[DeTomaso] CHI heads - valve guides

[Will Demelo]

So I'm not the only one that has bad luck?
Justin, keep us informed on the Retrotek project. I almost went with that on 
my last car.
Will
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Justin Greisberg" <justingreisberg at hotmail.com>
To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 8:39 PM
Subject: [DeTomaso] CHI heads - valve guides


>
> I have the CHI 3v heads.  i assembled the engine myself after Dave 
> Storlein in Wisconsin assembled the heads.  have them running for over a 
> year now, but not many miles.  still fighting with electronic fuel 
> injection system from powerjection/retrotek.  When the weather clears, I 
> will provide a summary for this group of my experience with "self-tuning" 
> EFI -- right now I am not thrilled (sometimes furious about lack of 
> customer support), but I recognize some of it might be my fault, and I 
> have more work to d
> o.
>
> Anyhow, regarding the heads, first question -- do you mean valve guides, 
> or pushrod guides?  The comp cams cleveland pushrod guides DO NOT fit this 
> combo.  Dave Storlein who does this for a living told me that after I 
> asked him what I was doing wrong.  Wish someone told us that a while ago. 
> I threw all 16 away.
>
> The valvetrain alignment on these heads is a real pain.  I got good comp 
> or crane screw in studs, with harland sharp roller rockers, and crane 
> roller linked lifters.  I got a pushrod measuring tool, and found the 
> rocker had best run over the top of the valve when it was at quite an 
> angle.  In fact, I am using small block chevy 3/8" pushrods 
> (coioncidentally exactly the right size), A LOT smaller than stock (even 
> accounting for longer lifters).  the rockers are not sitting level at all. 
> I think my valves wi
> ll be OK like this, but it just looks funny.  A smaller rocker arm (not as 
> long - lower ratio) would probably sit more level.  no one seems to have 
> any answers for me, which is surprising because there are more than a few 
> people using these heads.  I wonder if the valves/springs are too long, or 
> maybe that is why a lot of cleveland builders use big block chevy rocker 
> arms, which I think are just a bit shorter than true clevelands?
>
> the trouble with a "custom" build, is that, even after you spend all the 
> time thinking and planning for everything to work well together, nothing 
> ever seems to.  examples -- rocker geometry on CHI head; self-tuning EFI 
> that seems schizophrenic - runs different every day; brake system that is 
> sometimes soft, sometimes hard, but never consistent; electronic temp 
> sensor that is supposed to turn fans on when engine is 190, yet engine 
> runs to 220 and no fans; custom fuel cell which fits perfect, only to find 
> out
> needs to be discarded after 5 years because the liner deteriorates (and it 
> spent 3 of those years waiting to be installed); fancy dropped air cleaner 
> base that is designed to fit over normal carburetor and drop down 1 inch, 
> but actually hits my polished throttle body because it is about 1/16" 
> bigger than a holley.
>
> And the piece de resistance ---- fancy air cleaner with filter top for 
> almost $200 that looks great, but hits the rear decklid first time I close 
> it.  i can't repeat exactly what I said when that happened, this being a 
> family web site...   justin
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