Trust no one!
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
Trust no one!
Well, I finally found the reason for my 406's immediate (100 mile) failure. Professionally prep block was not align honed properly. Bearing clearances were .002 on the mains. #1 was .0015 too tight. This reduced my clearance to .0005 on one point of the #1 bearing. . This did not blacken the bearing but shoved the crank over in the saddle. The machinest claims this is prefectly acceptable and did not cause the problem. I know better than that. He pizzed on my leg and claimed it was rain! Moral of the story is no more plastigage. Bore guage only. It is a shame we need professional tools to double check a machinist. Pretty happy to have found it. Would have been a crying shame to reassemble it and have another failure.
#2
Drifting
Member Since: Feb 2002
Location: Little Rock Arkansas
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What a feeb... Dial bore guage is the ONLY way to fly. .002 is a little tight; .0015 is WAAYY too tight. And if the bores aren't concentric you'll never know exactly what the clearances are.
-Jeb
-Jeb
#4
Former Vendor
That is why a good machinist is like a good women. Treat them well and keep them happy - and you will keep a smile on your face at the same time, and save yourself a whole lot of headaches.
Its amazing and should be noted that while some think that throwing a motor together is a given that everything should be perfect....that is NOT always the case - "good" machinist or NOT.
I know Pete is no dummy when it comes to motors, you can talk to someone about motors and know if they have a clue or not, and Pete knows his stuff.
Point is there are a TON of variables that can lead to a problem with a motor, and anyone will tell you that puts them together - even with the utmost care taken, the first 100 or so miles and first trips to the track they are holding their breath and watching the oil pressure like a hawk to make sure everything is ok.
Good followup and tracking down of the problem you had Pete. .0005" is about 16% of the width of the average human hair to put it into perspective! That is not enough to carry oil effectively. However most of the cam caps we make here for GM in overhead cam engines get machined to .001 clearance - hence the reason you have 60psi oil pressure on a car nowdays after 80K miles. But that is NOT good for a performance motor.
Its amazing and should be noted that while some think that throwing a motor together is a given that everything should be perfect....that is NOT always the case - "good" machinist or NOT.
I know Pete is no dummy when it comes to motors, you can talk to someone about motors and know if they have a clue or not, and Pete knows his stuff.
Point is there are a TON of variables that can lead to a problem with a motor, and anyone will tell you that puts them together - even with the utmost care taken, the first 100 or so miles and first trips to the track they are holding their breath and watching the oil pressure like a hawk to make sure everything is ok.
Good followup and tracking down of the problem you had Pete. .0005" is about 16% of the width of the average human hair to put it into perspective! That is not enough to carry oil effectively. However most of the cam caps we make here for GM in overhead cam engines get machined to .001 clearance - hence the reason you have 60psi oil pressure on a car nowdays after 80K miles. But that is NOT good for a performance motor.
#5
Team Owner
Originally Posted by ski_dwn_it
That is why a good machinist is like a good women. Treat them well and keep them happy - and you will keep a smile on your face at the same time, and save yourself a whole lot of headaches.
BTW, washing the engine down after the machinist gets thru with it is another important factor.
#6
Race Director
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by tjwong
Boy that is a bummer, I hope the guy pays up or makes good of it.
#7
Race Director
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by 8388
Any body can have a bad day. That's why you mic everything twice. I will not assemble an engine without going thru everything, and verifying all the clearances.
BTW, washing the engine down after the machinist gets thru with it is another important factor.
BTW, washing the engine down after the machinist gets thru with it is another important factor.
The scary thing is the other motor (still in the car) has the same failure and the same machinest. I am having an expensive month.
#8
Team Owner
Originally Posted by Pete K
The scary thing is the other motor (still in the car) has the same failure and the same machinest. I am having an expensive month.
#9
Race Director
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by 8388
That reminds me of my Trick Flow week, or should I say Trick Blow. I had two very expensive engines ruined in the same week. Both had Trick Flow heads with crappy guides. Sometimes everything you can do is not enough.
#10
Team Owner
Member Since: Sep 2002
Location: OBAMA IS HITLER
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Originally Posted by Pete K
...A blind man can see it at least strongly contributed to my situation...
#11
Race Director
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by bradvette
an example of that blind man would be me! i'm appalled that a known professional won't accept a slight dent out of his monumental income and do the right thing. he must have had a new trainee in there with no supervision. maybe he's taking on too much business, but then here we are 8 years later with a similar problem. the personal $$ expense is no joke, and many of us share in that misery. unfortunately that's no help to you as it doesn't pay the bills. BUT.....there are better days ahead! You're right, if one isn't killed it only makes us stronger
#12
Team Owner
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Pete, 15 hours straight you'll need 15 bowls of wheaties! Now its SCAT cranks? It seems that alot of the parts suppliers are having q.a. problems these days, how can anyone get a project done without imminent distaster Lets hope that whatever turns out, there will be cash in your pocket
#13
Race Director
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by bradvette
Pete, 15 hours straight you'll need 15 bowls of wheaties! Now its SCAT cranks? It seems that alot of the parts suppliers are having q.a. problems these days, how can anyone get a project done without imminent distaster Lets hope that whatever turns out, there will be cash in your pocket
#19
Instructor
Member Since: Jul 2003
Location: Colorado Springs CO
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Yup, don't trust anybody...
I've never had anybody else build my motors, and none have had any problems, either. You need to double-check anybody's work. Taking a motor out, rebuilding it, and putting back in is a LOT of work. Once I had an engine bored, and one of the pistons wouldn't even go in the bore!! Good luck.