Well my Con-rods finally arrived so dropped them into the machinest so he could finish balancing all the reciprocating parts so should soon be able to button up the short motor

Another thing i wanted to sort was the adapters for the early Cadillac valve covers i'm using, I was going to get them from the states but after waiting an eternity i decided to make my own.
I decided to make them in 2 parts for a couple of reasons, the first being that the 2 lower holes in the early covers conflict with the original lower holes, the other reason was i needed a little extra rocker clearance as i may go to full roller rockers at a later point so the 2 parts would give me a minimum of 5/8" extra lift.

First i made a plywood template as the early covers are a bit shorter than the 500 covers.








The local laser cutter first made up a thin sheet to check fitment before cutting the 8mm plate.








The sheet try out was a little out on some of the holes so the laser cutter modded the drawing slightly and cut 4 plates in 8mm steel.
The holes were cleaned out with a drill as the laser leaves a small pip where it starts and finishes, then the holes were countersunk to accept 1/4" UNC countersunk socket head screws, the heads are flush with the plate.








It was here i suddenly realised that the laser cutter had put holes in all 4 pieces as i had asked for 2 to be blank, Not a massive problem as i can weld up the holes that matter and those that don't matter will be covered by the gasket but annoying.
4.2mm holes were drilled at the clamping points and the top plate drilled out to 5mm and the bottom plate tapped 5mm, the top plate was then countersunk to accept 5mm countersunk socket cap screws.










Next job was to mark the 4 stud holes that hold the valve cover, these were drilled and tapped 6mm for studs.











Next the rocker gear was fitted and marked for a notch either end for clearance.








The plates and heads will be painted the same white as the block so should be barely noticeable.