I have been working on other things for my Drag and Drive 53 3100 build than the engine. I have been hung up on finding a way to mount my Ryan Falconer V-12 head on it and hold 1200-1300 HP. The plan was to have a 1" deck plate furnace brazed to the engine and drill it for the V-12 bolt pattern and sleeve the engine. A few problems arised other than money. I can't find anyone that does it anymore and the people that have the equipment are not interested in the least. I have also found out that it somehow messes with the metallurgy of the cast iron. It also may warp the block in general. Other than those things no problem. Staring at it for the last couple of years hasn't helped as much as I hoped. So I decided to do the right thing and find some header flanges for it. 2 days ago I called Ryan and ask him if he had any. He directed me to the people that make them for him, SPD Exhaust. They said they would have to make them so I ordered a set of 3X2 3/8" stainless flanges with 2" tubes ($320). I told them no rush. They called me yesterday and said they were on their way. It pays to be nice to people. While I had Ryan on the phone I brought up our ongoing discussion about mounting the head. My problem with bolting it on is that it requires a gasket between the deck and the deck plate. This moves during heat cycles and messes with the sleeves. I saw a picture of a 4 cylinder deck plate that had the sleeves integrated in it. I ask Ryan about it and he sent me to "Darton Sleeves". They very politely said "no thank you" but they did give me the number of the builder they use for their custom work. Steve that has "Race Engine Development" in SoCal. I got him on the phone and he didn't hang up on me when I said Chevy inline 6 so that was a win. He seems to have the right amount of crazy and is interested in the project. He comes very highly recommended. He's pretty confident he can do it with an aluminum plate with sleeves and bolt it on. I'm not going to second guess him. Ryan will send him anything he needs. He's going to play with the idea and said to call him after the first of the year. If you have made it this far I have a question for you. Tom L. mentioned why not start with a 250 block and end up with the same deck height. Wouldn't that give me room for a 1.75" deck plate and lots of thread engagement? The question Steve ask me was is the 250 block just as strong as the 292 block? Is the only difference in the castings the stroke? Sorry I made a book out of this. Thank you for your time.
