Leonard Wood's RUNNING Mini V8 Ford Boss 429 - The Old School Way

I know what a real engine sounds like. Some of the parts that are actually inside the engine. You know, ideas just come to my mind about how to do something. I don't have an engineering degree or anything like that. Nice to see you again. Yes, we are happy to be back. I can't wait to see it finished. Yes. Will Leonard come out to us? Oh, of course. Good. Leonard...Leonard runs it most of the time. I mean, I can control him, but he does it more often. Well, well, well . How are you, sir? Good. And you? Perfectly. How are you? Nice to see you. Nice to see you. We are very happy to see this completed. A lot of time has passed. I wouldn't stand right next to him, just in case. He passes by. You know, I'm not. Yes. Do you like it? Show me how much gas it takes. Oh, that's it, that's all it takes to do it . This is incredible. How did you know that was all he needed ? Sometimes we can talk and push a little harder so we don't blow it up. Yes, that's all that's needed for this kind of work. And if you loaded it up on a stand and really gave it full throttle, you would hear the exhaust. It would sound almost like IndyCar or Formula 1. It has 180- degree collectors. That's what gives it that sound. Did you make these manifolds yourself? Yes. What did you make them out of? Stainless steel. I used to make manifolds for racing cars all the time. What took you the most time during production? Working on cylinder heads, their settings and... the manifold. I think the manifold is the most difficult because you have to drill a hole around the bend. This is what he did to... Yes, these are the exact tools he makes to get around the corners he's talking about for porting. Benny does all the machining on manually operated machines; there is no CNC in this part of the work. And every part is made from a single piece of aluminum. Then I took the radiator, cut it in half, sawed it apart, and added tanks to make it smaller. It's not even warm, actually. What did you do with the valve rocker arms ? Benny turned them out, and then we made a rocker arm with a roller on it . Here's the rocker arm. This is the intake rocker arm. The intake rocker arm on the Hemi is short, unlike the exhaust rocker arm, which is longer . The gear ratio is the same, but due to the hemispherical design of the Hemi engine, the intake rocker arm is very short and the exhaust rocker arm is very long. This is how the Ford Boss 429 was designed. The mounts, these clamps—they are titanium. Did we do this just to lose weight? This is already a finished product. But this graduation rocker is an unfinished product. This is what it looked like when it came off the milling machine and I finished the job. Then I handed it over to Leonard, who polishes and reassembles it, putting in the roller, adjustment nut, and everything else. And when he finishes, it looks polished, like a trophy to be proud of. This is madness. Yes. Did you make this locknut too? Yes, the counter nut is titanium. Madly. And then the rocker arm, it's also needed. The racks have different heights. This rack is for the exhaust , this one is for the intake, as you can see when you install it, the bolts go through the stud and the rocker shaft, holding the whole structure in place. Then we designed camshafts with a card tappet, Benny drilled a hole and mounted it on the shaft , because no one could grind a camshaft with a narrow cam. Benny measured the degrees on the turntable and adjusted everything. It could only accept a pushrod with a diameter of half an inch. If you take a tappet from a card with a diameter of an inch and grind it down to half an inch, it will start to cut into the camshaft. So they came up with the roller pusher. Ahem. And it has roller pushers. Wow, so you had to make those too? Yes. This is incredible. Then I put it on a go-kart with a roller pusher and drove it at full power for two hours—it did n't wear out at all, and of course, after all our tests, it shows great results. This is really interesting. So you used a real kart engine for development to make sure your parts were reliable before installing them on... you only did the pushrod? A. That's all I used the kart motor for. Because I wanted to run it and make sure it worked before posting it here. This is a prototype pusher that Leonard designed and commissioned me to make. This is what we put in the map engine. We took it out into the yard and let it run for 5 hours at full power to see what would happen. The cam looked good, and the roller too. There was no wear and tear, no problems at all. So we just scaled it down and decided : this is what we have in a real engine. We made the rollers ourselves. The main body here is a Grade 8 bolt that we ground, drilled holes, shaped, inserted a roller, and then the main body goes into a brass bushing that we made by hand. This entire assembly is inserted into the block and secured with one latch. The back edge is square, it rests