This might turn out long. Almost 2 years ago I built an engine. Things were great, it ran good, and ran hard. Then the tranny went a couple months later ( a "fresh" tranny that I bought from a board member). Go figure I thought. Just built an engine, and this. And to top it all off I have to move 600 miles away in about 2 weeks. So I move, fly back to finalize some things, and stab the tranny a friend of mine built in the car. So I drive the car to Austin and babied it the whole way, but enjoyed every minute of it. I get less than 5 miles from my destination and head a repetitive thud thud thud. Like a rod knock but faster. So Straight into the garage I go after driving 9 hours. It's coming from the bottom end. 
So I pull the engine the next weekend and find a spun #3 main bearing. Everything looks great in the engine except that. Still to this day don't know why, but I think the crank flexed and grabbed it. So, trashed block.
I start looking for an off center Stage block. Found one, but it sold. He did however have a long block and the build sounded solid like a brick sh!house. BMS crank, 6.5 Carillo's, 3 steel caps, girdle with skirt milled to negate shims and some other nice work, solid roller (modded hyd locked out) and a FANTASTIC set of rare heads. I prime it and bam, it's is a leaker. Fixed 3 major leaks (still found one minor one between the girdle and the block after I run it). Screw it, it runs. I break it in and dial it in with a conservative tune in mind. I gain .4 and and 5 MPH with less boost. I was stoked.
A week later I was on the street, and gave it a goose. It broke loose and revved a little, but I had the direct scan logging and it just went to 6800. I did not sweat it as I knew it could take it. I drive it for a month or so on the weekends and I started noticing subtle tick, like the solid cam, but a weird rythym. It was so subtle it was hardly noticable. I had everyone I know listen to it and they all thought I was crazy. It bothered me, so I dropped the pan. I see all this trash I don't recognize, little circles and shrapnel. I pull it and find that the lifter tie bars came apart. . And one got dropped down into the block, and slung up through a piston and marred a head. . I walk awy from the project for awhile.
I decide to work on the car again. I took it in to hone it .005 (.015 over). To a guy who build alot of the 8 second "Little Pooch" around here on a friends recommendation since I don't know any of the machine shops around here. I was pationt as I was awaiting a set of TA heads which were gonna take awhile at that time. But this fvcker never would work on my stuff. Hone it and measure for pistons, that is it. I get my heads, my exhaust and bearings coated, and am still waiting on this guy. I get fed up and light a fire under him. So I Finally get my custom ($$$) set of spherical dish pistons and get my stuff back.
Time to assemble and I am happy (after 8 months since starting). First thing, damn the thrust is tight. Like there is no thust clearance at all. Apparently the thrust bearing got .010 or so taken off of it instead of the crank. OK, so I take my crank in to get the thrust lighted up. I get it back a week later (different shop). OK everything rotating specs. I put the girdle on and the caps are .004 under the sides of the block, so I shim those to spec thankful that this did not cause another problem previously. Put the heads on and the studs are too short. I argue with Jan at TA that his studs are too short for like 20 minutes. He wanted me to back the studs up until I had enough thread for the nut. No freaking way as I'll pull out threads, have leaks, blown gaskets etc. I get him to give me the length they are supposed to be, and mine are 9/16 too short. Fine.. send me new ones. Put the pan on, prime it and it is sucking air. Back off with the pan and back off with the girdle as the gasket compressed on the front cover and the cam thrust was too tight. The pickup was interfering with the girdle and did not seal. I am pretty picky and can't believe I missed this. Bonehead mistake.
Last chapter I promise. I get it all back together and am stoked. I marvel in it's glory. I prime it, I get pressure. Them I notice I drop of oil on the front cover. Pump cover?... no big deal. Nope, hairline fracture in about 1/8" long in the main oil feed galley. Not panicking yet, I'll have my friend tig it, we will just zap that spot without overheating the oil or cooking the gasket. Wrong. It is so thin that everytime he zapped it it opened up a leak before it. And he can weld. So, oil is cooked and contaminated (with chips from him grinding in the cover to rid contaminants), and cover is trash. Which is milled too since the block skirt was which is not a big deal. But I have had too many not a big deals with this goddamned engine many not a big enough deal to detail here. And I am pissed that I have to completely dissamble the block and go through it again. Girdle cleanup is a mess. So it all comes down. And I am so uneasy about reusing Cometics despite what people say.
