Broken motor, now fixed

[mikelbeck]

So the last time I went to the track, I made one run and the motor was knocking. After pulling it apart we found that it had hydraulic'd, one rod was bent and a piston destroyed. And the bearings were all shot... so we rebuilt it, cut the crank, new rod & piston, reconditioned the rest of the rods, new bearings (obviously) and got it all back together.

Here's a pic of the "box o' parts" the engine guy gave back to me.

[cowbay]

So the last time I went to the track, I made one run and the motor was knocking. After pulling it apart we found that it had hydraulic'd, one rod was bent and a piston destroyed. And the bearings were all shot... so we rebuilt it, cut the crank, new rod & piston, reconditioned the rest of the rods, new bearings (obviously) and got it all back together.

Here's a pic of the "box o' parts" the engine guy gave back to me.


I heard that those curved rods are all the rage now:sign5:

[mikelbeck]

I heard that those curved rods are all the rage now:sign5:

LOL!

The big problem with using curved rods like that is that they're noisy.

[mikelbeck]

So the last time I went to the track, I made one run and the motor was knocking. After pulling it apart we found that it had hydraulic'd, one rod was bent and a piston destroyed. And the bearings were all shot... so we rebuilt it, cut the crank, new rod & piston, reconditioned the rest of the rods, new bearings (obviously) and got it all back together.

Oh yeah, the #1 cylinder needed to be sleeved, the piston carved a nice little spot in the wall. So when that was done the block was decked. So now everything is nice and flat (the heads were done a month or two ago, they were milled and checked for flatness too).

[cowbay]

Kinda of figured that the cylinder wall took a shot there. Are you running the feather duster :poke:at Pinks?

[mikelbeck]

As long as I get it fired up this week without any issues... then yes.

[cowbay]

That would be great if you can make it, I think it is going to be a great day. The best I can do is make it as a spectator myself on Saturday, due to the fact I have to take my wife for treatment on Thursday and Friday. If she is feeling well enough and my mother in-law or my mother could come over to the house I will try to be there. If not it is not meant to be. (Just better be alot of pictures) My brother will be there running his 70 roadrunner and one of our buddy's Ken will be running his yellow monza. If I am there I will try to stop by.:hello:

[mikelbeck]

That would be great if you can make it, I think it is going to be a great day. The best I can do is make it as a spectator myself on Saturday, due to the fact I have to take my wife for treatment on Thursday and Friday. If she is feeling well enough and my mother in-law or my mother could come over to the house I will try to be there. If not it is not meant to be. (Just better be alot of pictures) My brother will be there running his 70 roadrunner and one of our buddy's Ken will be running his yellow monza. If I am there I will try to stop by.:hello:

Oh, I'm definately going, if the Duster ain't running I'll run my truck!

[mikelbeck]

Almost done!

I got it fired up this evening... but found that the tube that connects the oil pressure sender to the gauge was leaking. And leaking a lot, I lost like a quart of oil in about a minute. But it's running!

[cowbay]

Almost done!

I got it fired up this evening... but found that the tube that connects the oil pressure sender to the gauge was leaking. And leaking a lot, I lost like a quart of oil in about a minute. But it's running!

It's ALIVE!!:2215:

[FANTASY FACTORY]

LOL!

The big problem with using curved rods like that is that they're noisy.

I ran curved rods in My 340, I also used self ventilating head gaskets!
http://i37.tinypic.com/140fdix.jpg

[mikelbeck]

Lol...

[cowbay]

Well since we are on the topic I found out years ago, when I tried the visual port on the side of the block from a rod is not a good thing!:sign5:

[mikelbeck]

Well since we are the topic I found out years ago, when I tryed the visual port on the side of the block from a rod is not a good thing!:sign5:

It's hard to keep the oil in the block like that.

Now... back to the topic. The car's up and running, I replaced the oil pressure line. Now the thermostat housing is leaking and (of course) the headers are leaking. The housing has to come off and gooped up with a lot more RTV to make it seal right. The headers just need to be tightened and tightened some more. Those things are a major pain in the ass. :violent1:

[cowbay]

:violent1:The last 5% is always the worst part of the job

[Art]

Kinda dumb question but I will ask. The headers where they meet the head, a single long flange or individual port flanges? The reason I ask is if it is a single, you can get it surface ground to "true it up" and help with the seal. Not a cheap fix, but a good one.
For the thermostat housing, is it the manifold or the housing? It is probably all aluminum, but if there is electrolosis or some other "erosion", you might be better off building it up with marine tex or JB weld and then filing it back to size. What size cap do you run? If you could get by with a say 7 lb. cap as opposed to something in the 10 lb range it might help too.