against the wall of the cylinder, so it can't turn like that . And you see, it just moves behind the cam and opens the valves. Did you make them in batches? How do you...how do you maintain quality consistency? Well, yes. Once I get set up for a job, for example, I made all the bushings at once, cut all the grooves at once, made the whole main body, the shaft body, and then, you know, we made the rollers, and after that we assemble them. And again , we have to go back and make adjustments even for assembly so that all our pins go in correctly and evenly. You know, all of this has to be done to make sure you get the same detail. And then each one fits into the block, and you know, you have to make sure that the back edge, the square edge, touches the wall and can't turn around. Was there anything you had to redo after the first launch? Well, you know, it didn't work quite as well as we wanted. Uh, but...we're adjusting it more and more now to make the carburetor work better and better. So I'm working hard to put this carburetor on a big engine and tune it. You know, so I don't have to drive miles on this. Good. And then we put it here and finish it. The entire block was a solid piece of aluminum. Ray asked me once, and I do n't even know where we cast him. I said I thought the block was cast, judging by its appearance . And the pallet, it was all a solid piece of aluminum. And you hand- carved all of this and made it look like it was cast. He machined it pretty well, and then I took it and hand- shaped it to make it look like a cast part. Oho. The old pallet was a solid piece of aluminum. Where did these spark plugs come from ? Yes. This is from a powerful engine for a large model airplane. We asked Lin if...We made this 427 and put it in the Ford Museum, and we asked Lin if he wanted it to work. He said no, they would never launch it anyway. So, it's bored out and ready to go, but we didn't get it to work, and then they wanted us to make a Hemi half the size. And I asked, " Do you want it to work?" He said, "No, that would take too long." So I made a small distributor, took a drill, connected it to the spark plugs, and applied the spark using a hand drill. He said, "I'll make him work." So, we moved on, but how does the lubrication system work ? It's a dry sump system, and what's that, three...two for pumping and... It's one injection pump and two for pumping. Yes. Electric-driven pumps , and... Are there actually oil channels leading to the connecting rod bearings and everything else? How does it work? You see, the 429 Hemi had oil channels that went up to the rocker arms and everything else and fed oil to the shafts and pushrods. So, the pushrod...you could do...on the rail, and you could get a lot of knocking because the oil wasn't getting through the pushrod for lubrication. It rises through the inside of the rocker arm supports. Here is your oil channel. It comes from the bottom and goes up into the cavity where the bolt is, and then there's a hole through which it goes inside. I don't know if you can see it, but there's a hole there that leads in and out to the shaft. This is where it sprays out from, the same thing happens from the side of the rocker shaft. There is a place where it sprays out. Sprays grease onto the front roller. But that's how some internal parts are made. This is just madness. This needs to be done for each rocker arm. Yes, for each, and we had to experiment with the hole size so as not to lose too much oil pressure. Oho. Well, you understand. How did you determine the hole size before making all 16? Well, I just divided everything in half compared to the real thing. So the result is a hole about 20 thousandths of an inch wide, through which the grease comes out of the rocker shaft and sprays out. If you make the hole much bigger, it won't fly as far, and you'll overdo it. There will be too much oil in the timing gear, too much in the valve cover, and it will start to be knocked out through the breather and all that. I just can't, I can't realize how long it would take , like I don't know how long it would take us to put one together if we were just doing that. But we did a lot of work, about 2.5 years. 2.5 years. work on that modified engine, put in another modified 427 with Weber carburetors, which is the same as the one we were racing. So now it's in the same condition as it was when Donnie Ellison rode it. I saw you enjoying yourself while gassing it. Well, I pride myself on knowing what a good engine sounds like. And I don't think I've ever seen an engine run really well if it doesn't sound nice. But I know what I want. And this engine has the right sound. When did you decide to make 180 degree exhaust manifolds for it? Well, I've made manifolds like this for powerful engines before. I played with this on cars all the time. And I remember making a set when we went to Darlington and took pole position, and Bud Moore's son said, "I told Dad if it doesn't work that well, at least it's for the sound." But