine building shop and parts store in St. Paul for 15 years but I recently retired. I still do some work for long time customers but mostly work on my own projects. I drag race full time in the summer and have my hands full! I wanted to retire at 40 but I got a lease offer I just couldn't refuse on the property I had my shop in, so I wrapped it up a few years early.

Don't get me wrong, I don't just drive around on the golf cart all day and run over mole hills (at least not every day). I just really pick and choose the projects I want to take on as far as "work" work.

I tend to sway toward big HP, open checkbook type of engines or R/D stuff.

Rev. Ronnie · 01-03-2005, 10:15 PM

Here is a cool picture of a crank spinning on the balancer. Just thought it may be interesting to some of you. It's for the #28 Duntov Turbo corvette out of 32 built. I did a whole photo doc. package on the building of the engine, for the guy who owns it.

Someday I will start a website to put all this crap on. It's way better than "Hot Rod Magazine" because the crap they feature is usually some millionaire movie stars stuff, and has no relivance to the things any of us "normal people" would build.

**smallengineguy** · 01-04-2005, 06:19 AM

So if I gave you the setup I have in my vehicle right now, you could tell me what gearing in the rear I should have?

Rev. Ronnie · 01-04-2005, 06:20 PM

Sure, give me the weight, HP, stall speed, trans, engine redline etc and I can figure it out. It's easier if you have some baseline timeslips to work from too. Trap rpm VS. engine max rpm is usually a good baseline. If you are going through at 5800 but your engine makes peak HP at 6700, you need more gear, etc.

You can go to some dyno simulator software sites I think, and plug all the info in and play out different setup scenerios too. Its kinda fun and good for comparison. I'll try to find the one for you that lets you try it for free.

ITriumph · 01-04-2005, 07:31 PM

nice setup rev.

**smallengineguy** · 01-04-2005, 09:15 PM

I wish I knew all those things you mentioned, but I just put it together and got it running last fall, never made it to the track. I know al the engine parts, etc. But am unsure of HP, etc. I DO know that the 2:73's in the rear now have gotta go....

Do you have a listing of what rear axle was in what car? I've got a 78 Buick Regal with an open diff 10 bolt. Is that the 7.5 rear, 8.5, etc...??

Rev. Ronnie · 01-05-2005, 07:55 AM

It's an 8.5". You can get a good posi carrier from Auburn gear or a similar aftermarket supplier as well as gears axles and such. To be honest with you though, you're much better going with a retro fitted 9" Ford. You can get them as a bolt in from drum to drum with racing axles for $1300.00 or so complete from Currie, Mark Williams, Strange etc.

You can build your 10 bolt but it will be 5-600 bucks for a carrier and gear change. and much more with axles, brakes, bearings etc.
The 9" in the other hand is made of all new parts and will be good for many engine upgrades in the future, where as the 10 bolt is only good for 500 hp, give or take.

It's a pay now or pay later kind of thing. Putting big money into the 10 bolt is like heating up a 25 cent cup of coffee by burning a dollar bill under it. It makes better economic sense in the long run to go 9", as you will spend much more than the cost of the Ford unit over time on your 10 bolt.

Besides, when the hotties ask you if you have a 9 incher, you can say yes without lying

I run a Dana 60.....9.5 inches with a straight face.

**smallengineguy** · 01-05-2005, 10:49 AM

Thanks for the info! I was kinda looking for a Buick Grand National axle to slip under it; it will bolt right up, already posi, and 3:43 or 3:73 gears already in it. I bought the Hotchkis kit (top and bottom arms) for it, but the GN axles are getting tricky to find. They make a 9" set up for the GM G body, or would I have to modify it?

Rev. Ronnie · 01-05-2005, 06:48 PM

They (Currie, Strange, Mark Williams etc.) make direct bolt in units. They work with the stock or aftermarket stuff and are the correct width, or narrower if you want, and can be ordered without brakes so you can put a Wilwood (or other) disc system on if you choose. They can even make them with flanges to use your stock brakes to save a few bucks.

**smallengineguy** · 01-05-2005, 07:15 PM

Appreciate the help!