Michigan Boarder Engine Blueprint and Build

[WheelerWake]

preliminary findings are detonation. number 5 piston is eaten away and I found the gap on that plug had to have been hit by a piece of the piston as it was closed up tight.

john had mentioned that he just had the carb rebuilt and my feelings are it was running lean before the carb rebuild that help cause this.

Several years ago, I had a 3.0l I/O that had a head gasket let go, it had the same effect (although not as bad) on the piston.

[shawndoggy]

I gloriously blew the head gasket on my 1979 mustang cobra 2.3L turbo (first year of the fox body) while doing a top speed run in high school (I think the statute of limitations has run?). It looked just like the one pictured.

[Bozboat]

I gloriously blew the head gasket on my 1979 mustang cobra 2.3L turbo (first year of the fox body) while doing a top speed run in high school (I think the statute of limitations has run?). It looked just like the one pictured.

and the record top speed was >???

[shawndoggy]

]and the record top speed was >???

I think I was "buried" at about 105.

the location, sound, and visuals were remarkably similar to the old castrol commercials.

[/media

[sgt1970-442]

well, we dodged a bullet on the block. it is not cracked. so not its time to start ordering parts.

for the recorded when I was 17 at our high school nationals at Milan dragway, I scattered a 389 Pontiac tri power

motor in my 64 tempest. I was about 500 ft out when I missed the second to third gear shift, tattle tale tac said 7300rpm.

not much left of that bottom end. had two broken rods, three bent rods, bent the crank and broke number four main cap.

it broke the right side of the block and the oil pan looked like someone chopped it up with an axe. also broke the input gear

on that Muncie.

pistons looked better on the tops than the picture of john's but they were trashed along with the rest of that motor.

I got out of the groove as quick as I could but dumped all seven quarts of oil down that lane and almost

lost it into the wall. needless to say the track guys aren't happy when that happens. I have an msd box with a 3 step in the 442 so that never

happens again. high chip is set at 6200rpm burnout is 4300rpm and launch is 3600rpm.

that's the worst one I've ever done and at 17 while the noise scared that heck out of me,,, I bought a 68 Camaro 327 4 speed that I was racing

two weeks later.

[WheelerWake]

well, we dodged a bullet on the block. it is not cracked. so not its time to start ordering parts.

for the recorded when I was 17 at our high school nationals at Milan dragway, I scattered a 389 Pontiac tri power

motor in my 64 tempest. I was about 500 ft out when I missed the second to third gear shift, tattle tale tac said 7300rpm.

not much left of that bottom end. had two broken rods, three bent rods, bent the crank and broke number four main cap.

it broke the right side of the block and the oil pan looked like someone chopped it up with an axe. also broke the input gear

on that Muncie.

pistons looked better on the tops than the picture of john's but they were trashed along with the rest of that motor.

I got out of the groove as quick as I could but dumped all seven quarts of oil down that lane and almost

lost it into the wall. needless to say the track guys aren't happy when that happens. I have an msd box with a 3 step in the 442 so that never

happens again. high chip is set at 6200rpm burnout is 4300rpm and launch is 3600rpm.

that's the worst one I've ever done and at 17 while the noise scared that heck out of me,,, I bought a 68 Camaro 327 4 speed that I was racing

two weeks later.

Pontiac engines were infamous for their cast rods...

I remember in the early 70's when the SD455 came out, if you wanted to buy the forged rods from the dealer you had to produce a VIN, and they still wouldn't sell you a whole set.

Edited January 14, 2014 by WheelerWake

[UWSkier]

Looking forward to following this thread. I've done dozens of 2 stroke sled engine complete tear-downs and rebuilds but never a pushrod V8.

Diagnosis is always fun too.

Edited January 14, 2014 by UWSkier

[jk13]

Looking forward to following this thread. I've done dozens of 2 stroke sled engine complete tear-downs and rebuilds but never a pushrod V8.

Diagnosis is always fun too.

Me too with the two strokes.

But I did do the CSFI to MPFI conversion on my 96 Tahoe this weekend. Not technically inside the motor but deep enough to have to spend an hour cleaning carbon deposits and egr sludge out of it (230,000 miles).

Not relevant at all but thought I'd share. Carry on.

[Oberon]

Same here. I've done a single cylinder motorcycle engine and two stroke jet ski engine but haven't opened up an auto (marine) engine. Lots of pictures please!

[Ndawg12]

I just cleaned the carb on my 18.5 hp B&G in my riding mower, so I'm totally subscribed to this, carry on as well.

[sgt1970-442]

can't wait to have a scat crank kit show up so i can post up some pics.

john,,, did you and mark get together today?

been going through cam specs, crane shows a good one but think i'm going to check into some custom stuff to tweak it more to our liking.

while comp cams and crane will grind customs, bullet, erson and clay smith have great customer service and have some of the best grinds in the business.

