MOTOR GO BOOM - And here is why! (and speedomotive sucks)

[KasaRyan at aol.com]

Ok, most of you know the engine died on my truck, today a friend of mine and 
I yanked it and tore it down.  Here is what we found. The bottom of the pan 
looked like somebody tried to escape with a ball pein hammer and a 1/4 wide 
by 1 in tall hole ripped in the side.  Pulling the heads showed no surprises. 
 Inside the pan were some big chunks of cast iron.  Hmm . . . not good.

Turns out the crank broke between the 2nd rod and the 2nd main bearing.  The 
second main was spun, but this could have happened when the crank broke.  
Some of the rod bearings appear to have had some detonation marks on the back 
side.  When the crank broke, it busted a chunk out of the bottom of #1 and 2 
cyl, so the block may either need sleeving or is trash.
Everything was still tight on the bottom end.   #2 piston was broken at the 
pin boss and sleeve by a chunk of the crank.  #1 piston top and 2nd rings 
were broken.  No detonation marks on the piston crowns.  I don't know if this 
happened during the disaster or before.  No scoring on any journals.  There 
is a piece of the crank we couldn't find.  I think this is what exited the 
side of the pan right next to the rail.  Everything in the bottom end was 
quality; arp studs, windage tray, HV pump, 8 qt pan, new PM rods, balanced 
rotating assembly.  Except my feeling is the crank was probably bad since day 
one, and probably just decided to exit this earthy veil on the way to KC at 
1900rpm and 60 psi oil pressure.

Next week I will pick up the digital camera from work and put the pics on my 
site. 

The cam didn't show any nicks, so I will reuse it on the 350 I have built to 
go in - 4bolt,flattop hypers.  I also bought a brand new comp cam with a much 
milder grind, in case I wanted to go all the way back to stock.  But then I 
would have parts for 3/4 of an injected 383 laying around with nothing to put 
them in.

I already went thru this rant once, but here is the jist of it:  I originally 
ordered the short block from speedomotive and what they didnt get wrong on my 
order, they managed to make late.  I have had a very bad experience with them 
all around and this just caps things off.

Please zap me on your take on this whole thing.  Heck, I'll even listen to 
some hard luck stories if you have them.  I can relate now.


Thanks for listening to my electroyappin!
Ryan Hampl - a K-State Grad!  kasaryan at aol.com
139 Hoover Ct.                     Controls Engineer 
Salina, KS  67401                  97 B12 / 93 chevy truck EFI 383
phone  (785) 825 5831           
I'M ALWAYS FIRST TO THE GROCERY STORE!
http://hometown.aol.com/kasaryan/myhomepage/hotspot.html
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/kasaryan/myhomepage/hotspot.html">Ryan Hampl 
and his happenin' Hotspot</A> - updated 11/20/00
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