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80s Winston Cup Engine & Detailing Questions

 
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Johnny Racer



Joined: 07 Aug 2018
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:28 am    Post subject: 80s Winston Cup Engine & Detailing Questions Reply with quote

Can anyone tell me what would have been era correct for valve covers on the late 80s Winston Cup engines? Chrome, aluminum cast, painted?

How about air cleaners, breathers, accessory brackets, and such? I'm assuming chrome wasn't used a lot due to its inherit problem of retaining heat.

It's nearly impossible to find good reference photos of this era engine, chassis, interior, etc. There are a few running around of cars that have been restored or auctioned off but no real way to know if those are authentic or not but I suspect not. So if anyone has any that they'd be willing to share, I'd love to see them.

Thanks in advance.

Mike
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George Andrews



Joined: 30 Jan 2018
Posts: 458

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of the GM motors had after-market tall cast aluminum valve covers ( Moroso ); these were usually in their natural cast color. Some Ford motors had polished FORD Motorsport valve covers. Air cleaners were also Moroso, sometimes chromed but often dull aluminum with tin shrouds added around the front half to keep hot air away from the carb. Some valve covers also had heat shields starting in the mid 1980's. Radiator overflow tanks were usually dull aluminum. Radiator ducting was bare sheet metal or aluminum, nothing fancy. Accessory brackets were often chassis color, unless they had been replaced or added after the chassis was built.
Engine breathers ( Moroso or Crane ) were often the only chromed pieces under the hood, as the teams were after power - not pretty. Depending on the engine builder and track, the breathers might be centered up high in front of the air cleaner, with large O.D. rubber hoses running down to each valve cover. This was used to keep engine oil from blowing out during hard acceleration and braking on short tracks. On Superspeedways both breathers might be on the driver's side valve cover for the same reason.
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Johnny Racer



Joined: 07 Aug 2018
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

George Andrews wrote:
Most of the GM motors had after-market tall cast aluminum valve covers ( Moroso ); these were usually in their natural cast color...


Thanks George...

That's some good info for sure. I remeber the valve covers you speak off now. And yeah... I didn't think there would be a lot of chrome going on under the hoods and am pretty sure the cars you see it on now are show cars or restored cars with brightwork to make it pop more when the hood is open.

Just struggling to get as close to era correct as possible and before all the chrome goes into the Purple Pond, I wanna make sure I didn't need any of it.

By any chance, do you have any idea on what color a GM block and heads would have been?
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john843



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 607
Location: S.C. Lowcountry

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I posted this somewhere else since the board has been back but can't remember where but as a sample of one, I was in and out of M.C. Anderson's race shop in Garden City, Ga. from when he just raced Sam Sommers in the LMS division til he closed shop after '82 and I could probably count on less than one hand the blocks that weren't unpainted. May have been an rare black one, but far and away, unpainted. Also, George couldn't have done a better job describing the various components. Also a fair amount of the orange aircraft-type insulation on the lines that you referenced in your other post.

John
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2002p51



Joined: 06 Nov 2018
Posts: 69
Location: Kingsport, TN

PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 8:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Everything George Andrews said above is correct. These photos may also help.




Notice in this photo the engine block appears to be painted red, but it's was my experience that blocks and heads were rarely painted at all. Bare cast iron bocks and bare aluminum heads.



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If you have access to back issues of Scale Auto Enthusiast I did a number of "Pit Pass" articles in the late '80s and early '90s that always included engine photos
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