1950 WR

I've been sorting through boxes of a disassembled WR engine.  I wasn't able to remove the tappet blocks by tapping with a brass hammer (they were installed with a very heavy press).  I thought about leaving them in, since they felt ok . . . but then I noticed something.  I had my machinist Jeff McFarland make me a special tool to remove the tappets.  I put the ball bearings on the cam, and slipped the cover on too - so we don't "kink" anything when pressing on the cam.  The previous engine builder had the Intake tappets installed incorrectly (since they're "site specific") and it wore the shoes all on one side.

FI = Front Intake (and the lifter was installed in the rear intake - and vice versa)  The valve train in a WR engine is angled inwards, towards the piston bore.  The cam lobes are straight, but each lifter shoe is angled for each particular valve.  WRs don't have roller tappets, just flat shoes.

See where the cam lobe wore these all offset.  Whoever installed the lifters didn't know what they were doing . . . or made a big mistake.  However, it did give the Intakes more valve lift !  Not real pretty . . . but it did do that.

Somebody got crazy with the cut-off wheel on this one . . . ?  Huh?  Kinda shade tree mechanics on this motor.  I'll try my best to fix it up and build a good solid motor. 

It's cold outside, so I drug all the parts into the kitchen where it was warmer.

I grabbed my wife's saucer to use as a parts tray . . . she wasn't real happy about it.