The short block has not been disassembled yet. The 540 cubic inch conventional head BBC uses a 14-71 Kobelco Superman supercharger on alcohol. On top sit Dart 400 cc heads with bowl work only to keep costs down for Cruz. You can clearly see the burned piston in this shot. Repairs will replace the two front sleeves, surface the Arias block and freshen it up with new rings and bearings.

Ken Cruz’s first race with the new car didn’t go so well after breaking the 3 speed Lenco transmission in his 2002 Camaro Pro Mod. The transmission popped out of gear and knocked the teeth off of the reverser, resulting in the engine free revving to in excess of 11,000 RPM. This in turn damaged some valve springs and a couple of lifters, which was discovered on tear down.

On the next run it burned number one piston and took out the head gasket on the number two hole in a dramatic fasion. I stopped by Nelson Competition in Pinellas Park to check on the progress Wednesday afternoon.

This car was built to replace Ken’s 68 Chevelle convertible he also raced in the Pro Mod class at Sunshine Dragstrip for four years, starting in 2002. Cruz increased his final points position with the car each year, starting with a ninth place finish in the first year and by 2005 advanced to a runner up finish – loosing at the year’s end by just a 10 point margin. The build began in 2005 at NBS Race Cars in Pinellas Park, Florida.

The next race is on June 5th and plane are to be all back together and ready to race at that time.

This is a quite interesting pattern on the ruined gasket. You can see where the O-ring was pushed out and made impressions tracking out towards the edge of the gasket.