it sounds like an Indy car engine. And what kind of pistons are these? The pistons come from a 125cc four-stroke Yamaha engine. This is something I could easily buy, it's commercially available, and you get the rings, piston pin, and retainers to hold them in place. So, you know, it was completely logical to build around that. What about the connecting rods? The connecting rods are made by hand. Do they have connecting rod bushings? No, the connecting rod runs directly on the crankshaft, like in a Briggs&Stratton engine. This is the connecting rod. It was hand-made from 7075 aircraft grade aluminum. As you can see, it has pins. We use regular quarter- twenty fasteners in it. But it holds everything together. So that it stays in place. And there 's also a slot here to reduce the counterweight a little. To make the connecting rod and pistons as light as possible, you know, so that we have enough counterweight on the crankshaft. But all of this was carved from a single piece. And the connecting rod is modeled after the Top Fuel dragster connecting rod that we had here, we looked at it, and we basically took that as a basis for the external shape and size. And we made our connecting rods according to this model. Yes, there are main bearings to attach the shaft to the block, but the connecting rod bearings are on the shaft itself. crankshaft made of a solid piece of steel. This was a tricky detail. So, is this your oil pressure supply ? Yes. In a real engine block, it rose through the bottom of the cylinder head and was sealed with a ring. But because of the angles required to access the oil channels located next to the camshaft, we brought it up from the rear. It performs the same function, just the path is a little longer. For all that fastening, did you have to clean the bolt heads and everything else? For these specific bolts—no, but for some it is necessary. Some of them I actually have to work on, you know, grind them down or rework the head to get them to the right scale . The ignition distributor was also tricky, wasn't it? No, tell him about the fire you set on him. Okay, you know, the camshaft rotates half as slowly as the crankshaft. The ratio is two to one. So the camshaft must be slowed down to a ratio of two to one relative to the crankshaft. Well , we installed a distributor there, and it also had a two-to- one ratio. So now it's four to one. Therefore, he did not want to work in this mode. So, that was one of the problems I faced. So I went ahead and made a little gear in the distributor to reduce it back, so one to one —I mean two to one. This is madness. I invented a plate, screwed in eight spark plugs, connected the distributor to all eight plugs, turned the drill, and you could see them all sparking. And then I did the same thing when I installed it on the cylinder head. I did everything except contacts. The contacts are probably from a Ford 427 engine. Oh, really? Yes. Wow. But I had to machine and resize the bracket to make it small enough. Where did the lid come from? We made it ourselves. Did you cut this cover out of plastic or is it... Is it black acetate or delrin. What about those little tips? Yes, I had to make them too. Oh my God. Spark plug wires have an electrical wire inside, passed through a tube, like for model airplanes. Fuel tube for model airplanes over external insulation. Is it heavy enough? About 75 pounds. That's not bad. Only the engine. So what are you working on now? Well, uh... Go over there and show them the bottom . Then we'll talk. Next we will return to the park. I don't know if you've seen the half-size '37 Ford that I made on the other side. If he was there last time we came, we must have seen him. It is red. It is half the size of the real thing. Yes. Yes. And then he regretted painting the half-size model red. Showing that it is handmade. You see, people think it's just a kid's car or something like that. But then they wanted me to make a one-third size model to put on a stump for Uncle Glenn, because he's a carpenter and all. This big old tree stump is so tall, and they're going to set her up on it in their yard. And then they decided that the weather and all that , you know, would have a bad effect on him . So they changed their mind and asked me to make a third size, a 37. And he's not going to paint it. Because it's made from welding electrodes. Oho. And this will be the frame that will go under the bottom. And it will be channel-shaped, like here, but there will be a cross inside. That's exactly how the original is designed . So I'll install the frame and chassis, and it'll have , well...tires of this size. But they don't have a hub yet. There will be a hub, well, with small spokes and all that. We make a new wheel out of this. I will make an aluminum wheel. So you can see that it's, well, handmade. Certainly. How long ago did you start working on this? Oh, probably 6-8 months ago. But, you see, I thought it would be installed on a stump. And I was going to use, well, you