Technical He's got some SBC woes

Im not saying the oil wasn't changed regularly, I'm saying it saw some VERY high oil temperatures, you can tell by the look of it. My guess is you wont save much out of this motor.
what did the first batch of oil that you drained look like?

 

Before you resize them/put this motor back together, carefully inspect the inside of the rod bores. Look for heat discolouration, if you see any, don't re-use the rods...

 

Really really black and thin.

 

It's hard to believe they had a hard time getting this thing started. Built like that, it should have been running like a top.

 

Lol, it would have been better if it didn't start.

I feel bad for the guy,
He could get a crate engine and be driving it this weekend.

 

I think he was referring to inbred country muthers not Mountain Williams in general. You know the type, mouth breathers, an earth worm could wade in the gene poll.

I still think that once inside there is going to be a wonky cam bushing. There may be way more wrong than that but a goofed up cam bushing is going to be part of the problem.

 

I know what you mean. If he would've done that in the beginning, I'm sure he'd have spent less and would've never had any of these problems. That just sucks.

 

During the years I grew up in the machine shop, it was always sad to know the guys did the very best torque plating, decking, align honing, resizing, getting clearances just right etc only to see such nice pieces were bound doom by ignorance of some assembler's once they left the shop. I recently got to witness a local put a 572 BBC 720hp crate in his 3/4 4x4 92 "tax write" off farm truck & detonate it to death under normal driving conditions with pump gas along the way shelling out a cam, various lifters, etc in s matter of 6 months. Sad but this reminds me of this guy's delimma. You'll get him fixed up I'm sure, he just learned a lesson the hard on the wallet way. Buyer beware. Good luck ! Flux

 

yes, this thing has really been cooked, that is indicative of very high oil temps. Inspect everything very carefully for heat discolouration, and discard anything that looks suspect. Nothing to do with the current damage, but looking at the photo of the cam bearing boss, this block also has substantial core shift, I wouldn't have used it for anything but a mild build in the first place. I assume this block is already +030, and with the oil temps being what they were, the cylinder walls are probably scuffed and the skirts damaged. Between the core shift and potential skirt damage, this block may be toast. I would also sonic test any block that showed that much visual evidence of core shift, ESPECIALLY if it has already been bored once.

 

The photo of the rocker arm contacting the spring is a good reminder of stuff to check when assembling an engine..

 

Well I found some of that fuel pump shaft lodged in the bottom end bearings. I'm sure there's a little of it stuck and hiding in the lifters too.

How does 0.018 crank end play sound? About 3-4 x too much is what it sounds like to me, but I checked that with all the rod on so it might be more.

 

You can stick a fork in this one...This isn't a pre-rebuild teardown, its an autopsy...with the amount of damage you are going to find, I think it will be hard to figure out what actually initiated this horrendous chain of destruction. The fuel pump pushrod probably came apart after the oil film broke down due to excessive oil temp, and the end gauled onto the camshaft and came off. Whats the cam look like?

 

The cam still looks good to the untrained eye. The fuel pump eccentric doesn't match the rod, the rod is much much softer. The lobe Noses have the taper worn off. I've got 3 very slightly concave lifters, 8 that are almost flat , only 6 that have some kind of dome left and 1 dished.

 

This is alot like a CSI show but more interesting.

 

that surprises me honestly. That crank end play number is excessive if measured with all the rods out, and when you pull the rods,that number is just gonna get bigger, with the oil like that, I bet the thrust surface is going to be galled, a 350 crank just isn't worth spending the money to weld up the thrust surface, its false economy. Its probably scored all to hell anyway.

 

This Autopsy is getting really messy.
The Crate Engine option is looking better all the time.......

 

I'm the last guy in the world to suggest a crate motor, but in this case, that's probably not a bad idea.

 

"Bout 50 years ago I tried one of those lightweight, hollow pump push rods it was too soft and the fuel pump eccentric arm beat it all to hell in short order.

 

I feel for 31Vic.
Many's the time I did a 'good turn' for a friend, Roman, or customer, only to get dug in so deep there was no way I could help.
This resonates memories.
BTW: 'lightweight fuel pump pushrod'? (edited, just read Dave's post)

 

they have been around a long time, lots of circle track guys use them...
more than anything, its the look of that oil. that's a really grim sign. Restricted upper end oiling (whether intentional or due to something else failing) in conjunction with ball trunion rockers makes for LOTS of heat, as soon as I saw the looks of that oil on the fuel pump pushrod, my prognosis for this thing took a sharp downhill turn.

 

The newest fuel pump pushrod fad is the one with a roller bearing. It has a slot with a special bolt to keep it lined up. I've already heard bad things from other shops about them.
I've also never been a fan of the roller tip rocker even with good oiling the balls tend to burn up on them.

 

yea, just what every engine needs, more broken tiny parts scattering themselves all over its innards...
as far as Im concerned, those cast rockers with the roller tips and ball trunnions are one of the single most worthless gimmicks that have ever been foisted on the hot rodding public. The friction generated at the rocker tip is virtually nil compared to the trunion. Pure Car Craft, Hollywood romance eyewash bullshit...I wont say who came out with that junk in the first place, a lot of guys on here like "Walmart" cams...

 

In my garage "educational" equals painful, expensive and oftentimes both.
This looks very educational.
I am learning all kinds of things that I thought I knew but didn't; thanks for sharing.

 

In all my years I have never seen a stock GM fuel pump push rod fuck up.

The color of the chopped fuel pump rod is some sort of blackish anodized coating. Push rods are the same, same coating , same manufacturer, gold markings.

Now Here's a bit more of the CSI type info. Just talked with the guy & There was an electric fuel pump on this thing up until a few weeks ago. There was a mechanical on originally, there was a change to electric, then there was a change back to the current mechanical. He said shortly after this current mechanical fuel pump was installed is when all the noise started.

What I do not know is when the light weight fuel pump rod went in.

After giving him the bad news he was rather upset and spoke one fluent cuss word that had at least 47 syllables. So I told him my opinion, you're going to have to throw money at it to get anything like enjoyment out of it. Order A crate engine before the sun goes down and you could be driving to the Sunday cruise night with a warranty. He asked about re doing this one I said sure. You'll still throw money at it, it will take at least a month if I can rush you past everyone and no warranty unless we start completely from scratch, which will be even more Money for you to throw. I'm sure you'll hold me to the highest standards now and that's not going to happen unless o do everything- certainly wont be cheap or fast. We could clean it out, put fresh bearings in it and you take your chances, if it fucks up you can then throw even more money at it.

Not a good place to be for him or anyone.

 

Looks like you are both in a bad spot. I always hate delivering the bad news to someone.

You were honest with him and that is the same as I would have told him, rough or not the truth is what a client needs to here.

 

I suppose you could reuse the heads,new stock rockers, clean up the pistons,hone the block, new rings and bearings if the crank isn't scored ...And it might be ok....or not..
I hear about crate engines being bad right out of the box, low oil pressure,bad valve jobs, oil smoke etc. I don't know if it's fucked up installers or abuse or typical bull shit, but it makes ya think...

 

I think it depends on if the crate motor is a remanned motor or a new one. Not all motors in a box are created equal that's for sure.

 

I'm thinking you have to figure what the customer is about, Bragger(needs to have all HP stuff in his engine and tell every one),driver(nice healthy engine that starts,runs and goes from point A to B with no issues). Pete

 

Who's got time for that ?
My honey is the psychologist, maybe I can get her to talk to him - then when they get that figured out ,,,

 

@Truckedup
" Under warranty" has a nice ring to fellas who Are still hot and smoking after being burnt.