[mikelbeck]

Kinda dumb question but I will ask. The headers where they meet the head, a single long flange or individual port flanges? The reason I ask is if it is a single, you can get it surface ground to "true it up" and help with the seal. Not a cheap fix, but a good one.
For the thermostat housing, is it the manifold or the housing? It is probably all aluminum, but if there is electrolosis or some other "erosion", you might be better off building it up with marine tex or JB weld and then filing it back to size. What size cap do you run? If you could get by with a say 7 lb. cap as opposed to something in the 10 lb range it might help too.

Whoah, lotta questions there!

Let's see... the headers are a single long flange. And I'm not about to take them off the car to grind them, they're a pain in the ass to put on. One of the pipes wraps around the steering linkage on the driver's side.

The thermostat housing leak is probably from both the housing and the intake. I'm gonna pull the housing off this weekend, make sure everything is nice and flat and then load it up with RTV and see what happens.

The cap is a 12 lb, I'll see if I can find something lower to go on there.

[Antisocial]

http://www.jegs.com/i/Stage%208/868/8915/10002/-1

[mikelbeck]

Nice. ;-)

One of these days I'll get to doing something like that.

[Robert Cooke (Jr.)]

Mike, if you need a thermostat houseing, I have extras about. On the headers, careful! Overtightening will warp the thin 5/16 flanges quick. Get a new gasket, example, Mr. Gasket Ultra seals or equal and install them. I know it's a MAJOR pain.
Glad to hear it's up and running.

[mikelbeck]

Mike, if you need a thermostat houseing, I have extras about. On the headers, careful! Overtightening will warp the thin 5/16 flanges quick. Get a new gasket, example, Mr. Gasket Ultra seals or equal and install them. I know it's a MAJOR pain.
Glad to hear it's up and running.

I have a right-angle thermostat housing to connect up to the aftermarket radiator and custom hoses. Last night I pulled it off, cleaned both sides (intake and housing), then put a 1/4 bead of RTV around the opening on the intake and the housing. Then let it sit for a little while and then laid the gasket on top of the RTV on the intake. Put the housing on, put in the bolts and hand tightened them and let it sit for a while longer. Then tightened it up and started the motor and checked for leaks. None!

As for the headers... I've tightened them up and it seems to be better. I'm sure the flanges are already warped, these headers are garbage. When I've got some cash I'm gonna buy some Hooker Super Comps or TTI's.

Oh, and the cap is a 16 lb, not a 12 lb. I'm going out today to locate an 8 or 10 lb, if I can't find one I'll get one from Jegs or Summit.

[FANTASY FACTORY]

I had Hooker Super Comps on mine also, those LA center cyl. ex. ports are just plain stupid.
Eventaully i went to a shop in Freeport that sold double thick ex gasket material for marine engines and made my own, studded the headers and used 12 point aviation nuts,

[Supershafts]

I wonder how much A body stuff i have and don't remember.... I might have super comps somewhere, or hedman, gave up the fender headers, but those were W flanges

[cmiracing2004]

put a crate motor in it, they got some sick ones now...lol

[mikelbeck]

put a crate motor in it, they got some sick ones now...lol

Yeah, maybe.

I've got another set of heads in the garage, these were damaged by UPS when they were shipped. So now I'm waiting on them to pick them up to inspect them. Hopefully they'll pay what they were insured for and I can either fix these or pick up a set of Edelbrocks.

[Supershafts]

Are you running a la motor or mag.... Stay away from those edels...

W's, Indy or Brodix.... definately not edels and in that order.

[mikelbeck]

It's an LA. I talked to the head guy, depending on what UPS does we'll either re-surface these heads (again), or he'll port and polish yet another set of J heads for me.

[Supershafts]

W's, Indy, Brodix, Edel...in that order...

If you check the heads, you can lose the open chamber... im not givin any more info than that