[Michigan boarder]

Mark got that to my wife (the paypal pro) late Friday night, and Saturday was all day birthday stuff with my 8year old. She had 7 other girls over all day - sledding for a big chunk of that, lunch, games inside, crafts, more games, dinner, movie, and bed by 1am. CRAZY. Sunday breakfast then I worked all day, got home at about 10pm. Up at 3am to get rolling again (and check on TMC). She will be finalizing that this morning, she knows that parts need to get to you ASAP.

[sgt1970-442]

Mark got that to my wife (the paypal pro) late Friday night, and Saturday was all day birthday stuff with my 8year old. She had 7 other girls over all day - sledding for a big chunk of that, lunch, games inside, crafts, more games, dinner, movie, and bed by 1am. CRAZY. Sunday breakfast then I worked all day, got home at about 10pm. Up at 3am to get rolling again (and check on TMC). She will be finalizing that this morning, she knows that parts need to get to you ASAP.

ok... mark called yesterday and hopefully by Wednesday to Thursday I should have everything but the pistons. the mahle pistons that we wanted are out of stock and about 4 weeks out.

we will be getting srp forged pistons. pictures coming soon,, fingers crossed...

[dtm8119]

Get that Fram oil filter off of that thing!

[sgt1970-442]

Get that Fram oil filter off of that thing!

not my choice, I only can recommend things and what other people do, I cannot control.

on a good note is at least an hp 1 racing filter which is better than the regular fram.

I use wix and prefer hastings or Baldwin.

[Michigan boarder]

I don't even remember where I got the filter. Probably West Marine? Fair to say, though, that the filter has been doing it's job considering the remarkable condition of the internals upon inspection. I do change it and the oil annually, and roll about 25 hours per year.

But, I'll go with whatever the doctor orders.

[Woodski]

@MB: you can get a Wix filter at several auto parts stores, use the one for the pickup truck (bigger) P/N: 51061. The NAPA gold is also an excellent filter, Sgt mentioned the good filter brands in his previous post. Don't go for the racing version, it flows more oil but does not filter as fine as the standard version. You won't spin you engine fast enough to require additional oil flow.

[sgt1970-442]

john,

the comment about the fram filter has to do with the picture of my buddie's motor at the start of this thread.

you had a sierra oil filter on it... we will not be putting a taiwan made sierra back on this motor.

napa gold is made by wix. woodski hit a home run. I use the 51061 because it is a one quart filter and the

51060 which is the number of the standard filter is a half quart filter.

[Michigan boarder]

john,

the comment about the fram filter has to do with the picture of my buddie's motor at the start of this thread.

you had a sierra oil filter on it... we will not be putting a taiwan made sierra back on this motor.

napa gold is made by wix. woodski hit a home run. I use the 51061 because it is a one quart filter and the

51060 which is the number of the standard filter is a half quart filter.

Gotcha. I'll stock up on a bunch of them.

[Slayer]

I run the 51061 on my boat based on a recommendation of Woodski in a thread from a few years ago.

[WheelerWake]

ok... mark called yesterday and hopefully by Wednesday to Thursday I should have everything but the pistons. the mahle pistons that we wanted are out of stock and about 4 weeks out.

we will be getting srp forged pistons. pictures coming soon,, fingers crossed...

Make sure you run the additional clearance required with those pistons if you don't have a closed cooling system.

[sgt1970-442]

Make sure you run the additional clearance required with those pistons if you don't have a closed cooling system.

enlighten me on why piston to wall clearance differs with a closed system verses a raw water system?

[WheelerWake]

enlighten me on why piston to wall clearance differs with a closed system verses a raw water system?

With a raw water system, the "cold" water it dumped directly into the engine when the thermostat is open. When this is happening at full throttle the pistons are expanding but the cylinder walls are not because of the constant input of cold water. This eats up the required clearance and the results aren't pretty.

The closed system acts as a buffer between the cold water coming in and what the engine sees.

Piston manufactures usually have a marine clearance spec (it's pretty big).

[sgt1970-442]

I see where your coming from now. yes 160* closed system verses 70-80* lake water in the summer being fed in could create an issue.

I will check with srp and see what they have as a spec on both open and closed systems. probably go back and check bore size and mic a piston to check wall clearance on the old stuff.

I know they are just cast pistons but i'm curious to see what it is now.

as for progress on this motor, not much until I get the rotating kit. hopefully pics and progress this coming week.

[WheelerWake]

I see where your coming from now. yes 160* closed system verses 70-80* lake water in the summer being fed in could create an issue.

I will check with srp and see what they have as a spec on both open and closed systems. probably go back and check bore size and mic a piston to check wall clearance on the old stuff.

I know they are just cast pistons but i'm curious to see what it is now.

as for progress on this motor, not much until I get the rotating kit. hopefully pics and progress this coming week.

I'm not a marine engine expert, only auto engines up til very recently, just passing on what I've been told by those who have been there...