What a comeback huh? I wasn't planning on posting here any more, but these are extraordinary circumstances...
65000 miles on the car, almost 30,000 on boost, daily driven, and driven very, very hard... Last Friday it was very cold (33F or so) and I was doing some pulls with the car. I did one 2nd gear pull an at the end of 2nd the transmission didn't go into 3rd; it bounced the rev limiter for a moment I took my foot off the gas, let it coast a bit and then got it in gear. I could hear right away that it was misfiring on cylinder number 3. I drove it home.
Here is what came out of Cylinder number 3:
Replacing that plug made the misfire go away and the car runs fine now. It is, however, down on compression by about 40PSI on that cylinder, and I can hear faint knocking. I also think I can smell some oil out of the exhaust.
My best guess is that a piston ring or ringland broke off and got smashed against the spark plug. By now it has most likely come out into the exhaust. I don't know why it happened, but it happened the moment the engine hit the rev limiter at the end of 2nd. I've hit the rev limiter many times before, but that's what did it, so far as I can tell.
SOOO... Obviously the engine has to come out. I'm neither surprized nor disappointed: the performance was spectacular, and I am sure it would have lasted much longer if I drove the car sensibly. My first car blew not one but 4 motors... I drag race, I do top speed runs, and I floor it every time I can; I realize parts do break after a while when you abuse them like that. If anything, I think its pretty good that it took 30K miles of that; my fully built, forged internals Subaru motors usually let go in 1/3 of that time. I suspected that sooner or later I'd end up having to dig into the motor on this car.
What concerns me though is that I really don't have that much money right now to fix it; I just got done blowing 2 grand on a new radiator and associated repairs when I bottomed the car out on a pothole in Manhattan a months ago, and I already bought a plane ticket to go see my family in Australia at the end of the year, so sinking thousands of dollars into a motor just wasn't in the budget right now.
However, if I am going through the trouble of pulling the motor, I definitely want it to come back together stronger than before... So I was hoping the forum could help me figure out what is the most cost effective way to put this back together.
I haven't decided yet if I'll do the work myself or take it somewhere. I am strongly considering doing all the work myself and just buying a forged shortblock so I can keep the cost reasonable.
So, some questions:
- Is this kind of work something I can do myself without any specialty tools?
- Am I better off pulling this motor and sending it out to get it rebuilt, or just purchasing a forged shortblock and swapping my heads over?
- What is the least expensive forged shortblock out there? What if I wanted that as a stroker (402).
I'm also looking for:
A used forged shortblock or longblock (a stroker would be prefered), used blower cam and associated valvetrain, a good deal on inexpensive porting for my stock heads. PM me if you have anything...
If any vendor wants to offer me a good deal on this, it'd be great too... You could be my sponsor
When it is all said and done I would like to have the foundation for a motor that will eventually make mid to high 700s at the wheels. My goal is to eventually upgrade the blower and take this car to the Texas Mile for a 200MPH run
for something to strike the spark plug like that is insane.
i would just start tearing it apart and finding the component that failed. hopefully its not a piston wrist pin or a rod bolt. then put it back together.
but you want to go bigger, and thats gonna cost some mula, if the block is scarred then you might have to replace it anyway.
best of luck with you, i wish i could give you a hand. i was thinking of upgrading my valvetrain to bump up to 7krpms,, now it seems like it was the lower end that couldn't handle it. im gonna hold off until you find out what went.
welcome bACK!!
-Carl
Were you still runing the car with a maxxed maf? or did you goto SD with EFILive
What a comeback huh? I wasn't planning on posting here any more, but these are extraordinary circumstances...
65000 miles on the car, almost 30,000 on boost, daily driven, and driven very, very hard... Last Friday it was very cold (33F or so) and I was doing some pulls with the car. I did one 2nd gear pull an at the end of 2nd the transmission didn't go into 3rd; it bounced the rev limiter for a moment I took my foot off the gas, let it coast a bit and then got it in gear. I could hear right away that it was misfiring on cylinder number 3. I drove it home.
Here is what came out of Cylinder number 3:
Replacing that plug made the misfire go away and the car runs fine now. It is, however, down on compression by about 40PSI on that cylinder, and I can hear faint knocking. I also think I can smell some oil out of the exhaust.
My best guess is that a piston ring or ringland broke off and got smashed against the spark plug. By now it has most likely come out into the exhaust. I don't know why it happened, but it happened the moment the engine hit the rev limiter at the end of 2nd. I've hit the rev limiter many times before, but that's what did it, so far as I can tell.
SOOO... Obviously the engine has to come out. I'm neither surprized nor disappointed: the performance was spectacular, and I am sure it would have lasted much longer if I drove the car sensibly. My first car blew not one but 4 motors... I drag race, I do top speed runs, and I floor it every time I can; I realize parts do break after a while when you abuse them like that. If anything, I think its pretty good that it took 30K miles of that; my fully built, forged internals Subaru motors usually let go in 1/3 of that time. I suspected that sooner or later I'd end up having to dig into the motor on this car.
What concerns me though is that I really don't have that much money right now to fix it; I just got done blowing 2 grand on a new radiator and associated repairs when I bottomed the car out on a pothole in Manhattan a months ago, and I already bought a plane ticket to go see my family in Australia at the end of the year, so sinking thousands of dollars into a motor just wasn't in the budget right now.
However, if I am going through the trouble of pulling the motor, I definitely want it to come back together stronger than before... So I was hoping the forum could help me figure out what is the most cost effective way to put this back together.
I haven't decided yet if I'll do the work myself or take it somewhere. I am strongly considering doing all the work myself and just buying a forged shortblock so I can keep the cost reasonable.
So, some questions:
- Is this kind of work something I can do myself without any specialty tools?
