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Old 09-28-2014, 11:08 AM   #100
Blackbirdws6
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Millstone Township, NJ
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So here is an update on the car...somewhat a long one.

The engine went back in the car but after a troublesome break-in, it was burning oil again. This was pretty depressing since the entire purpose of taking apart a running/driving car was to solve this issue. As some know, the car drove/ran pretty well even with the heavy oil consumption.

After discussing the issue with the builder and the piston ring manufacturer, a few tricks were tried to alleviate the issue but it wasn't getting any better. I thought I had the issue almost resolved at one point but I guess its tough to see smoke driving the speed limit on the highway. I had the car retuned against my better judgement thinking this would help in the long run. The tuner was not able to dial in the tune for obvious reasons and went conservative to avoid an issue. While the car drove better and felt more powerful, it still burned oil badly.

Retune dyno runs resulted in around 654rwhp/616rwtq on a mustang dyno. (spun on the first run) As you can see from the graph, power seems to taper towards the top end. The tuner mentioned I was loosing boost so I likely was experiencing a little bit of valve float. Turns out when the heads were redone, there was a miscommunication on the amount of seat pressure needed. These were setup for 150lbs but I actually should be in the 165-175lb range. Oops....




I was undecided/heartbroken/depressed/etc on what to do at this point knowing another rebuild who be costly and the effort would be significant given my free time was very limited. Without support of great family and friends, this likely would have sat in the garage as a sign of failure. And so out it came and off to Pal Performance. Things should be easy but they rarely are when you try and save a buck here and there. I was convinced my Yukon XL 1500 would tow the heavy car but it was going to need some help.

Tow upgrades (yes I know this is all overkill and the truck will explode any minute)

New Class IV hitch, Tekonsha brake controller, larger trans cooler, rear coil spring bags, bluetooth OBD reader/Torque app to monitor temps. Oh and new HID projector headlights, fog housings/lights and turn signal housings.





It was slow going and I took it easy but she did it!



And out it comes.







The engine was loaded in the back of the truck and I headed down to Ellwein's at 4:30AM. I was a bit tired so since I was riding solo, the only way to stay awake was volume 11 blasting of Five Finger Death Punch and DMX. I arrived at 9ish and we started pulling the engine apart.







As you can see, the bores are a little too shiny and the crosshatch is gone. There are a number of ideas on what is happening to cause the issue twice. Some say fuel wash, others say its the ring design. All of the hard parts (except the block bores) were in great shape which is good. While this is apart, I am going to up the compression a bit but this will require new pistons/rods.

While the engine has been out, I took a look at the trans input shaft to see if there are signs of twisting or other wear. No twisting but the splines have been taking a beating. Guess this is what happens when you put this much power into a 4000lb car.



I picked up a new input shaft and took the trans to Bob Hanlon in PA. I met Bob yesterday. Nice guy and knows his stuff. My hope was the trans didn't have any other major issues and we could just change the input shaft. He opened it up and thankfully everything looked good except the main cluster was showing common wear for high HP cars without a fluid pump. Nothing was broken but it will likely make a little bit of noise. Considering the noise of the blower and exhaust, I doubt I would hear a thing. At some point, I can have Bob go through the entire trans and install fittings for a fluid pump to retain the life of the cluster long term. Seeing as I don't track the car often, I don't see a need to upgrade at this time (famous last words). A new shaft is in and looks good.

So the game plan is to have the block remachined/honed, new Diamond custom pistons (double diamond coating), conventional style rings for boost, new link bar lifters, and new valve springs. The engine will be broken in outside of the car to seat the rings before it goes back in the car. I will also be sending the clutch out for a rebuild just to start fresh.

Hopefully this time it all works out.
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97 T/A Ram Air Convt
Forever dyno queen / 777rwhp 662 rwtq @ 17lbs / 10.2 @ 140

'24 Corvette Z06
17 Sierra 2500HD Dmax
81 Turbo TA
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