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Hi all -
For all of you who have been living through the small block from hell that has been my life the last 2 months, thought I would bring you all up to date....
I pulled the motor this week and my what I found. The top end was as suspected - bent exhaust valve in #5, guide hosed, yet another hammered seat and no this was not the insert I put in before.
The bottom end was a different story. Although the bore had no wear and the pistons were in very good shape, the piston skirts and top ring lands had an odd build-up unlike anything I've seen in a gas engine. I showed the pistons to a racing rebuilder friend of mine, he chuckled and said, this motor was run on nitrous. Of course, that is not how the car was delivered to me. Ah, what people do to their Corvettes..... That answered a bunch of questions....
The rod bearings were worn almost through the copper on all the rod tops, and the front and rear mains were the same so I am figuring the shaft is bent. But the big problem was the thrust which was actually pulling the cam forward enough to dimple the timing cover. Should have checked that too I guess and that explains the timing cover leak I never could quite fix.
So the shaft will make a good boat anchor. The block I think I can save given some time.... Its a wonder of GM engineering that the engine ever held together as long as it did and based on what I saw, I expect it was on course to self-destruct in the next 1,000 miles or so. Of course, when the valve kissed the piston, it cracked, scored the wall, and now needs a 3/32 sleeve to fix it.
Bottom line, in the interest of time, money, overall aggravation, Spring, and since the block was not numbers matching anyways, I have decided to drop a Goodwrench 350/250 in the car and be done with this engine until I can come back to it and straighten this whole mess out. After figuring out what the rebuild would cost (even if I did all the machine work), it turned out to be cheaper to put the crate in and just drive the car.
Gotta love this hobby!
Pat
For all of you who have been living through the small block from hell that has been my life the last 2 months, thought I would bring you all up to date....
I pulled the motor this week and my what I found. The top end was as suspected - bent exhaust valve in #5, guide hosed, yet another hammered seat and no this was not the insert I put in before.
The bottom end was a different story. Although the bore had no wear and the pistons were in very good shape, the piston skirts and top ring lands had an odd build-up unlike anything I've seen in a gas engine. I showed the pistons to a racing rebuilder friend of mine, he chuckled and said, this motor was run on nitrous. Of course, that is not how the car was delivered to me. Ah, what people do to their Corvettes..... That answered a bunch of questions....
The rod bearings were worn almost through the copper on all the rod tops, and the front and rear mains were the same so I am figuring the shaft is bent. But the big problem was the thrust which was actually pulling the cam forward enough to dimple the timing cover. Should have checked that too I guess and that explains the timing cover leak I never could quite fix.
So the shaft will make a good boat anchor. The block I think I can save given some time.... Its a wonder of GM engineering that the engine ever held together as long as it did and based on what I saw, I expect it was on course to self-destruct in the next 1,000 miles or so. Of course, when the valve kissed the piston, it cracked, scored the wall, and now needs a 3/32 sleeve to fix it.
Bottom line, in the interest of time, money, overall aggravation, Spring, and since the block was not numbers matching anyways, I have decided to drop a Goodwrench 350/250 in the car and be done with this engine until I can come back to it and straighten this whole mess out. After figuring out what the rebuild would cost (even if I did all the machine work), it turned out to be cheaper to put the crate in and just drive the car.
Gotta love this hobby!
Pat
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