Factory head seal no more after this...stock crank is toast

[2QUIK6]

Well, I've had 24 years of pleasure without much trouble.. That changed Sunday at the Muscle Car Club Challenge event here. Was running good 7.3x passes at 90+ mph. In the 3rd round of eliminations the motor just shut off after the 60' mark, no great pop or explosion nothing....car would not crank.
Got the pan off last night and the stock crank snapped between the #5 and 6 rod connections. Was a clean break, the bearing in several of the mains and rods looked fine, even the rod bearing right next to the break...see pics. Knocked the skirts off the pistons on #5 and 6 due to hitting the counter weights I assume once the crank broke. Not much debris scattered, mostly the piston skirt pieces.



This is exactly where the pieces were when I pulled the pan off:


Guess now it's time to build a beast of a street car

 

[Gene Van Horn]

24 years is a long to be all good, now the real fun can begin. Take your time and build exactly what you want. Sorry about your engine but it was good to you.

 

[2QUIK6]

Yes it was, I'm not too upset. I'm going to build it to last at least the next 25 years...hell I might not be driving by that time! The previous runs that day had the O2s around 780-800, and inj duty cycle was at 62%. No signs of the bearing being beat much. Motor has 58k miles on the clock. I had the Direct Scan recording, but in my hast to try to get the car off the track and forgot to save the file! I did have my eye on the knock gauge and the only knock was when the motor cut off abruptly, when straight to the RED.

So what's next...Provided the block is still good, I don't see any damage to it but until its tested who knows...forged stroker rotating assm, have the block machined for roller cam, porting the heads or going Champ ported irons, then go from there with any other parts needed. I know I will need to upgrade some of the valve train with the roller cam. Will probably be overkill but you never know and I don't want to be doing it again.

 

[Mr.Spool]

Yes it was, I'm not too upset.

yup, doesn't owe you anything at that point.the stock stuff can really take a beating.

 

[Eticket]

wow.. that is odd.

 

[TexasT]

That is kinda ugly, but hey it was probably fun while it lasted.