Anyway here are pics of my big shiny ****ing turd.
So I pull the engine the next weekend and find a spun #3 main bearing. Everything looks great in the engine except that. Still to this day don't know why, but I think the crank flexed and grabbed it. So, trashed block.
I start looking for an off center Stage block. Found one, but it sold. He did however have a long block and the build sounded solid like a brick sh!house. BMS crank, 6.5 Carillo's, 3 steel caps, girdle with skirt milled to negate shims and some other nice work, solid roller (modded hyd locked out) and a FANTASTIC set of rare heads. I prime it and bam, it's is a leaker. Fixed 3 major leaks (still found one minor one between the girdle and the block after I run it). Screw it, it runs. I break it in and dial it in with a conservative tune in mind. I gain .4 and and 5 MPH with less boost. I was stoked.
A week later I was on the street, and gave it a goose. It broke loose and revved a little, but I had the direct scan logging and it just went to 6800. I did not sweat it as I knew it could take it. I drive it for a month or so on the weekends and I started noticing subtle tick, like the solid cam, but a weird rythym. It was so subtle it was hardly noticable. I had everyone I know listen to it and they all thought I was crazy. It bothered me, so I dropped the pan. I see all this trash I don't recognize, little circles and shrapnel.
I pull it and find that the lifter tie bars came apart. . And one got dropped down into the block, and slung up through a piston and marred a head. . I walk awy from the project for awhile. I decide to work on the car again. I took it in to hone it .005 (.015 over). To a guy who build alot of the 8 second "Little Pooch" around here on a friends recommendation since I don't know any of the machine shops around here. I was pationt as I was awaiting a set of TA heads which were gonna take awhile at that time. But this fvcker never would work on my stuff. Hone it and measure for pistons, that is it. I get my heads, my exhaust and bearings coated, and am still waiting on this guy. I get fed up and light a fire under him. So I Finally get my custom ($$$) set of spherical dish pistons and get my stuff back.
Time to assemble and I am happy (after 8 months since starting). First thing, damn the thrust is tight. Like there is no thust clearance at all. Apparently the thrust bearing got .010 or so taken off of it instead of the crank. OK, so I take my crank in to get the thrust lighted up. I get it back a week later (different shop). OK everything rotating specs. I put the girdle on and the caps are .004 under the sides of the block, so I shim those to spec thankful that this did not cause another problem previously. Put the heads on and the studs are too short. I argue with Jan at TA that his studs are too short for like 20 minutes. He wanted me to back the studs up until I had enough thread for the nut. No freaking way as I'll pull out threads, have leaks, blown gaskets etc. I get him to give me the length they are supposed to be, and mine are 9/16 too short. Fine.. send me new ones.
Put the pan on, prime it and it is sucking air. Back off with the pan and back off with the girdle as the gasket compressed on the front cover and the cam thrust was too tight. The pickup was interfering with the girdle and did not seal. I am pretty picky and can't believe I missed this. Bonehead mistake.Last chapter I promise. I get it all back together and am stoked. I marvel in it's glory. I prime it, I get pressure. Them I notice I drop of oil on the front cover. Pump cover?... no big deal. Nope, hairline fracture in about 1/8" long in the main oil feed galley.
Not panicking yet, I'll have my friend tig it, we will just zap that spot without overheating the oil or cooking the gasket. Wrong. It is so thin that everytime he zapped it it opened up a leak before it. And he can weld. So, oil is cooked and contaminated (with chips from him grinding in the cover to rid contaminants), and cover is trash. Which is milled too since the block skirt was which is not a big deal. But I have had too many not a big deals with this goddamned engine many not a big enough deal to detail here. And I am pissed that I have to completely dissamble the block and go through it again. Girdle cleanup is a mess. So it all comes down. And I am so uneasy about reusing Cometics despite what people say.Anyway here are pics of my big shiny ****ing turd.
But when it runs, it's all worth it!!!!!!!!!! Take a break if you need to and then get back after it with a vengeance. When it does run the number bow up like a bad mofo that just outrun john Force...you deserve it!!!