know, maybe putty to fill in some of the spots. So if I knew it was going to be like this , I would have done it a little differently, you know, but it should be, well, smooth, without any putty or anything like that. I could have made it smoother if I had known from the beginning what it would be like. But I think that's fine. I'm not finished yet, you know, I still need to work on the lining to make it even smoother. But he wants the color to stay that way . What tools did you use to shape the metal? Well, there's a lot of it... Here's the big bowl I made to make the first piece, and the other side is of course a little less concave. And here are these tools for forming individual parts. If you shape a ball, then when you put it here, you get this result, but if you turn it, everything warps. We have to do it here, you see. Then you cut the pieces and... You don't use a metal stretcher at all? Yes, I use stretchers for bends, all sorts of devices, and a little English wheel here and there . This is amazing. You need to have different shapes to get what you need. If a certain bend is needed, you just rework it to the required radius or something. And this is, you know, the landing bend. Now, if this is the bend you need, I'm putting it out there . These hammers worked well. So when something needs to be done, you just walk around and think, "Yeah, this will probably work." And then you take it. You know, it seemed to me that this reminded me of something. No , this is the way it should be done, you know. And then, before finishing, I think: "No, this is a better way." You know, ideas about how to do something just pop into your head. I don't have an engineering degree or anything like that. All my life I've always thought that's how it should be. This will work better. This is amazing. What is this detail you are working on here? Well, it's like you wanted to make a wheel rim or something like that . You know, I'm just showing people that it's not even forged yet , you can just take a big ball-end hammer and shape things. Can you show me how you use a hammer to do something about it ? Uh -huh. That's it. Somehow so. You make me feel like a failure. You make me feel like a failure. But that's enough for you. Did you know that the Wood Brothers are the team with the longest continuous history of performance in NASCAR? And they are indeed one of the oldest racing teams in the world of motorsport, but they couldn't have achieved this without their partners. Just like we wouldn't be able to produce these videos without our partners like Pennzoil. After the last video from the museum, I was told that people come even after 3 years, every week they say they came because they watched that video. That's what it gives. That's how important it is. When I need to buy something, I look at the shelf and see a brand that was on a race car and one that wasn't—what do you think I'll choose? I buy what supports my preferences. And you know what? This is nice. Now about Pennzoil Platinum and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum: we, of course, use them in our cars, because Pennzoil Ultra Platinum provides engine protection for the entire life of your car. So, the next time you need to change your oil, use this. And when you pour it into your engine, you'll feel good because you're contributing to the preservation and documentation of things like this, museums like this. And when you change your oil with Pennzoil , post a photo on Instagram, tag me, and I'll share it. So, are they going to put this in a museum when you're done? Well, he'll put it up here somewhere. Oh, okay. It, it will look much better. It's not ready yet . And it will have, it will have a full running gear. You know, the steering system and all that . This, this is exactly the form that the real one has. The frame will look like the real thing. The welding rod for the grill—it's so smart. Yes, I'll make a template to weld this. Drill holes at equal distances in the parts, then insert them there and bend them, and then go to the other side and bend them as well . So, if you've made the front wing, how do you then make a mirror image wing for the other side so they're the same? That's the problem. If you go and look at the red, you know, I, I've said this before, you, you're forming a wing. You don't have a large original for a sample. It would be easy to copy, to make a big one exactly like a big one, because you could just take one wing, make it exactly like this, go to the other side and make it exactly the same; but you don't have a left wing to sample when you do that. So you just look at pictures of the car to do this? Or where is your source? you do, you know its form. You use the same mold and just imagine what I mean , I can put in a lot of effort and, and take measurements and all that, but I, red—it's a finished product. If you want to come over and look at it. Yes, we, we're looking at that. But do you at least have a picture of the actual car to look at,…