ChevyKiller
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I didn't blow it up but I have learned from experience when something is wrong so I tore this one down before something serious happened...
The car was knocking and getting worse on the dyno with rpm. The car was making outstanding power (over 900 whp) but the knocking was a no-no, so I tore it down.
What I discovered was a first for me. I spent a lot of money on the custom Diamond pistons and there claims of serious boost rings. Well the rings performed as advertised cause they were damn near new out of the box looking after tearing it down. What wasn't good was the oil lands/rings - they were shit and one completely went to shit and caused the piston to knock around in the cylinder which was the sound I heard.
At first, thought I spun a bearing but the bearings, rods, crank, and heads were in damn near perfect condition. It wasn't the one particular oil ring because every single one of the pistons had the oil rings going out and were starting to scratch on the piston side. The one which was the worst was the one making all the noise.
I immediately wanted to look into tuning as that was the first obvious place to look but there was no detonation at all. The tops of the pistons were perfect, the bearings were perfect, and the final inspection was the heads and the are brand new looking. Not a single sign of wear on any of the valves.
I don't need to get into a discussion of what happened because the truth is I will never know for sure but I do know it is one of these three things. Like I said, I'll never know for sure which one exactly, but I know it was one of the three...
#1 - When the bent cam took out my oil pump and I was cranking the car all day trying to start it with no oil pressure, and started it briefly with no oil pressure, the oil rings got damaged being dry
#2 - Diamond Pistons used oil rings on the pistons that weren't up to par with the rings
#3 - The pistons were rattling around in the sleeves causing the oil rings to fail
My set-ups in the past on this motor have been long tubes with a big blower with a loud ass exhaust, so it is possible that this was damage I have had for a some time and just never heard it until I went with the turbos where now I hear everything.
Either way - it is what it is and I was able to salvage everything but the pistons. The block only needs to be very slightly honed for a couple hundred bucks so the bottom line is someone is about to get the deal of the century on a 330" boss stroker motor...lol
The rods are perfect, the crank is perfect, and with a $200 hone job, the block will be awesome so all someone will need is a set of pistons for 330" boss 4.6 stroker. I am going to put an add in the classifieds for it for $2500 so that means all you need is some pistons so someone can get a MONSTER deal on a big bore boss short block.
Here is the block and the thin scratches that will need a light hone...
Here are the Manley rods in perfect condition...
Here is the tops of the pistons looking good...
Here is the sides of the pistons where the failed oil ring caused the damage - all of them are damaged in the same spot slightly - but the one pictured is the worst and the one making all the noise - the cylinder wall pictured was from this piston...
Here is a shot of the heads I also checked for any detonation and were in great shape...
SORRY THE PICS ARE SO BAD BUT ONLY A CELL PHONE TO TAKE THEM
Bottom line - for $3500 or so (after you add new pistons) , someone can get a 4.6 330" boss built shortblock that will easily handle 650-700 rwhp all day long.
For Sale Thread Here... http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22092
Before you even ask, the reason I am not simply putting new pistons in this thing is because I only feel comfortable saying this motor is good up to 700 whp and I am well beyond that with my build. I am not dicking around anymore and wasting time with the 'usual suspects' of engine builds. I'm just going to do it right and use custom pistons, oliver billet rods, billet crank, etc, etc. I have turned to the east coast to build me a motor right now and will be finished in about 4-5 weeks. This motor will be built for my needs and my set-up. I am also having my livernois heads re-designed back east and getting a custom cam and all Jesel rockers/followers/lashers, and some other stuff to get my heads were I think they need to be. I'm personally done with the 'off-the-shelf stuff as I feel my power levels have exceeded it all.
With pro NMRA talent stepping into the game to help me build this car, I'm hoping to finally get the chevykiller on the right track to getting 'done'... we'll see...
The car was knocking and getting worse on the dyno with rpm. The car was making outstanding power (over 900 whp) but the knocking was a no-no, so I tore it down.
What I discovered was a first for me. I spent a lot of money on the custom Diamond pistons and there claims of serious boost rings. Well the rings performed as advertised cause they were damn near new out of the box looking after tearing it down. What wasn't good was the oil lands/rings - they were shit and one completely went to shit and caused the piston to knock around in the cylinder which was the sound I heard.
At first, thought I spun a bearing but the bearings, rods, crank, and heads were in damn near perfect condition. It wasn't the one particular oil ring because every single one of the pistons had the oil rings going out and were starting to scratch on the piston side. The one which was the worst was the one making all the noise.
I immediately wanted to look into tuning as that was the first obvious place to look but there was no detonation at all. The tops of the pistons were perfect, the bearings were perfect, and the final inspection was the heads and the are brand new looking. Not a single sign of wear on any of the valves.
I don't need to get into a discussion of what happened because the truth is I will never know for sure but I do know it is one of these three things. Like I said, I'll never know for sure which one exactly, but I know it was one of the three...
#1 - When the bent cam took out my oil pump and I was cranking the car all day trying to start it with no oil pressure, and started it briefly with no oil pressure, the oil rings got damaged being dry
#2 - Diamond Pistons used oil rings on the pistons that weren't up to par with the rings
#3 - The pistons were rattling around in the sleeves causing the oil rings to fail
My set-ups in the past on this motor have been long tubes with a big blower with a loud ass exhaust, so it is possible that this was damage I have had for a some time and just never heard it until I went with the turbos where now I hear everything.
Either way - it is what it is and I was able to salvage everything but the pistons. The block only needs to be very slightly honed for a couple hundred bucks so the bottom line is someone is about to get the deal of the century on a 330" boss stroker motor...lol
The rods are perfect, the crank is perfect, and with a $200 hone job, the block will be awesome so all someone will need is a set of pistons for 330" boss 4.6 stroker. I am going to put an add in the classifieds for it for $2500 so that means all you need is some pistons so someone can get a MONSTER deal on a big bore boss short block.
Here is the block and the thin scratches that will need a light hone...
Here are the Manley rods in perfect condition...
Here is the tops of the pistons looking good...
Here is the sides of the pistons where the failed oil ring caused the damage - all of them are damaged in the same spot slightly - but the one pictured is the worst and the one making all the noise - the cylinder wall pictured was from this piston...
Here is a shot of the heads I also checked for any detonation and were in great shape...
SORRY THE PICS ARE SO BAD BUT ONLY A CELL PHONE TO TAKE THEM
Bottom line - for $3500 or so (after you add new pistons) , someone can get a 4.6 330" boss built shortblock that will easily handle 650-700 rwhp all day long.
For Sale Thread Here... http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22092
Before you even ask, the reason I am not simply putting new pistons in this thing is because I only feel comfortable saying this motor is good up to 700 whp and I am well beyond that with my build. I am not dicking around anymore and wasting time with the 'usual suspects' of engine builds. I'm just going to do it right and use custom pistons, oliver billet rods, billet crank, etc, etc. I have turned to the east coast to build me a motor right now and will be finished in about 4-5 weeks. This motor will be built for my needs and my set-up. I am also having my livernois heads re-designed back east and getting a custom cam and all Jesel rockers/followers/lashers, and some other stuff to get my heads were I think they need to be. I'm personally done with the 'off-the-shelf stuff as I feel my power levels have exceeded it all.
With pro NMRA talent stepping into the game to help me build this car, I'm hoping to finally get the chevykiller on the right track to getting 'done'... we'll see...
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