- Am I better off pulling this motor and sending it out to get it rebuilt, or just purchasing a forged shortblock and swapping my heads over?
- What is the least expensive forged shortblock out there? What if I wanted that as a stroker (402).
I'm also looking for:
A used forged shortblock or longblock (a stroker would be prefered), used blower cam and associated valvetrain, a good deal on inexpensive porting for my stock heads. PM me if you have anything...
If any vendor wants to offer me a good deal on this, it'd be great too... You could be my sponsor
When it is all said and done I would like to have the foundation for a motor that will eventually make mid to high 700s at the wheels. My goal is to eventually upgrade the blower and take this car to the Texas Mile for a 200MPH run
Hey Sam, welcome back man. We missed you! :-)
There was a time that was going to have a built engine and this company in Canada http://www.cdnperf.com/ , had great choices and prices. You really need special tools when it comes to balancing and so on. Let the pros with tools build one for you. and then you put your head and other parts yourself.
Welcome Back bro and sorry to hear about your motor. If I was you go with option 2, purchase a Forged short block and swap out your head....do all the work yourself, 4 jack stands and a engine hoist will do the job. A 402 forged block will run you about $4,500.
Sam that sucks! Seems ALOT of people on here have been poppin motors these last few weeks with the colder temps and almost all of them had the same type failure. Mine failed too about 3 weeks ago. IDENTICAL situation except i think I might have cracked the block too as a result of the cracked sleeve.
Anyhow Ive spent easily 100's of hours already researching every possible know way to go about my build. For me, my hp disease and my future goals a LSx block was the only way to go. I know its heavier yada yada but the piece of mind knowing it will take the power like no other is worth it to me. So that being said after all my research I decided to keep my stock short block to fix it down the road and keep it for numbers matching engine. I ordered a assembled shortblock . It is currently being built. Now if you dont want to go to the extremes like I have building a shortblock to easily handle 1000-1200 rwhp .. Email me if you want more help or info on specifics. I've been going nuts myself trying to figure it all out.
Bottom line either way just buy a assembled short block done and swap your heads etc. Put in a blower cam and build it according to your needs so its bullet proof.
Looks like a great build. Unfortunately $6350 for just the shortblock is way more than I would want to spend on this
You really got to decide what hp goals you have for the future to determine how far you want to go with the car. Heres a shortblock that should take an easy 650 rwhp.
You really got to decide what hp goals you have for the future to determine how far you want to go with the car. Heres a shortblock that should take an easy 650 rwhp.
If Texas Mile is a goal then here is my experience.
In March 09 there was a tailwind and 50-60 degree temps. 402 forged w edelbrock 245 heads 24x cam, fuel sys, meth sys, built tranny and diff. Andys kit w T-trim. I made 201mph. everyone in March made approx 6-10 extra mph because of the tailwind. the dyno curve below shows detuned from the 801 rwhp it made with quite a bit of Meth dialed in
So in Aug I had the Ysi unit installed because I got a great deal on the unit in trade for my T. However I have Eagle Crank and rods in the motor so I cannot take advantage of the power of the motor. dyno was done on 105 degree day. below
the intake is restricted so 14.5 psi is max. When I get the time and $$ i will pull the motor and upgrade the rods and crank. If I get 2" primaries I might get 950whp. about a month ago at the mile i went 196mph w Ysi and toyo 335 tires and 5pt roll cage--mandatory for 190+ oops hit the rev limiter on takeoff. see sigs. my pal in the yellow #101 Z06 after me has a procharger upgrade with low 700whp. he had no rollcage so he had to do sub 190s and was at the top of his power anyway.
If you are like the rest of us you will wonder why you went the sub 200mph route. car #101 is now doing fully built motor and is attempting to set the C6Z06 top speed. he'll have 1000++rwhp to do that.
__________________ http://www.heavenspath.com/engine_build_detail.html 402 w A&A YSi 806whp restrictor plate 14.5psi, LMR high hp drivetrain
06 VR Cp Z51 MZ6 3LT
'lil ol Dallas Performance shop tuned Texasmile Oct 07-167mph cam only, Mar 09201.43mph
28 sec run Oct 09
Last edited by drivinfast; 11-12-2009 at 08:37 PM.
Time to order an LSX block that can handle tons of boost!!!!!!! 454ci out to do it with forged internals
Isn't that an Iron block? I'd never put that kind of weight in front of my car.
Plus I don't need tons of boost or tons of power. I just want a bit more in a reliable package.
Thank you. Your 201MPH run with a T-Trim is exactly what I'd like to accomplish.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drivinfast
If Texas Mile is a goal then here is my experience.
In March 09 there was a tailwind and 50-60 degree temps. 402 forged w edelbrock 245 heads 24x cam, fuel sys, meth sys, built tranny and diff. Andys kit w T-trim. I made 201mph. everyone in March made approx 6-10 extra mph because of the tailwind. the dyno curve below shows detuned from the 801 rwhp it made with quite a bit of Meth dialed in
Thanks a lot for putting it all into perspective. Your 201MPH run with a T-Trim is exactly what I'd like to accomplish! The setup you used is pretty much what i'd like to build too... What size pulley did you use and was it a 6 or an 8 rib?
Corvette Store
I blew my motor.
and my future goals a LSx block was the only way to go. I know its heavier yada yada but the piece of mind knowing it will take the power like no other is worth it to me. So that being said after all my research I decided to keep my stock short block to fix it down the road and keep it for numbers matching engine. I ordered a assembled shortblock . It is currently being built. Now if you dont want to go to the extremes like I have building a shortblock to easily handle 1000-1200 rwhp .. Email me if you want more help or info on specifics. I've been going nuts myself trying to figure it all out. 
